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Millions of industrial sector workers have been deprived of rightful increase in their minimum wages, even for decades.
   The Minimum Wage Board has also been helpless in reviewing the minimum wages in the absence of worker-centric trade unionism and for lack of sincerity of the government, stakeholders and people's representatives, and the workers continue to be at the mercy of employers.
   Labour laws stipulate that the minimum wage in any sector should be reviewed every five years.
   The board has so far set the minimum wages for 42 industrial sectors but, according to the board proceedings, the board has not reviewed the minimum wage for a sector for more than 25 years, for 10 sectors for 20 years and for 4 sectors for 15 years.
   Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Declaration on Millennium Development Goals targeting at worker's daily pay of at least $2.
   But in rice mills, which employ more than five million workers, the minimum wage of Tk 495 a month, or $0.3 an hour, has not been reviewed since 1984.
   The gross minimum wage a month for plastic industry workers were set at Tk 521 in 1983 but it has not been reviewed in 26 years.
   Jute press and baling workers have continued to be at the mercy of employers regarding payment as they are legally entitled to Tk 751 in monthly wages, set 23 years ago.
   The minimum monthly wage for rubber industry workers was last reviewed at Tk 550 in 1983 and for cold storage workers at Tk 868 in 1987.
   The minimum wage for homeopathic industry workers has not been reviewed since 1986 and for match industry workers since 1986.
   The board last reviewed the minimum wage for shoe industry workers at Tk 1,385, for tannery workers at Tk 1,440 and for aluminium workers at Tk 1,320 in 1994. The minimum wage for salt refinery workers was last reviewed at Tk 520 in 1988.
   The proceedings of the 2008 wage review commission have now been halted as the board have not found any authenticated labour or employer's representative in three consecutive meetings of the commission.
   Moves for minimum wage review also been weakened during the tenure of the present government, even weaker than the preceding military-controlled regime, although the ruling Awami League in its election manifesto promised so many things focused on worker's welfare.
   The Awami League promised elimination of gender bias in wages, setting national minimum wage and the formation of a permanent wage board. Creation of scopes for wage employment in industries and establishment of worker's right to trade unionism, in keeping with the International Labour Organisation convention, were also promised.
   The minimum wages for workers of only three industries - cotton textile, shrimp processing and tea garden - were reviewed in 2009 but the reviews are pending for labour ministry approval and gazette notification.
   The minimum wages for the workers of eight industries - tailoring shops, tea packing units, ayurvedic units, saw mills, hosiery, bakery, automobile workshops and pharmaceuticals - were reviewed in the military-controlled regime in 2007-2008.
   Review recommendations for three more industries - soap and cosmetic industries, oil mills, and hotels and restaurants - made some progress in 2008 but they are still pending with the labour ministry.
   The minimum wage for fishing boat workers was reviewed after 19 years, for bidi factory workers after 26 years and for cinema workers after 32 years in 2007.
   The minimum wages for construction and wood industries, which employ several million workers, were set for the first time in 2007 at Tk 2,800.
   The minimum wages for ship-breaking and on-government jute mill workers were set for the first time in 2008.
   Moves for wage review for three more industries - iron and foundry, salt crushing, printing presses, re-rolling mills and filling stations - started in 2008 but the process was later halted in the absence of worker or employer's representative in the meetings.
   Sobhan Mia, who works with a foundry on Tipu Sultan Road in the capital, said an entry-level worker could now get paid between Tk 800 and Tk 1,200 a month or less.'
   'How can an entry-level worker pay for his accommodation and food, which have become so expensive these days?' he said.
   'Workers have become helpless. No lawmaker or labour leader fights for our causes,' said, Sobhan who, like many of his fellows, does not know what their legal minimum wage was. The wage for the industries was last reviewed in 1981 at Tk 495 a month
   The Minimum Wage Board chairman, Ikteder Ahmed, said lack of responsibility among the stakeholders, including labour organisations, had delayed timely review of minimum wages.
   The board is not eligible to form any wage review commission unilaterally, he said, unless the government refers the matter to the board and labour organisations and other stakeholders will need to pressure the government to do that. 'The reluctance of the stakeholders has held back the reviews of the wages in time.'
   It is hogwash that individuals and organisations make empty speeches and casual campaigns out of the worker's sufferings caused by inflation, Ikteder said. 'The wage issue needs to be taken up with the right forum - the board thorough the labour ministry.'
   Nazma Akter, a leader of the Bangladesh Garment Workers' Federation, said the absence of effective trade unions in industries made the workers helpless.
   'I think the government should encourage trade unions in all sectors,' said Nazma, who represented workers in the 2006 tripartite commission on the review of wages for garment workers. 'Enabling workers to attain legitimate facilities should be a responsibility of the government.'
   Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, estimated that around a half of Bangladesh's industrial workers enjoyed no legitimate minimum wages.
   'The government should not sit idle seeing that minimum wages in many industrial sectors have not been reviewed for years, especially after inflation,' he said.

