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The government on Thursday amended a few provisions of the Rules of Business 1996 to enhance the prime minister’s authority regarding appointment and assignment of persons in her aid.
   The amendments were published in an official gazette on the day, less than a month after the Awami League-led alliance government had assumed office, allowing the prime minister to appoint as many ‘advisers and special assistants on such terms and conditions as he may deem expedient in public interest.’
   ‘The prime minister may assign to an adviser or a special assistant any subject or subjects to provide advisory services to him in respect thereof. An adviser or a special assistant shall also dispose of such special tasks as may be assign to him by the prime minister from time to time,’ reads the amended Rules of Business.
   The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, already appointed six advisers assigning them with administrative tasks in various areas under her jurisdiction. They were given the status of minister.
   According to the amendment, the advisers and special assistants will be allowed to attend cabinet meetings.
   ‘The prime minister may require any adviser or special assistant appointed under Rule 3B to attend any or all the meetings of the cabinet or any committee or committees thereof.’
   The immediate-past military-controlled interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed amended the Rules of Business to accommodate the chief adviser’s special assistants to lessen the workload of the council of advisers who ran the administration for about two years.
   The council of advisers of the caretaker administration had 11 members, including the chief adviser. The interim government had six special assistants to the chief adviser.
   The present government, headed by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, promised to keep the cabinet small and began its journey on January 6 with a 32-member council of ministers. It was expanded to 38 in three weeks with the induction of six junior ministers Saturday. With the advisers, the number of officials with the rank of minister now stands at 44.
   The previous BNP-led alliance government was criticised for having 60 members in the council of ministers.
   After the appointment of the advisers, Hasina’s government set the terms of references for them outlining new areas of responsibilities.
   The adviser to prime minister on establishment and administrative affairs, HT Imam, will be helping the prime minister to establish governance through increased efficiency in bureaucracy.
   He will be the chief coordinator of the internal activities in the Prime Minister’s Office and work to rid the administration of political influence, infuse sense of respect and obligation to uphold democracy, sprit of the war of independence and the constitution.
   Moshiur Rahman has been asked to assist the prime minister in implementing the government’s economic agenda and development programmes. He will also apprise the prime minister of the state of economy.
   The health adviser, Modasser Ali, will be assisting the prime minister in implementing the government’s pledges and programmes in health and family welfare sector. He will also collect health-related data and keep the prime minister informed of the health sector.
   Alauddin Ahmed will be responsible for education, social development and political issues. He will be in touch with the civil society actors and political parties.
   Another adviser, Toufique-e-Elahi, yet to be designated, is expected to look after power and energy in aid of the prime minister while Tarik Siddiuqe is expected to look after security affairs.
   Although the provision for special assistant has been carried forward from the previous interim government, the new government is yet to appoint any special assistant to the prime minister.

The government has decided to close down 38 low-performing private teachers’ training colleges for below-the-standards education, sales of certificates and frequent non-compliance with government rules and regulations, education ministry officials said.
   ‘Recommendations for an immediate closure of the 38 teachers’ training colleges were made after a recent survey conducted by the Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project and the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. The ministry in the past week made the decision and asked the National University to cancel the affiliation,’ said a joint secretary of the education ministry.
   With the affiliation of the National University, 119 government and non-government teachers’ training colleges offers Bachelor of Education and Master of Education courses. Some private universities also offer the courses.
   Teachers of schools, colleges and madrassahs already in service and people willing to take up teaching as profession usually obtain degrees to get government benefits.
   The National University vice-chancellor, M Mofakkharul Islam, on Monday told New Age the survey report had showed 38 private teachers’ training colleges were offering poor education and they were even engaged in the sales of certificates.
   ‘I attended the education ministry meeting held a few days ago where the decision on the cancellation of the affiliation of such colleges was made. But I fear as soon as we will begin taking action, the authorities of such colleges will sue the National University,’ the vice-chancellor said. ‘There are some politically influential persons who are involved with the management of some of the 38 colleges. I will go on to take action very soon.’
   The colleges to be closed down include the Education College in Comilla, Pabna BEd College at Bera, Sarwar Khan Teachers’ Training College in Khulna, Sheikh Jamal Teachers’ Training College in Dhaka, Mathbaria Teachers’ Training College in Perojpur, Dr Miya Abbas Uddin Teachers’ Training College in Bagerhat, Mahanagar Teachers’ Training College at Azimpur in Dhaka, Rangpur Adarsha BEd College in Rangpur, City Teachers’ Training College in Chittagong, Munshi Mehrullah Teachers’ Training College in Jessore, Jessore Teachers’ Training College in Jessore, Shaheed Monaem Hossain BEd College in Bogra, Upashahar Teachers’ Training College in Jessore, Magura Teachers’ Training College in Magura, Bogra BEd College in Borga, Sundarban Shikshak Prashikshan College in Satkhira, Brahmanbaria Shikshak Prashikshan College in Brahammanbaria, Kushtia Teachers’ Training College in Kushtia, Chittagong College of Education at Chandgaon in Chittagong.
   Other colleges are Cox’s Bazar Teachers’ Training College in Cox’s Bazar, Haji Wazed Ali Teachers’ Training College in Stkhira, Amirul Islam Kagoji Teachers’ Training College at Paikgachha in Khulna, Renaissance Teachers’ Training College in Jamalpur, Khan Jahan Ali Teachers’ Training College in Bagerhat, Belayet Hossain BEd College in Bagerhat, Sekandar Shikshak Prashikshan College in Chandpur, Comilla Model Education Research Centre in Comilla, Comilla Shikshak Prashikshan College in Comilla, Comilla BEd College in Comilla, National College of Education in Narsingdi, Mainamati BEd College in Comilla, Zia Education of Development Institute at Begumganj in Noakhali, Hajiganj Ideal College of Education in Chandpur, Rahima Ejahar Memorial BEd College in Satkhira, Bangladesh Institute of TT and Research at Titas in Comilla, Parashpathar Shikshak Prashikshan College in Chittagong, Vidyasagar Shikshak Prashikshan College in Jhenaidah and Bagachara Shikshak Prashikshan College at Sharsa in Jessore.

