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None of the 22 ministries, which had development projects under the revenue budget, could fully utilise the fund allocated from local resources in the last fiscal year.
   The revelation came as a surprise to the finance ministry, with a senior official attributing the failure to the absence of a political government and pressures from constituents.
   ‘It is a new phenomenon that the ministries are failing even to ensure full utilisation of the development fund under revenue budget in time,’ the official said.
   It has been a common practice that some ministries lag behind others in utilisation of funds from revenue budget for annual development programme, he said.
   ‘But now all the 22 ministries failed to utilise revenue budget fund due to absence of a political government and political pressure.’
   Finance ministry officials wondered why ministries performed so poorly in using development funds from the revenue budget which did not entail any hard conditions like those tagged to foreign components of development budget.
   But they pointed the finger at the inherent inefficiency of the ministries and their internal bureaucracy for such a poor performance in fund utilisation.
   The ministry officials, however, blamed the anti-corruption drive for the poor fund utilisation— the same reason cited by economists and the business community for stymied private investment.
   So much queries from the joint forces dampened the mood of the bureaucracy for utilising development fund, officials said.
   The government had allocated Tk 445.63 crore from the revenue budget for 90 development projects under 22 ministries in the 2007-08 fiscal year that ended on June 30.
    But the ministries could spend only 41.47 per cent or Tk 184.82 crore in the first 10 months of the fiscal year.
   Finance officials recently visited 32 development projects across the country to take stock of the development works during the last fiscal year and prepared a report detailing the reasons for poor performance and suggesting remedies.
   It made 13 recommendations to the ministries.
   The suggestions include fixing particular timeframe for approval of the development projects and detailing the procurement plan in the project proposals.
   Price hike of construction materials and complications in land acquisition were cited as reasons for delay in most of the development projects funded by domestic revenues.
   The report suggested that the small development projects should be taken at a maximum cost of Tk 10 crore for their speedy implementation.
   The agriculture ministry was accused of revising development project costs upward and duplicating projects.
   The ministry ventured on 10 seed development projects, but could supply only 15 per cent of the country’s seed demand in the last fiscal year, the finance ministry’s inspection report revealed.
   Asked about the slow pace of development projects under revenue budget, economist Zahid Bakht said without a political government in power, the country’s development project expenditure growth would not speed up.
   ‘Various interest groups can create pressure on the political government or ministries to spend more on development projects. Usually ministry officials are less interested in releasing development funds from the government due to strict accountability,’ the research director of official think tank, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, told New Age.

The Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission appears to have taken some controversial decisions by clearly exempting some mobile phone operating companies from harsher legal punishment.
   The owners and directors of these companies, who were illegally terminating international calls and are therefore liable to imprisonment and financial penalties through public trial in the courts of law, have been allowed to escape the legal procedure in exchange of only financial penalties determined arbitrarily by the BTRC authorities.
   The BTRC fined four mobile phone operators — GrameenPhone, Banglalink, Aktel and CityCell — only Tk 838 crore in spite of allegations that the companies in question have terminated international calls worth hundreds of crores of takas, which were siphoned out of the country.
   The BTRC lodged four cases against the errant companies with different police stations in the city in 2007 after law enforcing agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion, discovered their involvement in voice over internet protocol (VOIP) for international call termination without having licences to do so.
   The BTRC, however, submitted a ‘final report’ instead of charge-sheet with the local courts in four cases, dropping the charges against the companies after imposing Tk 168.40 crore penalty on GrameenPhone, the country’s largest mobile operator, Tk 145 crore on Banglalink, Tk 125 crore on Aktel and Tk 150 crore on CityCell after negotiations with them.
   Later, in 2008, the BTRC again uncovered illegal practices by the GrameenPhone, but the BTRC authorities preferred not to implicate the high-profile directors of the company for reasons unknown, although the concerned law obligates them to do so. They rather implicated eight serving and former officials of the company in the case. Subsequently, the BTRC decided to submit to the court a ‘final report’, clearing the GrameenPhone officials of the crime, instead of pressing charges against the guilty company, after negotiations which led the GrameenPhone to pay Tk 250 crore as penalty.
   When a director was asked why the BTRC decided not to take the companies to court, he told New Age that they imposed ‘administrative fine’ on the companies to recover the revenue lost because of the illegal call termination by them.
   However, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001, under which the BTRC was set up and according to which it is supposed to operate, shows that it does not have the jurisdiction to settle the ‘crime’ of illegal call termination outside the court.
   However the chairman, Major General (retd) Manzurul Alam, believes that the BTRC has the jurisdiction either to impose penalties on the errant companies or go to court for their trial.
   ‘The commission has the right to choose what steps it will take. We told them [operators] that they have caused these amounts of financial loss to the public exchequer. We had two options, we could impose penalties or we could go to court. They agreed to pay the penalties. We took the penalties for the greater interest of the country,’ Manzurul Alam told New Age on August 26. ‘We did not go to court as it would take time to get the issue settled.’
   But the law does not seem to support his views.
   Section 35 (1) (Kha) of the Telecommunication Act says, ‘No person will provide the telecommunication service in Bangladesh and to foreign countries from Bangladesh without any licence.’
   Section 35(2) says, ‘If the person violates the earlier Section, it will be a crime, and for that he will be sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years or fined Tk 10 lakh or both.’
   Section 65 (2) of the law, referring to ‘administrative fine’, says, ‘In addition to the provisions included in this Act for imposing administrative fine, the commission can take steps to impose administrative fine by enacting regulations for violating other rules and regulations of this Act. But there is a condition that such provisions for administrative fine will not be enforced for violating Sections 35(1), 55(1) and 57(2).’
   Legal experts said that the companies in question have violated Section 35(1), which can be dealt with, as per Sections 77 and 79 of the Act, only by the court of a first class magistrate or metropolitan magistrate or courts higher than them. These courts should take into account the crime under the Act and the investigation, trial and appeal will have to be in accordance with Code of Criminal Procedure, added the experts.
   When his attention was drawn to the fact that BTRC’s decision had directly violated certain Sections of the Act, the BTRC’s boss asked the reporter whether he was ‘being interrogated’. ‘I will not submit to any examination by anybody.’
   Manzurul also refused to explain the basis of fixing the amounts of the penalties imposed on the errant companies.
   When he was reminded that there are allegations that these companies had terminated calls worth hundreds of crores of takas, Manzurul said, ‘It could have happened. But we fined them on the basis of the documents and evidences that we found.’
   Notably, GrameenPhone earned revenue of around Tk 2,800 crore in 2007, Banglalink Tk 1,340 crore and Aktel Tk 1,440 crore. The CityCell’s revenue could not be ascertained. Apart from GrameenPhone, all the companies claimed that they incurred losses.
   When asked why only eight officials of GrameenPhone instead of its owners and directors were sued for illegal VOIP in the second case, Manzurul said, ‘We lodged the case against people who operate Grameen as per their documents.’
   But the law suggests otherwise. Section 76 of the Act says that if any company violates any rules, every owner, director, manager, secretary or other staffers or employees or representatives should be considered guilty unless s/he can prove that the violation has happened beyond his or her knowledge or he or she tried his or her best to stop the violation.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and the Awami League’s joint general secretary Obaidul Kader were on Friday released on bail.
   Kader, who faces six cases related to corruption and breach of the Emergency Powers Rules, was released in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital at 12:15pm.
   He was released from the prison cell of the hospital and kept in hospital for medical treatment.
   A large number of Awami League leaders, including Mostofa Jalal Mohiuddin, Rahmat Ali and Yafes Osman, and Juba Mahila League and Chhatra League leaders had crowded the hospital compound since morning with flowers to greet Kader.
   Kader told new Age he was not physically well and would try to go abroad for better treatment. He said it would all depend on the suggestion of the medical board to be formed within a couple of days.
   Former state minister for youth and cultural affairs Kader was arrested on March 9, 2007 on charges of income tax evasion, bribery and hiding information on wealth.
   BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was released on bail at 11:55am from the Kashimpur jail in Gazipur.
   Salauddin, who was parliamentary adviser to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, obtained bail in all the six cases filed against him on charges of extortion and amassing illegal wealth.
   After his release, Salauddin told newsmen it was a ‘common’ for a politician to go to jail.
   The joint forces arrested him at his house at Dhanmondi in Dhaka on February 3.

