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Jatiya Sangsad on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposal to cancel the parliament membership of former speaker, Jamiruddin Sircar for alleged corruption and misuse of office but approved realisation of public money he had plundered during his tenure in the eighth parliament.
   ‘This suggestion [cancellation of membership] seems to be very tough in the given reality. There is neither any specific constitutional provision nor any precedent for stripping a lawmaker of membership. We could consider the proposal in a developed democratic system,’ the speaker, Abdul Hamid, told the lawmakers before he sought vote from the floor after a discussion on a report prepared by a parliamentary investigation.
   The house accepted the proposals moved after more than two hours of discussion on a report submitted after months of investigation by a parliamentary committee formed to look into the alleged corruption, abuse of authority and plunder of public money by the former speaker during his seven-year tenure.
   The session resumes at 5:30 on October 28.
   The house approved by voice vote a set of proposals moved by Rashed Khan Menon asking the authorities concerned to realise the fund embezzled allegedly by the former speaker, former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui and former chief whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain.
   But the speaker of Jatiya Sangsad, Abdul Hamid, who was presiding over the session, ruled out a proposal for stripping Sircar of parliament membership – a proposal also forwarded by a parliamentary inquiry on the alleged corruption and abuse of authority – saying that there was no specific constitutional provision or precedent for doing so.
   The proposals included referring the allegations against the trio to the Anti-Corruption Commission for further investigation, cancellation of the appointment of staff members to the parliament secretariat in violation of existing rules, reallocation of parliament quarters, which were allocated during Jamiruddin’s tenure flouting the rules.
   It also approved a proposal for departmental actions against the officials who had helped the top legislators in corrupt practices.
   Rashed Khan Menon, who moved the proposals under rule 292 of the rules of procedure, said that the recommendations were not meant against any individual, rather for upholding the dignity of the democratic institution.
   ‘It is a caution for all concerned. It is not a matter of mere politics, it involves dignity of the position of the speaker,’ he told the house moving the proposals.
   The committee headed by a ruling Awami League lawmaker revealed that the speaker, deputy speaker and the chief whip of the eighth parliament had embezzled nearly Tk 2.5 crore through various corrupt practices.
   Submitted on July 9 in the parliament, the report suggested realising the amount from the trio and stripping Jamiruddin of the membership. He was elected an MP for a Bogra constituency vacated by the BNP chairperson who won three constituencies in the 29 December, 2008 general elections.
   ‘The parliament has inherent power to scrap membership of any MP for misconduct no matter whether there is any clear provision or not.... As the guardian of parliament, the position of the speaker is very dignified,’ said the executive summary of the report.
   It also accused the former speaker, former deputy speaker and former chief whip of contempt of parliament as they did not turn up to a meeting of the committee despite being invited to give their views on their alleged corruption.
   The report was included in the day’s business on Tuesday for discussion. A total of 12 lawmakers from the ruling Awami League and its allies, and an independent lawmaker took part in the discussion over a boycott by the MPs of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies.
   The committee chief presented a summary of the investigation in the house. The committee was formed on 19 March, 2009 in the first session of the ninth parliament.
    The investigation committee also found that the former speaker had appointed some 256 employees – class II and class III – for the parliament secretariat, violating the appointment rules. The committee suggested realisation of the money spent for them from the employees, and in case of failure, the amount should be realised from the former speaker.
   Taking part in the discussion, senior AL lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta recommended exemplary punishment for the former speaker, deputy speaker and chief whip to strengthen ‘structural democracy’. He said that Bangladesh had been passing through a grave political crisis. It is unimaginable that a man of high stature could involve in such corruption.
   ‘It is unfortunate that we need to talk on a censure motion against a former speaker,’ Suranjit said suggesting that speaker Abdul Hamid leave the matter for the government to realise the plundered money by whatever mechanism it thought was fit.
   He referred to the recent over-expenditure scam involving more than 250 British lawmakers, most of whom had already refunded the money. ‘I hope the lawmakers of our parliament would refund the money, otherwise they must stand in the
   dock if the government investigation finds them guilty.’
   He opposed the suggestion for cancellation of the membership of the former speaker saying if he was found guilty of corruption, he could not avoid the charge of moral turpitude, ‘for which membership of a lawmaker ceases automatically.’
   He also requested the present speaker and chief whip to remain careful taking into consideration the fate of their predecessors saying that they should not think the present parliament was the last parliament of Bangladesh.
   Suranjit accused the leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia, for taking the issue politically and said she was trying to save Jamiruddin Sircar, not parliamentary democracy. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s lawmaker Hasanul Huq Inu demanded exemplary punishment for the trio on consensus saying that none should go unpunished if found involved in corruption.
   He further demanded expulsion of the former speaker from the parliament.
   ‘After the assassination of the founding president of the country, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then military government led by Ziaur Rahman, had rewarded the killers instead of punishing them and the culture of impunity for crimes started then,’ the front-row lawmaker said.
   Jatiya Party lawmakers, Ziaul Haque Mridha and HM Golam Reza and Awami League lawmakers Tarana Halim, KM Khalid, Israfil Alam and Nurul Islam Sujan, BM Mozammel Hoq, Atiur Rahman Atiq and Khan Tipu Sultan also took part in the discussion and demanded exemplary punishment for Sircar, Akhter Hamid and Delwar.

