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The government is planning to initiate investigation of the Anti-Corruption Commission’s contentious actions, including harassment of politicians and spending a huge sum of money on the payment of lawyers’ fees during the tenure of the immediate-past military-controlled interim government.
   The law minister, Shafique Ahmed, and the commerce minister, Faruk Khan, hinted such initiatives on Friday, a day after former army chief Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury resigned as chairman of the commission.
   ‘The commission’s activities have given rise to questions not only among the ruling party lawmakers, but also the opposition lawmakers, politicians, businessmen and the masses… We hope appropriate actions will be taken in this regard,’ Faruk Khan told reporters after attending a reception accorded to university freshers by coaching centre Admission Plus in Dhaka.
   Shafique said, ‘The role of Hasan Mashhud and the commission under his leadership came up for heated debate in political arena and also in the parliament as most of the cases were filed on political considerations.’
   ‘The role of the commission under Hasan Mashhud’s leadership including spending Tk 13 crore on paying the commission’s counsels to deal with the cases, mostly against politicians, should be investigated,’ he told reporters at his house on Indira Road.
   The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has also welcomed Hasan Mashhud’s resignation.
   The party’s joint secretary general Abdullah-Al-Noman told a television channel on Friday the commission, by its activities under Hasan’s leadership during the military-controlled interim government, established itself as an opponent to politicians and businessmen.
   Hasan Mashhud on Thursday resigned amid ‘evolving situation’ after leading a massive drive during the military-controlled interim government against corruption, in which least 156 people, including 70 high-profile politicians, were convicted and more than 200 politicians, including two top leaders — Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia — and their cabinet colleagues, were kept in prison.
   ‘I think such a situation has cropped up now that a new leadership is essential to bring dynamism in commission activities,’ Hasan Mashhud told an impromptu briefing at the commission headquarters on Thursday.
   ‘There is no need for more details of the situation I tell you about as you all are well aware of the situation,’ he said on Thursday.
   The government, however, said there was no pressure from the government on Hasan Mashhud to step down. ‘As far as I know, there was no pressure on him to resign,’ Shafique said.
   Shafique, however, could not precisely say anything about the immediate reason for the resignation of Hasan Mashhud.
   The law minister thought Hasan Mashhud might have resigned after considering the matter that some corruption cases were filed under political pressure during the military-controlled interim government and some politicians were arrested even before filing cases against them.
   The state minister for law, Quamrul Islam, told reporters on Thursday he was happy about the resignation as Hasan Mashhud had been used by the military-controlled interim government to harass politicians.
   He also said Hasan Mashhud was neither removed nor asked to resign by the government.
   Hasan Mashhud’s resignation came after lawmakers of both the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party had demanded in the parliament that he should resign with the new government assuming office after the December 29, 2008 elections.
   The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on February 4 also told the parliament, ‘The ACC should be reconstituted to ensure its accountability.’
   During the tenure of Hasan Mashhud as chairman of the commission, 165 people, including 70 politicians, were convicted of corruption by special judge’s courts set up by the military-controlled interim government.
   The commission on October 20, 2008 submitted a list of convicts to the interim government, informing it that 114 people, including 70 politicians, were convicted in corruption cases under the Emergency Powers Rules 2007.
   The three members of the cabinet also said the commission would be made more functional and transparent.
   ‘The commission will be made more functional as the government is determined to prevent corruption,’ said Faruk.
   As for appointment of a chairman at the commission, the law minister said it would be done through due process. The three ministers and the BNP leader, however, ruled out any impact on the drive against corruption in the wake of Hasan Mashhud’s resignation.