The Election Commission is set to start today its third round of dialogues with 16 political parties in order to reach a consensus on party registration by October 15 with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party still undecided whether to join the talks.
   The dialogue will start off at 10:30am today with the commission sitting with a delegation of the Workers Party in the EC conference room. The dialogues will continue till September 9. The commission has already held two rounds of talks with political parties on electoral law reforms.
   According to the schedule the commission will sit with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for talks at 2:00pm on September 7 and with the Awami League at 2:00pm on September 9.
   When asked whether the party will participate in the dialogue, BNP joint secretary-general Nazrul Islam Khan told New Age Friday evening, ‘We are yet to decide whether to join the dialogue, as we see no development in the process for release of our detained party chairperson Khaleda Zia.’
   ‘We want to attend the dialogue with Khaleda Zia’, he said.
   The commission’s scheduled dialogue with the Awami League on September 4 was cancelled after the party informed the EC that some of its central leaders, including acting party president Zillur Rahman, were indisposed.
   According to the schedule, the commission will sit with Samyabadi Dal at 11:30am, Ganatantri Party at 12:30pm and the Jatiya Party at 2:00pm on September 6. On September 7 it will hold talks with the Communist Party of Bangladesh at 10:30am, Bikalpadhara Bangladesh at 11:30am and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) at 12:30pm. Dialogues with Liberal Democratic Party will be held at 10:30am, Islami Oikya Jote at 11:30 am, Jatiya Party (Manju) at 12:30pm and the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh at 2:00pm on September 8. The EC will sit with the Krishak Sramik Janata League at 10:30am, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) at 11:30am and National Awami Party (Muzaffar) at 12:30pm on September 9.
   After inviting the parties to dialogues, the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, said on August 28 that discussions would be brief this time and with registration of political parties at the top of the agenda. ‘If the parties want, others election-related issues may also be discussed.’
   The EC this time has sent invitation to the BNP’s secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain for talks. The government-backed splinter group of the BNP held talks with the commission in the previous round.
   The commission initiated the move for the fresh dialogues as major political parties rejected the October 15 deadline for party registration saying it was impossible in view of time constraints and the state of emergency.
   After the amended Representation of the People Order 1972 came into effect through a gazette notification on August 21 setting the conditions for registration of political parties, politicians argued the parities were not in a position to comply with the tough conditions for registration at the moment.
   The commission on August 27 issued a notice inviting political parties to apply for registration in a prescribed form along with a number of documents, including the parties’ bank statements and income sources.
   According to the timeline for registration, the parties will get just a month and a half to amend their constitutions and institute new committees by holding council sessions to meet the criteria for registration.

The Election Commission has asked its secretariat to find the definition of the term ‘non-government organisation’, if any, in the NGO Affairs Bureau as the commissioners have been puzzled by an ‘unclear’ provision inserted in the Representation of People Order 2008.
   The newly inserted provision [Article 12(1)(i)] does not specify any type of organisation as non-government organisation.
   The EC also wanted to identify the NGOs that receive donations or funds from any foreign country.
   The provision says that a person shall be disqualified for elections if s/he holds, or has earlier held, the office of the executive of any NGO unless a period of three years has elapsed since resignation, retirement or discharge of the person.
   Besides, the EC has identified some other ‘unclear’ points and flaws in the amendment to Representation of People Order and is now finding out ways to correct them.
   The EC reviewed some amendments to the RPO on Monday, a day after senior lawyer Barrister Rafiqul Huq warned it that the RPO had left scope for the people to move the court, challenging some ‘unclear’ points, which might delay the elections.
   The EC observed that the provision in the amended RPO for rescheduling loans was contradicting the other existing laws as the deadline for rescheduling them had already expired before the amendment. It is now planning to issue a circular to set a fresh deadline for rescheduling loans or to give a chance to defaulters to repay all their debts before announcement of the election schedule in December 2008.
   The military-controlled interim government amended the RPO on August 19, preventing defaulters from contesting the next polls by rescheduling their loans.
   According to the amended order, if a person has a record of defaulting on loans within a period of six months prior to the submission of nomination papers, s/he will not be eligible for candidacy.
   Loan defaulters were allowed to contest elections in the past after rescheduling their loans anytime prior to the dates of filing nomination papers. Taking the advantage of the previous law, loan defaulters used to contest parliamentary polls by rescheduling their loans, often even a day before submitting nomination papers.