Garment workers have lost their legally entitled opportunity to appeal for review of the minimum wage in next two years due to callous indifference on the part of labour organisations or other stakeholders.
   The three-year deadline for appealing to the Minimum Wage Board for review of the minimum wage expired on November 19 with none submitting appeal within the stipulated period.
   The government on November 19, 2006 announced the revised minimum wage for garment workers fixing it at Tk 1,662 per month after weeks of unrest and negotiations over the wage which had remained unchanged over the previous 12 years.
   Clause 142 of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 says that if necessary, the board could go for review of the minimum wage and make suggestions to the government for changes.
   But it is conditional that unless there were unusual circumstances, the gazetted recommendations could not be reviewed within one year or after three years.
   The Minimum Wage Board chairman Ikteder Ahmed said that laws allowed the board only to act after any party concerned appealed to the board in the stipulated periods.
   'The board has not received a single application from any labour organisation or stakeholder for review of the minimum wage for garment workers after it was announced in 2006,' Ikteder said.
   The agreed minimum wage drew flak from various labour and social organisations which termed it too low to live on.
   It is unfortunate that the sufferings of the workers amid escalating inflation over the past few years remain an issue confined to seminar rooms and street agitations and no one used the legal opportunity,' said an employee at a garment unit in Narayanganj. He termed the attitude hypocritical.
   Abu Yussuf, a programme officer at the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said expiry of the deadline for taking legal steps proved that labour movement in Bangladesh was disorganised and insincere.
   'Lack of awareness, absence of dedicated trade unionism and the government's indifference are responsible for the plights of garment workers,' he said.

With 48 hours to go before the fifth national council session of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party begins Tuesday morning, speculations are rife as to who will be the party's next secretary general.
   Most of the leaders thought that the balance might be tilting towards the incumbent secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, for his 'unwavering sincerity' in the party's difficult times, especially during the state of emergency.
   But many of the central leaders said it would not be a surprise if someone else took over the charge. Besides the incumbent secretary general, Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal's acting president of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain are the two other frontrunners for the coveted post.
   Mirza repeatedly denied he aspired to the post but said he would accept whatever the party chief decided. Mosharraf said grassroots activists wanted him to be the secretary general but he would accept the party's decision. Besides them, vice-chairman Nazmul Huda is also reported to have set his sights on the post.
   Sources close to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia said she might not name the next secretary general on December 8 - the day of the council. She could announce the name after visiting her ailing son, Tarique Rahman, also the senior joint secretary of the party, immediately after the council session.
   Leaders of the party at different tiers are busy lobbying for their desired positions in the BNP's central bodies as it plans to include new faces in the committees.
   Party insiders said eight new leaders might be included in the national standing committee six positions in which remained vacant while two leaders might be dropped because of ill health.
   As the party decided to increase size of the party's national executive committee raising the number of its members to 351, many former student leaders are trying to persuade the party high command to secure a place in the committee.
   Khandaker Mahbubuddin Ahmad and Abdul Matin might be dropped from the standing committee while leaders like TH Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, ASM Hannan Shah, MK Anwar, Abdullah Al Noman and Mirza Abbas might be inducted in it.
   A number of senior leaders said creation of a post like 'co-chairman' or 'senior vice-chairman' was discussed in the standing committee but it had not yet been finalised. They hinted that the position might be created for Tarique Rahman.

The BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Saturday pledged to present the nation with a new-look BNP after its national council session.
   'The BNP will appear with a newer look after the national council session. We will modernise the party and strengthen it through the council session,' she said.
   She accused the government of distorting the history and said that in a bid to hide their failures in all sectors, the government burnt the books on Ziaur Rahman. She said it needed to be established at home and abroad that the BNP was a strong political party.
   While releasing a number of books published by the party's national council sub-committee on publications, Khaleda said conspiracies had been hatched during the past caretaker government. 'False information on the BNP was provided to confuse the younger generation. But the new generation is not aware of the character of the Awami League and they should be informed about it,' she said.
   She released 10 books, including 'Awami League's Misrule', 'Killing and Oppression during Sheikh Mujib's Regime', 'Sheikh Mujib Regime through the Eyes of Foreign Journalists' and 'The BDR Massacre' - all written in Bengali.
   Party standing committee members RA Gani, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mahbubur Rahman, vice-chairman Tariqul Islam, former Dhaka University vice-chancellors Emajuddin Ahmed and Maniruzzman Miah, economist Mahbubullah, BNP joint secretaries general Selima Rahman, Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan and Gayeshwar Chandra Roy were present at the programme chaired by the sub-committee convener, Abdullah Al Noman.

Experts, observers, activists and even officials agree that conclusion of the Doha Round of negotiations under the World Trade Organisation by the end of 2010 would not be fruitful for developing countries.
   The three-day ministerial conference, seventh of its kind, of the 153-member global trade forum ended on December 2 in Geneva with strong calls from almost the entire membership that the Doha Round should be concluded within next year with the priority given on agricultural and industrial products and on corresponding tariff regimes.
   The chair's summary released at the end of the conference acknowledged that top attention was given to these two sectors, while other members demanded there should focus on other issues as well.
   It reads, 'It was pointed out that while priority is being given to Agriculture and NAMA [non-agricultural market access, meaning market access for industrial products], it is important to advance on other areas on the agenda, including Services, Rules and Trade Facilitation.'
   The Doha Round was launched in 2001 at the Qatari capital to cajole the developing countries into agreement after the disastrous collapse of trade talks in Seattle in 1998 with promises to incorporate necessary development dimensions into the entire range of trade issues.
   Consequently, there supposed to be additional and renewed focus on 'special and differential treatment' of developing countries, especially the least developed ones.
   But these provisions along with implementation issues-which basically mean issues awaiting executable interpretation-capacity building, intellectual property rights and freer movement of labour have gradually been put to the back burner.
   A former ambassador to the trade forum had privately expressed his relief during an interview when the last mini- ministerial in Geneva did not succeed in 2008.
   He had admitted candidly that it was actually better for the poor countries, including Bangladesh, because the longer it took to reach an agreement for the Doha Round, the better it was for the poor nations.
   It would then allow more time to look at the deal and reach a sensible position, the ambassador had said. 'Otherwise they (the larger players in WTO) would simply shove it down my throat.'
   While officials refrain from making such statements on record, some have gone as far as to admit that the developmental aspects, essentially envisioned as an integral part of the Doha Round, have been consistently diluted in the last eight years.
   Mustafa Abid Khan, a member of the Bangladesh Tariff Commission who has been following the negotiations since launching of the round, said that implementation issues and special and differential treatment that could benefit the least developed countries greatly are basically dead. 'There is no way these issues can be revived as a focal point of the negotiations.'
   He said that the only way the development dimension could be ensured now in a probable Doha agreement, was if the United States did not put too much pressure on developing countries.
   During a seminar on the sidelines of the seventh ministerial summit of the trade forum, Martin Khor, executive director of the South Centre, a Geneva-based inter-governmental organisation working on trade issues of the developing world, echoed the sentiments of the former ambassador.
   He said on December 2, a few hours before the conclusion of the summit, alluding to the general consensus of 2010, 'The more it lingers, the longer we have to bring back development issues into focus.'
   Martin Khor, an expert in international trade negotiations and globalisation and a former head of Third World Network based in Singapore, said, 'The development aspects had been thrown out over the last eight years.'
   Shalmali Guttal, a development expert, currently a senior associate of Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based non-governmental organisation working on policy advocacy, research and grassroots activism, said the millions of poor people, including marginal farmers and industrial workers, would not actually benefit from a Doha deal.
   She agreed that the development aspects had been diluted over the last eight years since the launch of the Doha round.
   'In fact, now there is no more development left in the round.'
   She also cautioned that developing countries and least developed ones would not really benefit from a hurriedly made deal since one year was hardly enough to negotiate all the developmental aspects with due time and attention that they warrant.
   'And the developing countries know that too. It's just that no one wants to be singled out as saying they want to sink the round or even that it should be further delayed.'

