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Taka 5,41,80,000 was wasted because of quorum crisis in the first session of the current parliament.
   The daily waste of time in the first session of the current Jatiya Sangsad owing to quorum crisis was about 40 minutes and Tk 35,000 is spent a minute for conducting Jatiya Sangsad.
   According to statistics, nearly Tk 5,41,80,000 was squandered for waste of a total 1548 minutes due to quorum crisis in parliament, according a TIB report released Saturday.
   Transparency International Bangladesh released the report through a roundtable at BRAC Centre Inn in the city.
   Earlier in 2001-2006, TIB published six reports after observing 23 sessions of the eighth parliament and in continuation of it, TIB started research activities from the first day of the first session of the current parliament.
   Deputy speaker of JS, Shawkat Ali, was present at the roundtable as the chief guest with secretary general of TIB Trustee Board, Abdullah Abu Sayeed, in the chair.
   The Awami League presidium member, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, the BNP Standing Committee Member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, JSD executive president, Moinuddin Khan Badal, former chief justice, Abdur Rauf, AL leaders Ali Ashraf, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, and Junaid Ahmed Palak, Rasheda Begum Heera, Waliur Rahman and TIB executive director, Iftekharu-zzaman, took part in the discussion, among others.
   Member of TIB Trustee Board, Muzaffer Ahmad, was also present at the function. The report was placed at the roundtable by TIB research fellow Tanveer Mahmud.

A civic group Saturday announced a four-day road march from July 11 towards Cox’s Bazar from capital Dhaka to mobilise public opinion against the government’s reported move to allow international oil companies for hydrocarbon exploration in offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
   Leaders of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port at a press conference in Dhaka said the government selected nine offshore blocks to engage two IOCs in mineral exploration through uneven contacts.
   The group claimed that the government was pursuing a plan of the past military-backed interim administration to award eight offshore gas blocks to US-based Conoco Philips and one to an Irish company, Tullow.
   As per the plan, the US company is set to get deep sea blocks 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20 and 21, while Irish company will be awarded block 5, the committee’s member secretary Anu Muhammad said, referring to official dossiers.
   A certain quarter in the energy ministry has also been pursuing a production sharing contract with IOCs to export 80 per cent of the gas in liquid form once mineral is extracted, the organisers alleged.
   ‘It will never help us to meet our energy demands. If the contract is like that then Bangladesh will need to buy its own natural resources at higher prices from IOCs. We must stop it,’ Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah, convenor of the group said.
   He called upon the government to refrain from leasing the gas blocks out to foreign companies on the basis of proposed sharing deal and to protect maximum national interests while finalising any such deal.
   The committee will hold a preparatory march on July 9 from Muktangan to Malibagh crossing to drum up support for the four-day march towards the beach resort. The final march will start at 11:00am from Muktangan in the capital on July 11.
   On the way, it will hold rallies at Shanirakhra in Dhaka, Daudkandi and Comilla on the first day, at Feni and Mirersharai on the second day, Sitakundu, Barabkundu and Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong city on the third day and finally at Patia, Fatikchhari and Cox’s Bazar on the concluding day on July 14.
   Workers Party of Bangladesh (reconstituted) leader Haider Akbar Khan Rano, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh leader Saiful Huq, Communist Party of Bangladesh leader Ruhin Hossain Prince, Workers Party of Bangladesh leader Mozammel Haque Tara and Ganasanghati Andolan leader Zonayed Saki were present at the press conference.

Foreign minister Dipu Moni Saturday said her ministry was collecting evidences of war criminals from abroad as they would be tried under the law of the land.
   ‘We’ve already talked to the United Nations and its agencies concerned, and they’ve agreed to provide us their technical assistance,’ she told a discussion titled ‘Expedite the Trial of War Criminals and Relevant Subjects’.
   Projonmo’71 organised the programme at the city’s Muktijuddha Jadughar with its president M Azizur Rahman Aziz in the chair.
   Daily Kaler Kantha editor Abed Khan, Shaheed Jaiya Mili Rahman and Sarwar Ali, among others, took part in the discussion.
   The foreign minister reaffirmed that the 1971 war criminals would be tried under the law of the land maintaining international standard.
   ‘It’s more important to hold a fair trial than doing it hurriedly. So, we can’t fix any timeframe for the trial.’
   Dipu Moni said her ministry is in touch with the international community and was informing them about ‘what we want to do and how we want to hold the trail of the war criminals’.
   Abed Khan said the county would plunge into a deep darkness if the war criminals were not put on trial as they, in connivance with the Pakistani occupation forces, killed three million people during the Liberation War in 1971.