The European Commission seems to be in a critical dilemma over the question of whether or not it would send its Election Observation Mission to Bangladesh to observe general elections in December under the state of emergency.
   In principle, the European Commission does not send the EOM to country where the state of emergency is in place. Last week, EC Head of the Delegation in Dhaka ambassador Stefan Frowein met the foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, and shared with him some observations of the EC Headquarters in Brussels to improve ‘few things’ to ensure freedom of voters and participation of all in the elections.
   The EC had sent its Exploratory Mission in June when the mission held extensive discussions with leaders of key political parties, Election Commissioners, government figures, members of the civil society and NGOs to take stock of pre-election ground situation.
   The Exploratory Mission submitted its report to EC external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels. During the meeting with the foreign adviser on August 31, ambassador Frowein shared with him some information from the report, which is ‘internal.’
   ‘It’s an internal report but I should say still there are few things where improvement should be done to guarantee the freedom of voters and freedom that is necessary for free and fair elections,’ Frowein had told reporters after an hour-long meeting.
   He said there were rooms where improvement had to be done and the decision on sending EU EOM to Bangladesh would be taken by commissioner Benita Ferrero end of September or beginning of October.
   Frowein said: ‘The state of emergency is a problematic point. Some people say it has to be lifted, some say it has to be relaxed.
   ‘It’s not a question of terminology; it’s a question of right of voters so they can vote freely and everybody can participate.’
   Defining the EC’s principled stance, the ambassador said: ‘I can say clearly that we do not normally observe elections under the state of emergency. We normally don’t do that.’
   He said that at this point it is difficult to predict any indication about whether or not the EU would observe the elections in Bangladesh.
   Against the backdrop of such dilemma, Frowein said the foreign adviser was scheduled to hold a meeting with commissioner Benita Ferrero on September 22 in New York when they would discuss the matter in details.
   This will be an important meeting following which the EC will decide the question of fielding an Observer Mission for the elections,’ he said.
   Iftekhar, however, said although EU did not normally send its EOM to a country under state of emergency but the Bangladesh situation was unique. ‘Our main challenge is to ensure each voter casts his vote freely without any impediment.’
   Mentioning recent remarks of the chief adviser, Iftekhar said the emergency rules would be relaxed as much as possible to ensure free and fair elections. But the foreign adviser at this point of time cannot be sanguine that the state of emergency will be in place or not.
   Big political parties like the Awami League and the BNP are pressing for long to fully lift the state of emergency for creating a congenial environment for holding free, fair and credible elections to parliament.
   Diplomatic sources told the news agency that the people in the European Commission in Brussels were aware of the present situation in Bangladesh but it was very difficult to convince them to send the EOM to a country under the state of emergency.
   ‘Sometimes they appear more German than me — meaning they are stubborn on the question of principle,’ one diplomat said.
   The diplomat, who preferred not to be named, admitted the fact that Bangladesh was a unique case but everything got bogged down when the question of the state of emergency was raised.
   The diplomatic sources said EC commissioner Benita Ferrero was a tough lady and a good diplomat who could be convinced easily to make her agree to send the election observers under the state of emergency.
   The sources said Iftekhar-Benita meeting in New York on September 22 was very critical as the question of observing the Bangladesh election would come up as the main agenda.
   They said Benita was the single authority to take the decision and the decision would be announced, may be on October 6 or 7.
   The EC’s decision may be influenced by the ground situation as to what extent the emergency rules will be relaxed and whether such relaxation will create an appropriate atmosphere for voters to freely cast their votes without any perceived threat or intimidation by any quarters and that political parties will be able to conduct their election campaigns without any hindrance.
   Before the political changeover in January 2007, the European Commission sent its long- and short-term observers to observe the abortive general elections fixed on January 22. But the EC officially suspended its EOM on January 11 a few hours ahead of the declaration of the state of emergency by the president to cool down the political turmoil over the elections.
   Political analysts say, if the European Commission does not come to observe the general elections it would be difficult to prove credibility of the elections to the world community. Because, over the years European Commission earned the expertise in observing the elections in Asia and Africa and its report on the election observation is highly rated by the world community.

Freedom-fighters and their descendants criticised the Awami League and its leaders for their participation in programmes attended by the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed the War of Liberation in 1971, and the persons involved in war crimes during the war.
   They urged the leaders of the Awami League not to participate in any programme attended by war criminals and leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, a party which actively supported the Pakistani soldiers and massacred fellow Bengalis.
   On January 13, 2008, Awami League’s acting president Zillur Rahman said that his party would not join any programme — including the government-sponsored dialogues with political parties — in the presence of war criminals and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders who, according to Zillur Rahman, do not believe in the sovereignty of the country and fought against the formation of Bangladesh.
   Earlier, the AL had requested some diplomats not to invite them to any programmes if Jamaat leaders were also invited.
   Despite the official stance of the party, the Awami League leaders were frequently participating in programmes — mainly hosted by foreign diplomats — where Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, who were allegedly involved in war crimes, were also present.
   Some AL leaders attended a dinner hosted by US Ambassador James F Moriarty at his residence on August 19, where Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid and Abdur Razzaque, were present. Some AL leaders also went to a tea party at Moriarty’s residence on July 15 where Jamaat leader Muhammad Quamaruzzaman was present.
   Jamaat leaders Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid and M Quamaruzzaman were reportedly involved in war crimes in 1971.
   ‘As a freedom-fighter, I cannot accept the participation of the leaders of Awami League in any programmes attended by war criminals and Jamaat leaders,’ freedom-fighter Nasir Uddin Yusuf Bachchu, the president of the Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, told New Age.
   He hoped that the Awami League leaders would maintain the political stance of the party and boycott the war criminals in every programme in the future.
   Freedom-fighter and former adviser to the interim government, Sultana Kamal, said that she feels ‘uncomfortable’ when she sees many senior politicians, who have the possibility of becoming prime ministers of the country, very often attend the functions hosted by diplomats. ‘This practice can be found nowhere in the world, it only exists in Bangladesh,’ she claimed.
   She said the Awami League’s leaders could either have walked out from, or boycotted, the programmes where war criminals were also invited.
   Sultana, ex-adviser and executive director of the Ain O Salish Kendra, said the Awami Leaders can check with the hosts and find out if they have invited war criminals and leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
   Shahin Reza Noor, son of martyred freedom-fighter Serajuddin Hossain, said, ‘It is very painful for me to see that the leaders of Awami League, a party that led the War of Liberation, are participating in programmes that are also attended by anti-liberation forces.’
   He said bitterly that the leaders of the Awami League have ‘double standards’ with regard to the war criminals.
   He also raised questions about the sincerity of the party’s pledge to try the war criminals. ‘I request the party leaders to take a firm stance against the war criminals.’
   Dancer Shibly Mohammad, son of martyred freedom-fighter Salimullah Khan, said, ‘I am extremely disappointed with the Awami League leaders who joined programmes attended by the Jamaat leaders and war criminals.’
   He criticised the Awami League for not taking any effective initiatives when it was in power for holding the trials of war criminals and for not banning them from politics
   Chief coordinator of the Sector Commander’s Forum and former army chief Harunur Rashid said, ‘It is unfortunate that the Awami League leaders have gone to several parties at the diplomats’ residences to which war criminals were also invited…It is painful for us.’
   The war criminals and anti-liberation quarters should be boycotted both socially and politically, he said.
   Awami League’s presidium member Amir Hossain Amu told New Age, ‘The diplomats organise the programmes, so it was not possible for them [AL leaders] to know who was included in the guest list.’
   ‘We have requested the diplomats several times not to call us to any programmes where the war criminals were also invited,’ he claimed. ‘They are foreigners…It is their affair whom they invite or not…If they want good relationships with everyone, they can invite anybody. We have nothing to do with the guest list.’

