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The High Court on Wednesday ordered that the MT Enterprise, listed hazardous vessel by the Green Peace should not be scrapped in the waters of Bangladesh.
   The High Court vacation bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Mamnoon Rahman also asked the government to explain why the issuance of the ‘no objection certificate,’ given by the shipping department for the entry of the vessel M.T. Enterprise, enlisted by the Green Peace as one of the 50 hazardous ships, into the waters of Bangladesh for breaking, would not be declared unlawful and against public and national interest.
   The court passed the order after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association challenging the legality of the ‘no objection certificate.’
   The government agencies were also asked to explain why they would not be directed to prevent the entry of any of the remaining hazardous vessels as listed by the Green Peace into the waters of Bangladesh.
   They will also need to explain why they will not be ordered to frame necessary rules and regulations on ship breaking as observed by the High Court in the judgment delivered on July 6, 2006 in another writ petition filed by the association challenging the entry of the MT Alfaship, also listed hazardous by the Green Peace.
   Moving the petition, former attorney general Fida M Kamal told the court the shipping department had first issued the no objection certificate to the MT Enterprise and then cancelled it to conceal facts.
   Subsequently when the MT Enterprise filed a case against the cancellation, a secret inspection was carried out by the department which eventually certified that the ship contains ‘waste within permissive limits’ and purportedly withdrew the cancellation certificate, Fida Kamal said.
   In two years, three ships — the SS Norway, MT Alfaship and MT Aspheron — listed hazardous by the Green Peace were either refused entry into Bangladesh by the government or were sent back in the face protests from green campaigners.
   In all the three cases, BELA brought all relevant information to the notice of the concerned agencies and sought judicial intervention and obtained favourable decisions against import of hazardous wastes for breaking purposes and framing of necessary rules and regulations.

Monthly revenue earning of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited from its landline service declined by about Tk 20 crore in July-August although the company provided 13,000 new connections after the reduction of call charges.
   Officials of BTCL, formed by transforming Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board into a company, said the monthly internal revenue earning of the company stood at Tk 35.23 crore during the July 20 to August 20 period although the revenue under the then BTTB was Tk 54 crore in June.
   BTCL started its operation from July 1 with new reduced tariffs.
   ‘The revenue from internal calls decreased following the reduction of tariff to Tk 0.10-Tk 0.15 per minutes from Tk 1.5 for five to 10 minutes,’ BTCL managing director Ashraful Alim told journalists on Wednesday.
   He, however, said they were within the target of fulfilling the long-term goal although the revenue earning seemed to have fallen at present.
   ‘We have got 13,000 new consumers during the last one and a half month. If our consumer-base continues to grow we hope to reach our previous revenue earning landmark soon,’ said Ashraf.
   He said they had identified 204 telephone exchanges across the country, each of which incurs Tk 70 crore losses every year.
   ‘We are planning to rearrange these exchanges to install them in densely populated areas where telephone demand is high,’ he said.
   The BTCL managing director said his company had the capacity to have 13 lakh connections while its existing consumer base is 8.45 lakh.
   In the capital and adjacent areas it has the capacity to provide 5.67 lakh connections, but it has currently 4.93 lakh consumers in this zone, he added.
   ‘We are planning to attract more consumers by offering new rates and add value to our services,’ Ashraf said.
   The BTCL is planning to reduce charge of conference call to Tk 50 per month from the existing Tk 300, call waiting facilities to Tk 20 per month from Tk 200 per month and wake up call to Tk 50 from Tk 300 per month.
   It is also planning to reduce the installation charge of ISDN (for video calls and data transfer) to Tk 15,920 from the existing Tk 30,000.
   The company will soon place a proposal to its board in this regard, he said. The state-run company also introduced a new internet service called ‘Premium Dial-up Internet Service’.
   Any BTCL consumer can use the internet with the access code of 0101234, user ID btcl and password btcl. The consumer need not to register separately and there is no need to buy any pre-paid card. The charge for using internet is similar to the charge for telephone conversation – Tk 0.15 for peak hours and Tk 0.10 off-peak hours and weekends.
   ‘The subscribers will pay internet bill with the monthly bill. No additional charge will be imposed for the telephone line use during the internet use,’ he said.
   Sufferings of the subscribers also decreased after the company came into operation, he claimed. ‘The situation is improving. We will have to do a lot more to provide the subscribers with better services.’