A 10-day trees, agriculture and fisheries technology fair began in Baharchhara roundabout of the Cox’s Bazar town on Saturday.
   The Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner, Md Giasuddin Ahmed, inaugurated the fair organised by Cox’s Bazar Forest Division, Fisheries Department and Directorate of Agriculture Extension with the assistance of the district administration.
   A total of 54 stalls have been installed in the fair from the agriculture, fisheries and forest departments and private nursery.
   On the occasion, a colourful procession paraded the main roads.

At least 20 houses and mosques were damaged as a tornado swept over two villages of Rajapur in the district Saturday morning.
   Locals said the tornado lashed Putiakhali and Uttar Charail of Galua union at about 6:00am and lasted for a minute.
   A good number of trees were also uprooted during the storm.
   UNO M Jasimuddin confirmed the incident.

Speakers at a conference on Saturday called on the government to prepare a comprehensive national immigration policy to curb the activities of dishonest manpower agents and ‘underground economy’ in the sector.
   They said steps must be taken to stop harassment of expatriate workers as well as to give manpower export business a human face.
   They also demanded steps to stop ‘trading in visas’ in order to bring the agencies and persons collecting workers at the grassroots level under a legal umbrella.
   A speaker questioned whether the expatriate welfare ministry, which, according to him, had failed to discharge its responsibilities, needed to exist.
   They made the suggestions at different seminars on the last day of the three-day NRB manpower development and opportunities conference-2009 at a city hotel. Scholars Bangladesh and Human Capital Development Limited jointly organised the conference.
   ‘Prepare a comprehensive national immigration policy to end the sufferings of expatriate Bangladeshis,’ Ghulam Mustafa, president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies, said. ‘The foreign job market is gradually shrinking. Only 2,12,332 persons went abroad with jobs in the first five months of this year whereas the number was 3,77,894 in the first five months in 2008. We must act right now to check the decline.’
   Tasnim Siddiqui, research director of RMMRU, said the government must take measures to stop operation of ‘underground economy’ in manpower export trade and foreign job markets. ‘High-ups in Saudi Arabia and some other countries are engaged in visa trading. It should be stopped with the help of the governments of respective countries.’
   Dr Arifur Rahman, who lives in Saudi Arabia, also called for actions against those expatriate persons who were creating a ‘image crisis’ for the country. ‘If necessary, deploy RAB [Rapid Action Battalion] personnel in the guise of staff members in foreign missions so that they can work with the law enforcing agencies in the countries concerned.’
   Criticising the expatriate welfare ministry, Noor Ali, former president of BAIRA, said, ‘The ministry is responsible for preparing guidelines for the sector. The agencies concerned, including Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, should be made responsible for implementing the guidelines. But the ministry and the BMET are doing nothing. There was a demand for 18,000 workers from South Korea. The ministry asked the BMET to recruit and send the workers but it sent only 1,900 persons to South Korea depriving hundreds of people of jobs and the country of foreign exchange.’
   Speakers in different seminars also suggested that the existing immigration department should be replaced by a separate immigration service at all airports and land ports to improve passenger handling. They called for steps to increase frequency of flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, improve taxi service and ensure safety and security of passengers when they return home.
   Civil aviation minister GM Quader admitted that organised gangs were active in and around the country’s airports. ‘Lack of accountability makes such things happen. But we will not allow it to continue,’ he said.
   Finance minister AMA Muhith was the chief guest at the concluding session of the conference. He urged expatriate Bangladeshis to invest in the power and energy sectors and economic zones in the country.
   He handed over the ‘innovation in remittance collection award 2008’ to Bangladesh Bank, ‘immigration sector development award 2008’ to RMMRU, ‘the best institute for trade skill development award 2008’ to Greenland Group and ‘the best recruiting agency award 2008’ to Unique Eastern Private Limited for outstanding performances in the sector.