Twenty districts in the north, northwest and central parts of the country have been inundated so far and fresh areas are likely to be submerged in the next 48 hours, flood forecasters said on Friday.
   Monsoon became active again over the north and north-east and south and south-east parts of Bangladesh and adjoining Indian states, they said adding that the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Meghna river systems continued rising.
   The Brahmaputra-Jamuna system registered fresh rise, aggravating the flooding in the north, while the Meghna will keep rising for the next couple of days and Ganges system, which remained steady, will also start rising again from Saturday inundating fresh areas, according to a bulletin of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre issued at 6:00pm Friday.
   The onset of flooding has also reached the capital and the situation in the low lying areas in the city’s eastern part is likely to be deteriorated by the next two days as the rivers Balu, Turag and Shitalakhya have crossed their respective danger marks.
   More areas in Bogra, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Tangail, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Rajbari, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Chandpur and Dohar and Nawabganj upazilas in Dhaka and Shibganj and Sadar upazilas in Chapainawabganj are likely to be inundated by the next 48 hours, according to the flood warning centre.
   The flooding in Sunamganj, Sylhet and Moulvibazar remained static while worsened in Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Rangpur, it said.
   The centre, which terms the situation normal despite flooding in about one-fourth part of the country, said the situation might take a turn for the worse if all the three major river systems started swelling simultaneously.
   Rivers swelled at 34 of the 73 monitoring points and at 24 points, they were flowing above the danger marks on the day.
   New Age correspondent in Manikganj reports: flooding in the district worsened due to the rise in the water levels of Padma, Jamuna, Kaliganga and Dhaleshwari. The Jamuna was flowing 37 centimetres above the danger mark at Aricha.
   Six upazilas of the district have been affected and the road communication of Gheor, Daulatpur, Harirumpur and Saturia with the district headquarters and the capital was disrupted following inundation of roads at Harirampur and Saturia points.
   About 121 educational institutions went under water and the district administration has opened a flood observation centre.
   New Age Bogra correspondent adds: Fresh areas in Sariakandi upazila were submerged as the flood protection dam was damaged at Talukdarpara point marooning several hundred families at Chandanbaisha, Kutubpur, Bhelabari and Kamalpur unions.
   Standing corps on hundreds of hectares of lands were also damaged. The district administration said they were trying their best to face the situation and repair the damaged dam putting sandbags.
   People in the affected areas said they were yet to get supply of relief. Flooding in Dhunat of the district also turned worse for the rise of water in Jamuna. The river rose by seven centimetres on the day and it was flowing 97 centimetres above the danger mark.
   Road communications between Dhaka and Shariatpur might snap anytime as water was flowing over the highway at many points, said Shariatpur correspondent of New Age.
   Padma was flowing 78 centimetres above the danger mark. All the educational institution in district headquarters, Janjira, Naria, Bhedarganj have been closed down for the floods that already marooned about two lakh people.
   In Rangpur, major rivers and their tributaries in the district started swelling again following the onrush of waters from the upstream and incessant showers.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia instructed her lawyers on Friday to file petitions for bail in two major cases in the High Court vacation bench on Sunday, according to sources close to her.
   ‘She has instructed the lawyers to file petitions for bail in the GATCO and Niko cases,’ said a reliable source on Friday evening.
   Her lawyer, Nasiruddin Asim, said that they would file the petitions for her bail in the High Court soon, according to BDNews24.com.
   ‘We hope she will get bail in both the cases as the other accused persons in those cases have been granted bail,’ he said.
   When he was asked about the statement of the commerce adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, regarding release of the BNP chief on bail, Nasiruddin said, ‘Khaleda Zia will be released through the legal process. There is no scope here for the government to intervene in court matters.’
   The adviser said on Thursday that Khaleda Zia would be released if she gets bail in the two cases.
   The GATCO case was filed on September 2 last year and the Niko case on May 5. Khaleda and some members of her Cabinet were accused in both the cases.
   In the charge-sheet of the GATCO case, it was alleged that the accused persons, by misusing power, gave the work of operating Chittagong Port and Kamalapur Container Depot to the Global Agro Trade Company (GATCO), an inexperienced and unfit firm. That caused the state to lose nearly Tk 1,000 crore.
   In the Niko case it was alleged that the agreement with the Canadian company on exploration of oil and gas made the state lose about Tk 13,777 crore.

Prices of many essential items did not show any sign of easing on Friday from the level they reached on the eve of Ramadan and further gained later on.
   The exorbitant price level also surprised the monitoring team of the apex business body, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commence and Industry, whose spot investigation Friday found retailers profiteering from the surging demand in Ramadan.
   FBCCI president Annisul Huq termed the price differences between wholesale and retail markets “very much unjustified.”
   Visiting Mahakhali and Town Hall markets in the Dhaka city on Friday, he, leading a team, saw Ramadan shoppers deeply depressed with unusually high prices of vegetables and fruits.
   Prices of aubergine and cucumber almost doubled to Tk 70 and Tk 40 per kilogram in a week, while green chilli surged to Tk 80-100 from the level of Tk 65 before Ramadan.
   Although onion prices did not see fresh rise in the previous three or four days, local variety of the vegetable, used mostly as a spice, sold between Tk 34 and Tk 36, up by Tk 5 in the previous one week while Indian variety gained Tk 8 to Tk 26-Tk 30.
   ‘It is unjustified. We have found prices of vegetables just double between wholesale markets and retail shops,’ Annis told an impromptu gathering of people at Mohammadpur Town Hall kitchen market.
   The investigation team that earlier visited Gulshan kitchen market asked several vegetable retailers to show their cash memo of wholesale procurements, but the retailers said wholesalers did not provide them with such memo.
   ‘From now on, you have to carry the cash memo,’ Annis asked the retailers.
   The FBCCI chief said they would meet the leaders of wholesalers within a day or two to eliminate such anomalies.
   ‘We will continue such visits for some more days and pressurise retailers to give up foul plays,’ Annis replied to a journalist who asked weather the FBCCI would request law enforcers, especially the joint forces, to take action against the price manipulators.
   Fruit prices were seen much higher than their week ago levels on Friday at Mohammadpur and Mahakhali.
   Yellow malta surged by Tk 50 per kilogram to Tk 160, small green apples to Tk 150, while price of a medium-sized ripe papaya was selling for Tk 60, almost double the price seen in the week before.
   Ordinary grade dates were retailed between Tk 80 and Tk 100 per kg, while prices of good quality dates ranged between Tk 130 and Tk 300, significantly higher than the last year’s prices.
   Puffed rice retailed between Tk 70 and Tk 100 a kg.
   Prices of rice, lentil and coarse flour remained somewhat stable in the week, while edible oils continued to ignore the declines in wholesale and global prices.
   ‘Super palm’ was selling between Tk 96 and Tk 100 a kg, although its wholesale price declined to Tk 80 last week.
   Meat prices did not increase further in the previous three or four days, but those were much higher than the levels of a week back.
   Farm chicken sold at Tk 130 per kg, beef at Tk 200 and mutton at Tk 300.
   Fish prices remained somewhat stable on the back of increased supply. Lower-than-feared price of hilsa also impacted on the fish market, keeping prices of other fish varieties in check, traders said.
   Other major essential items which saw fresh increase in the week that ended Friday include sugar that retailed between Tk 36 and Tk 38 per kg and ginger between Tk 90 and Tk 100.