Shashthya Andolan, an NGO working with health-related issues, has urged the interim administration to wait for the elected government to formulate and implement the new health policy.
   Addressing a news conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Wednesday, co-convener of the org-anisation Professor Naila Zaman Khan, also a noted paediatrician, said the authorities concerned had given people inadequate time to put their opinions through website.
   ‘The government recently placed the National Health Policy (Update) 2008 in website seeking people’s opinion by September 18, but it is too difficult to give opinion on such a major public interest issue within this short period,’ she said and urged the government to formulate a pro-people health policy by taking opinions of those working in this sector.
   ‘In the proposed health policy, there is scope for multinational companies to make profit and a major section of the people, mainly the low income group, will be deprived of getting healthcare facilities,’ she said. Also, there is no guideline on how the maternal and child mortality rates could be reduced, she observed.
   The government has an important role to play to fight against diseases that break out in the aftermath of natural disasters, but no specific guideline on the issue is there in the proposed policy, the paediatrician said.
   ‘Formulation of a people-oriented health policy is time-consuming as it needs public opinion. But the proposed policy is being formulated hurriedly and it raised questions about the motive of the government,’ she said.
   Executive director of Ubinig Farida Akhtar, also an executive of Shashthya Andolan, said they would reject the health policy if the government formulated it ignoring opinion of the people concerned.
   Organisation members Salek Ahmed, Mesbahuddin, Seema Das Seemu, Roquiah Begum, Mahmuda Khatun, Enamul Hasib and Nazmun Karim Sabuj also addressed the conference. The organisation will arrange a seminar at the National Press Club on September 22 to review the proposed policy and make recommendations for a pro-people policy.

Changes have been brought to nine deputy secretary-level posts in the administration, according to an establishment ministry circular on Wednesday.
   Of the officials shuffled, two, Manik Lal Banik and Delwar Hossain, have been attached with the food and disaster management ministry to oversee the government’s 100-day work scheme.
   Bangladesh Textiles Mills Corporation secretary, Humayun Kabir, has been transferred to the finance division, EPB director AMM Azahar to the industries ministry and ERD deputy secretary Raunak Jahan to the shipping ministry.
   Besides, deputy secretary (OSD) with the establishment ministry, Rezaul Ahsan, has been transferred as deputy secretary of the same ministry.
   Abdur Rauf Shah, director of the family planning directorate, has been placed with the Export Promotion Bureau as director, and OSD deputy secretary Moshiar Rahman with the DCC as regional executive officer while the Registrar of the Second Court of Settlement Abdur Rauf Khan, has been appointed to the Public Service Commission secretariat as director, on deputation.
   Besides, senior assistant secretary of the youth and sports ministry, Irene Parveen Badhan, has been transferred to the human resources management unit of the health ministry as senior assistant chief.

Education Day was observed on Tuesday to mark the death of students rallying against the communal education policy formulated by the government in 1962.
   Various student bodies and socio-cultural organizations took out processions, staged rallies and held discussions to mark the day. They placed flowers at the memorial plaque in front of Shiksha Bhaban.
   The students on this day in 1962 went out on demonstrations in Dhaka, demanding cancellation of the National Education Commission’s (headed by Hamudur Rahman) report prepared by the military government.
   The police fired on the demonstrators of whom several students, including Mostafa, Wajiullah and Babul, were
   killed and many others injured.
   After the firing by the police
   the student movement
   spread all over the country, sparking off the Six-Point Movement in 1966 and the mass uprising in 1969.
   Dhaka’s mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, inaugurated a square named Shiksha Adhikar Chattar opposite Shiksha Bhaban at 11:30am.
   The square is meant to honour the heroes who laid down their lives during movements against communalism and autocracy in the period between 1962 and 1990.
   The Bangladesh Chhatra Union brought out a procession at noon on the Dhaka University campus. Its leaders demanded the cancellation of the government’s decision to hand
   over the maintenance of primary schools to BRAC in a
   rally after the procession came to an end in front of DUCSU Bhaban.
   They said that they would protest against the government’s conspiracy to commercialize the education system.
   The Samajtanrik Chhatra Front staged a rally in front of DUCSU Bhaban and brought out a procession on the campus at 10:30am.
   Its leaders demanded the cancellation of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Order in the rally.
   The Bangladesh Chhatra Federation brought out a procession and held a rally on the campus at 11:30am. The organization will also arrange a discussion at the RC Majumdar Auditorium in Dhaka University at 2:30pm.
   The Bangladesh Chhatra Maitree brought out a procession at noon on the campus and approached the education adviser’s office to submit a memorandum containing demands that are the same as those made by the Bangladesh Chhatra Union and Shamajtantrik Chhatra Front. Their representatives placed the memorandum, when the police stopped them, in front of Bangladesh Shishu Academy.
   The Progressive Student Alliance brought out a procession and went to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to submit a memorandum demanding what the Bangladesh Chhatra Union had also demanded, but the police stopped them in front of Bangladesh Shishu Academy. They staged a rally there.
   The Bangladesh Chhatra League and Chhatra Oikkyo Forum brought out a procession on Tuesday noon on the DU campus to observe Education Day.