The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, on Saturday suggested that a master plan should be worked out for Dhaka University to stop unplanned building construction.
   The minister said this as he addressed as chief guest a seminar on ‘Oxford of the East Dhaka University: Past and Present,’ at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building on the campus
   He said almost 42 per cent of the students drop out just before the Secondary School Certificate examinations even after registration just because they could not bear the educational expenses and the government was trying to stop such students from dropping out.
   The university vice-chancellor, AAMS Arefin Siddique, inaugurated the seminar organised by the Dhaka University Alumni Association on the occasion of Dhaka University Day 2009.
   The vice-chancellor said the task of the university was not only to issue certificates, but also to build an enlightened generation.
   Former vice-chancellor SMA Faiz urged the government to increase budgetary allocation for researches of international standards.
   Former DUCSU leader ASM Abdur Rab said a museum or collection centre should be built on the campus to conserve the mementoes of the movements that set rolling from the campus.
   Another former vice-chancellor, M Maniruzzaman Miah, Dhaka University Journalists’ Association president Shahjahan Shuvo and general secretary Riadul Karim and some former and present students spoke on the occasion.

Citizen rights activists on Saturday demanded that the BGMEA building located in the Hatir Jheel project area should be pulled down for successful completion of the project.
   Activists of the organisation also called on the authorities concerned
   to demolish all illegal buildings to reduce traffic congestion in the Dhaka city.
   They made the demands from a human chain in front of fine arts faculty of Dhaka University Saturday morning, where the speakers said the housing and public works minister recently said the government would complete the Hatir Jheel project without demolishing the BGMEA building.
   They said Hatir Jheel project involved Tk 1,500 crore while the BGMEA building was constructed at a cost of Tk 70 to Tk 80 crore. So, the government can easily remove this controversial building for the successful completion of such a big project, they argued.
   They also demanded the removal of Bangabandhu Setu building at Banani, all the illegal structures, including Musafir Tower at Kakrail, constructed by Rajuk to reduce traffic congestion in the city.
   They also suggested connecting many of the Dhaka City roads to Buriganga and Soari Ghat cross-dam to reduce traffic congestion.
   They also demanded cancellation of the plan of underground rail, saying the government should establish the four regional capitals to reduce pressure on Dhaka.
   Tushar Rehman, secretary general of the Citizens Rights Movement, Abdul Matin, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan, and Humayun Kabir Sumon, joint secretary of Green Voice, addressed the human chain, among others.

The owner of the sweater factory which was burnt down during a labour unrest early last week on Saturday alleged that local goons had set fire to the factory while police inaction encouraged them.
   ‘Police inaction apparently helped the local goons who chased the factory workers and set the factory on fire reducing it to ashes,’ said AK Azad, managing director of the Ha-Meem Group.
   He made the statement in presence of two cabinet ministers and an advisor to the Prime Minister who went to see the damages wrought on the sweater factory and also to talk to other factory owners in Ashulia industrial area.
   ‘There are elements still there in police who want to push the government into uneasy circumstances,’ said Azad, addressing several hundreds sweater workers, who gathered for hearing the ministers.
   Commerce Minister Faruk Khan, Industries Minister Dilip Barua, adviser Syed Moddasser Ali, local MP Murad Jong and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Abdus Salam Murshedy addressed the gathering.
   Faruk Khan reiterated that the government would take all measures to investigate the incident properly and punish the people involved in the destructions.
   Dilip Barua said a certain quarter had been trying to tarnish the image of the government by creating anarchy and, he suspected, the latest destructions were motivated by this same quarter.
   ‘If any dispute arises please wait for negotiations, destructions in factories cannot settle disputes,’ he told the workers.
   Earlier at a meeting with the Ashulia factory owners, adviser Syed Modasser Ali said some factory owners might have irritated the workers by depriving them of their legitimate dues and through rude behavior.
   ‘No clash takes place without provocation from one side,’ said Ali, pointing to the probable reason behind last week’s labour unrest. ‘We have to identify the wrongdoing owners and bring them to book.’
   Police Superintendent of Dhaka told the meeting that it happened regularly that police required arbitrating the disputes between workers and owners.
   Police should be there only to ensure security while industrial disputes should be settled through negotiations between the workers and the factory owners, he said.
   AK Azad told the workers that even if he wants to rebuild the burnt factory, it would not be possible to do it quickly within a year.
   But he assured that other units of his group would absorb some of workers while BGMEA might be arranging job for the affected workers in different sweater units.

