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

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The government has made some adjustments to domestic fuel prices, announcing 10 to 13 per cent cuts in petroleum prices from today, although crude prices in global market shed 60 per cent in three months since July.
   The price of diesel and kerosene has been reduced to Tk 48 per litre from Tk 55 now, octane to Tk 80 from Tk 90 and petrol Tk 78 from Tk 87.
   The declines were Tk 7 per litre for diesel and kerosene, Tk 10 for octane and Tk 9 for petrol at a range between 10.34 and 12.73 per cent.
   But the administered prices were raised by a whopping 35 per cent or Tk 15-23 per litre in July when crude oil price in international market soared to $147 per barrel.
   Global petroleum prices plummeted to $61 on Friday.
   Special assistant M Tamim announced the price cuts at a press conference at the Press Information Department Sunday after chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed approved the revised rates earlier on the day.
   Asked why price cuts were capped to 13 per cent while petroleum import costs slid to less than a half now, he said the government would still have to provide subsidy despite the declines in international and local prices.
    ‘We have decreased oil prices based on the import costs of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation in last one and half months. Oil price is volatile in international market, it may come down or go up any time,’ Tamim said.
   The government had estimated fuel price subsidy of about Tk 10,000 crore for BPC even after the massive increase in domestic fuel prices in July when global crude price hit $147 and refined diesel $180 per barrel, he added.
   The latest cut in prices would not stop the government from subsidising petroleum prices. Diesel and kerosene would continue to get subsidy, but octane and petrol would not, Tanim said.
   But he stopped short of giving any figure, arguing that oil market future could not be predicted.
   ‘The government has no intention to make profit by selling fuel oils,’ he claimed.
   Tanim said the government would review oil prices in three months and would take steps to decrease prices further if global fuel prices fall or remain steady.
   By then, the interim government is set to end its tenure and a new elected government is to take office after the December 18 elections.
   The government, meanwhile, has announced a fare cut by seven paisas per kilometre for diesel-fuelled buses and minibuses plying between districts.
   As per the new rates announced Sunday after downward revision of fuel prices, fares of diesel run inter-district and long distance buses have been reduced to Tk 0.98 per kilometre from Tk 1.05.
   The fares of buses plying by the ferries over Maua-Patura ghats have been fixed at Tk 1.01 per km, down from Tk 1.08.
   The fares of diesel-run inter-district and long distance minibuses have been reduced to Tk 1.01 from Tk 1.08. The fares of minibuses plying by the ferries over Maua-Patura ghats have been fixed at Tk 1.04 per km from Tk 1.11 per km.
   Commuters of the city service buses in Dhaka and Chittagong cities will not be benefited from the revised fares, which will apply to inter-district and long haul buses.
   Diesel-run bus operators in the two major cities raised fares twice in three months since July citing fuel price
   hike.
   Though most of the vehicles are now run by low-cost compressed natural gas, fares are still adjusted to diesel prices.
   Asked why city services were kept out of the latest revision of fares, Tamim said, ‘The rest vehicles will be converted soon [to CNG-run engines].
   So there was no need to decrease diesel run bus fares in city.’

The interim government has decided to declare Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina as polls VIPs to provide the two former prime ministers with fortified security cover for three months from the day after announcement of schedule for the next parliamentary elections.
   The weekly meeting of the advisory council on Sunday, with the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, in the chair, approved a proposal placed by the Cabinet Division proposing that the two former premiers could be declared VIPs for strengthening their security for three months in the run-up to the Jatiya Sangsad elections.
   Officials said the measure was taken under the Special Security Force Ordinance 1986 that provides for unassailable security for the heads of state and government as well as foreign dignitaries.
   On October 29, 2006, the government in an SRO had provided VIP security to the president, the former prime minister, the chief adviser of non-party caretaker government and the leader of the opposition for three months.
   The present caretaker government continued special security for the former prime minister and the opposition leader after the stipulated three months in view of the prevailing situation at that time when there was a fluid political scenario in the country.
   Later on February 22, 2007, the order providing special security to the two former premiers was cancelled.
   Advisers and special assistants to the chief adviser attended the Sunday’s meeting.
   After the council-of-advisers meeting, the chief adviser’s press secretary, Syed Fahim Munaim, briefed newsmen about the outcome of the meeting.