The government committee inquiring into the labour unrest in Tongi has found that police excess was the primary reason for the clashes between the lawmen and RMG workers on October 31 that left three persons dead and over 200 others injured.
   ‘Several hundred rounds of bullets were fired to scare the agitating workers…Some questions beg to be asked. Why were so many bullets fired? Why did the police not have a sufficient number of rubber bullets? Why didn’t the factory owner inform the workers beforehand of the closure of the factory? All this remains unclear to us,’ said a member of the five-man investigative committee.
   He said the committee had taken the statements of around 300 witnesses, including the victims who had described how they were tortured inside the factory. ‘Some girls complained to us that the lawmen had detained a number of female workers inside the factory and tortured them there,’ said the committee member.
   The firing and killing of the workers of the Nippon Garments Industry Ltd, who had blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh Road for about four hours, had led to further clashes between the workers and the policemen, according to witnesses.
   The home affairs ministry on November 1 at a meeting ordered the formation of the five-member committee, to be led by the labour secretary, for investigating the unrest following the sudden closure of Nippon Garments Industry Ltd.
   The committee, which is supposed to find out those responsible for the violent clashes and the reason behind the labour unrest, was asked to submit its report within two weeks.
   On November 11 the committee sought more time to complete the task as the labour secretary, Ataharul Islam, went to Geneva on an official tour the next day. He returned on November 27.
   ‘We cannot submit the probe report on the labour unrest in Tongi within 15 days since it is a sensitive matter. The committee is working day and night and has taken the statements of around 300 witnesses,’ the labour secretary told New Age on November 11 evening.
   He said that the committee was analysing the statements before preparing a concrete report by December 10.
   On November 1, the Tongi police filed a case against around 3,000 unnamed workers including the three deceased.
   The officer in-charge of Tongi Police Station, Tapan Chandra Saha, filed the case on various charges including illegal procession, vandalising vehicles and assaulting policemen.
   ‘The Detective Branch of Police is now investigating the case,’ Tapan, who was the first investigation officer of the case, told New Age on November 23, adding that he was unaware of any development in the investigation.
   He declined to mention how many bullets were fired during the clashes.
   ‘The labour secretary-led committee is working hard and is expected to submit the probe report by December 10,’ said a labour ministry official.
   The inquiry committee comprises representatives from the home affairs ministry, Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and workers.

A man was killed and 12 others were injured as panicked residents in a multi-storey building at Malibagh ran in a stampede after a shop near the building caught fire Saturday afternoon.
   The deceased was identified as Saiful Islam, 23, son of Golam Mostafa, an employee of Falgun Transport. Of the injured, Mokbul Alam, 44, Mohammad Fazlur Rahman, 35, Kahlequzzaman Yusuf, 34, Falgun Transport employees Moshir Rahman, 20, Abu Saleh, 25, Anwar Hossain, 26, Kohinoor Akter Lucky, 35 and Altabur Rahman, 36, were admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.
   Fire services and civil defence officials said the fire originated from a short circuit in a shop named ICT Enterprise of the 11-storey Shahajalal Complex at Malibagh crossing at around 3:30pm.
   As smoke from the fire entered the multi-storey building, residents of the building rushed out of the building, Fire Brigade and Civil Defence deputy director [operation] Bharat Chandra Biswas told New Age, adding some received burn injuries while others were caught in the stampede.
   However, the losses caused by the fire could not be estimated immediately.
   Meanwhile, another fire, which broke out at about 11:25am, damaged 11 shops, including a pharmacy, two grocery shops, a tea-stall and seven depots of garment wastes, at Khawaja Bazar of Santarpul in the Baridhara area.
   Five fire-fighting units from Baridhara and Tejgaon put out the fire at about 1:15pm.
   The Fire Brigade and Civil Defence sources said the fire might have been caused by a burning cigarette.

