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The High Court on Tuesday ordered the government to submit its reply by October 11 to the rule issued in 2000 which asked it to explain why it would not be directed to implement Radio-TV Autonomy Commission recommendations.
   Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury also ordered inclusion of the writ petition in the list of the cases for hearing in the bench for October 13.
   The High Court issued the rule on November 19, 2000 asking the government to explain why it would not be directed to implement the recommendations made by the Commission for framing rules and regulations on the autonomy of Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television (Radio-TV Autonomy Commission).
   The court issued the rule after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by rights organisation Odhikar.
   The petitioner’s counsels Adilur Rahman and Khan and M Asaduzzaman on Tuesday filed an appeal with the court for an expeditious hearing in the writ petition.
   Although about nine years has gone after the issuance, the government is yet to reply to the rule, the counsels argued, saying the court should now hold an ex parte hearing.
   Deputy attorney general Mujibur Rahman, however, sought time for submission of the reply.
   The court granted his plea and passed the order.
   Autonomy for state-run radio (Bangladesh Betar) and Bangladesh Television was one of the main demands in the joint declaration of the three alliances announced on November 19, 1990 that led to the overthrow of the military dictator HM Ershad.
   Clause 2(d) of the declaration says, ‘Mass media, including radio and television, will have to be made independent and autonomous so that they become completely neutral...’
   Before the 1991 elections, both the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League pledged in their manifestos that autonomy for radio and television would be ensured in line with the joint declaration. The nation, however, noticed with frustration that the BNP government did not bother to do so during its 1991–1996 tenure.
   Being voted to power, the AL government instituted a commission to frame rules and regulations for the autonomy of Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television (Radio-TV Autonomy Commission) on September 9, 1996.
   Although the commission submitted its report to the government on June 30, 1997, the nation witnessed that the Awami League government towards the end of its five-year tenure approved two bills on May 7, 2000 seeking enactment of two laws granting autonomy to the state-run electronic media.
   The bills proposed establishment of separate authority for Radio and BTV, formation of a board of five members selected by the government with a chairman as its head, telecasting news and programmes in accordance with the National Broadcasting Policy and empowering the government to dissolve the authority.
   This move of the AL government to give ‘autonomy’ to the state-run electronic media bypassing substantial recommendations of the government-appointed commission, evoked sharp criticism from civil society organisations.
   Against such a backdrop, Odhikar filed the writ petition in November 2000.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to meet with senior ministers this (Wednesday) morning to devise the government’s strategy about regional connectivity, trans-shipment, trade and commerce.
   This will be the first meeting of a high-powered ministerial committee on regional cooperation formed earlier.
   The prime minister heads the committee which includes, among others, ministers of finance, commerce, communications and foreign and advisors to the PM, officials said.
   They said the committee will mainly focus on communications related projects involving the neighbouring countries and work out a roadmap to implement those within a specific time.
   Besides, the meeting will review the latest development on the proposed Asian Highway Network project which needs to be further examined to protect the country’s interest. After balking for years to sign the multinational accord on the proposed AHN project, Dhaka recently agreed to ratify it.
   The committee is also expected to discuss how Bangladesh could utilise its land ports for boosting regional trade.
   The government is showing interest to develop Chittagong port as a regional transport hub, ensuring win-win transit facilities and promote cross-border energy cooperation.
   Dhaka has recently started talks with India, the big neighbour, on promoting cooperation through utilising road and rail communications.
   HT Imam, advisor to the prime minister, met with India railway minister Mamata Banarjee last month and sought cooperation to resume Dhaka-Shiliguri rail link and develop a Dhaka-Kathmandhu rail communication.
   New Delhi has long been requesting Dhaka to allow trans-shipment facilities through Chittagong sea port to reach the northeastern Indian states.
   Experts and lenders observed that Bangladesh had huge potential to emerge as a regional trade hub through opening up Chittagong port for use by the neigbouring countries.