Dhaka will not get any additional opportunity to export more goods or send more manpower to the US if it signs the proposed draft of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with Washington, observed eminent economists.
   Moreover, they pointed out that the proposed bilateral agreement itself could impose certain restrictions on Bangladesh that might hamper its business interests elsewhere unless the deal allows due flexibility in allowing it to freely negotiate in the international arena.
   In view of the risks and uncertainties surrounding such an agreement between unequal partners, the economists suggested that the Awami League-led government, which has expressed willingness to resume TIFA talks with America, should hold public discussions on the draft of the agreement to ensure transparency and tap the knowledge of its experts and economists.
   Apprehensions of getting a raw deal by joining the TIFA, and especially of probable political repercussions, are said to have in the past prompted the governments not to make any hurried deal with the world’s lone superpower, although the negotiations that began in 2003 were secretly continued.
   If Dhaka is to reap the maximum benefit from the TIFA, it should take adequate national preparations for carrying out effective negotiations and exploiting opportunities without tumbling into any pitfall.
   ‘There was no scope, in the earlier draft, to increase the export of goods and send Bangladeshi manpower to America. Instead, the facilities and waivers that Bangladesh as a least developed country is entitled to from the US under the WTO rules may be lost if we sign TIFA in the proposed form,’ said Ananya Raihan, executive director of research organisation DNet.
   Dhaka may gain in terms of raising the flow of US investment into Bangladesh’s service sectors, especially the energy sector, but it will put at risk the concessions it deserves under rules of the World Trade Organisation and other international forums in the areas of intellectual property, labour and environmental standards and also the pharmaceuticals industry, he added.
   He also questioned the provision, as proposed by Washington, of addressing corruption and bribery under the framework agreement. ‘Many things related to the maximisation of national interests depend on how the government negotiates with the US. For example, 100 per cent market access to the US market can be the issue of bargaining in the bilateral forum,’ said Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, president of Bangladesh Economic Association.
   He, however, welcomed the government’s admission in public that it would resume the talks on TIFA as the first step towards guaranteeing transparency in striking a deal.
   The US offered 97 per cent market access for products from least developed countries such as Bangladesh during the Hong Kong ministerial meeting of the WTO in 2005, but the American authorities have managed to stop duty-free entry of Bangladesh’s exportable items under the coverage of three per cent restriction.
   Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, recommends public debate on the draft of the agreement, and also addressing the concerns expressed earlier by Bangladeshi experts over the ‘possible pressure’ that might come from the joint council to be formed in line with the agreement.
   ‘We have to be careful about including any provision in the agreement that can adversely affect our domestic industries. We also have to consider the potential gains such as market access that Bangladesh can ensure through better negotiation,’ he said, adding that the government should also scrutinise the experience of countries like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Afghanistan which signed TIFA deals with the US.
   Zaid Bakht, research director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, recommends more focus on skilful negotiations for realising Bangladesh’s demands instead of refusing such an agreement.
   ‘It is natural for the weaker nation to have apprehensions in joining talks with a bigger one. We have to assert our position, maintain an independent attitude and thus gain the maximum benefit from the agreement,’ he said, and suggested that the government should make the draft of the TIFA public and seek opinions from all concerned.

The BNP-led main opposition in the parliament is unlikely to support about 80, out of the total 122, ordinances promulgated by the previous military-controlled interim government.
   The Bangladesh Nationalist Party will oppose about 20 ordinances, which are ‘detrimental to the country.’
   ‘We will only support routine ordinances of the caretaker government,’ senior BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury said after an orientation session organised for the party lawmakers on Monday. ‘We will not support any other ordinances in the parliament.’
   He said the BNP would support about 40 ordinances, out of the total 122, made by the interim administration.
   The BNP organised the meeting, which continued for an hour and a half from 11:30am, for the orientation of party lawmakers on parliamentary affairs.
   The ruling Awami League-led government place for discussion 122 ordinances in the first sitting of the ninth parliament on Sunday.
   Salauddin said, ‘We are examining the ordinances. It appears to us that many of the ordinances are not consistent with the constitution.’
   He said the party would also appose a number of ordinances including the Local Government (Upazila Parishad) (Amendment) Ordinance 2008.
   ‘The upazila parishad system was introduced through an act and any amendment to the law needs to be made by the parliament,’ he said. ‘Promulgation of an ordinance to amend a law made by the parliament is not legitimate and the BNP, therefore, will oppose it.’
   A BNP lawmaker who attended the orientation session said the party would strongly oppose about 20 ordinances, which, according to the party, would be detrimental to the country.
   He said the 20 ordinances, which are likely to be opposed by the BNP lawmakers, include the Special Powers (Amendment) Ordinance 2007, Voters List Ordinance 2007, Right to Information Ordinance 2008, Anti-Terrorism Ordinance 2008, Public Money and Budget Management Ordinance 2008, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2008, Real Estate Development and Management Ordinance 2008, and Muslim Marriages and Divorces (Registration) (Amendment) Ordinance 2008.
   The BNP and its allies have 31 MPs lawmakers in the 294-strong parliament. Six seats are now vacated by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad for by-elections. The ruling Awami League-led alliance has 258 members in the house.
   Asked about the format of the orientation session, he said it was an academic exercise. ‘Senior lawmakers Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and MK Anwar informed the party lawmakers in general and the first-time lawmakers in particular about how they can play an effective role as opposition member in the house under the purview of the constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the parliament.’
   All BNP lawmakers, excluding the leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia and Mahbubuddin Ahmed, attended the session. The opposition chief whip, Jainal Abedin Faruk, also spoke.