The deep depression formed over the Bay of Bengal which triggered heavy shower across the country and caused inundation of coastal areas, is expected to make a landfall on the Khulna-Barisal coast any time on Monday.
   The low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Feni, Chandpur, Barguna, Patuakhali, Barisal, Bhola, Pirojpur, Jhalakati, Bagerhat, Khulna and Satkhira and their offshore islands and chars were inundated under three-to-four feet water under the influence of the depression.
   The depression was in the afternoon centred 550km west-southwest off the Chittagong port, 515km west-southwest off the Cox’s Bazar port and 380km southeast off the Mongla port, said a special weather bulletin.
   The maximum sustained wind speed within 48km of the depression centre was about 50km an hour rising to 60km per hour in gusts or squalls, the bulletin said, adding the sea will remain rough.
   Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Mongla have been advised to continue flagging local cautionary signal 3 and the fishing boats and trawlers all in the north Bay have been advised to remain in shelter until further notice.
   Most parts of the country, particularly coastal districts, experienced light to moderate rain and gusty winds under the influence of the depression, which paralysed normal life in both cities and villages.
   The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority stopped the plying of vessels less than 65 feet long on 76 routs in the Barisal region, but no vessels left Dhaka on Sunday for destinations in the south.
   The Kalapara weather office recorded 249mm of rainfall in 18 hours since 6:00am Saturday and the Barisal office 173mm of rainfall. The temperature fell for the continued shower across the country and the average temperature ranged between 20 degrees and 25 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature, 19 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Srimangal.
   Normal life in the Barisal division remained paralysed for incessant downpour. Patuakhali and Barguna towns are still under water and port activities at Mongla were disrupted. Three ships berthed at the port.
   Lata Chapli union council chairman Abdul Barek Molla of Kalapara in Patuakhali said about 80 per cent of embankments were damaged because of the rainfall.
   The Water Development Board executive engineer, Sujoy Chakma, in Barguna, said rivers in region flowed 2–3m higher than in normal time and the maximum of the 850km flood protection embankment needed to be repaired or reconstructed.
   Department of Agricultural Extension officials in the Barisal region said rainfall would damage Aman crop if water stagnation would continue for some days and winter vegetables seedlings would be affected.
   Md Kafiluddin Ahmed, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Patuakhali, said all standing aman crops and vegetables in the coastal areas were under four-to-five feet water.
   Md Zahirul Islam, executive engineer of the Water Development Board in Patuakhali, said high tide caused breaches in embankments at different points of Bauphal, Dashmina, Kalapara, Galachipa and Mirzaganj.
   The district administration kept volunteers on alert to face probable deterioration of the situation.
   The district Red Crescent Society secretary in Barisal, Kazi Munir, said they were in constant touch with other units in coastal areas, islands and chars.
   Rainfall also paralysed life in Khulna and caused inundation of low areas at Labanchara, Pashchim Tootpara, part of Sonadanga, Pabla and part of Khalishpur.
   The Khulna Met Office said it had recorded 40mm of rainfall between 6:00am and 6:00pm on Sunday.
   Incessant rain and gusty winds disrupted port activities at Mongla, said reports from Bagerhat.
   Port officials said three ships were berthed at the port and movement of ships to and from the port became ‘risky as the sea remained very rough.’
   Several hundred fishermen of Dublar Char, Kachi Khali and other regions in Sundarban took shelter along the coast.
   Reports from Moulvibazar said life was disrupted in the district because of rainfall for two days. The Met Office recorded 53mf of rainfall on Sunday.
   Water level of all the rivers and haors increased. Power supply was disrupted as storm damaged distribution lines in may places.

A rights group has planned to file contempt of court lawsuit against government officials concerned for not executing a High Court ban on sales of tainted milk brands even three days after the order.
   Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid on behalf of the rights group, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, served legal notice Sunday on home, commerce and health secretaries, inspector general of police and director general of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution.
   The lawyer alleged that the officials ignored the Thursday’s High Court order banning display and sales of eight imported brands of milk powder, tested melamine positive.
   Mushid had moved the public interest litigation filed by the rights group that resulted in the High Court ruling on Thursday.
   The government officials were arguing that they would take actions accordingly once they got the certified copy of the court order when offices would open Sunday after the two-day weekend.
   The disputed milk brands have been on sales in stores as none of the government authorities took any measure to enforce the court ban even in 72 hours since the High Court delivered the order on Thursday.
   Some shop owners removed the brands on their own, while many others continued to sell those secretly to bakeries and confectioneries.
   Emdad Hossain Malek, an executive of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh, said their random survey found many shops still selling banned milk brands, while some others had just hid those from public eye out of fear.
   ‘It is not only a clear violation of High Court order but also a serious threat to public health,’ the consumer rights campaigner said, demanding that traders and relevant officials should be punished for not implementing the court order.
   Sources at the BSTI told New Age Sunday that the official quality certification agency could not take any action as it did neither get a certified copy of the High Court order nor instruction from the higher authorities till Sunday evening.
   ‘There is a dilemma here- the commerce ministry and the health ministry high-ups are coordinating all meetings and decisions while the BSTI, which is under the industries ministry, has to wait for instructions,’ a senior BSTI official told New Age.
   The government on Sunday said concerned authorities would take necessary actions to execute the High Court order.
   Steps for proper implementation of the High Court order will be taken, decided an inter-ministerial meeting presided over by health adviser AMM Shawkat Ali, according to a health ministry statement on Sunday.
   ‘The BSTI will circulate public notices in this regards while police and other authorities concerned will ensure implementation of the court order,’ the statement added.
   The meeting was also told repeat tests on tainted milk were being conducted at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s regional laboratory in Bangkok and results would be available within next three or four days.
   The meeting attended by the special assistant to chief adviser for industries ministry and secretaries of ministries concerned decided to form district level monitoring committees to follow up the situation.
   The Sunday’s meeting also decided to launch intense campaign on breast feeding.

The health ministry is keeping watch children admitted to hospital with complaints of kidney problems, but till Sunday found no patients affected with diseases caused by melamine.
   The Institute of Pubic Health and Nutrition director, Fatima Parveen Chowdhury, told New Age the institute had asked all public hospitals to submit regular reports on child patients with complaints of kidney problems.
   ‘On October 18, we started scanning cases of child patients admitted to hospital with kidney problems, but not a single patient has been found to be suffering from diseases caused by melamine presence in milk,’ she said.
   ‘Melamine link in the illness of the children could not be established as parents of such children are not saying that they have fed the children powder milk of tainted brands,’ she said.
   The institute, which coordinates an inter-agency committee to regulate marketing of breast milk substitute infant formula, has also notified all baby milk marketers to submit certificates for their products of being melamine-free by November 30.
   Forty-six baby milk brands are registered with the institute.

A High Court bench on Sunday felt embarrassed to hear separate petitions filed by five former ministers for quashing the Barapukuria coalmine corruption case.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed AB Mahmudul Huq and Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury referred the petitions to the chief justice, requesting him to take appropriate steps for their hearing.
   Former ministers M Saifur Rahman, Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Matiur Rahman Nizami, chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, the party’s secretary-general, filed the petitions to have the case against them quashed.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission on the day moved a petition in the Appellate Division for halting the High Court order that stayed for three months the proceedings of the Barapukuria case against former premier Khaleda Zia.
   Justice Md Abdul Matin, the Appellate Division’s chamber judge, posted the matter for a full-court hearing on October 28.
   The same High Court bench on October 14 felt embarrassed to hear a similar petition, filed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s chairperson Khaleda, that the case be quashed.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Hussain and Justice Farid Ahmad, however, heard Khaleda’s petition on October 16 and stayed for three months the proceedings of the Barapukuria case against her.
   The ACC on October 5 pressed charges in the Barapukuria case against 16 persons, including Khaleda and ten of her former cabinet colleagues, and Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge M Azizul Haque on October 16 transferred the case to a Special Judge’s Court for speedy trials set up in the Jatiya Sangsad Complex.
   The ACC lodged the case on February 26, accusing Khaleda and sixteen other persons of embezzling Tk 158.71 crore by awarding the Chinese CMC Consortium the contract for extracting coal from the Barapukuria mine in 2005.

Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain on Sunday asked the media to wait till November 2 to see whether the polls schedule would be announced on the day or, if at all, deferred by how many days.
   Sakhawat, talking with reporters at the EC secretariat, levelled allegations against the media of distorting the statement of the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, that the commission would announce the schedules for the national and upazila polls on November 2.
   ‘The chief election commissioner said “if we announce the schedule on November 2,” but the media dropped the if-clause and he was reported to have said the commission would announce the schedule on November 2,’ Sakhawat said.
   When asked whether the commission would announce the elections schedule at a date later than November 2 because of a High Court order which stayed the recent electoral constituency demarcation, Sakhawat said ‘Let November 2 come. Wait till November 2 to see whether the polls schedule are announced on the day or are deferred.’
   The reply came from Sakhawat although Shamsul Huda earlier in the day told reporters ‘[Election commissioner] Sohul Hussain will talk with the press today [Sunday].’
   Shamsul on Saturday confirmed that the polls schedule would be announced on November 2 as he inaugurated a training programme for deputy commissioners on electoral laws in the National Economic Council auditorium.
   According to sources in the EC secretariat, the commission has fallen into a dilemma over announcing the election schedule by November 2 because of a High Court order which stayed the recent delimitation of the electoral constituencies.
   The two main tasks — preparing the constituency-wise electoral rolls and the boundaries of constituencies — which are conditions for announcement of the electoral schedule are yet to be completed.
   The task of finalising the sites of the polling stations has also been suspended because of the dispute over demarcation of the constituencies and the lack of constituency-wise electoral rolls.
   Prospective candidates could not also begin campaigning as they do not know the boundaries of their constituencies.
   The commission, meanwhile, has fallen in trouble over completing the registration of political parties, particularly less known and Islamic parties, by October 30.
   The commission approved the application of 12 political parties for registration till Sunday evening. The commission also contacted the other parties who applied for registration to clarify some provisions of their constitution which contradict the registration criteria and asking for documents required for registration.
   According to rules, political parties will be given a maximum of 15 days to submit the required documents and change their party constitution to conform to registration criteria if the technical evaluation committee asks them to do so.
   ‘We have fallen in trouble to complete the task by October 30 as most of the less known and Islamic parties have not submitted required documents and their constitution will need to be changed,’ said a member on the technical committee.
   ‘According to rules, we will give them time to submit the required documents and ask for changes in the party constitution before rejecting the application for registration. But we are pressed for time,’ he said.
   He said he was not certain if the registration process could be completed by October 30.
   The parties which the commission had decided to register are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Awami League, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Party led by Ershad, Jatiya Party led by Manju, Workers Party of Bangladesh, Samyabadi Dal, Krishak Sramik Janata League, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu).
   The Liberal Democratic Party was the first political party to receive the registration certificate from the commission on October 20.
   NI Khan, chief of the commission’s technical evaluation committee formed to examine application forms and documents submitted by political parties for registration, earlier said 30 to 40 political parties, out of the 107 which filed applications, were likely to be registered.

The High Court on Sunday asked the military-controlled interim administration to explain in four weeks why the notification issued on December 4, 2007 scrapping November 7 as a public holiday would not be declared illegal.
   The High Court bench of Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana and Justice M Rezaul Huq issued the rule after hearing a public interest writ petition filed by former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman challenging the validity of the government’s notification scrapping November 7 ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’ as a public holiday.
   Moving the petition, Mahmud’s counsel Adilur Rahman Khan argued since 1976, the day had been observed as National Revolution and Solidarity Day and a national holiday to mark the November 7 soldiers and people’s revolution which re-established the country’s sovereignty on the day in 1975.
   Adilur said the country’s sovereignty was jeopardised amid a political turmoil in a sequel to the August 15, 1975 coup which toppled the Sheikh Mujib government through the assassination of the first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with all but two members of his family.
   ‘Sovereignty was restored on November 7, 1975 as some army personnel along with the people freed the country for the second time after the country’s war of independence in 1971,’ he said. ‘The government with a mala fide intention illegally cancelled the day as a public holiday.’
   Adilur also informed the court the government had resumed August 15 as National Mourning Day and a public holiday on the High Court judgement delivered on July 27.
   In the July 27 verdict, the High Court bench of Justice MA Rashid and Justice M Ashfaqul Islam ruled that August 15 should be restored as National Mourning Day and a public holiday.
   The verdict declared illegal the cancellation of National Mourning Day, also a public holiday, on August 15 by the BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
   The July 27 verdict was also delivered after hearing a similar public interest litigation writ petition filed by three Supreme Court lawyers, the counsel said.
   Going to power 21 years after, the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, on August 8, 1996 declared August 15 as National Mourning Day and a public holiday to pay respect to Sheikh Mujib and cancelled the public holiday on November 7, National Revolution and Solidarity Day, declared by the BNP government in 1976.
   August 15 had since then been observed at the state level and the national flag had been hoisted at half-mast both at home and in Bangladesh missions abroad.
   The BNP-Jamaat alliance government on August 3, 2002 cancelled the decision of the Awami League government. Immediately after assuming office in 2001, the BNP-Jamaat alliance government restored November 7 as a national holiday.
   On December 4, 2007, the interim government, at a meeting of the advisers chaired by the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, announced the November 7 public holiday would be cancelled with effect from 2008.