Awami League leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim has kept his finger pointed at KM Shafiullah, claiming that the former army chief was aware of the plot to assassinate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but did not play his role.
   The country’s founding president was assassinated along with most of his family in a military putsch on August 15, 1975 in less than four years of independence. Two sisters—- prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana—-survived the massacre as they were staying abroad.
   Selim Tuesday said like other high military officials, Gen Shafiullah, now an advisory council member of Awami League, had known all about the plot hours before it was executed and had the whole army at his command to foil the design of some 200 disgruntled soldiers.
   ‘The nation needs to know why they (army officers) did not come to save Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman…It is the time to find out the real culprits through proper investigation,’ the ruling party’s presidium member said at a discussion. Selim first questioned the role of the former army chief openly at a discussion in presence of Shafiullah last week.
   Juba League organized the discussion at Mahanagar Natya Mancha marking the fifth anniversary of the grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August, 2004.
   The AL leader demanded that the then prime minister Khaleda Zia, her son Tareque Rahman, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babor and former police chief should be interrogated to unearth the conspiracy to kill Sheikh Hasina in a public rally.
   Acting chairman of Juba League Omor Faruq Chowdhury presided over the discussion that was participated by state minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak and whip Mirza Aza, among others.

The foreign minister, Dipu Moni, said Bangladesh deserved high level of international technological support and financial assistance to adaptation and mitigation programmes of climate change.
   She made the remarks when the Swiss ambassador to Bangladesh, Urs Herren, made a courtesy call on her in the ministry Tuesday.
   During the meeting, they discussed matters of bilateral issues, including trade and investment, development co-operation, climate change, human rights and regional cooperation.
   Dipu Moni told that Bangladesh was the most vulnerable to climate change and threatened with most devastating consequences of global warming and being one of the most affected countries.
   Dipu Moni told the envoy that Switzerland was among the first few West European countries to recognise Bangladesh in 1972. She said Switzerland was always a dependable friend and partner in development.
   The foreign minister also mentioned about government’s plan relating to river dredging, land reclamation, construction of embankment, creation of green belt in coastal regions and other adaptation programmes.
   Urs Herren told the minister that Bangladesh climate change adaptation policy could be considered as a model and could be followed by other countries.
   The ambassador informed her that Switzerland had already strengthened its diplomatic mission in Dhaka to operate their diplomatic activities properly.

Different socio-political organisations will observe Phulbari Day today in remembrance of the demonstrations against Asia Energy’s planned open-pit mining at Phulbari in Dinajpur on August 26, 2006.
   Three people were killed and many were injured when lawmen into protests against at the Phulbari coal field in August 2006.
   Four days after the demonstrations, the then BNP-led government on August 30 signed a six-point agreement with protesters, spearheaded by the national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and port to expel Asia Energy from Bangladesh and ban open-pit mining.
   The committee, however, expressed its dismay at the non-implementation of the agreement as Asia Energy is still active in the country.
   The national committee and different left-leaning political organisations have chalked up programmes to mark August 26 as Phulbari Day. The committee will place flowers at Shaheed Smritistambha at Phulbari and hold a rally there.
   The committee will also place flowers at the Central Shaheed Minar and observe the day in other places.
   Jatiya Gana Front will hold a rally and bring out a procession in Muktangon to mark the day. The organisation in a statement said any move for open-pit mining in Bangladesh would be stopped.
   Samajtantrik Chhatra Front will also bring out a procession on the Dhaka University campus on the occasion demanding expulsion of Asia Energy from Bangladesh.

The High Court has directed the government to allow former minister M Morshed Khan to go to Singapore and return to Bangladesh.
   The court also asked the government to explain within four weeks why a bar on Khan’s leaving the country should not be declared illegal.
   Khan, a former foreign minister under the past BNP government, petitioned the High Court after he was reportedly barred from boarding a plane at last Sunday.

The two crewmen of a vessel of the Chittagong Port Authorities, which capsized on the outer anchorage of the seaport Monday night reportedly amid strong current, was remaining missing till Tuesday afternoon.
   The CPA sources said their buoy lifting vessel Ali capsized near the buoy no-2 at the outer anchorage at about 9:00pm along with 18 crewmen on board. Of them, 16 crews were rescued after the capsize incident.
   A salvage team comprising personnel of the Bangladesh Navy, Coast Guard and Chittagong Port located the sunken vessel. The team was continuing search for the missing crewmen Shamsul Alam and Imran Hossain till filing of this report at about 5:00pm.
   The CPA formed a three-member committee, headed by its member (harbour and marine) Captain Arif Mahmud, soon after the incident to investigate into the vessel capsize incident asking them to submit report by seven working days.
   CPA chairman Commodore RU Ahmed told New Age that necessary measures would be taken after receiving the committee report and the sunken vessel was not hampering movement of the vessels to and from the port jetties. ‘We will bring the vessel BLV Lushai from the Khulna Dockyard immediately to continue buoy setting activities,’ he said.