Advisers, politicians, top military officials, ambassadors, businessmen and editors attended an iftar party hosted by Saudi ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Abdullah bin Naser Al-Bushari at his Gulshan residence on Friday.
   Communications adviser Ghulam Quader, commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman and MA Malek, special assistant to the chief adviser, acting Awami League president Zillur Rahman, it presidium member Amir Hossain Amu and general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain and it standing committee member Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad, Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami, former Jamaat lawmaker Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, and its leader ATM Azharul Islam, Khelafat Majlish amir Maulana Ishaq, former adviser and Independent editor Mahbubul Alam, Bangladesh Observer editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, daily Sangram editor Abul Asad, New Nation editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder and News Today editor Reazuddin Ahmed, among others, attended the iftar party.

Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, is yet to make out when he will be able to fly abroad for treatment of his multiple ailments.
   He regretted the sufferings of the patients in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital caused by the crowds of
   well-wishers and party leaders and activists visiting him at the hospital.
   ‘Efforts are under way to find out a suitable hospital abroad, preferably in the United Kingdom or Germany. But how can an appointment with a hospital be made unless I know when I will be able to go’, Tarique told New Age on Friday giving a tacit impression of unforeseen hindrances to his going abroad. He did not elaborate.
   ‘Passports are ready. Applications for visas will be submitted by Monday as I want to get treatment at the earliest’, he said at his hospital cabin.
   Tarique, wearing white trousers and a T-shirt, was speaking in a low voice lying on the bed. He looked feeble.
   Physicians have advised him to take complete rest until he flies for overseas treatment, Dr Kazi Mazharul Islam Dolon, a joint expert and associate professor at the university, who was at Tarique’s bedside, said.
   Tarique’s broken spinal bones have not improved although he has been taking treatment in the BSMMU since January 31, according to the medical board formed for him.
   Tarique’s lawyer Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas told New Age Friday, ‘There should not be any hindrances to his [Tarique] going abroad as the High Court has granted him bail for overseas treatment according to the advice of the medical board.’
   According to the report of the board, Tarique is suffering from compression fracture in his two spinal bones, cervical disc prolapsed with radicalopathy, right hip arthropathy, chest pain with palpitation, severe muscle spasm in lumber region and right lower limb, serenegative spondyloarthopathy, narrow angle glaucoma and wasted muscles of lower limbs.
   ‘Muscles of Tarique’s right leg are shrinking and the leg is growing numb. His kidney has also been partially damaged because of a huge intake of painkillers’, said Dr Dolon, also a member of the board.
   In addition to previous ailments, Tarique Rahman is suffering from chronic pain causing mental disturbance, he said.
   He requires specialised orthopaedic surgical correction, which is not possible in Bangladesh, said the physician.
   Several hundred leaders and activists of the BNP and its front organisations went to the hospital to see Tarique on Friday. Many of them were carrying flowers for him.
   The police formed a four-tier security cordon upon requests from the party and the hospital authorities.
   The interim government arrested Tarique on March 7, 2007 and implicated him in 13 corruption cases.
   Out of the 13 cases lodged against Tarique, one involving the daily Dinkal has been disposed of, and he has been granted bail in the 12 cases that are under trial.
   The government released Tarique on bail on Wednesday after 18 months of imprisonment.
   In a statement on Friday afternoon, Tarique said he regretted the sufferings of the patients, their relatives and physicians and staff of the hospital caused by the crowds of well-wishers and leaders, activists and supporters of the party coming to the hospital for the last three days to see him.
   He thanked the patients, their relatives and the hospital staff for their cooperation despite the troubles.
   He urged all to pray for his early recovery.

The government has taken some initiatives like preparation of buffer stock of seedbeds and intensive monitoring to help farmers make up for the losses and protect transplanted aman from the onslaught of flood.
   The Department of Agricultural Extension, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute finalised the initiatives at a meeting held at the DAE headquarters in Dhaka on Monday.
   The DAE director general, M Shamsul Alam, chaired the meeting.
   As per the initiatives, the organisations, all under the agriculture ministry, will prepare buffer stock of seedbeds of late variety aman on 100 acres of land at a cost of Tk 22.26 lakh, the department sources said on Wednesday.
   Of them, the BADC will prepare seed beds on 35 acres of land, BARI on 20 acres, BRRI on 5 acres, DAE training wing on 30 acres and the Horticultural Centre of DAE will prepare seedbeds on 10 acres of land, they said.
   The DAE will distribute the seedlings to the farmers free of costs through the agriculture rehabilitation committees at the district and upazila levels, they said.
   As part of the monitoring initiatives, 45 DAE officials will monitor the situation of aman crop in all the 64 districts of the country – be they flood-hit or not.
   The officials will also guide the farmers to replace the plants after the recession of floodwaters, and inform the authorities of the latest situation for prompt action.
   ‘The initial buffer stock of the seedbed can be used for about 2,000 acres of land,’ said the DAE field service director, Abdul Mazid Biswas.
   ‘Now we are observing the flood situation and we will go for final assessment of the
   crop damage after the floodwater recedes completely,’
   he said, adding that the government would have to undertake rehabilitation programmes
   for the coming rabi season after the final assessment of the losses.
   The government is also conducting a campaign to motivate farmers in using balanced
   fertiliser as they may refrain from using non-urea fertilisers for their spiralling prices,
   causing reduced yield of the seasonal crop, DAE officials said.
   They said the government emphasised use of compost fertiliser to reduce the pressure on chemical fertiliser and the agricultural officials were motivating the farmers to prepare compost fertiliser at their own initiatives.
   According to the latest report of the DAE, the flooding has inundated standing crops, mostly transplanted aman, on 1,36,080 hectares (one acre is equal to 2.47 hectares) of land in 20 districts of the country.

The BNP secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, said Friday that a favourable environment for a free and fair election was not visible yet.
   ‘There are only three months for holding the elections in line with the roadmap of the Election Commission and the government, but we don’t see any satisfactory environment for that,’ Delwar told reporters after saying his weekly prayers at the High Court mazar mosque in the city.
   ‘I don’t think there is an environment for dialogue and elections despite Tarique Rahman’s freedom,’ he said.
   He reasoned out that the situation for the elections remained unfavourable because Khaleda Zia was still behind bars.
   ‘Participation of Khaleda Zia and other leaders in the elections must be ensured,’ he said.
   The BNP and its allies used the day to express gratitude to the almighty for the release of Tarique, the eldest son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, from jail. They also prayed for Tarique’s early recovery from illness and release of Khaleda, a former prime minister.
   Separately, central committee of Juba Dal at a press conference in the city rolled out protest plans to demand Khaleda’s release, Tarique’s overseas treatment and release of other senior leaders including Mirza Abbas.
   The youth front of the BNP also condemned the attacks on Juba Dal president Barkatullah Bulu on the day of Taique’s release on the premises of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
   It said ‘a certain quarter’ instigated the attacks in a planned way.
   Juba Dal secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal said they would hold a rally in the capital city on Monday while organise similar rallies on September 12 at divisional headquarters and on September 14 at all district headquarters to press for their demands.