Members of the Awami League’s presidium on Sunday said that they had no doubt that the party’s president, Sheikh Hasina, could contest the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for December 18, as there is no legal and constitutional obstacle to her being a candidate.
   ‘Of course Sheikh Hasina will contest the upcoming general elections as there is nothing in the laws and the constitution to bar her from doing so…So we have no doubts at all in this matter,’ the AL’s acting general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, told reporters at the news briefing after a meeting of party’s presidium members. The party’s acting president, Zillur Rahman, presided over the meeting at his residence in Gulshan.
   Ashraf said Sheikh Hasina, now abroad for medical treatment, would return in the first week of November and the party would contest the elections on December 18 and form the next government under her leadership.
   ‘It is not the government’s responsibility to decide who can contest the elections and who cannot,’ he opined.
   However, the presidium expressed doubts over announcement of the polls schedule by the Election Commission on November 2 due to the time-consuming proceedings of the higher courts.
   ‘One commissioner of the EC has suggested that we wait till November 2 to see whether the polls schedule is announced on that day or the announcement is deferred. But we have doubts because we do not know when the problem of the delimitation of constituencies will be solved,’ said Ashraf.
   The presidium asked the Election Commission to defer the upazila polls by a rational length of time and observed that no credible national and upazila polls are possible under the announced timeframe.
   Referring to the nomination of candidates for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, Ashraf said the party’s grassroots-level leaders from upazilas and thanas, unions and municipalities and ward units would recommend a five-member panel for nomination after holding extended meetings.
   ‘The party will issue a directive to the district-level leaders in this regard after holding the meeting of the working committee within a week,’ he said.
   Ashraf said the AL’s members who want to contest the parliamentary polls would have to buy the nomination forms from the party’s central office after paying Tk 5,000 to the party’s fund.
   The AL leader said the process would be started after the constituency delimitation problem is solved.

A group of intellectuals on Sunday demanded reinstallation of the baul sculptures dismantled in the Dhaka airport crossing and naming of the crossing after mystic lyricist Fakir Lalan Shah.
   They formed a human chain at Shahbagh to push for their demands.
   In an open letter to the chief adviser, they criticised the government for holding a meeting with the absconding Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and criticised the Muslim bigots for committing excesses with a cartoon published earlier in Prothom Alo.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh has, meanwhile, announced countrywide rallies and human chains for November 1 to protest at the dismantling of baul sculptures and the meeting between the interim government and Mojahid. Other left-leaning parties will hold similar protest rallies.
   In the letter, the group of intellectuals said the major objective of the people who removed the sculptures was to foil the scheduled general elections.
   They called on the ‘outgoing government’ to show its resolve against the reactionary forces.
   Signatories to the letter include Kabir Chowdhury, Khan Sarwar Murshid, Anisuzzaman, Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, Hamida Hossain, Rangalal Sen, Syed Anwar Hossain, Shafiq Ahmed, Syed Abul Maksud, Ayesha Khanam and Khushi Kabir.

Dhaka city traders Sunday proposed former FBCCI president Abdul Awal Mintoo as a mayor candidate for Dhaka City Corporation elections to build a trading-friendly capital.
   They said the Dhaka city administration should be free from politics and the DCC mayor should not have any political identity.
   The traders proposed Mintoo’s name at a meeting on titled ‘What Type of Dhaka We Want’ at BIAM auditorium with Bangladesh Paint, Dyes and Chemical Merchant Association president Abdus Salam in the chair.
   Mintoo said ‘I have been working for development of Dhaka city for last 10 years. And I want to carry forward my vision, if traders remain with me.’
   He said the capital city needed a well thought out plan for the comfort of every city dweller and to ensure that traders in particular could do their business smoothly to improve the country’s economy.
   FBCCI president Annisul Haq said Dhaka city was an unplanned city as it had not yet got a far-sighted leader who had vision and efficiency. He thinks Abdul Awal Mintoo will be an efficient leader and brotherly and friendly to inhabitants of the city.
   He urged political parties not nominate mayor candidate from their parties so politics-free atmosphere can prevail during the next mayoral election.
   Former FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain, FBCCI first vice-president Abul Kashem, former vice-president Abu Alam Chowdhury, director Anwar Hossain were present.