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, directed the authorities concerned to immediately formulate a complete action plan for dredging the country’s rivers, which have mostly silted up and create water crisis in the summer and over-flooding in the rainy season.
   She made the directive while chairing the maiden meeting of the recently formed high-powered committee on river dredging and water resource management at the Prime Minister’s Office Tuesday.
   Hasina also told the meeting that the proposed long-term river-dredging project should not be of more than 15 years as ‘rivers must be given back their navigability immediately’.
   Besides, she said, the massive river-dredging project should be started through re-excavating River Gorai since its process had advanced much during the previous Awami League government’s rule with foreign development partners’ finances. She regretted that the subsequent BNP-Jamaat government stopped this one and other dredging projects.
   The prime minister further asked the authorities to deploy two fulltime dredgers at the estuaries of the Karnaphuli connecting Chittagong seaport and River Pashur linking Mongla seaport to the Bay of Bengal to keep the two important shipping channels navigable round the year.
   ‘Country’s rivers will have to be kept navigable to protect the people from unusual floods, tidal surges and rive erosion,’ she said.
   The prime minister said Dhaleswari, Kapatakkha, Turag, Balu and other rivers will also be dredged in phases. At the same time, maintenance dredging will have to be continued periodically.
   Prime minister’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed news men after the meeting, which lasted three hours elaborately dwelling on the problems stemming from loss of navigability of rivers as well as aqua-resources.
   Finance minister AMA Muhith, agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury, planning minister AK Khandakar, land minister Rezaul Karim Hira, water resources minister Ramesh Chandra Sen, foreign minister Dipu Moni, shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, prime minister’s advisers HT Imam and Mashiur Rahman and state minister for environment and forests Hasan Mahmud and secretaries concerned attended the meeting. Principal secretary to the prime minister MA Karim and PMO secretary Mollah Waheeduzaman were present.
   The PM lamented that most of the country’s 310 rivers are dying and losing water-preserving capacity for lack of dredging.
   ‘Dredging was not continued regularly in Bangladesh after the Second World War, which resulted in the present polluted, silted condition of most of the rivers,’ she told the meeting.
   She mentioned that the last Awami League government had planned the dredging of the rivers and started implementing several projects. But the BNP-Jamaat government had stopped the projects ‘only on political considerations, which later compounded people’s sufferings and caused waste of huge money’, she said.
   Hasina noted that the rivers are just like arteries of human body.
   ‘If we can save our rivers, our existence will be saved.’
   About the previously proposed 30-year-long project for river dredging, the prime minister said the scheme should not have over 15-year lifespan.
   ‘We must have a total action plan immediately. There should not be any delay in this regard. Our rivers must be saved,’ she said on a high note of urgency.
   Hasina mentioned her meeting with the representatives of various donor countries and agencies at the PMO few months back regarding mobilising funds to launch the massive save-the-rivers project.
   She also said she had talks with World Bank officials when she was in the United States during the last caretaker government’s rule about the necessity of dredging Bangladesh’s rivers and need for the development partners’ financial assistance in this regard. ‘Our development partners are positive on providing assistance. But we need to chalk up the river-dredging project very effectively,’ she told the preparatory meeting.
   Hasina observed that increasing global warming caused global climate change, and countries like Bangladesh would be worst sufferer of the climate-change-caused natural disasters.
   ‘We cannot sit idle. We will have to remain careful about the disastrous impacts of the climate change and take proper steps to save our people from the natural disasters,’ she said.

The government has initiated process of reducing migration costs to curb illegal human trafficking, said expatriate welfare and overseas employment minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain on Tuesday.
   He said, ‘The process of reducing migration costs has already been started in consultation with the International Labour Organisation, recruiting agencies and countries concerned.’
   The minister informed reporters that the current cost of migration is Tk 84,000 and the government wants to bring it down to around Tk 40,000 on an average.
   Responding to a query on 175 Bangladeshis, Musharraf said, ‘An unexpected illegal gang is involved with human trafficking. They send people abroad by cheating them.’
   Earlier this year, the Thai authorities captured some 448 Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals in the Bay of Bengal as they were trying to reach Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
   They were later reportedly put on six large boats by the Thai Navy and abandoned in the deep sea.
   Indian Coast Guards eventually rescued them as the boats drifted westward to the Andaman coast.
   After verification of nationality, 49 Bangladeshis were sent back earlier this year. The second batch of 175 Bangladeshis reached Kolkata from Port Blair last week.