Activists of the Chhatra League, the ruling Awami League’s associate body of students, continued clashing with rivals within the organisation in educational institutions flouting the warning of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League chief.
   A group of the Chhatra League activists attacked another group in the Mir Mosharraf Hall in Jahangirnagar University early Friday, in which at least 10 students were injured. The police later raided the hall and arrested five of the group which attacked their fellows.
   After a gunfight between two Chhatra League groups on the university campus, which prompted the central Chhatra League committee to suspend on February 17 the activities of the university unit activities for an indefinite period, Hasina summoned the organisation’s president and general secretary three times and warned them of tough action if such infighting continued on the campuses.
   After the Awami League had assumed office in January, two student leaders were killed, more than 1,000 students injured and about 25 educational institutions were closed over clashes by and within the Chhatra League.
   Abul Kalam Asad Rajib, the general secretary of the Dhaka Medical College unit Chhatra League which has already served out its tenure, was killed on Tuesday in a factional feud, and the Rajshahi University unit Chhatra Shibir general secretary, Sharifuzzaman Nomani, was killed by Chhatra League activists on March 13.
   The clash in Rajshahi University forced the closure of eight educational institutions in Rajshahi for an indefinite period — Rajshahi University, Rajshahi Medical College and Rajshahi College on March 13 and Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi Government New Degree College, Government City College and Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute and the Institute of Health Technology the next day.
   The Government New Degree College, Government City College and the Institute of Health Technology in Rajshahi reopened in the past week.
   The clashes in Dhaka Medical College also forced the closure of the institution for an indefinite period.
   After the killing of Abul Kalam Asad Rajib, senior Awami League leaders expressed extreme annoyance at the recent Chhatra League activities and they were thinking about disbanding the committees of the organisation.
   In Jahangirnagar University on Friday, at least 10 Chhatra League activists were injured in factional feud in the Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall.
   In Chapainawabganj on Thursday, three Chhatra League activists of rival groups and two village policemen were injured as the two groups clashed at Ranihati of Shibganj over putting up a banner welcoming the lawmaker.
   Twenty-five were also injured, in addition to Rajib’s being killed, in Dhaka Medical College on Tuesday. At least 10 were injured of two Chhatra League groups in the Government MM College in Jessore when the groups clashed over dominance on the campus on Tuesday and Wednesday.
   In Tolaram College of Narayanganj, Chhatra League activists locked up the college to pressure the administration in connection with admission of some students going beyond the norms.
   Sources in the Mir Mosharraf Hall in Jahangirnagar University said Chhatra League activists of the Polash-Regan Group with help of some outsiders had attacked the activists of the Pritam-Sabbir Group at about 4:30am with hockey sticks, machetes, iron rods and batons.
   Ten of the Pritam-Sabbir Group members were injured in the attack. Others managed to get away.
   Seriously injured are Batch 33 student Belal of anthropology, Batch 34 student Tanmoy of Bangla, Batch 35 student Subrata of economics and Batch 36 students Liton and Ronnie of economics and Rimon of Bangla. They have been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   Witnesses said the activists loyal to the Polash-Regan Group at about 4:30am entered the hall by cutting the gate of the hall canteen as the two main gates of the hall were locked and guarded by the activists of the Pritam-Sabbir group after they had taken control of the hall in February.
   The students of the hall also complained the attackers had also beaten a number of general students not involved in any kind of politics and looted more than Tk 5,000 and 100 mobiles from the students.
   The university’s proctorial body visited the hall at 5.30am along with about a hundred policemen.
   When the police started raiding the hall at 8:00am, all but five activists loyal to the Polash-Regan Group managed to get away. No arms were found in the raid.
   The arrested are Batch 36 students Tofa and Arif of history, Batch 34 student Shahed of government and politics, Batch 34 student Shajeeb of statistics and Batch 36 student Shawon of geography.
   The university’s acting proctor Professor Md Arzu Mia told newsmen proper steps would be taken after identifying the criminals.
   Pritam told New Age, ‘Of course, there is someone powerful behind them [Polash-Rigan Group]. They would not have attacked us, otherwise.’
   Mahmudud Naser Jony, general secretary of the recently dissolved committee of university unit Chhatra League, told New Age, ‘We want the attackers punished.’ He denied any involvement of Chhatra League leaders in the incident in the Mosharraf Hossain Hall.
   On March 10, activists of the Pritam-Sabbir Group attacked the activists of the Polash-Regan Group in which 15 students were injured.
   Chhatra League insiders attributed the recurrence such violence to the absence of chain of command in the organisation and the expiry of the tenures of committees in all tiers.