The parliament on Tuesday passed a bill for enactment of a law, already made effective by an executive order, for lifelong security by Special Security Force and accommodations for prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana and their children.
   The house adopted the bill styled ‘The Father of the Nation’s Family Members’ Security Bill 2009 by voice vote. Lawmakers of the mainstream opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance have been staying off the house proceedings since the budget session in June.
   The treasury bench members hailed the passage of the bill by thumping desks. Leader of the house and prime minister Sheikh Hasina was present. The house took only four minutes to pass the law as there was hardy any discussion on the bill.
   The home minister, Sahara Khatun placed the bill in the parliament on October 5 proposing lifelong protection for the living members of the family of the country’s founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated in a military putsch 34 years ago.
   The state minister for home affairs, Shamsul Haq Tuku put the bill before the parliament as recommended by the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry.
   Independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim, who moved a proposal for eliciting public opinion on the bill, withdrew his proposal and supported the bill. Proposal seeking public opinion by BNP lawmaker Zafrul Islam Chowdhury was not discussed as he remained absent from the house.
   In a statement tagged with the bill, the home minister said, ‘A clique of conspirators had created a dark episode in history by killing the founding father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had struggled relentlessly for the cause of the people and basic human rights, and most of his family members on August 15, 1975.’
   It said the conspiracy had not ceased.
   ‘Several attempts have been made on the lives of the surviving members of his family as the defeated forces of the 1971 liberation war and their local and foreign collaborators are still hatching conspiracies to eliminate them.’
   ‘In the circumstances, it is necessary to provide state security to the living members of his family and a law to this effect is proposed,’ the statement said adding that the cabinet headed by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, had approved the draft bill.
   And the law has already came into being by an executive order.
   The proposed law stipulates that the living members of Sheikh Mujib’s family – Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana and their children – would get lifelong SSF protection and to be considered as Very Important Persons.
   In providing security for them, the family members’ opinion would get priority, it added.
   To comply with the proposed law, the authorities will ensure security of their dwellings and provide other related privileges.
   A similar law was enacted by the previous Awami League government in June 2001 but it was scrapped by its successor BNP-led alliance government after six months in December.

The Awami League-led government on Tuesday decided to recommend withdrawal of 297 more cases filed in the past with political motive, including one against Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
   This is the second case against a leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party that has been recommended for withdrawal by the national review committee on withdrawal of politically-motivated cases after it decided to drop a liquor case against former law minister Moudud Ahmed on August 26.
   ‘BNP’s senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman was not an accused in the extortion case filed against Giasuddin Al Mamun with Gulshan thana. But Tarique was interrogated several times on remand and was sent to jail as Mamun in a confessional statement named the BNP leader in connection with the extortion,’ state minister for law Quamrul Islam, also the head of the review committee, told reporters after its 8th meeting at the secretariat.
   He said the committee had also recommended that a graft case against Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad be withdrawn, among others.
   Project coordinator of Amin Construction Ltd and Reza Construction Ltd, Syed Abu Shaheed Sohel sued Giasuddin Al Mamun in May 2007 during the regime of the military-controlled interim administration for allegedly extorting Tk five crore from the firms for construction of the Pakshi and Bhairab bridges.
   ‘After examining the relevant documents, we have come to the conclusion that Tarique was not involved in the alleged extortion and that he was implicated in the case for political harassment…That is why we have decided to drop the case,’ Quamrul Islam said in reply to a question.
   Many such cases were filed against Awami Leaque leaders and activists during 2001-2008, he said adding there might be more such cases against BNP leaders and activists framed during the tenure of the interim government.
   The committee is reviewing the harassment cases filed during the tenures of the BNP-led alliance government (2001-06) and the interim administration of Fakhruddin Ahmed (2007-08).
   The state minister said the government would consider cases filed against the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and other leaders of the opposition parties for withdrawal if they were found to have been framed with political motive.
   Of the total cases recommended for withdrawal on Tuesday, 270 were filed under the penal code and 27 by the Anti-Corruption Commission, he mentioned.
   The government has so far recommended withdrawal of 875 ‘politically-motivated cases’ filed mostly against the Awami League leaders and activists.
   After the third meeting of the review committee on July 1, Quamrul Islam had brushed aside possibility of withdrawal of any cases filed against the BNP chairperson’s two sons, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman, during the emergency.
   Khaleda, Tarique and Arafat filed applications on April 30 seeking withdrawal of all 20 cases lodged against them during the interim government’s rule.
   The 8th meeting recommended quashing of cases against Chittagong mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Abdus Sattar, Rafiqul Islam, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Abdul Latif Biswas, Ilyas Uddin Mollah, Hazi Selim and Syeed Khokon of the Awami League; Ruhul Amin Hawladar of Jatiya Party and former chairman of Proshika, Qazi Faruque.
   The government on February 17 set up the inter-ministerial committee to review the ‘politically motivated’ cases, especially those filed against politicians, during the regimes of the BNP-led alliance government and the interim administration.
   The national committee has so far received 4,433 cases recommended for withdrawal by the district committees from across the country.

BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain has asked the government to hold mid-term polls to assess its popularity which, he says, is declining fast as its plots to ruin BNP proved counterproductive.
    ‘But I do not think they would accept the proposal [of mid-term polls] as they assumed office mortgaging the country’s interests,’ he told a rally Tuesday protesting the arrest of BNP joint secretary general Gayeshwar Roy.
   Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, the youths’ wing associated with BNP, held the rally in front of the BNP’s central office at Nayapaltan in the city a day after Roy was sent to jail after surrendering to a Dhaka court in a graft case.
   Juba Dal will also hold demonstrations across the country today.
   ‘By arresting a leader like Gayeshwar, the government has proved that they are afraid of the truth,’ Delwar said.
   Presided over by Juba Dal president Barkatullah Bulu, the rally was addressed among others by BNP joint secretary general Mirza Abbas, organising secretary Mohammad Shahjahan, Juba Dal general secretary Moazzem Hossain and organising secretary Khairul Kabir Khokan.
   Earlier at a briefing, Delwar said the government was creating an environment of intimidation across the country.
   He criticised the jute minister’s remark branding speaker Abdul Hamid as ‘servant of the House, not master’ in response to the speaker’s annoyance at massive absenteeism of ministers and senior ruling party MPs leading to frequent quorum crisis in parliament.
   ‘This is nothing but an indirect threat to the speaker. Does it prove that parliament is working independently?’ the former chief whip questioned.
   Delwar said the party’s national council will be held by December though different vested quarters are trying to create obstacles in the process.

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port on Tuesday sent a letter to the parliamentary standing committee on the power and energy ministry, asking it why the protection committee should meet the parliamentary body if it does not have the authority to postpone the signing of the production sharing contract for offshore blocks with two foreign companies.
   ‘We have answered the latest letter of the standing committee that said that it did not have the authority to postpone the process of signing PSCs with two oil companies for three offshore blocks,’ said the committee’s member secretary, Anu Muhammad, on Tuesday evening.
   The standing committee’s chairman, Subid Ali Bhuiyan, on Saturday invited the protection committee in a meeting on October 15 as it has been protesting against the PSCs that have a clear provision for gas export.
   The protection committee on Monday replied to Subid Ali and requested him to fix five agenda, including the PSC and scrapping of Phulbari coal deal, for discussion. The committee also called upon Subid Ali to postpone the PSC signing process and to make the meeting an open discussion and allow media access.
   Subid Ali on Monday replied that postponement of the process of signing the PSCs was beyond the jurisdiction of the standing committee. He also claimed that there was no precedence of any standing committee holding open meetings.
   In reply, the protection committee in a letter on Tuesday pointed out that if the standing committee does not have any influence on the signing of the PSCs there is no point in discussing the matter with it.
   The protection committee also said that there was no bar on holding open meetings and allowing journalists to be spectators.
   The protection committee held a meeting on Tuesday evening with its convener Sheikh Md Shahidullah in the chair.
   ‘We will decide whether we will meet the standing committee after getting its reply. If the reply is satisfactory, we will attend the meeting,’ said Anu Muhammad.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the defence to read out the verdict of the third High Court judge as the hearing in the appeals in Shiekh Mujibur Rahman murder case continued.
   On the seventh day of the hearing, Justice SK Sinha of the five-judge Appellate Division bench, told the counsel of condemned convicts Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed that he could not read out the verdict delivered by Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim as the third High Court judge.
   The counsel, Abdullah Al Mamun, insisted that he needed to read out the verdict of Justice Karim which resolved the split verdicts delivered by two other High Court judges in the Mujib murder case.
   In the split verdicts, Justice M Ruhul Amin upheld the death sentences of 10 accused and Justice ABM Khairul Haque upheld the death sentences of all the 15 accused.
   Justice Karim, as the third High Court judge, delivered the final verdict on 30 April, 2001 upholding the death sentences of 12 former army men, Mamun said arguing that he needed to read out the verdict as it resolved the split opinion of the two-member High Court bench.
   Justice Md Abdul Aziz, another judge in the Appellate Division bench, however, said that the issue was settled on September 23, 2007 when the Appellate Division allowed the defence to appeal against the High Court verdict.
   Attorney general Mahbubey Alam and Anisul Huq, the chief state counsel in the case, did not oppose Mamun’s argument.
   Mamun will resume reading out from Justice Fazlul Karim’s judgment today.
   During the seventh day’s hearing on Tuesday, Mamun completed reading out from the High Court verdict delivered by Justice Khairul Haque. He earlier read out Justice Ruhul Amin’s judgment.

