Main Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The government has worked out separate timetables for non-government offices, financial establishments and educational institutions to rid the capital of traffic congestion.
   The draft proposes that banks and other financial institutions, along with all other non-government organisations in the capital, will remain open between 10:00am and 6:00pm.
   Working hours for government and non-government primary schools, including kindergartens, will be from 9:30am to 4:15pm; and for English-medium schools, international schools, high schools, colleges and madrassahs from any time between 7:00am and 8.30am up to six hours for single shifts and not less than five hours for double shifts.
   Working hours for government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous offices would, however, remain unchanged as proposed in the timetables.
   The establishment ministry at a meeting with non-government organisations, trade bodies and banks on Tuesday put into the final form the proposal for separate working hours.
   The proposed time schedules will soon be sent to the cabinet for approval, said an official.
   ‘We have discussed the proposed timetables with representatives of business organisations, trade bodies and Bangladesh Bank… They have agreed on separate schedules for a better traffic management,’ the establishment secretary, Iqbal Mahmood, told New Age in his office after the meeting.
   He said the authorities would further examine the proposed timetables before announcement.
   The office hours for government and semi-government offices and autonomous and semi-autonomous agencies in the city have been proposed to remain unchanged, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, according to the draft.
   Officials and representatives of the Bangladesh Bank, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce, Bangladesh Association of Banks, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association attended the meeting, at the secretariat, presided over by the establishment secretary.
   The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on August 31 directed the authorities to formulate an action plan to set separate timetables for government and semi-government offices, schools, banks and markets to ease congestions on the city roads.
   Hasina gave the instruction during a regular cabinet meeting in view of worsening traffic situation in the city before Eid-ul-Fitr.

Sugar price increased further in the city’s wholesale and retail markets Tuesday while real market prices of red lentil, rice and onion varied widely with rates appeared in the routine monitoring report of state-owned TCB.
   Market sources said retailers’ rush for building Eid stocks fuelled the latest sugar price jump as the sweetener’s price soared to Tk 1,900 per maund (37.3 kilogram) at wholesale market Tuesday from Tk 1700 of a week ago.
   Supplies to wholesale market remained tight as the refiners’ cartel was still in control of the sugar market despite the FBCCI’s assurance of looking into the matter.
   ‘Shortage of ready stocks was mainly pushing up sugar price sharply in the past three to four days,’ said Mohammed Ali, a wholesaler at Maulvibazar commodity market in the city.
   On Tuesday, sugar retailed between Tk 52 and Tk 56 per kilogram, up by Tk 6 in a week.
   Trading Corporation of Bangladesh puts the rate at Tk 49.30 to Tk 50 a kg.
   Price hikes of sugar at import sources due to production shortfall in India and Barzil affected supplies to import-dependent countries like Bangladesh, market sources said.
   Retail price of the essential sweetener increased Tk 10 per kg in a month and Tk 20 in three months.
   Price of red lentil has also increased at least Tk 4 per kg in the past three or four days.
   Inferior grade imported red lentil retailed Tk 102-106 and fine grade local variety sold at Tk 120-124 per kg, marking a rise by Tk 10 to Tk 15 in four weeks.
   TCB’s market monitoring report claims that red lentil prices ranged between Tk 95 and Tk 110 Tuesday.
   Wholesalers as usual put the blame on import market volatility.
   Rice started seeing fresh increase in wholesale price two weeks back and gained further in retail prices this week.
   Coarse parboiled rice sold for Tk 22- 24 and fine rice between Tk 30 and Tk 34, gaining on an average Tk 2 per kg over the week.
   But, coarse rice price was quoted at Tk 18.75, medium quality Tk 24.91 and fine rice between Tk 29 and Tk 40 a kg in the TCB’s routine report.
   Onion price also started increasing early this week as traders were building stocks for Eid windfall.
   Imported Indian onion sold per kg at Tk 26-28 Tuesday at Nakhalpara Bazar, up by Tk 2 over the week.
   According to TCB, imported onion price ranged between Tk 15 and Tk 18, almost half their real market prices.

Taherun Nessa came to her workplace as usual on August 15 morning, but she was shocked to see the main gate of Nirbas Knitwear Limited in the city under lock and key.
   There was none of the managers at the factory at Rasulbagh of Mohakhali to tell her why it was closed just a month before Eid.
   ‘Losing job just one month ahead of Eid is quite unbearable,’ said Taherum, an unmarried sewing operator of the factory that employed nearly 250 workers.