The power and energy ministry has taken a move to formulate a policy for the public-private joint venture to develop gas and coal fields on a ‘fast track’ basis.
   ‘The main aim of the policy will be to allow Petrobangla to form joint ventures with local private sector or foreign companies to develop gas and coal fields.
   The gas and coal fields cannot be developed quickly at present because of the existing procurement rules,’ said a high official of the ministry.
   Petrobangla prepared and placed a draft joint venture policy on Thursday as per the ministry’s directive at an inter-ministerial meeting, headed by the adviser to the prime minister Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.
   The draft said that the joint venture for energy sector was needed as the country was facing a huge energy crisis although it had five coal fields and potential for more gas reserves.
   Petrobangla would be able to form joint ventures for any energy-related projects like exploration, production, transmission and supply of coal, gas and other hydrocarbons and the ministry would be able to approve projects worth up to $50 million.
   It also said a security-committee, headed by the chairman of Petrobangla or an additional secretary of the ministry, would be able to approve projects below $50 million.
   The meeting, attended by representative of different ministries like the finance, planning, industries and commerce, Board of Investment, National Board of Revenue and Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, however, asked Petrobangla to review the draft further.
   ‘The draft policy was sent back as it was similar to the Private Sector Infrastructure guideline, which was enacted in 2004 for tapping private sector investment in different projects.
   The meeting felt that the energy sector joint venture policy would be more up to date and different,’ said an official.
   Energy experts, however, said that such joint ventures could encourage more irregularities in the energy sector if the government failed to ensure competitive bidding in the process.
   The past BNP-led BNP government signed a controversial joint venture agreement with the Canadian company Niko Resources for two gas fields in continuation of a move by the previous Awami League government, which declared three gas fields abandoned, despite having sufficient gas reserve to award the fields to Niko, said an expert.
   ‘It seems there was a move to sign more such joint venture agreements under the energy sector joint venture policy to award gas fields to foreign companies,’ he said.
   Energy expert Professor Nurul Islam of BUET told New Age on Friday that there was no need for joint ventures to develop gas fields. ‘Joint ventures for gas fields will not give any benefit. For example, the joint venture for Feni gas field gives Bapex only 20 per cent share while 80 per cent share was being taken by Niko,’ he said.
   He said a joint venture could be formed for the coal fields as per the draft coal policy. ‘A separate policy for joint venture for coal fields can be enacted but the joint venture partner for state-run companies for coal fields will have to be selected through competitive bidding,’ he said.
   Sources in Petrobangla said that Petrobangla and the energy ministry were also eager to formulate the policy to engage some dubious companies like the Luxon Global of South Korea in exploring and developing coal fields.
   ‘Petrobangla has already got a number of offers from companies from South Korea and Poland to form joint ventures to explore coal at Dighipara field.
   The dubious Luxon has become more active since its Bangladesh agent was elected a member of parliament from the ruling party Awami League. It will be convenient for them to form such joint ventures if there is a policy,’ said a source.
   A high official of energy ministry, however, said that the draft of the policy would be formulated in such a way so that no irregularities could take place. ‘The draft of the policy was sent back as we want that there would be some sort of authority which will look after the formation of joint ventures and see whether any irregularities are taking place,’ he said.

The work of various departments under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is being seriously hampered as the officials there are panic-stricken since the government is likely to make more changes in the key positions.
   In the last two months the government has transferred most of the bureaucrats from key positions, which has hampered the regular work of the departments concerned, said a high official of the ministry.
   More changes will be made after the return of the health minister, AFM Ruhul Haque, who is now attending a health programme in China, said the official. ‘The new Awami League government has transferred, promoted or shunted aside as officers on special duty most of the high officials in the health services including the directors, principals and professors, and more transfers are likely.’
   As per the recent notification by the ministry issued on Thursday, at least 40 professors and directors of various public medical colleges and the Directorate-General of Health Services were transferred and promoted.
   Officials of the health ministry also alleged that the government was preparing to gradually transfer and appoint the Awami League-backed doctors to various important posts and offices in the ministry and the health service.
   Sources also said that the health adviser, Syed Modasser Hussain, also intervened in the promotion and transfer process. Din Muhammad Nurul Haque, director of the National Institute of Ophthalmology Research and Hospital, will be appointed the director-general of DGHS and the DG, Shah Monir Hussain, will be promoted to the post of additional secretary of the ministry. Both of them are members of the Shadhinata Chikitshak Parishad (SCP), the Awami League-backed doctor’s association.
   Sources in the ministry also said that the doctors who are involved with the BNP-backed Doctor’s Association of Bangladesh have been either transferred or made OSDs.
   Dr Abul Kashem Khandakar, Professor of Medicine at the Dhaka Medical College, was transferred to the Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra.
   The director of communicable diseases of the DGHS, Dr Moazzem Hussain, was transferred to the microbiology department of the MAG Osmani Medical College in Sylhet.
   As per the directive issued last Wednesday, Associate Professor Dr Sadi and Associate Professor Dr Abdur Rashid were appointed vice-principals of Sir Salimullah Medical College and Begum Khaleda Zia Medical College respectively, though according to the rules of the BCS health cadre the vice-principals of public medical colleges have to be full and regular Professors.
   By the same order Dr FM Siddique, Professor of Medicine at the DMCH, has been transferred to the Dinajpur Medical College, and ASM Sharfuzzamanm, Professor of Surgery at Sir Salimullah Medical College, has been transferred to the Barisal Medical College.
   The AL-backed SCP has listed at least 50 Professors, Associate and Assistant Professors who will be made OSDs, which has created panic in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said sources.
   Professor Fazlul Haque, chairman of colorectal surgery of the BSMMU, resigned in protest against the transfers and political activities that hamper the BSMMU’s regular work, said sources.
   The deputy registrar of the BSMMU, Hafizur Rahman, was made OSD last week.
   On March 22 vice-chancellor Professor Nazrul Islam, Pro-VCs Choudhury Ali Kawser and Mohammed Kamal, and treasurer Ruhul Amin Miah resigned in response to an order of the health ministry.
   The government has appointed Dr Pran Gopal Dutta, SCP member and ENT physician of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the vice-chancellor of the BSMMU. Besides, Professor Dr AKM Anisul Haque of neuro-medicine and Professor Dr Mohammad Shahidullah of neo-natology have been appointed pro-vice chancellors, while Professor Dr Moazzem Hossain of child nephrology has been made treasurer of the BSMMU.
   On January 18 Shah Munir Hossain replaced MA Faiz as director-general of the Directorate-General of Health Services.
   As per notifications by the health ministry issued on January 27 and February 8, most of principals and professors of various public medical colleges were transferred.
   The principals and vice-principals of MAG Osmani Medical College, Mymensingh Medical College, Comilla Medical College, Begum Khaleda Zia Medical, Rajshahi Medical College, Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, Khulna Medical College, Dhaka Dental College and Dinajpur Medical College were transferred.