The frequency of power outages in the country has increased for the last two days with around 800MW of load shedding in the evening peak hours because of a drop in power generation.
   The power generation in the evening has dropped to around 3300MW in the last two days from around 3500MW against the official demand of around 4100MW. The total generation was around 3250MW at 6:30 pm on Monday.
   Power officials attributed the drop in the generation to gas shortage although the supply of gas by Petrobangla has not decreased.
   Officials said that although the capital city was not much affected by the decrease in the power production, areas outside the city and other districts were suffering.
   Petrobangla officials, however, said that the gas supply at power plants had decreased because of an increase in consumption by the non-bulk sectors like households due to cold weather.
   Besides, a number of power plants have been shut down following technical problems, they said.
   The generation of electricity was around 3800MW before the Awami League-led government took office but slack monitoring by the Power Division in the last few weeks has resulted in the decrease in generation, sources in the division said.
   The power outages are likely to increase with more than 1500MW load shedding once the weather becomes warmer after the current cold spell.
   The PDB has to generate at least 4000MW of electricity during the summer, when the demand will shoot up to 5500MW, to give some respite to the people but there is doubt among the officials whether the board will be able to generate that amount because of gas shortage and vulnerability of old power units.

The Election Commission has started looking into the complaints of ballot box stuffing, capture of polling centres and intimidation in the January 22 upazila polls.
   The commission secretariat on Monday continued receiving complaints from the defeated candidates in upazila elections. About 150 complaints have been submitted by candidates from different upazilas demanding re-election to a number of polling centres and to entire upazilas in some cases.
   The EC sat in a meeting attended by all three commissioners on Monday to examine the complaints. It decided to take actions against the polling personnel concerned for alleged negligence in ensuring fair elections, said an election official.
   The commission earlier on Sunday decided to take actions against the people responsible for ballot box stuffing, capture of polling centres and intimidation.
   The election commissioners, however, declined to talks to media. The Election Commission, which suspended elections to six upazilas out of 481 over clashes and capture of polling stations, could take legal actions if any of the allegations proved to be true.
   A defeated chairman candidate in Begumganj upazila under Noakhali district demanded recounting of votes in his upazila.
   In his complaints lodged with the EC he said that Awami League activists had forced his agents out of 15-16 centres during the voting and that the election had been rigged.
   ‘I was defeated by a margin of only seven votes in the unofficial results though I should have won by over 400 votes as per the estimate of my agents. But my rival Mohammad Ullah was declared winner,’ he said.
   The upazila elections, held on January 22 amidst violence, intimidation, assaults and harassment of election officials, capture of polling centres and stuffing and snatching of ballot boxes, saw more than 71 per cent voter turnout, according to the Election Commission’s final tally.
   Poll observers, election officials and voters observed said that such a high turnout was not compatible with the reality.

Industries minister Dilip Barua has said his ministry will formulate a policy to ensure expansion of industries and safeguard the interests of both the entrepreneurs and workers.
   In an interview with New Age, Dilip Barua, the newly appointed minister in Sheikh Hasina’s government and a career left-winger, said that an atmosphere conducive to growth of industries has been created after the return of democracy.
   ‘We will encourage local entrepreneurs and the medium and small scale industries will get priority’, he said adding that suggestions from local investors would also be sought in this regard.
   Responding to a question about his tasks ahead, the minister, also the general secretary of Samyabadi Dal, a partner of the AL-led alliance that swept to power in the last general elections, said he intended to follow a three-phase strategy –short-term, mid-term and long-term – to revitalise the country’s industrial sector.
   ‘The new government’s vision 2021 will not be achieved without revitalising the industrial sector,’ he told New Age at his secretariat office Monday.
   Apart from creating an investment-friendly atmosphere to attract foreign investors, the government would also invite Bangladeshi expatriates to set up new industries in the country, said the minister.
   ‘We will also safeguard the interests of the industrial workers’, said Barua, inducted in Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet as a technocrat minister.
   The main focus of the new policy would be to safeguard the local industries, improve the quality of products and increase use of local products, he said.
   Replying to a question on disinvestment of mills and factories, Barua said that the government would first try to make the state-owned enterprises profitable and then decide on the fate of the sick ones.
   Referring to various problems arising from fertiliser crisis in the past, he assured all that there was no fertiliser crisis during the on-going Boro season and that the government had a stock of around 14.5 lakh tonnes of urea against an estimated demand for 12.5 lakh tonnes.
   He warned against hoarding of urea fertiliser saying that the government would take stern action if there were any attempts to create an artificial crisis of urea.
   When his attention was drawn to the views of the editor of an English language daily who had wondered how a left-wing politician would deal with entrepreneurs, who Barua considered exploiters in nature, he said he would follow the guidelines of the government in running the ministry.
   ‘We want to increase the number of industries in the country and my political ideologies are not contradictory to, rather coherent with the policies’, he said.