The Barisal city Awami League has asked four leaders to explain why disciplinary action would not be taken against them for breach of party discipline in connection with the August 4 city elections.
   The show-cause notices were sent to joint convener Alamgir Hossain Khan and executive committee members Obaidullah Saju, Syed Kamal Hossain and Sikdar Nizam on September 2; they all were yet to receive the notices till Friday.
   The city Awami League’s joint convener Afzalul Karim said the notices were signed on August 13 by the Shawkat Hossain Hiron, the Barisal mayor-elect who resigned as city unit convener on August 28.
   They were served with show-cause notices for acting against the Awami League-led alliance candidate Shawkat Hossain in electoral campaign, Afzal said.
   Alamgir Hossain Khan said he had not yet received the notice, but had heard of it.
   Shawkat Hossain has no authority to issues such notices, Alamgir said. ‘I withdrew my nomination paper for the mayoral post in his favour in keeping with the party decision.’

An Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion team trapped and captured a subinspector of the Barisal kotwali police on Friday.
   The commission and the police said on receiving bribery allegations against AKM Shamim Hassan, the commission trapped him in taking bribe.
   Shamim as investigation officer of an extortion case demanded Tk 10,000 in bribe from one Baker Ali of the Bhatikhana Road in the city, who was accused in the case along with his two sons.
   Baker paid Tk 2,000 in advance and informed the commission of the matter and set a date for the payment of the remaining amount.
   As planned, the commission team, led by assistant director Rammohan Nath, along with Special Branch assistant commissioner Rezaul Karim trapped Shamim on Katpatty Road on Friday.
   The team captured Shamim as he was taking the money. The team seized Tk 16,330 more in cash and telegraphic transfer receipt of Tk 2,50,599 from him.
   Rammohan Nath lodged a case as complainant against Shamim with the kotwali on the day.
   Shamim was suspended and was handed over to the police after preliminary investigation by the commission. He will be produced in court today, said BMP assistant commissioner Hayatul Islam.

John McCain Thursday vowed to fight for America as long as he draws breath, in a patriotic pledge to bring political change as he accepted the Republican White House nomination.
   The 72-year-old war hero and free spirit senator offered himself as a warrior to fight one final battle for his country, arguing a character forged in war gave him the judgement and vision to lead from the White House.
   ‘I don’t mind a good fight,’ said McCain , who appeared on stage in a white spotlight following a video extolling his heroic story as a Vietnam war prisoner, ‘a man who found his strength in a tiny dank cell miles from home.’
   McCain’s speech ushered in the critical phase of the US election, a frenetic cross-country marathon including three face-to-face debates, which will decide whether he, or Democrat Barack Obama gets to move into the White House.
   ‘In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test,’ said McCain, exactly two months from election day.
   McCain, who has a reputation of bucking his party’s orthodoxy, promised he and vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin would shatter the political gridlock in Washington.
   ‘Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd: change is coming,’ McCain said, adding he was honoured to accept the party’s nomination.
   In a stark contrast to Obama’s spectacular convention finale in an open-air football stadium in Denver last week, McCain stood on a simple stage stretching out into seated Republican delegates.
   His speech was punctuated by standing ovations for him, and boos as McCain singled out Democratic policies, but there was none of the euphoria which greeted Palin , the new conservative heroine, on Wednesday.
   But as the traditional red, white and blue balloons tumbled from the rafters, McCain and Palin stood together in a cloud of confetti as the new face of the Republican Party.
   McCain mentioned president George W Bush only once, and not by name, as he thanked the now unpopular president for preventing another September 11-style attack.
   The primetime convention speech watched on television by millions of Americans was briefly interrupted by several anti-war protestors who had sneaked into the crowd.
   One held up a black sign reading ‘You can’t win an occupation,’ and started chanting, but was quickly drowned out by the crowd cheering ‘USA, USA,’ and then hustled away by security staff.
   McCain said he had worked for decades across the political aisle, contrasting his record with that of Obama, a first term senator.
   ‘That’s how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again.
   ‘I have that record and the scars to prove it. Senator Obama does not.’
   Obama’s campaign responded that McCain’s speech was simply ‘more of the same’ and offered nothing new from the Bush era.
   His defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton offered an adaptation of her top applause line at her party’s convention last week.
   ‘No way, No How, No McCain-Palin,’ she said in a statement.
   McCain argued that his heroism in Vietnam had forged the kind of leadership qualities that America needed.
   ‘I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else’s,’ McCain said.
   ‘I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for, I was never the same again.
   ‘I wasn’t my own man anymore. I was my country’s.’
   McCain is attempting to co-opt Obama’s mantle of change in a year in which polls show Americans overwhelmingly think their country is heading in the wrong direction.
   ‘I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need,’ McCain said in a clear swipe against Obama.
   ‘My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.’
   McCain also attempted to make a connection with everyday Americans who are struggling to make ends meet, with the economy the number one issue in the election.
   ‘I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn’t even noticed,’ McCain said.