Deputy inspector general Abdus Salam said greater cooperation is needed between the departments of Bangladesh Police and the department of social services to stop human trafficking and illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
   Change in attitude towards the survivors of human trafficking is the first step, he told participants of a two-day master trainer training course on ‘Care and Support for Victims of Human Trafficking’.
   The International Organisation for Migration, under the Prevention and Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking in Bangladesh project, organised the training at BRAC Centre in Rajendrapur, said a press release on Tuesday.
   A total of 50 master trainers in two batches from the Bangladesh Police and the DSS have been trained by experts from the government, IOM, Legal Education Training Institute and different universities.
   The master trainers will in turn provide training to 1,250 district level government officials and law enforcement agencies in the human trafficking-prone areas of 22 districts.
   The training on August 23 and 24 included sessions on differences between migration and trafficking, human rights violation and legal tools, identification, rescue, release, repatriation and rehabilitation, care and support, counseling, communication and economic empowerment and sustainability of trafficking survivors.
   IOM regional representative Rabab Fatima said, ‘This training will improve the capacity of the government in providing care and protection to survivors of trafficking, with their best interest and their rights in mind.’

Poultry farmers started selling four pieces of eggs at Tk 23.6 in the wholesale market on Tuesday and they will start selling them at Tk 26 at the retailer level from today.
   Bangladesh Poultry Khamar Rakkha Jatiya Sangram Parishad earlier urged the consumers
   not to buy four pieces of eggs beyond Tk 26 at retailer level from Wednesday.
   The Parishad leaders at a meeting on Tuesday decided to disseminate information about the price at which they sold their eggs at wholesalers everyday. The farmers in a press release claimed that they sold the eggs early hours of Tuesday at Tk 5.50 for each red colour egg and Tk 5.00 for each white colour egg.
   Six divisional chiefs of the organisation at meeting on Saturday fixed Tk 5.90 for per egg at the farm level, with profit of Tk 0.10 for wholesalers and Tk 0.50 for the retailers for each piece of egg.
   According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh’s daily market price update, four eggs are now selling at Tk 28 to Tk 30 while market sources said four eggs are selling at Tk 28 to Tk 30.
   Khandakar Md Mohsin, general secretary of the Parishad, urged the government to inspect the market so that no one can make excessive profit.
   More than one lakh poultry farms under the organisation are now producing 1.25 crore eggs a day. Farmers claimed that the cost for per egg is about Tk 5.50.
   ‘We could provide eggs at a lower price if the government had reduced the prices of poultry feed,’ Abdul Barek Sarkar, president of the Bangladesh Poultry Farms Protection National Struggle Council, said.
   The prices of poultry feed shoot up in the recent time. At present a kilogram of layer feed sells at Tk 26.

The Dhaka University vice-chancellor, Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, has urged new generation to know about ‘the father of the nation Bangbandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’ in order to know the country’s history well.
   ‘To take the country forward it is a must to know the country’s history. The new generation who will lead the country in future should know Bangbandhu, the founder of the nation, very well to know the country’s history and the liberation war,’ the VC said at a commemoration programme marking National Mourning Day and 34th death anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Home Economics College in the city on Tuesday.
   Criticising the past government for promoting the killers of Bangbandhu, Professor Arefin said, ‘It is really shocking that the past government saved the killers by appointing them ambassadors to foreign countries.’
   He demanded immediate execution of the verdict in the Bangbandhu killing case. The college principal, Professor Lila Anjumant Banu, chaired the programme.

Huge changes in the syllabus police officers study have begun to be implemented, with a batch of 137 BCS police cadres attending additional classes in criminal psychology and human rights among other new subjects.
   ‘Some 137 Bangladesh Civil Service police cadres are receiving the training for the first time under this newly changed syllabus,’ Md Majharul Huq, vice-principal of Sarda Police Academy, told the news agency.
   Huq said a raft of changes had been made to the officer’s training module and syllabus to keep pace with modern advances, as well as make them more aware of their demeanour and appearance.
   ‘Some new subjects have been included in nine new training modules, including the Police Act, criminology, criminal psychology, research methodology, aspects of the common law and human rights,’ said Huq.
   He said other new subjects were model theories of crime prevention, how to utilise research and crime prevention techniques.
   ‘Initiatives will be taken to employ adequate personnel to teach the police officers these new subjects. Dhaka University teachers will teach them language and computer training,’ Huq said.
   He said Rajshahi University teachers will give lessons on law and social sciences, while BUET teacher have already started giving lessons on traffic and road safety issues.
   ‘Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University teachers are giving lessons on research and the Criminal Act,’ he said.
   Huq said senior police officers had also begun giving the trainees lessons on administration and management.
   ‘Recently the beautician, Kaniz Almas, gave them lessons on attire and deportment,’ he added.