The United Nations on Monday expressed its dismay over the post-election human rights situation in the country, resulting from violence in the wake of the December 29 general elections which increased markedly after the upazila polls.
   Reports from New Age correspondents said that some 20 people were killed and scores injured in election-related violence until January 16.
   ‘We are not happy with the violation of human rights in the post-election period. Any violation of human rights is not a good sign. So we are concerned and hope that the situation will improve in the future,’ Renata Lok Dessallien, the UNDP’s resident representative, told reporters after a meeting with Foreign Minister Dipu Moni at the latter’s office.
   Answering a question on the trial of the 1971 war criminals, she suggested that the Bangladesh government should study how the war-crime issue was handled in other countries so that any unfortunate experiences can be avoided.
   ‘Because in some countries they have managed it very well, and it worked extremely well, and in some countries it has not gone so well,’ explained Dessallien
   ‘And so we would like to see it work well in Bangladesh. That means we have to do our homework,’ she added.
   Dessalien further told reporters that her meeting with the foreign minister was a courtesy call that had touched upon issues like climate change and the upcoming meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, which Bangladesh is scheduled to attend at the hearing on the country’s rights situation.
   She said that though they were impressed with the December 29 elections, the aftermath was far from satisfactory.
   Responding to a query on whether the foreign minister had sought the UN’s cooperation for the trial of war criminals during Monday’s meeting, Dessallien said that the issue had come up for discussion.
   ‘It is very important for Bangladesh to analyse the war trials issue clearly before taking any action. And that’s what we discussed today,’ she told reporters.
   Dessallien also observed that Bangladesh should follow the examples of other countries which have dealt with the issue of war criminals to find out the right way to conduct the trials.
   Dwelling on the issue of the UN’s assistance for holding the trial of Bangladesh’s war criminals, she said that her office could apprise Bangladesh of the experiences of some other countries and provide the necessary expertise if the country finally decides to go for the trials.
   The foreign minister, Dipu Moni, said that the government would focus on promoting and protecting the human rights of all Bangladeshi citizens as promised in her party’s election manifesto.
   She also briefed Dessalien on the status of the ordinances issued by the interim government, and hoped that the ordinance on the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission would be ratified by the parliament.
   Dipu Moni reiterated her government’s commitment to eradicate extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism from Bangladesh through a holistic approach which will include — besides law enforcement measures — education, socio-economic development and empowerment of women.
   She also said that Bangladesh has initiated discussions on strengthening regional cooperation against terrorism.

The newly elected speaker of Jatiya Sangsad, Abdul Hamid, has said the lawmakers from both sides of the political divide should take lessons from the events of the past two years to prevent their recurrence and to help strengthen the democratic process.
   ‘Lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches have many things to learn from the two years’ rule of an unelected government,’ Hamid told New Age Monday after assuming the office of the speaker for the second time.
   Referring to the January 11, 2007 political changeover and subsequent takeover by a military-backed administered that governed the country for nearly two years, the veteran parliamentarian called for constructive politics so that no undemocratic forces could spring up for unexpected intervention.
   The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the ninth parliament should also take the matter into their consideration, said Abdul Hamid who was elected the country’s 11th speaker unanimously by the house Sunday.
   The speaker, who served as a lawmaker in six parliaments after Bangladesh’s independence and as deputy speaker and speaker (for nearly four months) in the seventh parliament, said he would do whatever was necessary to keep parliament functional.
   ‘We hope we will be able to bury the past mistakes in order to make parliament effective,’ he said adding that the opposition lawmakers were more aware of the situation.
   The speaker said the opposition should be more critical of the government to identify its mistake for correction.
   ‘Our objective should be a prosperous Bangladesh where rule of law will be guaranteed. The lawmakers should work together in that direction in order to free the people from poverty, hunger and repression.’
   When his assessment of the eighth parliament, in which he was the deputy leader of the opposition, was sought, Hamid said, ‘As the deputy leader of the opposition I had some grievances, but I don’t want to mention them right now.’
   Elected on the Awami League’s ticket from Kishoreganj 4 parliamentary constituency, Hamid said his party accounted for one-fifth of the lawmakers in the last parliament, but its lawmakers were deprived of time they should have been allowed to speak in the house.
   This time, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, accounts for one-tenth of the parliament’s strength. ‘I will allow the opposition lawmakers more time than they should get.’
   Debates must be constructive. Both the treasury and opposition members must maintain decency in the house, the speaker said referring to abuses hurled at opponents on parliament’s floor in the past.
   ‘One can go for humour and wit when attacking opponents on the parliament’s floor to keep the atmosphere cheerful in the house,’ said Hamid adding that he would maintain neutrality in line with the constitution and rules of procedure while running the house.
   If there is misunderstanding between the ruling and opposition camps, the office of the speaker will take initiative to bridge the gap.
   ‘I will definitely take whatever initiative is necessary to keep parliament lively and functional.’
   On their election, the new speaker, deputy speaker and parliamentary whips on Monday placed flowers at the portrait of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi and at the National Martyrs Memorial at Saver.
   Speaker Abdul Hamid took charge from his predecessor Jamiruddin Sircar, who had served as speaker for the last seven years after his election on October 28, 2001.
   Shah Abdul Hamid was the first speaker of the country from April 10, 1972 to May 1, 1972. The other speakers of Jatiya Sangsad were Mohammdullah (May 2, 1972 to January 26 1974), Abdul Malek Ukil (January 27, 1974 to November 5, 1975), Mirza Golam Hafiz (April 2, 1979 to March 20, 1982), Shamsul Huda Chowdhury (July 10, 1986 to April 5, 1991) Abdur Rahman Biswas (April 5, 1991 to September 25, 1991), Sheikh Razzak Ali (October 12, 1991 to July 14, 1996), Humayun Rashid Chowdhury (July 14, 1996 to July 10, 2001), Abdul Hamid (July 12, 2001 to October 28, 2001) and Jamiruddin Sircar (October 28, 2001 to January 25, 2009).