The jail authorities have taken an initiative to set up training centres in 40 out of 67 jails across the country aiming to train the prisoners on production of readymade garments.
   The training centres will be set up under ‘correction and rehabilitation project’ so that thousands of prisoners can attain skills and prepare themselves for jobs in the apparel industry on completion of their jail terms.
   Inspector general (prisons) Mohammad Zakir Hasan disclosed this while talking to New Age last week.
   ‘Under the correction and rehabilitation project launched two and a half years ago, we are now giving training to the prisoners on electric and electronics goods assembling and beautification in 38 jails including 12 central jails,’ he said.
   ‘We hope that hundreds of prisoners receiving training will be able to lead normal life after their release on completion of terms. If they are not given training, they might commit various offences after release.’
   Zakir also said they had already imparted training to around 2,000 prisoners, including 150 females. Of them, 1,000 were freed and most of them were doing jobs.
   ‘On completion of the training, we gave them certificates and most of them took jobs. Now they are leading a standard life as compared to the past.’
   The project would reduce the pressure on accommodation in the jails which were crammed with inmates three times higher than their capacity, he added, saying that some of the trained prisoners after their release had expressed gratitude to the jail authorities. Such training helped them, especially those sentenced to long-term imprisonment, build their careers.
   The prison chief said, ‘Initially, a training centre on garments will be set up in Dhaka central jail through which at least 300 prisoners will be trained up every year.’ Construction work on the shades for the training centre had already started and the training centre would start functioning within three months.
   ‘We have already held talks with those involved in the garments sector. After preliminary talks, we will strike a deal with one of them to this effect. They will provide us with machinery and expertise for giving training to the prisoners,’ Zakir Hasan said.
   ‘The training will benefit both the prisoners and garments factory owners because the factory owners could easily pick up employees on their choice from the prisoners. So the prisoners will easily get jobs to their satisfaction from their factories,’ he said.
   ‘We will set up more training centres on garments production in 40 jails including 12 central jails and old district jails across the country gradually. At first, we will set up training centres in the central jails,’ he said.
   He also informed that on an experimental basis, they had already provided some 30 prisoners with training on sweater production in Pabna district jail and they are now well-employed after release.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday reinstated three judges ousted by Pervez Musharraf, cementing political divisions in the country a day before it elects a new president.
   Musharraf’s purge of the court last year deepened his unpopularity and helped his political foes to a victory in February elections. Musharraf resigned under pressure last month.
   However, the second-largest party then quit the ruling coalition over the failure to restore all the judges — including the ousted chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.
   Tassadiq Hussain Jillani, Shakirullah Jan and Syed Jamshed Ali were sworn back into the court at a ceremony Friday.
   Law minister Farooq Naek said Chaudhry was also welcome to take a fresh oath, but said he could not return as chief justice because removing the judge who replaced him could trigger a ‘constitutional impasse.’
   ‘There cannot be two chief justices,’ Naek told reporters at the court.
   The move deepens the rift between the ruling Pakistan People’s Party of Asif Ali Zardari, the front-runner to become president in a vote by lawmakers on Saturday, and that of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Most of the coloured iftar items including the reddish jilapi, the saffron beguni, peaju, potato chop, sweets, biryani and white muri (puffed rice) pose serious health hazards to the consumers as textile dyes, carbide, ethopene and urea are being used to make them look more attractive to the customers, said sources in the Institute of Public Health.
   Mangoes, pineapples, papayas and bananas are being artificially ripened by using a carcinogenic (cancer inducing) chemical called ethylene oxide. Another chemical called calcium carbide is being used to ripen bananas. A toxic artificial dye is also used to give fruits and vegetables a rich colour.
   Brick dust is mixed with chilli powder and a poisonous yellow colorant is mixed with turmeric powder to make it more yellow; water and salt are also mixed with these spices to increase the weight.
   Cyanide, a poison, is used to give mustard oil extra bite.
   Cooking oil that is commonly used to deep-fry many food items should only be used once, but many food vendors and restaurants recycle the burnt oil. Once the oil is used for cooking, it becomes oxidised. The more the oil is used, the more pre-oxide is formed in it, which is really harmful for the body. The oil gets more poisonous with continued use.
   According to IPH, more than 60 per cent of the food samples they have tested are poisonous and adulterated.
   Professor Motiur Rahman of the LabAid Cardiac Hospital told New Age that the children would be the worst sufferers of the different chemicals and textile dyes used to colour iftar items.
   ‘The natural growth of intelligence as well the bodies of the children might be adversely affected due to eating poisonous and adulterated food items mixed with chemicals and dyes. They are likely to suffer metabolic diseases in the future,’ he said.
   ‘The kidney function of a man or woman may fail due to eating poisonous and adulterated food items, which also create other complications like high blood pressure,’ he added.
   ‘Food adulteration should be stopped right now, and to do this we have to make the people aware of the consequences of eating foods mixed with textile dyes and harmful chemicals,’ he said, adding that the media, especially the electronic media, can play an effective role to this end.
   Professor Dr AKM Mokarram Hossain of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science told the New Age over the telephone, ‘Using textile dyes to colour food items, and ripening fruits like mangoes and bananas by using different kinds of chemicals, including calcium carbide, is very dangerous to health.’
   ‘Some unscrupulous businessmen are doing this to woo customers for extra profit, so the government should take a strong initiative to motivate them not to do so because it is impossible to stop food adulteration by only launching drives against them,’ said Hossain.
   Associate Professor Dr Ranjan Kumar Nath of the Kumudini Women’s Medical College told New Age, ‘We should avoid eating fruits and vegetables which are not seasonal, as the chemicals are used only fruits that are out of season. And it is also better to avoid the ground spices which are available in the kitchen markets; it is much safer to use whole spices and grind them at home.’
   ‘Dalda, a vegetable-based fat used for cooking iftar items, is an example of one of the worst cases of adulteration. Moreover, our stomach’s temperature is 37 degrees Celsius and the melting point of Dalda is 54 degree Celsius, so there is no way that Dalda can be absorbed by our bodies,’ said Dr Ranjan.
   ‘The government should take effective measures to stop the food adulteration before Ramadan after setting up a guideline to stop adulteration,’ he added.
   The Dhaka City Corporation’s mayor, Sadek Hossain Khoka, told New Age, ‘We will respond positively to the government if it seeks our help, but we can actually do nothing as we have no police or magistrate to stop adulteration.’
   Adulterated food colours are openly on sale in Chawkbazar, Moulavibazar and other markets in the capital because there is no proper monitoring by the authorities concerned.
   The director-general of the Rapid Action Battalion, Hasan Mahmud Khandokar, told New Age, ‘We will conduct extensive drives against adulteration during the holy Ramadan.’
   ‘Our intelligence teams are now desperately working to collect information about the unscrupulous traders who have been engaged in selling substandard colours and adulterated food items,’ he added.

Pakistani legislators are set to elect as president the late Benazir Bhutto’s controversial widower Asif Ali Zardari today (Saturday), making a choice many Pakistanis see leading to a fresh phase of political instability.
   His wife’s assassination last December and the victory of her grieving party in a February election has catapulted Zardari to the top in Pakistan’s switch to civilian-led democracy after nine years under former army chief and president, Pervez Musharraf.
   The presidential vote is a three-way contest, but Zardari’s party and its allies have a clear majority among lawmakers in the two-chamber parliament and four provincial legislatures that make up the electoral college.
   Desperate for stability in a nuclear-armed Muslim state whose cooperation is key to victory over al-Qaeda and the success of the West’s mission in Afghanistan, the United States is counting on Zardari to keep Pakistan committed to the war on terrorism.
   ‘I will work to defeat the domestic Taliban insurgency and to ensure that Pakistan territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on our neighbours or on NATO forces in Afghanistan,’ Zardari said in an article in the Washington Post on Thursday.
   The United States doesn’t trust his chief rival Nawaz Sharif, fearing he could pander to Islamists.
   The dangers that lie ahead were underscored on Wednesday by an unsuccessful assassination attempt on prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a Zardari nominee, that the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for.
   Zardari’s been called a crook, a liar, and held in widespread disdain, and there have even been doubts raised about his mental fitness after the rigours of 11 years spent in jail.
   Loyalists say the allegations were politically motivated and powerful media groups were smearing Zardari’s image, while favouring Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew in 1999.
   ‘No one challenges his democratic credentials as head of an elected party, but the personal credibility of Zardari has become a serious issue,’ wrote Shaheen Sehbai, editor of the Jang Group of Newspapers, Pakistan’s largest newspaper group, in The News daily last week.
   Zardari’s hesitancy to bring back judges Musharraf dismissed because of fears they could revive corruption cases against him, has not built confidence.
   Zardari, who was investment minister in the second government of his slain wife, was released after an eight-year stretch in 2004, but he has never been convicted.
   Charges against him and Benazir were dropped last year under an amnesty introduced by Musharraf for politicians and civil servants as part of an attempt to cut a deal with Benazir.
   The coalition government led by his Pakistan People’s Party has struggled to rise to the challenges left behind by Musharraf after coming to power five months ago.
   Inflation is running at more than 25 per cent, the rupee is at all-time lows, foreign currency reserves barely cover three months of imports, the stock market has dropped 41 per cent from a life high in April, and an Islamist militancy is surging across the northwest.
   Until Musharraf ended months of speculation by resigning last month, Zardari had denied having any interest in an elected post.
   Even detractors show grudging admiration for hiss manouevres to bring together a coalition that forced Musharraf to quit by threatening to impeach him.
   That didn’t satisfy Sharif, who pulled his party out of the coalition days later because of Zardari’s stalling over the restoration of the judiciary.
   Analysts fear a return to the bitter rivalry of the 1990s that made the army lose patience with civilian leaders.
   On Tuesday, a government prosecutor said he wanted corruption cases against Sharif taken up in a sign that Pakistan’s politics was reverting to type.
   Analysts say Zardari should realise Pakistanis are looking for real democracy rather than yet another leader who believes that once elected he can do what he pleases.