India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party launched its election manifesto Friday, positioning itself as the guardian of national security and appealing to its Hindu nationalist base.
   With the start of polling just two weeks away, the BJP promised a slew of populist measures, including special loans and pensions to farmers and subsidised rice for those living below the poverty line.
   ‘The most worrisome issue before us today is national security,’ said the party’s official candidate for prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani.
   ‘Good governance, development and security, these summarise our promises,’ said the 81-year-old former home minister.
   The BJP governed at the head of a coalition between 1998 and 2004 before being ousted by a Congress-led alliance in 2004 elections.
   Slamming the Congress government’s track record on terrorism as a ‘nightmare,’ the BJP manifesto highlighted recent attacks on Indian soil, including a series of bombings in New Delhi and November’s militant assault on the financial capital Mumbai.
   ‘Never before has India been seen so helpless in the face of terror,’ the manifesto said.
   The BJP vowed ‘coercive measures’ to deal with countries promoting cross-border terrorism, to expel all illegal immigrants living in India and to revive tough anti-terror legislation that was repealed by the Congress.
   ‘The BJP will send out a simple message ... to terrorists and their sponsors. They will have to pay a heavy price for each innocent life lost,’ the manifesto said.
   The BJP also noted the threat posed by Indian Maoists operating in half of India’s 28 states and vowed to fence off the border with neighbouring Bangladesh ‘through which illegal migrants enter the country.’
   In a bid to lure farmers, whose support had boosted the Congress party win in 2004, the BJP promised loans at low interest rates and a complete waiver of existing loans.
   It also pledged 35 kilograms of rice per month at two rupees (three cents) a kilo to poor families and tax sops to the estimated 300 million-strong middle class if voted to power.
   The manifesto release was timed to coincide with the birthday of the Hindu warrior god Ram — a national holiday in India.
   In a nod to the party’s Hindu nationalist supporters, the manifesto reaffirmed a pledge to build a Ram temple over the remains of a razed mosque in Ayodhya in northern India.
   The destruction of the mosque in December 1992 by Hindu zealots had triggered some of the worst Hindu-Muslim sectarian clashes since India’s independence in 1947.
   A senior Congress minister dismissed the BJP’s vision as ‘parochial’ and without value.
   ‘This manifesto is a reflection of the fact that they have lost their way. They will never be in tune with India,’ science and technology minister Kapil Sibal said.
   ‘They have no issue today, neither economic nor social. Therefore, they are again talking of the Ram temple,’ he said.