The BNP-led alliance on Sunday asked the interim government to come up with a definite statement whether Khaleda Zia would be allowed to contest the parliamentary elections slated for December 18.
   The alliance also asked the government to meet all its demands before announcement of the election schedule.
   Leaders of the alliance said the government’s statement that legal procedure would determine whether Khaleda Zia would be eligible to contest polls had caused confusion and suspicion about its motive.
   ‘We want the government to make it clear whether it will allow Khaleda Zia to contest the polls. You [government] talked of an agreement in principle [at the dialogue on October 23] on six of our seven demands but till now we see no signs you’re sincere about your words though the Election Commission is going to announce the polls schedules on November 2’, said the BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain, at a rally of the alliance at the National Press Club.
   He also announced rallies across the country on October 28 to mark the second anniversary of the ‘killing of the alliance activists’ in Dhaka by political opponents ‘wielding sculls and oars’.
   He said, ‘We have made our position clear. The state of emergency has to be withdrawn completely, all political detainees should be released and the “false” cases dropped. If you really want the political parties to contest the polls, meet all our demands to create the required environment.’
   Delwar warned the government not to try to hold the national elections in the ‘style’ of the city corporation and municipal polls which were held on August 4 under the state of emergency. ‘Don’t try to put “barricade” on the way of elections… consequence will be dire… No government in the past could cling to power ignoring the people’s demands’, he said.
   ‘We want to contest the polls and have placed our demands… Please, don’t do anything that forces us to boycott the elections…’, he said.
   Delwar said the BNP-led alliance would continue its movement until an environment conducive to elections was created.
   The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojahid, said the statements of the advisers had raised fears that the government might be planning to hold a ‘mock trial’ and convict Khaleda Zia to bar her from contesting the polls.
   ‘There is no legal or constitutional ground to prevent Khaleda Zia from contesting the polls, then why there are talks of legal procedure to determine if she can participate in polls? Have you [government] already taken a decision not to allow her to contest elections’, he asked.
   Islami Oikya Jote secretary general Abdul Latif Nezami, Bangladesh Jatiya Party secretary general Shamim al Mamun and Khelafat Majlish joint secretary general Shafiquddin also spoke at the rally.
   New Age correspondent in Rajshahi reported that the city unit of the BNP-led alliance held a meeting at the house of district BNP leader Azizur Rahman on the day.
   Jamaat-e-Islami’s city amir Ataur Rahman, district BNP’s acting general secretary Mostafizul Iqbal, organising secretary Alauddin Ahmed, BNP leader Ekhlak Hossain, Jubo Dal’s city unit president Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, Jamaat leaders Abul Kalam Azad, Siddique Hossain and Emaz Uddin Mandal addressed the meeting.
   The Rajshahi University unit of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal brought out a procession demanding immediate withdrawal of the state of emergency.
   New Age correspondent in Khulna reported, two factions of Khulna city BNP held separate rallies at its KD Ghosh Road office as part of the alliance’s protest programme.
   The Dadu-Monju faction held a rally at 4:30pm under the banner of ‘Khulna unit of the four-party alliance’ presided over by former Jamaat lawmaker Mia Golam Parwar. Former secretary of Khulna city BNP Nazrul Islam Monju, BNP leaders Anwarul Quadir Khokon and SM Morshed Alam, city Jamaat secretary Abul Kalam Azad, BJP’s city president Latifur Rahman Labu and district Khelafat Majlish secretary Maulana Golam Kibria spoke.
   The Lobi-Mortuza faction held another rally under the banner of ‘Khulna city BNP’ at 12:30pm at the same venue. City BNP convening committee member-secretary Shaharuzzaman Mortuza chaired the meeting addressed by party leaders Sirajul Islam, Master Shafiqul Islam, Nizamur Rahman Lalu, Kamrul Hasan and Nighat Sima.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion chairman, Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, Sunday denied his involvement in the alleged embezzlement of Trust Bank money and any wrongdoing in legalising the DOHS houses that were constructed illegally.
   Former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman on Saturday made vain attempts to lodge a case against the ACC chairman for embezzlement of about Tk 20 crore of the Trust Bank in 2002 when he was its chairman as the chief of army staff.
   Two police stations — Ramna and Motijheel — declined to register the first information report against Mashhud.
   A national daily ran a story on Saturday alleging that Mashhud, while he was army chief in 2003, had legalised about 500 DOHS houses that were constructed without following relevant rules and regulations. Those houses also included Mashhud’s own house.
   ‘I want to state clearly that the allegations brought against me are not at all true and acceptable,’ the ACC chairman said in an unscheduled briefing at the commission to clarify his position on the issues.
   About the allegation of embezzlement of Trust Bank’s money through siphoning off, he said the allegation that was brought against him regarding the money was not true.
   ‘I can’t say about the amount that was lost,’ Mashhud told a questioner. ‘But the loss was incurred,’ he admitted.
   He shifted the blame on the officials responsible for handling foreign exchange saying that this happened as the then officials did not raise the issue before the bank hierarchy until after the figure got bigger. Asked who took the responsibility for this loss, Mashhud said the Trust Bank itself took the responsibility.
   ‘Advices were sought from the Bangladesh Bank at that time and measures taken as per their instruction,’ he said.
   The former army chief said punitive measures were taken against the officials responsible. These included sacking and filing cases.
   Asked if the ACC would look into the matter, he said if the commission so thinks, certainly the matter would be looked into.
   Mashhud, when asked if the commission would file any case in this regard, said: ‘If it is established that money laundering took place, the ACC will file cases.’
   Asked if he would file a defamation suit, he said such a stage has not come yet.
   About the issue relating to DOHS houses, the ACC chairman said the decision to legalise those houses in return for fines was taken by a DOHS committee. ‘I was outside when an army investigation committee investigated it and decided to settle the issue through compensation.’
   Asked if there could be two laws in a country on the same issue, he said, ‘Yes, there can be.’
   Explaining, he said there was separate law for the cantonment by which DOHS is run while there is different law for the rest of the country.
   Asked why illegal buildings like Rangs Bhaban were demolished without giving the opportunity to legalise by imposing fines, Mashhud said, ‘I don’t think, our law (Cantonment) can be applicable everywhere.’
   Asked if his position as ACC chairman has become untenable due to these allegations, he said, ‘Not at all.’
   Asked what steps he intends to take, he said, ‘Obviously, there will be legal battle.’
   Replying to a question, Mashhud brushed aside any notion that he influenced police not to take the case. ‘In Bangladesh, anyone can sue anyone,’ he said.

Australia may cut the flow of immigrants into the nation if unemployment rises in the face of the global financial crisis, a cabinet minister said Sunday.
   The immigration minister, Chris Evans, said the government would wait until the release in November of mid-year financial data before deciding on whether to reduce numbers.
   ‘Clearly if the demand for labour comes off you’d adjust the migration programme accordingly,’ he told Nine Network television.
   ‘We can turn the taps off if we need to.
   ‘But there are still industries with strong demand for labour and we’ll just have to talk to industry and make a judgment about what the appropriate level will be once we’ve got a bit better idea of what’s happening in the economy.’
   Around 190,300 immigrants are projected to arrive in Australia in 2008/09, with skilled workers accounting for most places as the country battles chronic labour shortages in some sectors.
   Evans said the current programme was designed when Australia’s forecast was for economic growth, high inflation and a skills crisis.
   ‘If those parameters are changing, the government will take a sober look at those issues and make a decision when we have got proper information,’ he said.
   Evans said any decision to cut the intake would be a complex process given the contributions new arrivals made to the economy. ‘We know that they consume, they buy property, and they’re a net positive to the budget,’ he said.
   ‘And a lot of the skills that are coming in at the moment are in the mining sector, which has allowed us to increase our exports.’