The Border Security Force of India at a flag meeting with BDR on Saturday agreed for fresh survey of the Goianghat border where India encroached 35 acres since independence.
   The Indian occupation of the land raised tension between BDR and BSF on June 26 when the farmers went to reclaim the land at Aamswapna village in east Jaflong union.
   Officials said BSF had occupied 35 acres near border pillar No 1277 since independence. BDR had been trying in vain to recover the land through negotiation. Last week the farmers who owned the land went to reoccupy the land and started tilling beyond the area. BSF resisted heightening tension in the area.
   BSF 121 battalion commander at the flag meeting at Tamabil border on Saturday agreed that the dispute be settled through survey of the area by the Sylhet district survey officials at the earliest. BDR 21 battalion commander Lat Col Zahirul Alam led the home team at the flag meeting.

Extortion and establishment of stranglehold were behind the killing of the three traders at Karwan Bazar on June 26, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, AKM Shahidul Haque, said on Saturday.
   Briefing newsmen in the Detective Branch office in the afternoon, he said several lakh takas were realised in toll every day from the wholesale market in the name of different associations, according to information gathered after the arrest of 10 suspects at places in and around the capital since June 30 and recovery of two firearms with ammunitions and a microbus used by the killers on the day.
   Three of the suspects fired shots at the victims, Faruq Mollah, 55, Ashraf Miah, 50, and Ashraf’s bodyguard Nuruddin Sarker Jewel, 35, and Abdur Rahim, 55, at the DIT Market 1 on June 26. Two others were drivers and the rest stood guard and provided the group who killed the three with information on the day, the police chief said.
   Faruq, Ashraf and Nuruddin died on the spot. Rahim was critically injured.
   Quoting the arrested, Shahidul said 30 people took part in the killing of three. Nine of them were directly involved in the killing and all of them carried firearms and fired shots during the incident, eight others were on guard and provided information, six were instructors and others helped them.
   The group carried a sawn-off double-barrel gun, five pistols and three revolvers during the incident and the police seized the gun along with three cartridges and a revolver with nine bullets from the arrested.
   Shahidul said the political identity of the suspects could not be established as yet, but as the complainant of the case, Mobarak Hossain, brother of Faruq Mollah, named four local BNP leaders in the accused list, political affiliation of the suspects could not be ruled out.
   ‘We are verifying the statements of the arrested and other information,’ he said.
   The suspects said they had targeted only Faruq Mollah, but killed the other two by mistake as they were sitting close to each other and they had fired indiscriminately to confirm the Faruq died.
   ‘As a leader of the Karwan Bazar Fruit Traders’ Association, Faruk Mollah also collected tolls from the traders and he deprived others from the share of the money,’ the commissioner said, quoting the arrested.
   Faruq also killed others who tried to get involved in toll collection at the place, the suspects said.
   The police said the Detective Branch had continued with the investigation of the killing although the investigation was officially invested with the Tejgaon police.
   The Detective Branch arrested the microbus driver, Emdadul Haque Babul, 32, at Mirpur on June 30. Babul drove the vehicle on the day instead of its original driver, Shakib Miah, 37. Shakib was also arrested and the microbus seized.
   Based on their statements, the police then arrested a suspect, Rakibul Islam Babu, 22, at the Savar Bank Colony and based on his statement, the police arrested three of his associates, Saiful Islam Ripon, 20, Mamun, 25, and Rakib Ahmed Sohel at Tejturibazar in Dhaka, Iswarganj in Mymensingh and Kuliarchar in Kishoreganj on Saturday.
   The police also arrested four other associates, Tanjil Mahmud Jony, Taher Ali, Ajmal Khan Pappu and Rajib Mahmud at the Savar Bank Colony Saturday afternoon.
   Sohel worked out the operation from organising the group to kill Faruq, arrange firearms and other logistics, the police said.
   Sohel told newsmen in the Detective Branch office that all of them belonged to the same gang led by Ashiq, who is now reported to be in India, and at his instruction, he had organised the gang to kill Faruq as Faruq had killed Mamun, who used to collect tolls in the market place in the first week of June.