Adolescents and relatively healthy adults are especially at risk from the swine flu, which is associated with respiratory failure and a high mortality rate in serious cases, studies said Monday.
   The studies, conducted during the first phase of infection between March 18 and June 1 in Mexico and April 16 through August 12 in Canada, also show how emergency services were sometimes submerged by the number of serious cases that needed to be treated simultaneously.
   Serious cases of infection from the influenza A(H1N1) virus in patients in Mexico were all linked to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, followed by a state of shock with a high incidence of death.
   At least 4,525 people have died from swine flu infections since April and there have been over 378,223 laboratory-confirmed cases, the World Health Organisation said Friday, with most deaths occurring in the Americas.
   Of the 899 patients admitted to six Mexican hospitals with confirmed or probable A(H1N1) infections during the period studied, 58 were in serious condition, the study’s authors said. The median age of critically ill patients was 44.
   Most were treated with antibiotics and 45 of them with the antivirals Tamiflu or Relenza, while 54 required an artificial respirator.
   Among the 58 serious cases, 24 (41.4 per cent) died within 60 days of hospitalisation, including 19 during the first two weeks.
   ‘Our analysis of critically ill patients with 2009 influenza A(H1N1) reveals that this disease affected a young patient group,’ wrote the authors of the study led by Guillermo Domínguez-Cherit of the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición in Mexico City.
   ‘Early recognition of disease by the consistent symptoms of fever and a respiratory illness during times of outbreak’ accompanied by ‘prompt medical attention,’ the authors said, ‘may provide opportunities to mitigate the progression of illness and mortality observed in Mexico.’
   In ‘almost all cases,’ fever and respiratory symptoms were harbingers of disease, they added. ‘There was a relatively long period of illness prior to presentation to the hospital, followed by a short period of acute and severe respiratory deterioration.’
   Of the 168 patients infected with the virus who became critically ill and were treated at 38 Canadian hospitals during the period studied, 24 (14.3 per cent) died within the first 28 days and five within the first 90 days, for a 17 per cent mortality rate, according to that study’s authors.
   The Canadian patients’ average age was 32.3 years old, including 113 women (67.3 per cent) and 50 people under the age of 18 (29.8 per cent).
   The study team led by Anand Kumar of St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg, Canada, concluded that A (H1N1) caused serious illness predominantly in young patients with few major underlying diseases.
   ‘Our data suggest that severe disease and mortality in the current outbreak is concentrated in relatively healthy adolescents and adults between the ages of 10 and 60 years, a pattern reminiscent of the W-shaped curve [rise and fall in the population mortality rate for the disease, corresponding to age at death] previously seen only during the 1918 H1N1 Spanish pandemic,’ the authors write.
   Published in the November 4 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the studies were posted online on Monday to coincide with their presentation at a meeting of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine in Vienna this week.
   In a JAMA editorial accompanying the studies, two doctors warned that many US hospitals could face a shortage of doctors and nurses to treat serious cases if the pandemic intensifies.
   ‘Hospitals must develop explicit policies to equitably determine who will and will not receive life support should absolute scarcity occur,’ wrote Douglas White and Derek Angus of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
   ‘Any deaths from 2009 influenza A(H1N1) will be regrettable, but those that result from insufficient planning and inadequate preparation will be especially tragic.’
   The number of paediatric deaths linked to the A(H1N1) virus has risen sharply in the past month in the United States, with 19 dead between September 27 and October 3, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
   A total of 76 children have died after being infected by the virus since April, the CDC said.