All the key players in Dhaka University student politics are preparing to participate in the elections to the central students union, or DUCSU, expected to be held this time after a gap of 19 years.
   AAMS Arefin Siddique, the vice-chancellor, has set the ball rolling when he emphasises the holding of elections to the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union as he talked with the media after assuming office on January 16.
   Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the main opposition BNP’s associate body of students, has expressed its unwillingness to take part in the elections and has demanded a level playing field. But all other student organisations and general students want the DUCSU elections to be held soon for an effective leadership on the campus.
   Different student organisations such Bangladesh Chhatra League and Bangladesh Chhatra Union have started their making preparations based on the promise of the vice-chancellor.
   Chhatral Dal reportedly wants to make preparations for the polls, if its demands are met. It does not want to be caught unprepared, sources close to the organisation leaders said.
   Leaders of different student organisations have expressed their fears about the holding of the DUCSU elections soon as many vice-chancellors in the past made the same promise, but the election have not been held in 19 years.
   The university unit Chhatra Dal president, Hasan Mamun, told New Age the vice-chancellor had tried to cover up Chhatra League activities by calling the attention to DUCSU elections. ‘We want DUCSU elections, but the authorities need to make the campus situation stable before the elections and this will be fair to all student organisations.’
   The university unit Chhatra League general secretary, Sazzad Sakib Badshah, said student organisations trading blames about the campus instability. But the elections to the students’ union could stop this tendency. ‘This is why we have requested the vice-chancellor to make preparations to hold the DUCSU elections at the earliest.’
   As for Chhatra Dal’s demand for a level playing field, he said, ‘It is an excuse to avoid the elections.’
   The Chhatra League president of the university unit, Mahmud Hasan Ripon, told New Age they wanted DUCSU elections soon to take place soon and it was important to stop the fight for stranglehold in the residence halls and to ensure peaceful co-existence of student organisations on the campus.
   The central Chhatra Union committee general secretary, Manabendra Deb, said the DUCSU elections were a democratic right of the students. It was even held during the tenure of autocratic governments, but the democratic governments in 19 years have allowed student politics to flourish based on the stranglehold on the campus.
   ‘A level playing field will be created when the elections will take place every year and for that it must be held first,’ he said.
   Former DUCSU vice-president Mahmudur Rahman Manna told New Age DUCSU had a history of fashioning political leaders from among general students and the trend should be set rolling again.
   He expected DUCSU would have contributions to solving political problems arising out of student politics on the Dhaka University campus.

The main opposition in parliament, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, will not become involved in the government’s move to amend the constitution to create the post of the second deputy speaker.
   ‘The BNP will not be involved in the creation of an additional post of a deputy speaker,’ said senior BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on Monday.
   He said Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina had, before the parliamentary elections, promised if her party would go to power, the post of the deputy speaker would go to the opposition. ‘But this did not happen when the parliament elected the new speaker and the deputy speaker.’
   The parliament, in its first session on Sunday, elected Awami League leaders Abdul Hamid the speaker and Shawkat Ali the deputy speaker.
   Asked about the government’s plan to amend the constitution to create the post of the second deputy speaker, he said, ‘We are no longer interested in the post.’
   The speaker, Abdul Hamid, on Monday said the government would soon place a bill in the parliament seeking a constitutional amendment to elect another deputy speaker from the opposition.
   ‘I am saying again that another deputy speaker will be elected from the opposition as soon as an amendment to the constitution is made,’ the speaker told reporters after placing a floral wreath before the mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the county’s independence movement.
   He said the two deputy speakers would enjoy the same authority in the parliament.
   In reply to a question, Hamid said the opposition should have proposed a name for the deputy speaker’s post in the first session of the ninth parliament.
   ‘If they had done that, we would have withdrawn our candidate for the deputy speaker,’ he claimed. ‘We cannot do anything at the moment as the constitution clearly says only one deputy speaker will be elected.’
   When he was asked whether the ruling party had formally communicated with the opposition, the chief whip, Abdus Shahid, earlier said there had been some technical difficulty as the BNP had not elected its deputy leader or the chief whip before the parliament went into session.
   After a landslide victory in the general elections, the Awami League
   chief, Sheikh Hasina, at a briefing on December 31, 2008 offered the post of deputy speaker to the opposition.
   The BNP’s vice-chairman MK Anwar MP said the ruling Awami League had not offered them the post of the deputy speaker.