The government is sitting back and watching when law and order deteriorates across the country, The BNP chief and leader of the opposition in the parliament, Khaleda Zia, said on Saturday.
   ‘The government is sitting idle although law and order started deteriorating across the country since they assumed power [in January],’ she said.
   Khaleda was talking to a group of professionals and family members of Monzur Morshed Shipu, who was killed at Mohammadpur in Dhaka recently, at her Gulshan office Saturday evening.
   ‘Activists of Awami League are killing people in broad daylight, grabbing lands, snatching tenders and ransacking property of the supporters of the opposition parties,’ she said. ‘But the government is not taking any action against the culprits.’
   Referring to the killing of BNP activist Shipu, she said that the ruling party and the government together had resorted to repression on the activists of the opposition parties.

The 14th death anniversary of Justice Muhammad Ansar Ali, a former judge of the Supreme Court and noted jurist, will be observed today.
   To mark the day, Qur’an kwani and prayer sessions will be held at his village home in Naogaon and at his graveside at Banani graveyard in the Dhaka city.
   Justice Ansar Ali died on the day in 1995 while he was hearing a case in the courtroom.
   A veteran campaigner of establishing rule of law and independence of judiciary, Ansar started his legal profession at Dhaka High Court in 1962 and at Pakistan Supreme Court in 1968.
   He was the vice-president of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association and president of Rangpur High Court Bar Association.
   An active participant in 1952 language movement, Ansar was jailed for joining in the movement. He also played significant role in the war of independence. He was awarded Matribhasha Padak in 2001 posthumously, said a release.

Samajtantrik Chhatra Front formed a human chain on the Jahangirnar University campus on Saturday, demanding immediate naming of the university auditorium after martyred intellectual Zaheer Rayhan.
   The JU unit of the Chhatra Front organised the human chain programme at the foot of the Amar Ekushey sculpture of the university.
   The human chain was followed by a rally, where the speakers called on the university authorities to name the auditorium after late Zaheer Rayhan, a noted film maker.
   They also threatened to go for tougher movement if their demand is not met immediately.

The students of Bangladesh Institute of Marine Technology in Narayanganj staged demonstration on Saturday, pressing home their six-point demand including making trade courses equivalent to higher secondary courses.
   The students snapped power, gas and water supply to the teachers’ quarter and locked doors of some offices at the institute.
   They abstained from classes since the morning and brought out procession chanting slogans in favour of their demands.
   Ataur Rahman, a 2nd year student of marine engineering course, said, ‘There are two diploma and four trade courses at the institute. No certificate was given by the government for the two-year trade course. Only BIMT issued a certificate for trade course students. As a result, they do not get admission in any government and non-government educational institutions and lose the opportunity of higher education.’
   Kazi Mohammed Alamgir, principal of the institute, said he had earlier assured the students of meeting their demands after having talks with the higher authorities but the students continued their demonstration.

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion recovered two firearms in an abandoned condition after conducting a drive in the city’s Patenga area on Friday night.

Former president and Jatiya Party chairman Hussein Muhammad Ershad is recovering after undergoing a successful heart surgery on Wednesday in Zarina Shikder Medical College Hospitals at Gulshan in the capital, the hospital sources said.
   He is now under medical surveillance. He underwent a cardiac surgery for two blocked arteries, a doctor, who carried out the operation, said. ‘His condition is stable… Two stents have been inserted in his heart and we hope he will go home in a day or two,’ senior interventional crdiologist Rakibul Islam Litu told New Age on Saturday afternoon.