Bangladesh will request Mauritius to revoke its plan to send nearly 6,000 Bangladeshi workers back home by the yearend when foreign minister Dipu Moni will be touring the island nation next week, officials of the foreign and expatriates’ welfare ministries have told New Age.
   The Indian Ocean island state in July decided to deport Bangladeshi workers, mostly in the textile sector, for protecting local jobs amid demands from trade unions there.
   Reported criminal activities of a few fellows too have put the job future of several thousand Bangladeshis there at stake, officials in Dhaka said.
   A senior foreign ministry official said Dipu Moni would visit Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, between October 19 and October 21, to hold official talks with her Mauritian counterpart Arvin Boolell on a wide range of bilateral issues.
   During her three-day trip, the two countries will sign an agreement on avoidance of double taxation for boosting the two-way trade which now stands only at around two million dollar.
   Expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry officials said the issue of protecting Bangladeshi workers’ jobs and creating wider scopes for employment will top the agenda of the foreign minister’s official talks there apart from the issue of trade cooperation.
   Dipu Moni is scheduled to call on prime minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam and meet several senior cabinet members including vice-prime minister and finance minister Rama Krishna Sithanen, trade minister Mahendra Gowressoo and labour minister Jean François Chaumiere.
   ‘The main purpose of my Mauritius visit is to protect rights of Bangladeshi workers as well as take measures to tackle saturation of our job market there,’ foreign minister told the media on Sunday.
   Referring to Bangladesh mission in Kenya, officials said that Mauritius decided to send back at least 6,000 workers by December 2009 due to economic meltdown. Irregularities by recruiting agencies of Bangladesh and some criminal activities including passport forgery and violation of local law also annoyed Mauritius authorities.
   Port Louis requested Dhaka to streamline the process of manpower export through proper screening as a major portion of those workers, mentioned earlier, landed there without valid documents.
   ‘Though number of such complaints against our workers is very few, those incidents ultimately put further job prospects of our people in jeopardy,’ said an official, citing some of those incidents.
   He said during the discussions Bangladesh would convince Mauritius officials that it would equip workers with proper training and update them on the law and culture of the country. Only selected workers will be sent after proper screening, he added.
   Another official said that Mauritius government earlier in April decided to immediately send back those Bangladeshi workers whose three-year contract expired.
   ‘Our mission in Kenya which is assigned to look after Mauritius succeeded in convincing the authorities there to reconsider their decision and to postpone the decision until December,’ he said.
   But the authorities of the island nation did not have any complaint about 5,000 female workers out of the total Bangladeshi workforce of 12,000, the official said.
   At present Bangladeshi workers are dominating the job market of Mauritius accounting for 50 per cent of overseas workers, and involving in the textile, tourism and fish processing sectors.

Bangladesh will try to use the forum of least developed countries to make its voice louder for removing some World Trade Organisation provisions that discriminate against smaller economies and erode their business competitiveness.
   When the trade ministers of the 49-member LDC forum will begin their meeting in Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam tomorrow, Dhaka will seek to strike a common ground to put effective pressure on developed countries especially the USA to leave their markets wide open for all products from LDCs, trade diplomats in Dhaka said.
   As countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka, claiming them as disproportionately affected countries, already realised their demands for reduction of duty on their products to developed market in a quicker pace than LDCs, Dhaka would argue that Bangladesh should have been given similar facilities much earlier.
   ‘That discriminatory provision which will downplay Bangladesh’s preference should be amended so that weaker trading partners like ours do not lose trade competitiveness in any manner. It may be meaningful and effective to raise the issue from a common platform,’ a commerce ministry official said.
   The LDCs’ ministerial meeting is expected to make a declaration striking a common position on a number of trade issues and varying demands to place at WTO ministerial in Geneva between November 30 and December 2.
   Although this year’s ministerial meet is meant for formality and would be mainly discussing global financial crisis, the pending issues of Doha Development rounds of WTO talks would automatically come up, said the trade diplomats.
   Bangladesh already enjoys duty-free market access to the European Union for ‘everything but arms’. The demand for duty-free access is mainly relevant for the American market, where Bangladeshi exporters pay at least $500 million every year on apparel exports.
   Other key demands of Bangladesh include waiver for LDCs from regulatory and other measures on service sector, free movement of natural persons, trade facilitation and aid for trade.
   Commerce minister Faruk Khan is scheduled to leave Dhaka tonight to join the LDC ministerial talks tomorrow, officials said.
   Commerce secretary Feroz Ahmed has planned to attend the first-day session.