The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Sunday requested the Afghan authorities to secure release of two BRAC officials abducted from Ghazni city.
   He also urged the abductors to release these two innocent Bangladeshis engaged in development works in Afghanistan for the benefit of the Afghan brethren.
   Shajahan Ali of Gopalpur, Tangail and Akhtar Ali of Rajshahi were abducted by four gunmen while the two officials went to visit Moi Mobarrak branch of BRAC in Ghazni city last Thursday. Shajahan and Akhtar are regional directors of BRAC office in Ghazni.
   Since their abduction, whereabouts of the BRAC officials or identity of the abductors could not be known.
   Iftekhar has written a letter to the Afghan foreign minister, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, to extend all cooperation in tracing out and rescuing the two BRAC officials.
   The letter was handed to the Afghanistan ambassador, Ahmad Karim Nawabi, at the foreign ministry in presence of BRAC deputy director, overseas operations, Aminul Islam and BRAC media director Anwarul Haq.
   ‘A few months ago we rescued another BRAC official Noor through our four-pronged approach… We hope we will be able to recover them too,’ the adviser told the media.
   Iftekhar said BRAC runs 250 institutions across Afghanistan extending micro-credit to two lakh women and health services to five lakh women. Besides, BRAC set up 4,000 schools in Afghanistan.
   ‘I would like to urge the abductors to release these innocent officials as Bangladeshis are working in Afghanistan for welfare of the Afghan people, nothing more,’ the adviser said.
   The Afghan ambassador said the Afghan authorities would make all possible efforts to rescue the Bangladeshi brothers.
   BRAC official Aminul Islam said they maintained contacts with the Afghan home minister and the relief and reconstruction minister who are trying hard to trace them out. Besides, Afghan security forces are also working to find them out.
   Islam said 4,000 Afghans and 150 Bangladeshi BRAC employees are working over there. In reply to a question, he said all Bangladeshi employees would be withdrawn in next five years enhancing capacity building of the Afghans so they can run the BRAC projects on their own.

The chairman of the newly formed Local Government Commission, Faizur Razzaque, on Sunday said the commission would be working independently to strengthen local government institutions in cooperation with all.
   ‘The commission has been constituted under a law and it is not an opponent to any quarters… We will continue with our efforts so that all local bodies can function properly,’ Razzaque, also a retired bureaucrat, said in reply to queries after he, along with two commission members, called on the LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, at his office at the secretariat.
   Asked whether the Local Government Commission would function properly after an elected government takes over as political parties, Razzaque said the commission did not have any rivals. ‘We will continue with our efforts and also uphold the spirit behind it. We expect cooperation from all to make the local bodies functional.’
   Anwarul echoed the chairman, saying the commission would be working to strengthen the local government bodies.
   He said the government had talks with the political parties where they did not oppose the formation of the commission. ‘They rather opposed the government move of holding the upazila polls before the general elections. And the dates for upazila polls have been set accordingly.’
   Anwarul said common people wanted the government should hold the upazila polls during its tenure.
   ‘We are trying to hold the upazila polls immediately after the parliamentary elections as scheduled… We talked with the Election Commission about the issue and the commission said there would be no administrative problem in conducting the two elections in a short span of time,’ the adviser said.
   The national elections are scheduled to be held on December 18 and the upazila polls on December 24 and 28. Political parties are demanding a reasonable gap between the local and national polls.
   On October 22, the government formed a three-member Local Government Commission with former secretary Faizur Razzaque as chairman and another former secretary Hedayetul Islam Chowdhury and Chittagong University professor Tofail Ahmed as members of the independent commission.

The High Court on Sunday completed hearing on one of the three rules it had issued asking the Election Commission to explain the legality of the delimitation of electoral constituencies, and began hearing a second.
   Concluding the hearing in the first rule, the High Court bench of Justice Mir Hasmat
   Ali and Justice Shamim Hasnain began hearing the second rule and said judgements would be delivered after hearing all the three rules, as they involved similar issues.
   The Election Commission has said it will announce the polls schedule on November 2 and expected that the legal matters involving the delimitation will be settled beforehand.
   The same bench completed hearing of a rule, issued in the writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer ABM Nurul Islam, in three days.
   The court on Sunday began hearing a rule issued in the writ petition filed by former BNP lawmaker Abdul Mannan.
   Pleading for Mannan, his counsel Rafiqul Islam Miah argued that the commission had no authority to publish a fresh gazette on delimitation of electoral constituencies without cancelling the previous one that had redrawn the constituencies for the stalled January 22, 2007 elections.
   ‘As the Election Commission did not cancel or declare illegal the gazette published on September 16, 2006 finalising electoral constituencies for the stalled January 22, 2007 polls, it had no authority to publish gazette afresh on the same matter’, he said.
   As the commission has to hold the stalled elections to the ninth Jatiya Sangsad, it cannot redraw the constituencies and the polls must be held under the previous constituencies, he contended.
   The High Court on August 7 stayed for three months the gazette notification and asked the commission to explain why the gazette should not be declared illegal.
   Earlier on the day, another petitioner ABM Nurul Islam concluded his argument on the petition, in which the High Court had issued rule on the commission to explain the legality of the demarcation.
   The three writ petitions were filed challenging the commission’s gazette notification on delimitation of constituencies.
   The hearing will resume today.