The Election Commission has started the process for presidential election scheduled to be held in the first session of the ninth parliament, officials at the commission secretariat said.
   According to President Election Act 1991, the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, will call on the speaker, Abdul Hamid, to set a date for the election.
   A commission official assigned to arrange the presidential election told New Age on Monday the commission would send a letter to the parliament speaker in a couple of days to hold a meeting with the commission on presidential elections.
   The officer said the commission had prepared the electoral roll with the names of all the lawmakers for presidential elections.
   According to the constitution the election needs to be held within 30 days from the date of the first sitting of the parliament, which is January 25.
   There will be no election if only one candidate contests for the post of head of the state; the official said, adding this time there might be only one candidate for the post.
   The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on January at the national assembly building said her party would nominate its presidium member Zillur Rahman as the president when the time comes for them to choose the president.
   ‘He [Zillur] is a senior member of our party. We want to give him recognition for his long-time contribution to the party and the politics. He has played an important role in all our struggles, including the language movement,’ Hasina said.
   The people opposing the name for the presidential candidate and seconding him should be lawmakers, according to the law.
   In the last presidential election, the Election Commission declared Iajuddin Ahmed elected unopposed as president of the republic on September 5, 2002.

The president, Barack Obama, entered his first full week in office Monday battling to win over Republicans hostile to his signature plan to haul the US economy out of a paralysing recession.
   Obama’s 825-billion-dollar stimulus bill, which is set for debate in Congress this week, has become a litmus test of the new Democratic president’s pledge to drain Washington of partisan rancour.
   Before heading to Capitol Hill to lobby for the bill in person Tuesday, Obama was Monday hoping to add a crucial name to his cabinet with the Senate expected to confirm his pick for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner.
   Praising the former head of the New York Federal Reserve, the vice president, Joseph Biden, said on CBS programme ‘Face the Nation’ Sunday: ‘I think he’ll get a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate.’
   Despite criticism of Geithner’s failure to pay some US payroll taxes earlier this decade, the Senate’s finance committee voted last week for his nomination, and the new Treasury boss will immediately have his work cut out.
   In his first presidential radio address Saturday, Obama raised the spectre of double-digit unemployment, a massive erosion of family incomes and an entire generation losing its potential if Congress does not act on the stimulus bill.
   ‘In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse,’ he said, appealing to all to ‘act as citizens and not as partisans.’
   Republicans lack the votes to defeat the stimulus package, but they could make life difficult for Obama in the Senate through stalling tactics that might push the bill beyond his target date of mid-February.
   In any case, the new president is hoping for big majorities for his first major piece of legislation to both strengthen his political hand and drag the economy out of its longest recession since Second World War.
   The house of representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi, indicated that her patience with Republican objections was wearing thin.
   Vowing to bring the stimulus package to a vote by the full House ‘this week,’ Pelosi said: ‘Because the Republicans don’t vote for it doesn’t mean they didn’t have an opportunity to (speak out).’
   Economists, ‘from right to left, they have told us that the investments that we make create more jobs than tax cuts,’ she told ABC’s ‘This Week’ programme.
   But adamant that deeper tax cuts rather than government spending are the way forward, influential Republicans dug in their heels.
   The house minority leader, John Boehner, who was part of a congressional delegation that met Obama at the White House Friday, remained unconvinced.
   ‘If it’s the plan that I see today, put me down in the ‘no’ column,’ he said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ insisting that most of his House colleagues would also vote against.
   ‘I just think there’s a lot of slow-moving government spending in this programme that won’t work,’ Boehner said, attacking planned spending on states’ family planning initiatives and on sprucing up Washington’s National Mall.
   Pelosi said she made ‘no apologies’ for including such spending in the stimulus package, drawing a scornful response from Republican Representative Mike Pence of Indiana.
   ‘Bipartisanship should mean more than having the opportunity to vote on Democrat bills,’ he told CNN, touting the Republicans’ alternative of ‘fast-acting tax relief for working families and small businesses.’
   Pelosi said meanwhile that Obama’s administration may need to stump up more funds to bail out the stricken banking industry beyond the 700 billion dollars now in the works.
   But US banks will have to hand over more equity in return for ‘some increased investment’ from the taxpayer under the Troubled Asset Relief Programme, she said.
   Biden said that after intense criticism of how the TARP’s first tranche of 350 billion dollars was handled, the second half would be spent more wisely.
   Once he is confirmed by the Senate, Geithner ‘will then report back to the president and to me as to whether or not he thinks that 350 (billion) is enough,’ the vice president said.