Four Rapid Action Battalion personnel, including an assistant superintendent, were injured in an attack by villages at Bishwanath in Sylhet Tuesday night.
   The battalion arrested at least 13 persons suspected of attacking the battalion personnel, local residents said.
   Of the injured, assistant superintendent of police Sarwar was admitted to Osmani Sylhet Medical College Hospital. Physicians in the afternoon said he was out of danger.
   Sources in the battalion said one of its team, led by Sarwar, arrested four drug peddlers in possession of 42 bottles of Indian liquor at Dashghar of Bishwanath Tuesday night.
   But the villagers, with sharp weapons, attacked the battalion team as the arrested Abbas shouted that robbers had attacked his house.
   At one point, the villagers took the battalion personnel to a market by the Bishwanath–Jagannathpur Road and beat them and the arrested had managed to get away by then, the battalion said.
   The battalion personnel who were waiting in a pick-up van in the area went to the spot and tried to control the situation, but the villagers, reorganised, attacked them again, the sources said.
   The Rapid Action Battalion 9 and the Sylhet police reached the spot and cordoned off the area to arrest the people who attacked the lawmen to free the drug peddlers.
   The battalion till Wednesday afternoon failed to arrest Abbas, who along with three of his associates, got away handcuffed.
   The battalion arrested at least 13 villagers, local residents said. The Bishwanath police said no case had been filed in this connection till Wednesday afternoon.
   RAB 9 information officer Captain Al-Amin said they continued with the drive at Dashghar.
   The battalion in the evening said preparations were on to file a case in this connection.

Women in Nepal have not been given their due rights even after the establishment of an elected regime in the Himalayan state, said a Nepalese development thinker in Dhaka on Wednesday.
   Bina Pradhan, an adviser to Nepal’s National Planning Commission, alleged that leaders of the Maoist government had not implemented their pre-revolution pledges of women’s empowerment by putting an end to their subjugation during the monarchy.
   ‘Women were directly involved in the war; they were soldiers and fought against the monarchy as the Maoist leaders promised equity and salvation of women in society,’ she said at a seminar titled ‘Women and People’s War in Nepal’, organised by the Dhaka University’s Women and Gender Studies Department at the Senate Bhaban.
   Bina described the condition of Bangladeshi women as better than Nepalese women who were denied the basic rights related to the possession of property, education and representation in the Parliament.
   She told a questioner that she came to Bangladesh to talk about the problems faced by Nepalese women as there was no such platform or organisation there to raise the issues of women.
   She said many women were tortured by the state itself during the rule of the king, but they have not been provided with remedial measures. In this context, she mentioned that the young women who were direct victims of the conflict had not yet been given the opportunity of education.
   The former and present chairpersons of the department, Najma Chowdhury and Ayesha Banu, and executive director of Research Initiatives Bangladesh, Meghna Guha Thakurata, were present at the seminar, along with others.