The interim government has directed the local administration to remain alert against any deterioration in the law and order situation due to relaxation of the Emergency Powers Rules before the elections in December, said official sources.
   Cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumdar and home affairs secretary Abdul Karim held separate meetings with the divisional commissioners of six divisions at the secretariat on Sunday.
   The home affairs secretary told the divisional commissioners that the local administration should take all possible measures to maintain law and order and remain vigilant so that the criminals who went into hiding after the major crackdown by the army-led joint forces could not appear ahead of the elections, said meeting sources.
   The cabinet secretary also directed the local administrators to brief the deputy commissioners, who play a key role in conducting the elections, on the changes in electoral laws to enable them to check any deviation from them, said a divisional commissioner after the meeting, adding that the meeting also emphasised the proper implementation of the government’s 100-day employment generation programme.
   ‘We have been asked to check any deterioration in the law and order situation after relaxation of the emergency and to monitor the situation closely so that the criminals now in hiding cannot appear before the elections,’ said the official.
   The government of Fakhruddin Ahmed recently relaxed some provisions in the Emergency Powers Rules, allowing political activities on a limited scale, and is now planning to relax some more provisions to facilitate election campaigning. However, all the major political parties are demanding complete withdrawal of the state of emergency before the polls scheduled for December 18.
   All the divisional commissioners from Dhaka, Rajshahi, Barisal, Khulna, Chittagong and Sylhet attended the monthly meeting with the secretaries.
   They also held another meeting with the land secretary, Abu Md Maniruzzaman Khan, who asked them to ensure by any means that the khas land recovered by the present government was not again occupied by land-grabbers.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain Sunday fought to distance himself from unpopular president George W Bush in the face of attacks from Democrat Barack Obama that he is little different than Bush.
   McCain, in an interview on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ also shrugged off opinion polls showing him far behind Obama in the campaign, saying he senses the race is tightening with nine days to go until Election Day November 4.
   And he gave a strong vote of confidence to his vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor who has energised the Republican base but has come under withering criticism on a variety of issues to the extent that many Americans do not consider her ready to be president.
   Obama and his campaign have attempted to tie McCain to Bush at every opportunity, citing the Arizona senator’s record of voting with the president 90 per cent of the time. It is an issue that has dogged McCain throughout the campaign.
   Flush with campaign cash, the Obama campaign released a new television advertisement that shows footage of McCain with Bush as the announcer says, ‘He’s out of ideas, out of touch, and out of time.’
   McCain insisted that while he respects Bush, he has disagreed with him on a number of high-profile issues, such as opposing increased government spending, challenging Bush on his Iraq strategy and demanding tougher action to address climate change.
   ‘Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course. But I’ve stood up against my party, not just president Bush but others, and I’ve got the scars to prove it,’ McCain said.
   Obama leads McCain in national opinion polls and in polls in many battleground states, including Iowa, which Bush won in 2004 but now seems to rest comfortably in Obama’s camp.
   A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday, however, suggested a tightening race overall. It said Obama leads McCain by 49 per cent to 44 per cent among likely US voters in the daily tracking poll.
   In this poll Obama’s lead has dropped over the last three days after hitting a high of 12 points on Thursday.
   Some Republicans have complained that McCain’s campaign has seemed to lurch from issue to issue and has put in jeopardy not only Republican attempts to hang on to the White House but also many seats in the US Congress.
   ‘We’re doing fine. We have closed in the last week,’ McCain said, adding that if the trend were to continue, ‘We’ll be up very, very late Election Night.’
   ‘I see intensity out there and I see passion, so we’re very competitive here and I’m very happy of where we are and I’m proud of the campaign I’ve run,’ he said.
   McCain’s choice of Palin as his running mate was at first welcomed as a boon to his campaign but the scrutiny of her has been tough and some conservatives have said they do not believe she is sufficiently experienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

The trial in the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case against Awami League chief and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has again been deferred till November 4.
   This is for the second time that the trial court ordered deferment in line with a High Court order delivered on September 16, staying the trial and granting prime accused Hasina and her cousin Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim three months’ interim bail.
   Following the HC order, the special sessions judge court on September 23 shifted the trial date to October 26.
   Special sessions judge M Ashraf Hossain Sunday ordered the defence counsels to submit a copy of the High Court order by November 4.
   Awami League central leader Advocate Sahara Khatun represented Hasina, now abroad for medical treatment after being released by an executive order on June 11, in the court.
   Selim, a former minister of the Awami League government [1996-2001], was absent from the court because of illness.
   As the proceedings in the case resumed in the morning in the makeshift courtroom in the Jatiya Sangsad complex, defence counsels argued that the trial should be deferred, as the High Court’s stay order still remained valid.
   The trial resumed on August 18 after a six months’ break.
   Hasina was arrested on July 16, 2007 in the extortion case filed by East-coast Private Limited managing director Azam J Chowdhury, who accused the former prime minister of taking a kickback of Tk 2.99 crore in exchange for a 210MW power project contract.
   The Awami League chief was released by an executive order on June 11 and went abroad on the next day for treatment. Party sources said she might return home early next month.

The Liberal Democratic Party’s president, Oli Ahmed, on Sunday called on the people to vote for honest and educated candidates who supported the War of Liberation, irrespective of their political affiliation.
   He alleged that a section of advisers to the interim government are actively trying to reinstate corrupt persons in state power.
   ‘Vote for honest, educated and patriotic candidates, who supported the War of Liberation and who will not betray the nation, no matter which party she or he belongs to,’ Oli Ahmed exhorted the attendees at the second founding anniversary of the party in the city.
   He said many corrupt persons have again become active nowadays. ‘They are free now and some advisers are trying to help them regain power. The Almighty will not spare you [advisers] if you hand over power to them.’
   He criticised the government for its failure to correctly guide the country in the current global economic meltdown, and also mentioned the crisis created by the excessive amount of melamine in milk powder. ‘You [government] are incapable of tackling the situation as you neither have relations with, nor the support of, the people.’
   The dissident vice-chairman of the BNP, Mir Shawkat Ali, addressed the audience as the chief speaker. Shawkat, also a veteran of the War of Liberation, said he wants to see a party that supports the ideals of the War of Liberation to rule the country after the parliamentary elections.
   The LDP’s executive president Sheikh Razzak Ali, secretary-general Jahanara Begum and presidium members Alamgir Kabir, Ziaur Rahman Khan, Anwarul Kabir Talukdar, Abdul Karim Abbasi and Syed Didar Bakht also addressed the anniversary’s attendees.
   Jahanara Begum claimed that they had formed LDP units in 40 out of the 64 districts.
   A number of dissident BNP leaders, including national standing committee member Oli Ahmed, former speaker Sheikh Razzak Ali, and some ministers and lawmakers on October 26, 2006 left the party, castigating the dynastic rule and corruption in the BNP, and floated the Liberal Democratic Party with former president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury at its head. The party, however, split within one year and Badruddoza Chowdhury started leading his former party, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh.