The government, after a long gap of 16 years, has revived the Market Intelligence Unit to keep a vigilant eye on the market prices of essential commodities, said official sources on Monday. The unit will begin its work immediately.
   The commerce ministry abolished MIU in 1992 after Bangladesh became a member of World Trade Organisation.
   ‘The MIU will provide secret information to the Ministry of Commerce about the doings of the wholesalers and retailers in the kitchen markets in Dhaka,’ a senior official of the commerce ministry told New Age.
   The government will take necessary measures and fashion future strategies against any stockpiling and manipulation of the prices of essential commodities, said the official.
   The commerce ministry on Monday issued a circular regarding the MIU and formed four teams to monitor the four biggest markets of the capital.
   However the Bangladesh Development Studies’ research director, M Asaduzzaman, told New Age that the re-introduction of the MIU in Dhaka would be of no use as the consumption pattern of the city’s rich people was totally different from that of the poor people in other areas of the country.
   ‘The MIU will submit a biased report on the market, which will be of no use for framing future strategies for reduction of the prices of essentials,’ he asserted.
   Eminent economist Abu Ahmed said that the government would not be able to estimate the real prices of commodities without proper statistics on the suppliers and producers in the market.
   The MIU has started gathering and analyzing market information, particularly to make accurate and confident decisions in the procurement process.
   The MIU is focusing on commodity profile, cost structure, supply base profile, market indicators and competitive analysis.
   In the circular, the commerce ministry also revealed the MIU’s terms of reference.
   The four teams of the MIU will monitor a number of markets in the capital everyday, except on the weekly holidays on Friday and Saturday, and gather the wholesale and retail prices and information on the amounts of commodities that the traders have stocked.
   The teams will hold weekly meetings with the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh before finalising and submitting the MIU’s report to the concerned authorities.
   If necessary, the MIU will seal its report and send it to the ministers and secretaries concerned for taking the necessary action.

Britain’s Sky News on Monday joined the BBC in refusing to broadcast a Gaza charity appeal despite pressure from ministers and demonstrators, saying it risked the television channel’s objectivity.
   The BBC’s refusal to air the appeal has further angered pro-Palestinian campaigners who believe the broadcaster was biased towards Israel in its coverage of the Gaza conflict.
   But Sky News, the BBC’s only domestic rival as a 24-hour television news channel, said Monday that it too felt it could not risk airing the appeal.
   ‘The conflict in Gaza forms part of one of the most challenging and contentious stories for any news organisation to cover,’ John Ryley, head of Sky News, said in a statement.
   ‘Our commitment as journalists is to cover all sides of that story with uncompromising objectivity.
   ‘The absolute impartiality of our output is fundamental to Sky News and its journalism.
   ‘That is why, after very careful consideration, we have concluded that broadcasting an appeal for Gaza at this time is incompatible with our role in providing balanced and objective reporting of this continuing situation to our audiences in the UK and around the world.’
   The appeal is by the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group of 13 charities including Oxfam and the British Red Cross, which kicks in with coordinated fundraising after disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
   ITV, Channel 4 and Five, Britain’s three other terrestrial television broadcasters beside the BBC, have all aired the appeal.
   Top Church of England archbishops, government ministers, opposition spokesmen, more than 11,000 viewers and more than 50 lawmakers have called for the BBC to reconsider its decision.
   Dozens of demonstrators from the Stop the War Coalition invaded the BBC Scotland headquarters in Glasgow on Sunday for a sit-in protest.
   The prime minister, Gordon Brown, believes it is ‘rightly’ a decision for broadcasters whether to air the appeal,’ his spokesman told reporters Monday.

A BNP leader was killed in Jessore while Awami League activists looted leather goods worth Tk 2 lakh from a warehouse of a BNP-backed union parishad member in Bogra as post-polls violence continued on Monday.
   In Jessore, a BNP leader was killed allegedly by the Awami League activists at Rajapur Jamtala on Monday.
   The victim was identified as Khalilur Rahman, 45, president, ward 3, Bichhali union under the Kotwali police station.
   Witnesses said AL men, led by Hadi, Azgar and Kamal of village Rajapur, stabbed Khalilur Rahman at about 8:30am while he was taking tea in a stall at the Jamtala intersection.
   Local people took Khalilur to Jessore General Hospital, where the attending doctor declared him dead.
   In Bogra, a group of AL activists attacked the warehouse of a BNP-backed union parishad member Amzad Hossain at Dakkhinpara under Gabtoli upazila and looted leather goods worth Tk 2 lakh. They also injured three people.
   As Amzad and his wife Josna tried to resist them, they assault Josna, his son Saddam, aunty Shahera and neighbour Rsazzak.
   A total of six people were killed and 200 others injured in violent incidents across the country till Monday, following the January 22 local government elections.
   Of them, two people were killed in Jessore, one in Kushtia, one in B Baria, one in Faridpur and one in Narail.

The cabinet committee on purchase on Monday approved a proposal for import of 13 lakh tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for the current year.
   The committee, headed by finance minister, Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, at a meeting at the cabinet division gave the approval.
   The energy division placed the proposal before the purchase committee for import of six lakh tonnes of Arabian light crude oil from the state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Company and seven lakh tonnes of marban crude oil from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company of UAE.
   The energy division estimated the import cost of the crude oil at around Tk 4,500 crore.
   The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation refines the imported crude oil at its Eastern Refinery Limited to produce fuel oils —- diesel and petrol.
   The BPC had signed state-to-state agreements with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in 1979 and the Saudi Saudi Arabian Oil Company in 1983 for import of crude oil.
   It imports around 13-14 lakh tonnes of crude oil and procures around 24 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oils annually.
   The cabinet committee meeting also gave approval to a proposal for import of 1.5 lakh tonnes of urea fertiliser.
   The industries ministry placed the proposal before the purchase committee for import of 75,000 tonnes of granular urea fertiliser and 75,000 tonnes of prilled urea at the price between $298 and $307 per tonne.