Sundarban is losing at least five Royal Bengal tigers annually, thanks to poaching and tiger-human conflict which are identified among the major reasons for depleting number of the endangered species.
   A recent government publication pointed out that tiger-human conflict and poaching were the reasons behind growing direct tiger loss in the world's largest mangrove forest, home to some 300-500 Bengal tigers.
   The publication titled 'Bangladesh Tiger Action Plan 2009-17' disclosed that up to two incidents of illegal tiger hunting were recorded each year while three tigers perished because of retribution killing acts by local people.
   These retribution killings are a result of bad feelings towards tigers due to human- or livestock-killing incidents or simply because the tiger is perceived as a threat to life when it strays into a village.
   On an average, 20 to 30 people were killed each year by tigers in Sundarban.
   Tigers are threatened worldwide by poachers for growing demand of tiger products whose market price is estimated to be over $10 billion annually, according to World Bank.
   Experts said Bangladesh should not be overlooked as a source of tiger parts because of its geographical position between India and Myanmar. Both the neigbouring countries experience rampant poaching which increased the vulnerability of Sundarban tigers, they pointed out.
   Prey depletion and habitat degradation because of climate changes are identified by experts as other threats to the beautiful animal.
   Experts said the first-ever national plan to conserve the Royal Bengal tigers aimed at saving the remaining tigers.
   Professor Anwarul Islam of the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh said the first-ever national plan on Sundarban tigers is capable of uniting tiger conservation efforts in the country.
   Environment ministry secretary Mihir Kanti Majumder said the plan demonstrated saving the tiger would also help to save Sundarban.
   He, however, said conservation of Sundarban and the coastal green belt is critical for the security of the nation, particularly in the light of predicted impacts of climate change.

Arabinda Rajkhowa, the chairman of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom, and two of his associates were sent to 12 days of police custody on a Guwahati court’s order on Saturday, reports IBNLive.com.
   Rajkhowa, Raju Baruah, the deputy commander-in-chief of the separatist group, and Rajkhowa's personal security guard Raja Bora were produced at the Chief Magistrate's Court at 1725 hrs IST. All three were handcuffed while being taken to court.
   'Talks not possible with handcuffs. I haven't surrendered, nor will I ever surrender. Under these circumstances, peace talks not possible,' Rajkhowa told journalists before he was taken into the court.
   The police, which had sought 14 days' custody of the ULFA leaders, are likely to interrogate them about their group's operations.
   Rajkhowa has refused to hold talks with the Indian government, which then decided not to give him any face-saver and charge him before a court.
   On Friday, the ULFA chairman and ten others reportedly surrendered before Indian authorities at Dawki in Meghalaya.
   Among those who 'surrendered' include Rajkhowa, his wife Kaveri and two children, Raju Baruah, his wife and one child, Raja Bora, and the wife of ULFA foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury and their son.
   The ULFA leaders and their family members were brought to Guwahati by a helicopter and lodged at the fourth Assam Police Battalion headquarters in the city.
   The wives and children were not arrested and no charges were framed against them. Paresh Barua, ULFA's self-styled commander-in-chief and an opponent of talks with the Indian government, on Saturday said he had 'full confidence' in Rajkhowa and denied that his group had split.
   There was no confusion in the minds of the ULFA cadres on talks as right from the grassroots level cadre to the chairman and adviser, all 'were ready for it provided sovereignty for Assam was discussed,' Barua said in an e-mail to North East Television.
   The Press Trust of India from Guwahati said pro-ULFA slogans rent the air as total chaos prevailed outside the Kamrup chief judicial magistrate's court where Arabinda Rajkhowa and two other top leaders of the group were produced Saturday.
   Journalists and photographers waited since morning for the top leaders but Rajkhowa, along with ULFA 'deputy commander-in-chief' Raju Baruah and 'sergeant' Raja Bora were brought reached the fortified CJM court complex in a bus only at 5:30pm.
   The trio had a hard time trying to alight from the vehicle as photographers and a large number of people surrounded them resulting in a near stampede.
   The police, who were deployed in large numbers, were caught unawares when pro-ULFA slogans were heard being made by a group of youths from across the road.
   Slogans like 'Arabinda Rajkhowa zindabad...Raju Barua zindabad...ULFA zindabad' were heard and the policemen chased them away.