A three and a half-year-old boy was killed and two children were injured in a landslide at Lighthouse Para of Cox’s Bazar Pourashava Tuesday afternoon.
   According to witnesses and Cox’s Bazar police, the children were playing near a hill at about 1:00pm. A large chunk of the hill collapsed on them.
   Local people rushed to the spot and rescued Nizum, 4, daughter of Shamsul Hoque and Fahim, 3, son of Shamsul Hoque of Lighthouse Para and took them to Cox’s Bazar sadar hospital immediately.
   But three and a half-year-old Joy, son of Palas Chandra Dey, was buried under a big chunk of debris.
   Later, a team of Cox’s Bazar police and fire brigade recovered the body of Joy after working for three hours.
   Md Gias uddin Ahmed, Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner, Norealam Mina, additional police super, and other officials visited the spot.

A young housewife and her minor son were suffocated by her husband at a private hospital in Maijdee Court in Noakhali Wednesday night.
   The deceased are Apon (3) & unknown (30).
   Hospital sources said, some Morshed Alam admitted his son Apon in local GoodHeal Hospital at Maijdee Court on Tuesday afternoon at 5pm a long with his wife.
   Apon was suffering with Diarrhoea and Asthma. After admission doctor started treatment and supervised up to 11pm on Monday night. Later they shuted their door of cabin 407. Today at 8 am on duty sister called them to open their door to see the condition of Apon. But she did not get any response from inside. Then the sister informed the authority mentioning the fact. Authority informed the police of Sudharam Police Station. Police went to the spot and broken the door of the cabin. They saw Apon & his mother dead. Police recovered the body of them and sent to Noakhali General Hospital Morgue. Police said, Morshed Alam used fake address in the admission register of Good Heal Hospital. Killer Morshed Alam managed to fly away.

Syed Mohammad Raza, son of Syed Raza, great grand son of Khan Bahadur Delwar Hossain, first Muslim graduate of the sub-continent, died of old age complications at Japan-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital in Dhaka on Monday. He was 74.
   He was buried at Azimpur Graveyard.
   He is survived by his wife, three daughters, brothers and sisters.
   He joined the daily Morning News in 1959 as the circulation manager. After closure of the paper, he joined Dainik Barta as business manager.
   Subsequently, he joined Dainik Janata as commercial manager and was promoted to general manager. Lastly, he joined the national English daily The Independent as business manager, said a press release.

Several hundred villagers blocked the Khulna-Bagerhat highway at Paikpara under Bagerhat sadar upazila for six hours on Tuesday protesting at the arrest of four villagers and demanding withdrawal of the case filed against them for razing ‘illegal’ dams.
   According to the villagers, the inhabitants of about 50 villages of Piljong, Rakhalgachhi, Khanpur, Fakirhat sadar and Lokhpur unions had been suffering from water-logging for long because of the dams across 17 canals.
   The dams were hindering free flow of water in the canals, they said, adding that they had appealed to the local administration several times, but to no avail.
   A number of villagers on Monday levelled some of the dams in villages Paikpara and Rakhalgachhi.
   The police arrested four people — Altaf Hossain, Golam Robbani, Tajul Islam and Tapos — of village Piljong that night.
   As the news spread Tuesday morning, villagers put up barricade on the highway between 9:00am and 3:00pm.
   They withdrew blockade after the administration had assured them of releasing the arrested ones, withdrawing the case against the villagers and taking immediate steps to level all the illegal dams across the government canals.