Investigation into the 10 truckloads of arms case here has hit a snag with most of the suspects summoned for questioning trying to dodge the investigators, sources in the Criminal Investigation Department said.
   Despite repeated reminders, the suspects are avoiding appearance at the CID’s Chittagong office to face questioning, they added.
   The CID, assigned for a fresh probe into the arms haul case, issued notices to Mohammad Ali, former deputy director of the
   Chittagong unit of the National Security Intelligence, coast guard personnel and some senior police officials who were on duty here while the consignment of smuggled weapons were unloaded at the CUFL jetty on April 1, 2004, investigators said.
   But they were yet to respond to the notices and appear at the CID office to face questioning, the investigators said adding that as a result, progress in the probe had slowed down.
   ‘We are in an awkward situation as those suspects have not yet turned up for questioning despite repeated reminders,’ said the investigation officer, ASP of CID Moniruzzaman Chowdhury.
   ‘They even did not contact us… We are also pursuing them through the home ministry and other authorities concerned to get them for questioning,’ he said.
   ‘We have also sought a list of the coast guard personnel who were on duty at CUFL jetty when the weapons were unloaded. But to our dismay, the list is yet to come,’ he added.
   ‘Now we may be forced to go for alternative options to overcome the problems…,’ the investigator said.
   When contacted, public prosecutor Kamal Uddin Ahmed said that the investigation into the arms haul case had slowed down a little due to lack of cooperation from the people called for questioning.
   ‘But I think it’s a temporary problem and the investigation will gather pace in course of time,’ the PP said adding, ‘I have kept an eye on this case and have already made some suggestions to the investigation officer to go ahead to find the leads.’
   The police seized the 10 truckloads of arms from the jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited on April 1, 2004.
   The case got a new start after the court ordered a fresh investigation and with the recording of the statements of two prime accused – Hafizur Rahman and Deen Mohammad, officials said.
   Investigators said that some political bigwigs and other persons, suspected to have been involved in the arms smuggling, would also be called for questioning in phases to unearth the mystery.

Up to 13 people may have been killed on Friday in a rampage by a gunman believed to be holding dozens of hostages at a civic
   centre in upstate New York, local radio reported.
   ‘A dozen or more may have died in the last two hours,’ Bob Joseph, news director of local WNBF Radio in the town of Binghamton, told CNN, quoting sources.
   Other reports said four were shot at the American Civic Association building, which helps new immigrants to the United States.
   Reports said the gunman may have also taken between 20 and about 40 hostages in the civic centre in the small city located 217 kilometres northwest of New York city, near the border with Pennsylvania.
   The police armed with automatic rifles surrounded the American Civic Association building in Binghamton as officers carried out several stretchers, CNN television footage showed.
   One person, who was clearly still alive, was seen on television being stretchered out.
   The local Press and Sun-Bulletin newspaper reported that at least four people were shot and that 41 hostages were in the building — 15 in a closet and 26 in the boiler room.
   According to Joseph, the guman was believed to have parked a car so that it blocked the back door of the civic centre, preventing escape.
   Television images showed crowds of anxious people gathered in the area of the civic centre.
   The centre’s web site said it assists immigrants and refugees with immigration and personal counselling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification, interpreters, and translators.
   The shooting came just days after a heavily-armed man burst into a North Carolina nursing home on Sunday killing eight people.
   Armed with multiple weapons, alleged gunman Robert Stewart, 45, stormed the nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina, shooting 11 people before being stopped by a single police officer.

The Awami League’s spokesperson, Syed Ashraful Islam, on Friday echoed his party president Sheikh Hasina’s call and asked opposition leader Khaleda Zia to return the house on Shaheed Mainul Road in the Dhaka Cantonment to the state.
   ‘Khaleda Zia should make a positive response to the prime minister’s call to return her cantonment house in whose premises flats can be constructed for the families of the victims of the February 25-26 BDR rebellion,’ he said in a statement.
   On Wednesday Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during the question-answer session at the parliament, asked Khaleda Zia to return her cantonment house to the state. She said that it is not fair for a former premier to take illegal possession of a house, so Khaleda should return it to the state.
   The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s joint secretary-general, M Abdul Mannan, on Thursday called the PM’s call to Khaleda a ‘threat’, saying that this had exposed Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic mindset. ‘The attitude of the prime minister will endanger democracy, especially when Begum Khaleda Zia is showing her willingness to cooperate with the government to overcome the crisis that the nation is facing,’ he said.
   Ashraf, also the LGRD and cooperatives minister, in his statement denounced Mannan’s remarks, saying that they were insolent, motivated and a violation of political courtesy.
   ‘Everyone knows Khaleda Zia and her family members have bought a large number of properties in the last three decades, and during her regime she whitened crores of taka and her two sons smuggled crores abroad, for which they faced corruption charges both at home and abroad. So Khaleda Zia should return her cantonment residence to the state,’ he said.
   Ashraf said the PM had not revealed any low sort of cunning by urging the former premier to vacate the house — she did so only to help the families of the victims of the carnage in the Pilkhana.
   Rather the BNP leaders exposed their mental sickness to mislead the people and to appease their leader, Khaleda Zia, by misinterpreting the PM’s appeal which was made on humanitarian grounds, he said.