The first-ever trial of the International Criminal Court began on Monday with a Congolese militia commander denying he committed war crimes by recruiting hundreds of child soldiers to kill and rape.
   ‘At this stage our client would like to plead not guilty,’ said Catherine Mabille, Thomas Lubanga’s lawyer at the start of the trial in The Hague.
   Lubanga is accused of recruiting hundreds of children under the age of 15 to fight in the armed wing of his Union of Congolese Patriots in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo between September 2002 and August 2003.
   British judge Adrian Fulford was presiding over the trial at the ICC which came into operation in July 2002 as the world’s first permanent tribunal to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
   Humanitarian groups say inter-ethnic fighting and violence involving militia groups in the DR Congo’s eastern Ituri region — centred on control over one of the world’s most lucrative gold-mining territories — has claimed some 60,000 lives since 1999 and created hundreds of thousands of refugees.
   After the plea, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo made an opening statement to the court which accused Lubanga’s militia of having ‘recruited, trained and used hundreds of young children to kill, pillage and rape.’
   ‘The children still suffer the consequences of Lubanga’s crimes. They cannot forget what they suffered, what they saw, what they did. They were nine, 11, 13 years old,’ Moreno-Ocampo said.
   ‘They cannot forget the beatings they suffered ... the terror they felt and the terror they inflicted. They cannot forget that they raped and were raped.
   ‘Some of them are now using drugs to survive, some have become prostitutes.’
   The prosecutor said that some of the victims had turned to drugs and prostitution after their ordeals.
   ‘You will hear from a boy who was just 11 when Lubanga’s militia abducted him as he was walking home from school with his friends,’ he said.
   ‘Another boy will tell you how he was abducted while playing football with his friends. You will hear how a child soldier younger than ten was shot by one of Lubanga’s men because he lost his weapon.’
   The prosecution has listed 34 witnesses, including former child soldiers, ex-members of militia groups involved in the Ituri fighting, and an array of experts in such specialty areas as determining the age of a child from bone x-rays.
   The first witness, a former child soldier, is to take the stand on Wednesday, followed by his father.
   Lubanga’s defence team has not indicated how many witnesses it intends to call.
   The trial is expected to last between six and nine months.
   Lubanga, 48, is being held at the United Nations detention centre in the seaside town of Scheveningen near The Hague.
   His armed group is accused of numerous massacres of ethnic Lendu civilians in 2002 and 2003, mainly in his stronghold Bunia, the capital of Ituri.
   Lubanga fled Bunia after a European Union force was deployed in June 2003 to halt the bloodshed.
   He reappeared in Kinshasa in 2004, where he stayed in a hotel while awaiting his promotion to the rank of general — a promise made by the government to militia chiefs who had agreed to lay down arms.
   But a resumption of violence in Ituri and the murder of nine UN peacekeepers in February 2005 prompted Lubanga’s arrest by Congolese authorities the following month.
   From prison in Kinshasa, the affluent and influential Lubanga is alleged to have remained in control of the operations of the UPC.
   He was arrested on an ICC warrant a year later and transferred to The Hague.

Reinhard Silberberg, state secretary for foreign ministry of Germany, will arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon to discuss bilateral issues with his Bangaldesh counterpart, Touhid Hossain.
   Officials at foreign ministry said during their scheduled talks on Wednesday, the two sides would take stock of the bilateral relations, focussing on investment, trade and development cooperation.
   Reinhard will also call on prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and foreign minister, Dipu Moni, during his three-day visit to Bangladesh, said a release of German embassy in Dhaka on Monday.
   The release said, the foreign secretary level consultations between the two countries were taking place only four weeks after the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.
   This clearly indicates the importance Germany attaches to its relations with Bangladesh, it added.
   It further said, the two secretaries would also discuss a wide range of regional and international issues of common concern. Germany has been a development partner of Bangladesh for the last 37 years and it provided €4.4 billion as direct assistance or indirect multilateral contributions to Bangladesh in its efforts to eliminate poverty, protect human rights and achieve economic development.

Rear Admiral ZU Ahmed has been appointed new Navy chief.
   He will assume office as the Navy chief on January 29, according to a notification issued by the ministry of defence in Dhaka on Monday.
   ZU Ahmed succeeds Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam who goes on normal retirement on January 28.
   Born in a respected Muslim family at Kapashia in Gazipur in 1957 ZU Ahmed joined the Navy in July 1976.
   He received training in the USA, China, Pakistan, Korea and the Netherlands. He captained Frigate Khalid Bin Walid, BNS Umar Farooq and BNS Abu Bakr, and was commodore commanding BNS Flotilla, commodore commanding Chittagong, deputy director general of Coastguard and commandant in Marine Academy.
   Rear Admiral Ahmed has a son and a daughter.

At least two were killed and four injured as a train rammed into a truck in the Baraitala level crossing at Shyampur in the capital Sunday night.
   The police said a Dhaka-bound local train from Narayanganj rammed into the truck as the vehicle went out of order just after it had got on the crossing.
   The six seriously injured, who were on the truck, were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Two of them were declared dead in the hospital, the police said.
   ‘There is no guard stationed in the crossing,’ a railway police officer said.