The authorities on Tuesday turned out eight activists residing in the Kabi Jasim Uddin Hall unit Bangladesh Chhatra League in Dhaka University for their involvement in Monday’s violence.
   At least 10 Chhatra League activists of the hall unit were injured and seven rooms of the hall vandalised during an hour-long factional clash Monday evening.
   The hall authorities issued the expulsion order against Md Mostafa Amin, a third-year student of theatre, Md Mehedi Hasan Rousseau, a second-year student of international relations, Md Mehedi Hasan, a second-year student of linguistics, Liton Mahmud, a fourth-year student of Islamic history and culture, Md Enamul Haq Prince, a second-year student of mass communication and journalism, Abdullah Al Masum, a second-year student of tourism, Jahid of theatre and Bappy of philosophy.
   They were asked to leave the hall immediately. They were not residents of the hall, but used to stay there.
   The hall administration also issued warning against the hall unit Chhatra League president Abdur Rahman Jiban and general secretary Enayet Kazi for patronising the groups and asked them to provide names of the ‘unruly’ activists.
   The president and the general secretary will, otherwise, need to shoulder responsibilities for any kind of illegal and untoward incidents in the hall.
   The hall authorities formed a four-member fact-finding committee, headed by house tutor Nasir Uddin Munsi. The committee was asked to submit the report in three days.
   The hall also called on the university authorities to take steps against the students responsible for the clash later.

Chittagong University on Tuesday suspended three Bangladesh Chhatra League activists for one year and announced two others unwanted on the campus on charges of bringing out procession without the permission of the authorities, manhandling teachers and vandalising university property.
   The decision was made in a meeting of ‘board of residence health and discipline committee’ held at around 2:00pm with the vice-chancellor, Prof Abu Yusuf Alam, in the chair.
   Students who face one-year suspension are Kazi Alam (anthropology), Ahsan Siddique Rimon (marketing) and Shantonu Mahajan (history) while the unwanted students are AKM Sohel Rana and Jahidur Rahman Jewel, said a press release.
   Sources at the university said the activists of Chittagong University Chhatra League on Tuesday brought out a procession from the university railway station to mark the August 21 defying the ban on political activities on the campus.
   The university authorities banned political activities on the campus on March 13.
   The agitated activists manhandled the proctor, assistant proctor and student adviser of the university as they were trying to obstruct the procession. They also vandalised the video camera of the university authority.
   Proctor Mohammad Jashim Uddin told New Age the target of their procession was not to observe the August 21, rather they wanted to destabilise the campus.
   ‘The decision was made to maintain the congenial atmosphere on the campus,’ he said.

About 800 workers of an export-oriented garment factory at Jamgara crossing in Savar abstained from their works Tuesday to realise their 11-point demand.
   The demands include payment of money against annual leave and monthly salaries within seven days of each month, stoppage of misbehaviours by staff and providing improved tiffin.
   The workers of Washing and Design BD Limited placed their demands in writing to the authorities. They also staged a demonstration inside the factory since the morning instated of joining work.
   During demonstration, they warned that they would declare tough programme if their demands went unheeded.
   However, the agitating workers retreated and came out of the factory at about 9:00am as policemen entered there apparently to prevent them from engaging in any destructive activities.
   Workers said they had long been demonstrating for realising their different demands and protesting against repression on them by the authorities.
   When contacted Tuesday evening, officer-in-charge of Ashulia thana Monwar Hossain, said the authorities accepted most of the demands of the workers.
   But the opinion of the authorities was not available in this regard.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a stay on High Court bail and release orders granted to jailed former minister Shahjahan Siraj.
   An Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin, gave the stay on hearing a government petition against the High Court orders.
   It also ordered the government to file a regular leave to appeal against the High Court orders within one week of the Supreme Court’s return from vacation on October 4.
   The Appellate Division on Sunday issued a one-day stay on a High Court order to authorities to release Siraj on bail ‘within an hour’. A High Court bench issued the release order on a contempt petition filed by Siraj.
   Siraj’s petition sought to have contempt of court charges pressed against the government for failing to release him despite his being awarded High Court bail on August 18 and August 19 in four cases against him.
   The government immediately sought to appeal against the High Court release order.
   Additional attorney general AKM Jahirul Haque had argued on the day that the Appellate Division had stayed previous bail orders in two of the four cases prior to August 18, but Siraj received bail anew from the High Court despite the earlier stays.
   Appellate Division chamber judge, Md Mozammel Hossain, had stayed the High Court release and bail orders for a day on the government’s petition.
   Siraj, a former forests and environment minister of the BNP government, was sent to jail after he surrendered in court on June 30 in connection with the four cases.
   He has been convicted in two of the cases. He was sentenced to eight years on August 29, 2007, for tax evasion, and to 13 years on April 23, 2008, in an illegal wealth case.
   His wife Rabeya Siraj, son Rajib Siraj and daughter-in-law Farzana Khan have also been convicted in tax evasion cases.