Four suspected mutineers of the Bangladesh Rifles who were kept under the Lalabagh police custody on police remand were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital Thursday night after they fell sick.
   Hospital sources said assistant sub-inspector Abdul Hakim of the Lalabagh police station brought to the hospital havildar Didarul Alam, 44, and lance naik Delwar Hossain, 41, at 9:30pm while sub-inspector Zahirul Islam of the same police station
   brought havilder Shahjalal, 52, and sepoy Saiful Islam, 24, at around 10:30pm.
   The on-duty physician told newsmen, ‘They were admitted at ward 31 of the hospital with injuries in the leg.’

Dr Kamrul Hasan, a Chhatra League leader and physician at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, was remanded in police custody for two days on Friday in connection with Tuesday’s violent clash at the medical college that left one student dead and 20 others injured.
   The police produced Kamrul in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court with a prayer for a five-day remand but the court granted two days to question him in connection with the case filed with Lalbagh police station.
   The Rapid Action Battalion arrested Kamrul Hassan from a clinic in Faridganj upazila in Chandpur district on Thursday and handed him over to Lalbagh police in the evening.
   The police said they had started interrogating the physician over the bloody clashes.
   Son of Hafizuddin of Chouddagram in Comilla, Kamrul obtained his MBBS degree from Dhaka Medical College in 2004. He was elected vice-president of the DMC unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra League for the fifth time on June 16, 2001.
   He was shown arrested in a case filed by the DMCH authorities on Tuesday, the day the clash took place between the supporters of Abul Kalam Asad Rajib, general secretary of BCL’s DMC unit and its former leader Dr Bidyut Barua over gaining control of the campus. DMCH was closed for an indefinite period following the clash.
   DMC principal Dr Kazi Deen Mohammad said the authorities were contemplating a ban on student politics at the college for a period of time adding that the college could reopen in a week.
   The BCL suspended its activities at the DMC for three months after Tuesday’s incident.

A chemical used in explosives, fireworks and rocket fuel has been found in powdered baby formula in the United States, the Environmental Working Group non-profit group said on Friday.
   In ‘little-noticed findings’, researchers at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found that 15 brands of baby milk contained perchlorate, an oxidiser in solid fuels used in explosives, fireworks, road flares and rocket motors, the EWG said.
   ‘Studies have established that the chemical is a potent thyroid toxin that may interfere with fetal and infant brain development,’ it said.
   The two most tainted brands had a nearly 90-per cent share of the US powdered baby milk market in 2000, EWG cited the CDC researchers as saying.
   The CDC scientists submitted a report of their study on perchlorate in baby formula to the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology in October last year and it was published last month.
   It was unclear when the study was conducted, and the lead researcher, Dr Joshua Schier, was not immediately available for comment.
   ‘The little-noticed CDC findings ... raise new concerns about perchlorate pollution, a legacy of Cold War rocket and missile tests,’ the EWG said.
   According to the EWG, perchlorate is found in drinking water in more than half the 50 US states and mixing tainted baby formula with the contaminated water ‘could boost the resulting mixture’s toxin content above the level the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.’
   A study conducted in 2006 by the CDC found that exposure to perchlorate at levels ‘considerably below’ the level considered safe by the EPA altered thyroid hormone levels in women, the EWG said, calling for new limits to be set for perchlorate in drinking water.
   Under president George W Bush, the EPA last year determined that regulating perchlorate levels in drinking water would not result in ‘a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction.’