The results of the 29th Bangladesh Civil Service preliminary test were published Tuesday.
   Some 13,536 candidates of the preliminary test have been provisionally selected for written test.
   The successful candidates are requested to
   collect forms from the Public Service Commission office from November 1 to 19 from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
   However, the results of 14 candidates have been withheld and they are requested to have their exam papers verified before October 25.
   The preliminary test of the 29th Bangladesh Civil Service examination was held on August 14 in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet simultaneously.
   A total of 1,23,745 candidates sat for the test.

A Dhaka court has rejected bail sought by controversial businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun in a tax dodge case.
   Amar Kumar Roy of the second special judge’s court made the order on Tuesday and set November 15 for hearing on framing charges against Mamun.
   Mamun was produced before the court from jail.
   According to case details, Mamun, a close friend and business partner of Tarique Rahman, elder son of main opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia, submitted a false statement of income tax by concealing income of Tk 54 crore from 2001-02 to 2006-07 tax year while he was director of Unitex Apparels.
   He also evaded tax to the tune of Tk 14 crore on his concealed income.
   Deputy tax commissioner Ayesha Siddika Shelly filed the case against Mamun on August 26.
   The Supreme Court on Sunday halted a High Court order until Oct 18 that granted him bail in four cases.
   Joint forces arrested Mamun on January 30, 2007.

The prime minister, Gordon Brown, and the opposition leader, David Cameron, told lawmakers Tuesday to pay back disputed expense claims or risk losing their jobs, as the scandal returns to haunt politicians.
   They were speaking the day after members of parliament returned to the House of Commons after a near-three month summer recess to find the expenses scandal, which dogged them for weeks earlier this year, had flared up again.
   Cameron, whose centre-right Conservatives are well ahead of Brown’s centre-left Labour in opinion polls with a general election due by June, was the first to issue the warning in a breakfast television appearance.
   ‘If people are asked to pay back money and if the authorities determine that money should be paid back and they don’t pay it back, in my view, they can’t stand as Conservative MPs,’ Cameron told ITV.
   Hours later, Brown — who said Monday he would pay back over 12,000 pounds (12,800 euros, 19,000 dollars) in gardening and cleaning expenses — took a similar tone.
   Asked if MPs who did not cooperate would be kicked out of the parliamentary Labour party, he said: ‘If, of course, people are not prepared to cooperate, then we’ll have to consider that action as well’.
   In May, the Daily Telegraph newspaper started revealing how MPs spent taxpayers’ money on everything from a duck island to gardening, triggering a wave of resignations, including then House of Commons speaker Michael Martin.
   The story is making headlines again because ex-civil servant Thomas Legg — appointed by Downing Street to audit MPs expenses from the last five years — has just written to them, telling many to pay money back.
   Legg has recommended a retrospective annual cap of 2,000 pounds for cleaning and 1,000 pounds for gardening at second homes.
   Lawmakers are allowed to claim expenses for homes near parliament in London plus in their constituencies.
   But Legg’s letter has prompted fury among lawmakers, who say imposing a cap on claims made legitimately in the past is unfair.
   ‘He has introduced new rules retrospectively, he has introduced caps retrospectively, and that is against the fairness and the rules of natural justice,’ Stuart Bell, a senior Labour lawmaker, told BBC radio.
   Despite such anger, Brown told Labour MPs they should comply with Legg.
   ‘I would advise any MP after they’ve made their representation (to Legg) to make the appropriate payment,’ he said.
   ‘We’ve got to call an end to this and therefore people must abide by the decisions that are made, make the payments that are appropriate.’
   The premier was reportedly heckled at a meeting of Labour MPs over the issue Monday night amid suggestions that some lawmakers are considering legal action to avoid paying back expenses.
   Veteran Conservative lawmaker Ann Widdecombe told Sky News television there was a ‘big question over the legality’ of Legg’s approach.
   There is also fury among some opposition MPs that former home secretary Jacqui Smith, left embarrassed after it emerged she charged taxpayers for two adult films watched by her husband, will not have to pay back 100,000 pounds of incorrect expense claims.
   Smith was forced to apologise to parliament Monday after a seven-month probe but the parliamentary committee which deals with MPs’ perks found ‘mitigating circumstances’ in her case, which it said had ‘not harmed’ the public interest.
   She resigned in the wake of the expenses scandal.
   The latest opinion poll, by Populus for the Times newspaper Tuesday, gives the Conservatives 40 per cent support compared to 30 per cent for Labour.