The 11-Party Alliance, a combine of the leftist and democratic political parties, on Wednesday called on the interim government to announce a specific date for the next parliamentary elections immediately.
   The central steering committee, at a meeting held in the central office of the Workers Party, said that much confusion has arisen in the people who have become uncertain whether or not the parliamentary elections will be held according to the roadmap announced by the Election Commission.
   The uncertainty will be reduced after announcement of the date of the elections, according to the resolution of the meeting.
   Though the EC was claiming that they will hold the parliamentary elections in December this year, the roadmap was delayed for three months which has given rise to uncertainty, said the steering committee.
   The meeting also said that delimitation of 88 constituencies and some undemocratic rules in the Representation of People (Amendment) Order would create unwanted complexities and delay the elections.
   The leftist leaders called on the EC to refrain from implementing the delimitation process before the upcoming elections.
   The meeting demanded that the government must make public the conditions that were imposed on Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia in the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
   The resolution of the meeting also called on the interim government to lift the state of emergency, completely lift the ban on trade union activities, stop the use of black money and religion in the elections and introduce full rationing of food items and other essentials.
   The meeting also demanded payment of the wages and festival allowances of the workers before the Eid-ul-Fitr.
   The meeting, chaired by president of the Workers Party Rashed Khan Menon, was attended by the coordinator of the alliance Zakir Hossain, WP’s general secretary Bimal Biswas, Ganatantri Party’s president Mohammad Nurul Islam, Gana Forum’s presidium member Pankaj Bhattachrya, Gana Azadi League’s president Abdus Samad, Samayabadi Dal’s central leader Abu Hamed Shahabuddin, Ganatantri Party’s leader Nurur Rahman Selim, Communist Kendra’s leader Asit Baran and others.

The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Wednesday hosted an iftar party for orphans, freedom fighters and Islamic scholars at Bangabhaban.
   A special munajat was offered ahead of the iftar seeking divine blessings for peace and progress of the country, and unity, solidarity and progress of the Muslim states.

The interim government will hold a ‘policy summit’ on three major development issues in November, involving the top leaders of political parties in setting several agenda for the country’s future progress, disclosed a key adviser on Wednesday.
   Hossain Zillur Rahman said the prime objective of such a high-level forum is to float
   the development agenda, generate debates on them before the elections and properly apprise the politicians of the future challenges faced by the nation.
   The three issues that will be covered in the policy summit are investment and economic growth, administrative reforms and improvement of the education sector.
   ‘I have already talked with the chief adviser on this initiative. We will definitely involve top political leaders in the process so that they can be informed of developmental issues well in advance,’ the adviser told newsmen at his commerce ministry office after a meeting on development in Chittagong.
   Zillur termed the policy summit initiative another phase of political development for building a prosperous Bangladesh by bringing about a qualitative change in the country’s politics. ‘The summit is still in the planning stage and we will soon give it shape,’ he added.
   The commerce ministry, too, will organise a workshop to discuss and work out strategies on how to handle the big investment proposals through institutional arrangements.
   ‘Our aim is to ensure clear policy thinking on the investment proposals while the Board of Investment remains the focal point of the investment initiatives taken by investors,’ said the commerce adviser, referring to a number of big investment proposals that have been made to Bangladesh in recent times.
   The meeting reviewed the decisions taken by the advisory council at its recent meeting in Chittagong to expedite development activities in the port city and its surroundings. The cabinet secretary, Ali Imam Majumdar, and representatives of the Chittagong Development Authority were present.
   ‘We are satisfied that the implementation process is going ahead after decisions on a number of key issues were taken,’ said Zillur.

Fifteen intellectuals in a statement on Wednesday condemned the decision of the Jahangirnagar University syndicate to relieve drama and dramatics department chairman Sanwar Hossain of the charge of sexually harassing some female students.
   They also demanded formation of a high-powered commission by the president, who is the chancellor of the university, to settle the accusations against Sanwar, also known as Ahmed Sani, by reviewing the syndicate decision or through fresh investigation, if needed.
   ‘The neutrality of the committee, upon whose report the syndicate decision came, has been questioned as the committee members are the colleagues of the accused teacher,’ says the statement.
   The intellectuals also demanded that the committee report and details of the syndicate decision should be published in mass media.
   The signatories are Khan Sarwar Murshid, Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, Serajul Islam Choudhury, Hasan Azizul Haq, Justice Golam Rabbani, Sultana Kamal, Ayesha Khanam, Muhammad Jafar Iqbal, Sayed Abul Maksud, Kamal Lohani, Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah Abul Barakat, MM Akash, Anu Muhammad and M Samsul Alam.