LGRD and cooperatives adviser Anwarul Iqbal said on Sunday Chittagong mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury would require court order to take the mayoral charge as he had been granted bail for treatment abroad.
   ‘We barred him [Mohiuddin Chowdhury] from attending the office of Chittagong City Corporation mayor as the High Court had granted him bail considering his health condition so that he can go abroad for better treatment,’ Anwarul said while responding to queries of journalists on the issue at his secretariat office in Dhaka.
   He said, ‘Mohiuddin, according to the law ministry, will have to go to the High Court if he wants to takes the charge of CCC mayor.’
   Mohiuddin, also an Awami League leader, was arrested from his residence in the port city on March 7, 2007 and he was released on bail from jail on October 8 after 19 months of detention.
   The local government ministry, through an October 14 notification to the CCC chief executive officer, directed that the acting mayor, instead of Mohiuddin, would carry on in the position after Mohiuddin had expressed his willingness to take the charge.
   The Dhaka City Corporation mayor Sadek Hossain, who was granted anticipatory bail, and Sylhet mayor Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran, who was released on bail from jail, have been allowed to discharge their responsibilities as mayor.

Former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, who was granted bail by the High Court in all the cases, was not allowed to come out of jail as he was placed on a 30-day detention on Sunday.
   His detention came following a general diary, filed by the Gulshan police Saturday night, branding the former state minister a smuggler and godfather of criminals.
   The detention order reached the jail authorities Sunday morning, said a prison official.
   Obaidur Rahman, officer in-charge of the Gulshan police in Dhaka, filed the GD.
   ‘Babar has already got bail in all the cases. If he comes out on bail, criminal activities, including smuggling, may go up. He will also be a threat to law and order as his gang members will hamper the election atmosphere. So it will be better to keep Babar behind the bar,’ according to the GD.
   Court sources said Babar had been supposed to come out on bail Sunday as he had been granted bail in all the cases, including one in which he was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment.
   He has been kept at the prison cell of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.

The Metropolitan Session Judge’s court in Dhaka on Sunday issued warrant against BNP senior leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury in a tax evasion case.
   Deputy tax commissioner of NBR Iktiaruddin Mohammad Mamun filed the case accusing Chowdhury of dodging Tk 3.08 crore income tax for the years 2002 to 2008.
   After hearing the petitioner, judge Azizul Haque ordered for issuance of warrant. The court set October 29 for next hearing of the case.
   Accused in a number of cases Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury is now enlarged on bail. He was parliamentary affairs adviser to former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

The Commonwealth secretary general, Kamalesh Sharma, arrived in Dhaka on Sunday on a three-day visit to discuss with government leaders and the Election Commission the progress towards restoration of democracy in Bangladesh.
   The foreign secretary, Touhid Hossain, received the Commonwealth secretary-general at Zia International Airport in the afternoon.
   Sharma is scheduled to meet the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, and the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, today.
   The Commonwealth secretary-general will also discuss the preparations for general elections.
   He will also deliver a lecture at the Bangladesh Enterprise Insti-tute on ‘The Commonwealth — current priorities, future directions’.
   Sharma will hold a pre-departure press conference at Sonargaon Hotel today evening.

A sub-inspector of the Bangladesh Police, who went to Congo under UN peacekeeping mission, was injured in an attack by rebels during an operation in the African country on Saturday, said a police news release.
   It said some rebels suddenly attacked SI Monwar and stabbed him in the left eye when he and his colleagues were conducting an operation at the Incal Camp in Congo. Critically injured Monwar was later admitted to a local hospital.

The High Court on Sunday asked the government to explain in three weeks why the provision for barring the chiefs of NGOs from national polls, one year before their resignation, would not declared illegal.
   The High Court bench of Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana and Justice Rezaul Huq passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Golam Rahman Bhuiyan, also the chairman of Manabadhikar O Samajik Unayyan Sangastha.
   Cabinet secretary, law secretary and the Election Commission are among those asked by the High Court to explain the issue.
   The interim government on May 14 annulled the existing law relating to the Upazila Parishad and enacted new law that said the executive director of a non-governmental organisation that accepts foreign donations, will be disqualified for participating in elections one year before tendering his/her resignation.
   The petitioner’s counsel Mainuddin Faroqui argued that the interim government could not enact such law repealing the law made by elected government. ‘The interim government will perform routine duties, till the next government assumes office,’ he argued.

Authorities in military-run Myanmar Sunday removed barbed wire barriers and reduced security around the Yangon home of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an official from her party said.
   Witnesses near the lakeside compound where the Nobel peace prize winner has been locked away for most of the past 19 years said that barricades and checkpoints preventing people from going near her house had been removed.
   ‘We noticed this morning that the security was reduced around her house,’ said Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy party.
   ‘Barbed wire was removed and every vehicle can pass the road in front of her house... (but) it’s still early to comment on this situation.’ The gate to her compound remained closed, witnesses said.
   Aung San Suu Kyi has been under detention for 13 of the past 19 years, and is only allowed sporadic visits from her doctor and lawyer.
   Asian and European leaders meeting in China on Saturday urged Myanmar’s junta to release detained opposition members, while American officials also put out a fresh plea for an end to Suu Kyi’s house arrest last week.
   Suu Kyi is currently appealing her detention, but the ruling generals have not yet indicated whether they will consider the case.