Bangladesh’s economy is, according to the International Monetary Fund, still in a better shape compared with the economies of some other Asian countries in the face of the ongoing global recession, Bangladesh Bank sources said.
   ‘Bangladesh’s economy is doing well in comparison with those of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand and even Malaysia as signs and symptoms in its forex reserve, export and import, valuation of dollar compared with taka, along with positive current account balance and overall balance of payment are very positive,’ said Masato Miyazaki, the IMF’s Asia-Pacific adviser, at a meeting on Wednesday with three Bangladesh Bank departments — Forex Reserve and Treasury Management, Foreign Currency Policy, and Foreign Currency Investment.
   The IMF staff mission visited Bangladesh between March 30 and April 2 to give the central bank and the government some suggestions for the current financial year, the revised and the next financial year’s budget.
   The IMF staff mission, as part of the visit, also met the officials and heads of the three departments of the central bank on Wednesday.
   The IMF mission head also said the government would need to increase foreign exchange reserve, devaluate taka against dollar and cut down on lending rate of banks to safeguard the economy from the global recession.
   The Bangladesh Bank can also take a new monetary policy which could increase the flow of money in the market, he said.
   Sources attending the meeting said the central bank officials had informed the IMF mission that export growth was still positive in January and export orders were still pouring in.
   Bangladesh’s inward remittance flow posted a positive sign in February and March. Besides, the cost of import also reduced because of the fall in food prices on the world market.
   The IMF officials also said in view of all indicators, it seems the economy was yet to experience any negative impact of the global meltdown.
   According to central bank data, foreign exchange reserve will increase to $6 billion on April 1.
   The government does not need to make hurry to import food as the country has experienced two bumper crop yields this year.
   As a result, the total pressure on forex reserve also has been eased during the period. The country’s overall and current account balance of payment in January posted positive marks at $56 million and $ 26 million.
   The central bank has recently bought dollars from the market to keep the local market stable. As a result, dollar is exchanged for Tk 69.02 to Tk 69.04 on the inter-bank market in the ongoing recession.
   Before the recession had begun, inter-bank dollar-taka rate was Tk 68.48 and Tk 68.50. The export earning has reached Tk 1,035.31 crore in eight months and export growth 16 per cent compared with the figures of the same period of the past financial year.
   Inward remittance will be $900 million in March, the central bank sources said.

Iran and Venezuela on Friday inaugurated a joint bank to finance their development projects, during a visit by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to Tehran, state media reported.
   The Iran-Venezuela Joint Bank, based in Tehran, has an initial capital base of $200 million, with each nation providing half of the funds, the state broadcaster said.
   The Export Development Bank of Iran, which is under sanctions from the US Treasury, was tasked with creating the joint bank with the Venezuelans.
   ‘The capital will be raised to $1.2 billion with the aim of supporting joint economic, industrial and mining projects as well as speeding up the current projects,’ the report said.
   ‘What happened today represents a strong will to build a new world,’ Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, attending the opening ceremony with Chavez.
   Iran is under international banking sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme, which the West suspects to be a cover for atomic weapons development although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful.
   Chavez, a vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and its nuclear ambitions, was quoted as saying that the two countries should ‘further strengthen their trade cooperation.’
   The creation of the bank was announced in May last year, following up on an agreement which the two countries signed in March 2007.
   The joint bank will work within Iran’s banking regulations and its activities will be overseen by the Islamic republic’s Central Bank, Iranian news agencies said.
   The board of directors comprises four Iranians and four Venezuelans, reports said, adding that a joint investment fund will also be launched in Venezuela.
   The United States has also imposed sanctions on three large Iranian banks — Mellat, Melli and Saderat, accusing them of financing weapons proliferation.
   The US Treasury said in October it has imposed sanctions on the Export Development Bank of Iran, alleging the bank helped with the country’s nuclear programme.
   The sanctions mean any assets held by the bank under US jurisdiction are frozen and US citizens are barred from dealing with the institution.
   Iran and Venezuela, whose outspoken president has become a hero figure to many in the Middle East, have forged increasingly strong ties based on their opposition to the United States.
   Both are members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and have vowed to further strengthen ties and find common ways to cope with the global economic crisis.
   Chavez on Friday denounced a decision by the Group of 20 in London to commit one trillion dollars to the International Monetary Fund and other global bodies to help struggling economies.

The Dhaka City Corporation will try to find out why the completion of the under-construction footbridge near Shishu Park at Shahbagh crossing was being delayed because a female student died on Friday when she was electrocuted on the footbridge and fell from it.
   ‘I have already sent people to the spot to see the present condition of the bridge. We definitely want to know why the completion of the footbridge is being delayed and how the student died,’ Dhaka city’s mayor, Sadek Hossain Khoka, told New Age.
   Sultana Akhtar Sumi, 20, a first-year student of Narayanganj Art College who was residing in Sabujbagh, died after she stepped on a live wire and fell from the bridge.
   The chief engineer of the DCC, Colonel Ashfaqul Islam, said the Prime Bank was constructing the bridge.
   ‘The completion of the footbridge is the responsibility of the bank. The DCC, after reviewing the design of the footbridge, only gave the bank the permission to construct it in exchange of allowing the bank to display its advertisement on the bridge for ten years,’ he added.
   However the Prime Bank’s vice-president, Ferdousi Sultana, said that the DCC was supervising the construction of the footbridge and the bank was only financing the project.
   ‘We have already asked the DCC to hasten completion of the footbridge because we want to inaugurate it in April, as the bank is observing its founding anniversary this month,’ she said.
   The DCC’s superintendent engineer, Md Shihabullah, said, ‘The footbridge will take another 15 to 20 days to be completed.’