The United Liberation Front of Asom general secretary, Anup Chetia, was moved to the Rajshahi central jail and his associate Babul Sharma was taken to the Rangpur central jail from the Mymensingh jail Friday night.
   'We brought Anup Chetia to the Rajshahi central jail Friday night,' the acting deputy inspector general (prisons) of the Rajshahi range Tipu Sultan said. 'Additional security has been enforced in the Rajshahi central jail areas.'
   The move came at time when the ULFA president Arabinda Rajkhowa and deputy chief of its military operations Raju Barua had reportedly been arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to Indian authorities in the past week. The home minister, Sahara Khatun, however, on Friday brushed aside the reported handover of the ULFA leaders. 'The ULFA leaders were not arrested in the country,' she said.
   Anup Chetia, also the founder of ULFA, was arrested along with his associates Babul Sharma and Laxmi Prasad Goswami at a house at Mohammadpur in Dhaka on December 21, 1997.
   The government is, however, yet to reply to a rule issued by the High Court on August 23, 2003 regarding Anup Chetia's application for asylum.
   Anup Chetia, Laxmi Prasad Goswami and Babul Sharma have been in prison since 1997 after being convicted in four cases and they sought political asylum from the Bangladesh government on August 3, 1998.
   They sought asylum saying their lives would be at stake as they had been fighting for the independence of the people of Assam. Getting no response from the government, the three renewed their appeals on February 27, 2000, March 13, 2001 and August 14, 2003.
   The High Court bench of Justice MA Aziz and Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on August 23, 2003 asked the government to explain in four weeks why it would not be directed to dispose of the applications for the political asylum of Anup Chetia, Laxmi Prasad Goswami and Babul Sharma as early as possible.
   Issuing the rule, the court also ordered the government to keep the three inside prison as a measure of safe or protective custody till their appeals for political asylum could be disposed of.
   Although Anup Chetia, Laxmi Prasad and Babul had already served out their jail terms, they are yet to be released from jail because of the High Court order.
   The government has so far neither disposed of the appeals nor filed any reply to the High Court, said sources in the attorney general's office.

One police officer and four activists were killed Friday in a clash between the police and Maoists in western Nepal, a government official said.
   The clash came after the police tried to evict thousands of activists who were squatting on government-owned land in the remote Kailali region.
   The Maoists, who fought a decade-long civil war with the state before winning landmark elections last year, had reportedly occupied the area and told the squatters they would be given free land.
   'One policeman and four villagers were killed in the clashes,' said Hari Krishna Poudel, chief district officer of Kailali district.
   'The police were trying to evict thousands of squatters who had built temporary huts in the forest.'
   Poudel said the police fired teargas and rubber bullets to try to disperse the activists and burned down the temporary huts they had built.
   'We wish the government had not taken such severe action against landless people as we were seeking a peaceful solution,' said Hari Prasad Chaudhary, district secretary of the Maoist party.
   Meanwhile, the United States is deeply concerned about the stalled peace process in Nepal, three years after the end of a decade-long civil war, a US embassy statement said Saturday.
   US Embassy Charge d'Affaires Randy Berry expressed 'deep concerns about the ongoing political stalemate in Nepal' at a meeting with Nepalese the prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, on Friday, the statement said.
   The conflict between Maoist rebels and the state ended on November 20, 2006 with a peace deal followed last year by an election in which the former guerrillas won the highest number of seats.
   But the Maoist-led government fell in May after the president overruled their attempt to sack the army head.
   Since then the peace process has stalled with Maoists blocking parliamentary proceedings and protesting in the streets.
   They are demanding an apology over what they say was the president's unconstitutional move that they charge compromised civilian supremacy over the military and a parliamentary debate over the extent of the president's powers.