Petrobangla is scheduled today to start formal negotiations with Irish company Tullow Oil on signing the production sharing contract for an offshore block.
   A delegation of the Tullow, led by a director, will sit with the Petrobangla officials, led by chairman Muqtadir Ali, to discuss the signing of the PSC for Shallow Sea Block 5.
   Petrobangla officials said the main talking point with the Tullow would be the disputed area within the 6,700 square-kilometre block.
   Petrobangla will inform the company of the government’s decision to not allow exploration in the areas that have been claimed by India. More than half of the area of the block overlaps the area that India claims as its own.
   ‘If the company agrees to sign the PSC on condition that no exploration work could be done in the disputed area and agrees to the other terms, a date for initialling the contract might be fixed,’ said a Petrobangla official.
   The government has already appealed to the United Nations to arbitrate between Bangladesh and India as well as Myanmar to resolve the dispute on the maritime boundary.
   Petrobangla earlier this month held negotiation with the US company, ConocoPhillips, on signing the PSC for two other offshore blocks, and the company agreed in principle to exclude the disputed areas from exploration work.
   Officials said that they would send the report of the negotiation with ConocoPhillips to the ministry after they receive some recommendations from the company on the PSC within a day or two.
   Petrobangla is going to hold discussions with the companies at a time when some rights groups and left-leaning political parties are protesting against the government’s decision to allow the foreign companies to export gas as per some terms of the PSCs.

The High Court on Tuesday ordered the government and the jail authorities to interrogate former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, also a BNP leader, in the jail premises in the murder case linked to the grenade attacks on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Raisuddin also ordered proper medical treatment of Pintu by specialist physicians.
   The court passed the order reprimanding the government and attorney general Mahbubey Alam for remanding Pintu in custody in the case in which the government had sought time for preparation for the hearing .
   ‘We adjourned the hearing after you [attorney general] sought time. But the petitioner is being tortured in police custody on remand. It is very unfortunate,’ Justice Dastagir Husain told Mahbubey Alam.
   Pintu’s counsel Khandker Mahbub Hossain drew the court’s attention to the matter saying Pintu had filed a petition seeking bail in the case. The High Court on October 8 adjourned the hearing in the bail petition as the government had sought time. But Pintu was remanded in custody on October 11 for three days for interrogation in the same case.
   ‘Pintu is being tortured in police custody to extract confessional statement from him,’ the defence counsel said adding that Pintu was taken to Rajarbagh police lines hospital for treatment.
   Mahbub argued that it was contempt of court as the matter was pending with the High Court for hearing.
   The attorney general, however, tried to defend the government action and said, ‘The grenade attack, which killed 24 people and injured 200 others, including Sheikh Hasina, is very serious after the August 15, 1975 carnage in which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with his family was killed.’
   ‘You cannot do whatever you wish just because you have power… Today you have power, but tomorrow you may not have and who knows you won’t be tortured then,’ Justice Dastagir Husain said.
   In reply to a court query, deputy attorney general Zahirul Haque said he had no knowledge if Pintu was remanded in custody in the case.
   Few hours later, Zahir told the court that Pintu was in police custody in the case. He, however, denied Pintu was tortured.

The Asian Development Bank has approved a package of $744 million in loans to help Bangladesh overcome global recession impact and implement public policy reforms.
   The ADB board of directors on Tuesday endorsed a loan of $500 million under the countercyclical support facility and three loans totaling $244 million under the public expenditure support facility for Bangladesh, according to a message received in Dhaka.
   The approvals followed the visit of ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda to Bangladesh in July when he pledged additional help for Dhaka to counter the recession impact and maintain growth momentum.
   ‘The countercyclical support facility loan will provide crucial support to the government as it acts to stimulate Bangladesh’s economic recovery and push ahead with its social safety net programmes to cushion the impact of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable while maintaining macroeconomic stability,’ Kunio Senga, director general of the bank’s South Asia department, said after the approval of the loan.
   The other window of the loans is expected to enhance the efficiency of social safety net programs, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable, including women, promote public-private partnerships and improve the investment climate, and strengthen management of scarce public resources, he added.
   The major component of the loan amounting to $500 million will support the government’s efforts to mitigate the worst effects of the global economic crisis in the short term and to continue its development programmes, said an ADB news release.
   It added the rest $244 million loans would support government measures to introduce economic and social policy reforms essential for achieving higher and more inclusive long-term growth and strengthening social safety net.
   The countercyclical support facility loan has a five-year repayment term, with a three-year grace period.