An  activist of BNP killed his father, who was a supporter of Awami League, after a blazing row over the by-election in Rangpur 6 parliamentary constituency at Arazi Ganagrampur village under Pirganj upazila on Thursday night.
   Police and locals said, Badsha Mia, 55, an activist of the upazila unit of the ruling Awami League, was talking with his wife at home about the by-poll with his wife expressing his pleasure at the party candidate’s victory. At that time his son Lablu, 25, entered the room and picked up a quarrel with his father disputing his views.
   Angered by his son’s behaviour, Badsha hit Lablu with a stick. A furious Lablu snatched the stick and struck his father repeatedly leaving the middle-aged man fatally injured.  He was taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospital where the on-duty doctors declared him dead.
   Lablu went into hiding after commiting the patricide.

Scientists have confirmed that heart cells are replenished throughout life, paving the way for better treatments to repair damage caused by cardiac arrest or illness, a Swedish study published on Friday showed.
   Scientific research has shown that some of the body’s cells are renewed each week while others are never replaced. A long debate has simmered over whether the heart’s cells are replaced, with most cardiologists convinced until now that they are not.
   ‘Researchers at Karolinska Institute have now shown that human heart cells undergo continual, slow replacement,’ the Swedish institute said in a statement.
   In a 20-year-old one per cent of heart cells are renewed every year, a rate that gradually declines over the years to reach 0.5 per cent in a 75-year-old, it said.
   ‘We lose heart cells naturally, and most of those are replaced. But you can also lose millions of cells from a heart attack or illness,’ Jonas Frisen, the professor who led the study, told AFP.
   ‘Our results motivate further research into ways of stimulating the renewal mechanism,’ he said.
   In the event of a heart attack or illness, the slow rate of turnover means that most heart cells are never replaced, ‘leaving the heart a patchwork of cells that have been there from birth and cells that have been formed later in life’.
   The researchers therefore used a unique method to determine how old the cells were.

A first year student of the Narayanganj Art College died of electrocution on an under-construction foot-bridge near Shishu Park on Friday.
   The deceased was identified as Sultana Akthar Sumi, 21, daughter of late Mohammad Abdullah of 138, Ahmedbagh under Shabujbagh police station.
   Police and witnesses said Sumi was electrocuted and fell down from the bridge at around 11:30am just after she came in contact with a live electric wire on the foot-bridge.
   Local people and on-duty policemen rushed her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the attending doctors declared her dead.
   The reason why she was using the incomplete foot-bridge could not be known immediately.
   The mother of the victim, Bilkis Begum, told newsmen at in the DMCH morgue’s premises, ‘Sumi left our residence at around 9:30am to attend a coaching class in Marul Badda. I heard about her death after receiving a phone call from the hospital.’
   ‘I do not know why she went to Shahbagh,’ she added.
   The officer-in-charge of Shahbagh thana, Rezaul Karim, told New Age, ‘We have come to know that she climbed the foot-bridge though the on-duty policemen warned her not to do so.’
   Sources in the morgue said a note was recovered from her bag where someone had written: ‘Return my previous Sumi.’
   Sumi, whose father died of cardiac arrest two years ago, was the eldest of three sisters.
   No case was filed with the Shahbagh thana in this connection till Friday evening.

At least ten people were injured in a clash between two groups of the ruling Awami League at Chandaikona Bazaar under Raiganj in Sirajganj early Friday.
   Local people said a group of villagers, led by Anu of village Shaikhpara, were locked in clash with Reznu and his men of village Guiklapara under Raiganj at about 6:00pm. Both the groups chased each other with lethal weapons and brickbats.
   At this, ten of both groups including Anu, Reznu, Kaoser, Samad and Sumon, all activists of the Awami League, were injured.
   Of them, three were admitted to Bogra Mohammad Ali Hospital and two in Sirajganj General Hospital. The state of Reznu was stated to be critical.
   Local people said some party men rushed to the spot and handled the situation after an hour.
   Md Shafikul Islam, officer-in-charge of Raiganj police station, said he heard of the incident but no one had yet lodged any complaint.