Bangladesh have included all-rounder Farhad Reza in place of medium pacer Nazmul Hossain to strengthen their awful batting line-up for today’s third and final one-day game against Australia at the TIO Stadium in Darwin.
   Farhad sat out the first two games when the tourists were all out for 74 and 117 runs respectively to suffer two of their worst defeats in an away series in their fledging cricket history.
   The third game’s squad will see another change with all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad coming in for an embattled opener Mehrab Hossain, who made just one run in two games playing his first series in six months.
   The exclusion of Mehrab Hossain means Junaed Siddique, who made a fluent 21 in the second game batting at number three, will be promoted up the order to open the innings with Tamim Iqbal.
   Junaed and Tamim, the ever preferred opening pair of coach Jamie Siddons, however, will have to shoulder a huge responsibility as the team are looking upon them for a good start.
   ‘The beginning is our main problem. If we can start well, we hope it will be a happy ending. I hope the openers will play at least 10 to 12 overs together to see off the early movement of the ball,’ said skipper Mohammad Ashraful.
   If they can do that and put on a decent total Australia will also be happy to some extent as they became tired of having no competition from their visitors, according to pacer Stuart Clark.
   ‘We expected a stronger resistance (from Bangladesh) in the second game and they probably played a little bit better and we’re expecting the same thing tomorrow, so hopefully it will be a good game,’ Clark said at a media briefing on Friday.
   ‘I’d like to see if we could do another number on them and hopefully get them out for not many runs, or if we bat first, get a lot of runs,’ said Clark, who is playing in his comeback series.

Myanmar’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has refused to accept food rations for three weeks, her party said Friday, calling on the military regime to take steps to ensure her ‘survival.’
   Her National League for Democracy party said the 63-year-old, who has been under house arrest for most of the last 19 years, had apparently stopped accepting most of her daily food rations.
   Suu Kyi receives daily rations from the regime and has no other source of food.
   ‘We have heard that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi does not completely accept the daily food supplies to her,’ NLD said in a statement, using an honorific before her name.
   ‘The authorities who unfairly detained her are responsible for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s security and survival,’ it said.

The Directorate of Primary Education is going to issue show-cause notices to the teachers of primary schools where not a single student passed the latest primary school scholarship exams.
   ‘There are about 4,000 schools without any successful candidate in the primary scholarship exams 2007, which was held in January 2008. The results were published in April. Teachers of such schools will be asked to explain the reasons for the failure,’ said a directorate official.
   ‘We will issue show-cause notices first and if it works, we will not take any stern action,’ the official said. ‘Such steps are meant to improve the situation.’
   The rules require every school to send at least 40 per cent of the Class V students to take scholarship exams.
   The government pays Tk 175 a month to the students winning talent pool primary scholarship and Tk 125 a month to the students winning general scholarship. The government pays the winners the amount from Class VI to Class VIII. The number of total primary scholarship is 45,000. There are more than 1.62 crore students in 80,401 schools which offer only primary schooling, according to government statistics.
   In the existing system, more than five lakh students of six categories of primary schools are allowed to take the scholarship exams. The number of examinees will increase from this year as the government in May decided to allow kindergarten students to take the primary school scholarship examinations from the academic year 2008.

Two subinspectors of the Rajshahi Metropolitan police were closed on Friday on charge of breach of discipline.
   The metropolitan police issued a release signed by assistant police commissioner of the Detective Branch on behalf of the deputy police commissioner (city), saying Abu Hanif Mian and Matiur Rahman of the Detective Branch had been suspended.
   Sources in the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police said the subinspectors Thursday night had arrested four women in possession of smuggled goods in front of Nagar Bhaban in Rajshahi.
   They later released the arrested and did not prepare any seizure list in exchange for money, the sources said.
   ‘The RMP authorities closed the subinspectors to the Rajshahi Police Lines and ordered investigation,’ the release said.
   ‘We closed the two subinspectors and ordered to investigation,’ a high RMP official told New Age.

The results of degree (pass), subsidiary and certificate course examinations under the National University will be published across the country simultaneously at 4:00pm tomorrow.
   A news release of the NU said the results of 1st, 2nd and 3rd years have already been sent to the deputy commissioners of all the districts.
   Principals of degree colleges concerned have been requested to collect the result packets from DC offices of their respective district.
   The results will also be available on two websites: www.nu.edu.bd and www.nuresults.net.
   Besides, anyone can collect results by mobile phone SMS. One has to write the roll number on the screen of the mobile phone message option and send it to 4636 number.

The detective branch of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police on Friday arrested an accomplice of top criminal Nasiruddin alias Shibir Nasir at Maizzertek in the city.
   The police said Jahangir Alam alias Tasbi Jahangir, owner of Kasturika Restaurant at Chawkbazar, was accused in 13 criminal cases, charges of which include murder and extortion.
   A team of the detective branch of CMP raided Maizzertek at about 3:00pm and arrested Jahangir, who was handed over to the Kotwali police.
   The raid was conducted following statements of three criminals, who were arrested along with the licensed revolver of Jagangir from Chowmuhuni area in the city on Tuesday.

Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, which was closed for an indefinite period on Tuesday, will resume its academic activities partially today.
   The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of academic council on Thursday with the college principal, Mahbubul Karim, in the chair.
   The college authorities took the decision only for holding the stalled final examinations of the students of 1st and 5th year.
   The vice-principal, Shahidul Islam, said all the academic activities would be resumed later considering the law and order.
   The college was closed sine die on Tuesday following a clash between the Bangladesh Chhatra League and the Islami Chhatra Shibir over quality of food of the canteen on Friday night.