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Tuesday approved import of two lakh tonnes of urea, an initial move to go for an all-time record import of chemical fertilisers.
   The finance minister, AMA, Muhith told reporters after a meeting at the Cabinet Division that the committee approved the purchase at a cost of Tk 413 crore, considering a recommendation forwarded by the industries ministry.
   According to Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation officials, the government will have to import a record 16.5 lakh tonnes of chemical fertilisers in FY 2009-10 to supplement the domestic production. Officially projected requirement of fertiliser for the current fiscal year is about 29.5 lakh tonnes.
   The government will need to import a record volume of fertilisers for about Tk 3,300 crore as three out of the six state-run urea factories were forced to stop production for five months becasue of gas shortage.
   In March and April, the authorities ordered temporary shutdown of Polash Urea Fertiliser Factory Ltd, Ghorashal Urea Fertiliser Factory Ltd and Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd because of gas supply shortage.
   In the FY 2008-09 budget, Tk 4,285 crore had been allocated in subsidy on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs, but due to abnormal price hikes of urea and non-urea fertilisers on the international market, the amount was later raised to Tk 5,785 crore.
   The new fertiliser distribution policy, adopted on Auust 12, came into force on October 1, giving lawmakers an upper hand in selecting retailers. But the local lawmakers in most of the areas are yet to select the retailers.

An activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League was injured, as two groups of the ruling party backed student organisation clashed at Mohsin Hall of Dhaka University early Tuesday.
   Campus sources said supporters of the hall unit BCL president Mohammad Ali and general secretary Mohiuddin locked into an altercation at about 1:45am over seat arrangement for a controversial BCL activist Mohibullah, belonging to the president’s group, at room 219 of the hall.
   At one stage, rival groups attacked each other with sharp weapons, leaving Mohibullah critically injured.
   The feuding groups
   also fired some 20 rounds of blank shot during
   the clash demonstrating their respective arms power.
   Mohibullah, a 2nd year student of sociology department, has been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   On information, the police brought the situation at Mohsin Hall under control.
   The law-enforcers also raided the hall but could not recover any arms.
   None was arrested in connection with the clash.
   DU vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique visited the hall.

A day after the Supreme Court vacated its stay operation of the High Court bail orders in four land grabbing cases, convicted former minister Shajahan Siraj of the BNP was released from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University prison cell Tuesday.
   Barrister Sarwat Siraj Shukla told UNB over cell phone that she received her father at BSMMU free from incarceration at 5:20pm.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission filed all the four land grabbing cases against Siraj.
   Earlier, trying him in absentia, trial courts sentenced Siraj to a total of 20 years in prison for corruption and income tax evasion cases.
   Siraj, who remained fugitive since the interim military-backed caretaker government launched the anti-corruption drive alongside a political purge, surrendered to the trial court on June 30 and the court sent him to jail.

The High Court on Tuesday stayed the conviction and sentence of former BNP state minister Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin in a corruption case.
   The HC bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Rais Uddin stayed the operation of the trial court verdict till the disposal of the appeal filed by the BNP leader against his conviction.
   A special judge’s court on July 4, 2007 delivered the verdict sentencing Nasir to imprisonment for 13 years on charges of hiding information from his wealth statement submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission and amassing wealth of Tk 27.95 core by abusing office of the state minister for civil aviation and tourism.
   The court also ordered confiscation of his wealth of about Tk 27.95 crore.
   The army-led joint forces arrested Nasir on February 5, 2007. The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case with the Gulshan police on March 6, 2007.
   Mir Nasir filed the appeal against the verdict in 2008.
   He was released from jail on November 19, 2008 on bail granted by the High Court on November 13, 2008.

Three were killed in an explosion at a ship-breaking yard at Kumira of Sitakunda in Chittagong on Tuesday.
   The deceased were Mohammed Mamun, 20, of Noakhali, Mohammed Nasir, 25, of Dhaka, and Mohammed Shahabuddin Emran, 25, of Sitakunda.
   The police and ship-breaking sources said the explosion took place at the yard of the Pakiza Enterprise about 10:30am when a vessel was being cut with gas cutter.
   The yard manager, Mohammed Nuruddin, said three were injured in the explosion. The injured Emran was declared dead in Chittagong Medical College Hospital. The other two died after admission to hospital.
   Three other workers were killed in another accident at the Crystal Shipyard on October 8.

Rising winter temperatures are shrinking Himalayan glaciers in Indian Kashmir at ‘alarming’ speeds, threatening water supplies to vast tracts of India and Pakistan, according to a new study.
   The Kolahoi glacier, the largest in the region, has shrunk by 2.63 square kilometres in the past three decades to just over 11 square kilometres, said the study presented at a three-day international workshop on climate change that began Monday in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar.
   Himalayan glaciers feed into Asia’s nine largest rivers that flow to China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.