The government has planned special incentives for English teachers at secondary schools and madrassahs aimed at more emphasis on English teaching.
   Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education officials on Thursday said they had planned to increase the duration of English classes at the secondary level from the existing 40 minutes to 60 minutes from the next academic session.
   'As the English teachers will spend more time in classrooms, they will be given special incentives. The payment of Bangla teachers and English teachers should not be the same as English teachers will give more efforts in classrooms. If special incentives are given to English teachers, they will be encouraged,' said an official.
   'We are thinking for giving some money in incentive to English teachers in addition to their salary,' he said.
   Secondary students, between Class VI and Class X, now get 40 minutes for each of the classes of the compulsory English and they need to take 200-mark English examinations.
   The government will increase the duration of English classes in secondary schools and madrassahs to help students to address their weaknesses in English.
   A recent study conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics shows most candidates who became unsuccessful in secondary school certificate and higher secondary certificate exams are weak in English and mathematics.
   Students cannot get additional tutoring outside classrooms because of poverty and lack of awareness among guardians.
   Another major reason for such poor performance is the pursuance of secondary education on a week footing in primary education, says the report of the study, which surveyed teachers and students of 120 secondary schools across the country to find out the reasons for students' failure in English and mathematics.

Substitute forward Je Je Lalpekhula’s 86th-minute strike gave India a 1-0 victory over Afghanistan in the second Group B match of the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship at the BNS on Saturday.
   Afghanistan dominated the match with their attacking approach but India kept their cool to start their campaign on a winning note.
   Balwant Singh had a chance to put India in front in the 11th minute but his side-volley from the right flank of the six-yard box crashed into the side netting.
   Afghanistan skipper Israfeel Kohistani came close to a goal in the 28th minute but his diving header went straight at the Indian keeper Arindam Bhattacharya.
   Afghanistan mounted pressure after the lemon break and in the 57th minute Ahmad Khesraw, capitalising on a defensive lapse, scuffed his shot over the crossbar with Arindam standing hapless under the bar.
   Three minutes later Sayed Bashir Azmi whipped in a neat cross to Hasmatullah Barkezai whose a fierce drive from the edge of the box forced Arindam to stretch to his limit and pull off a stunning save.
   Four minutes into the stoppage time Je Je Lalpekhula struck the winner. After a combined attack Je Je found enough space to slot the ball past Afghan goalkeeper Hamidullah from the six-yard box.
   ‘This is a new team and it is their first match. I’m happy to get three points although the performance was not up to the mark, especially it was a very poor show in the first half,’ said Indian coach Sukhwinder Singh at the post-match briefing.
   Afghanistan coach Yusuf said they brought a young and inexperienced side. ‘My team is inexperienced at the international level. However, they fought well but conceded a lone-goal defeat. I look forward to improving our performance,’ he said.

At least 109 people were killed and dozens injured overnight to Saturday when a blaze sparked by indoor fireworks swept through a Russian nightclub, in one of the deadliest tragedies to hit Russia in recent years.
   Flames ripped through the Lame Horse nightclub in the Ural city of Perm as around 230 people celebrated the popular venue’s eighth anniversary, local police said, quoted by Russian news agencies.
   Russian television showed bodies being piled up outside the club by rescue workers. The windows of the one-story building were shattered and charred.
   Local residents said the fire could have spread quickly because a barn theme meant the club was decorated with highly flammable straw panels.
   Russian authorities said they had arrested the owner and manager of the club on Saturday.
   Emergency Services officials in a televised meeting with the president, Dmitry Medvedev, said managers at the venue had violated fire safety laws and repeatedly ignored orders to comply with standards.
   ‘Warnings were issued, but they didn’t react,’ Medvedev said, urging swift punishment for those responsible. ‘They have neither brains, nor conscience!’
   The premier, Vladimir Putin, ordered a government commission to probe the causes of the tragedy, saying in a statement: ‘It is necessary to launch a minute investigation, punish the culprits and discovered the causes of this monstrous disaster.’
   The death toll from the tragedy reached 109 after another seven burn victims died in hospital, a spokesman for local investigative committee said, quoted by news agencies RIA Novosti and Interfax.
   Some 200 relatives of the victims waited in anguish outside a morgue on the outskirts of the city for the slow work of identifying the bodies. A regional emergency situations ministry spokeswoman said so far 57 people had been identified.
   She said a further 130 people were injured in the blaze overnight from Friday to Saturday, and local residents said hospitals had put out an urgent call for blood donors in the wake of the tragedy.
   Many of those killed died of smoke inhalation or were crushed to death as party-goers rushed to flee, officials said.
   ‘There were fireworks set off at the scene, and one hit the plastic ceiling, setting everything ablaze. People panicked and succumbed to burns, the crush and gas poisoning,’ the Perm region’s public security minister Igor Orlov was quoted as saying.

The parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of law, justice and parliamentary affairs will make recommenda-
   tions to amend the National ID card Registration Bill- 2009.
   A standing committee source told BSS that in the bill the duration of imprisonment and amount of fine for making false statement regarding ID card and other irregularities would be reduced.
   The committee in principle has decided to amend section 14,15,16, 17 and 18 of the bill.
   The committee considers that the implementation of punishment recommended in the bill for making false statement and other irregularities is not realistic.
   The law minister, Shafique Ahmed, placed the bill in parliament on October 28.

Amnesty International is appealing to the king of Bahrain to stop the execution of a Bangladeshi man, currently facing what would be a rare execution in the country.
   Jassim Abdul Mannan is facing death by firing squad unless the Bahraini King, Shaikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, grants clemency.
   In Bahrain, the king ratifies death sentences and if he does so Abdul Mannan could be executed within weeks. Amnesty International has issued an ‘urgent action’ appeal, meaning its supporters are contacting the Bahraini king and the Bahraini embassy in London.
   Amnesty International UK anti-death penalty campaigner Kim Manning Cooper said: ‘Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all instances, but it’s especially disappointing when a country that rarely carries out executions bends upon this cruel and unnecessary punishment’.
   ‘We are not seeking to minimise the impact of a serious crime like murder, but King Khalifa should exercise mercy and prevent this judicial killing.’
   Abdulmanan was originally sentenced to death by the country’s High Criminal Court in January 2007, after being found guilty of the murder in October 2005 of another Bangladeshi called Ridar Mian. Two other Bangladeshi nationals implicated in the case were sentenced to life imprisonment.
   After all the three men lodged an appeal in April this year, the country’s Supreme Appeal Court reduced the two life sentences to 15 years’ imprisonment but upheld the death sentence against Jassim Abdul Mannan. On November 16, 2009, the Court of Cassation in Bahrain upheld the death penalty against Abdul Mannan, leaving only the king to decide his fate.
   The death penalty is rarely carried out in Bahrain. In the last five years it is believed that only six people have been sentenced to death. In December 2006, three Bangladeshi nationals were executed, the first people to be put to death in Bahrain since 1996. Amnesty fears that the death penalty in Bahrain is disproportionately used against foreign nationals.
   In December last year, the Bahraini government abstained in the vote for a United Nations resolution calling for a moratorium on executions globally. The resolution was passed by a vote of 106 in favour to 46 against, with 34 abstentions.

The government is taking initiative to establish road and rail communications between Bangladesh and China through Kunming for trans-border transportation between the two countries.
   The communications minister, Syed Abul Hossain, who is on a five-member delegation of the ruling Awami League now visiting China, proposed the road and railway links during a meeting Friday in Kunming with a delegation of Yunnan provincial unit of the Communist Party of China led by its secretary Comrade Li Han Bie.
   ‘The Chinese delegation showed their keen interest about the proposal,’ said a message received in Dhaka Saturday.
   It said the provincial government of Yunnan also agreed to send a proposal to the Chinese central government for initiating a feasibility study in this regard under the aegis of the ministries concerned of the two countries.
   The Awami League delegation also invited the Chinese Communist Party delegation to visit Bangladesh at a time of their convenience.
   Led by the Awami League general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, the delegation is passing a busy time holding meetings and exchanging views with the heads of provincial committees of the Communist Party of China.

Tarique Rahman, senior joint secretary general of the BNP, now in London, will appear on video making a statement at the inaugural session of BNP’s national council.