   With overtime bills she earned around Tk 3000 monthly and spent Tk 900 as rent for her room in a nearby slum.
   ‘We mainly stitch Genji (plain T-shirt). Wage of July was deferred and overtime bills for three months have not been paid yet,’ said Taherun.
   Most of the workers, however, got their July arrears at the end of August as Nirbas’s building owner in association with Tejgaon Shilpanchal Thana sold some machinery and fixtures of the closed factory to arrange money to pay wage arrears to help workers in Ramadan.
   But Sabina Akter, one of 300 plus workers of JC Fashion at Charabagh of Ashulia, was not so lucky as the garment factory was closed last week keeping their one-and-half-month’s wage and overtime bills unpaid.
   ‘I could not pay house rent for two months and the landlord asked me to leave his house,’ said Sabina, whose hawker husband abandoned her few months back ending three years’ married life.
   Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said 108 factories have been closed in the past three months due mainly to low rush of orders.
   ‘In most cases BGMEA mediated between owners and workers, and arranged dues of workers,’ claimed Rafiqul Islam, coordinator of Labour Cell at the BGMEA.
   Many subcontracting factories, which saw a drastic cut in orders from big apparel exporters, were mainly forced either to shut units or cut work hours.
   Sujan Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Garment Workers and Industry Protection Organisation, subcontracting units are not members either of BGMEA or BKMEA.
   ‘In most of the closed subcontracting units, workers’ dues remained unpaid,’ Sujan told New Age.
   Workers of most of small and medium-sized garment factories, which are continuing operation, are also not sure about getting their bonus and wage arrears before Eid as owners’ association made payments conditional on government support.
   ‘I cannot think about my fate during Eid this year,’ said Kakoli Akter, a sewing operator at Draz Garments Limited on Singair Road at Savar.
   Wife of a local restaurant worker, Kakoli was in doubt whether she would be able to buy new dresses for her two-year son Pavel and her parents.
   Moyna Begum, a sweater knitting helper at JPR Sweater at Shafipur of Gazipur, almost gave up the hope for Eid bonus as the subcontracting factory she works in has claimed that it got much less orders this year.
   ‘We were paid a lump sum bonus even when there were more orders and we had to work overtime to get the jobs done,’ she said, adding that getting bonus this year would be an added fortune given the trend of work orders now.
   Masud Ahmed, a worker of Denim Washing Unit at Ashulia, said most of the jeans stitching and washing units in the area have work orders, though overtime works are not required still.
   ‘When factories are in operation, they should not that pay bonus to workers for Eid,’ said Masud.
   Nazma Akter, a leader of Bangladesh Garments Workers Federation, said she could not understand why the BGMEA was asking for the government fund for factory owners to pay wage and bonus to workers.
   ‘When they make huge profit, they invest in property. Why don’t they think about keeping some of their profit with the government for the workers?’ she asked.
   Nazma, who represented apparel workers in the 2006 tripartite meeting that set minimum wage at Tk 1662 a month, said, ‘Neither the government nor the industry should escape responsibilities of ensuring payment of festival bonus to each garment worker.’
   She said many garment factory owners pay bonus accordingly, but the reluctance of the industry association and the government encourage many others to look for excuses for not paying festival allowances.
   A senior executive at a Hong Kong-based buying house in Dhaka said flow of work orders for Bangladesh’s apparels has so far been relatively low this year, but still higher compared with many other apparel exporting countries.
   ‘Using recession as pretext for depriving workers of festival bonus is unacceptable. Such attitude will hurt the image of industry,’ he warned.
   Bangladesh’s labour laws do not mention about festival bonus specifically, but paying festival bonus has been a practice followed by industries.
   Government employees get two festival bonuses a year, each equivalent to one month’s basic salary, and private sector industries also follow more or less the same system.
   Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, executive director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, said, ‘Festival bonus is an inspiration for workers. It indicates irresponsibility of entrepreneurs towards their workers.’
   ‘It is an attitude problem of the garment entrepreneurs here that they pay as less as possible to their workers,’ the labour rights’ campaigner said, demanding that payment of workers’ bonus be made mandatory by law.
   BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy on Thursday asked the government for a Tk 30 billion incentive package by September 7 to help apparel units pay wage arrears and festival allowances to workers.
   He also warned that the government would have to bear the responsibilities if its failure to disburse the amount led to any untoward incident.
   Murshedy said 40 per cent of the country’s about 1,500 garment factory owners present at a meeting reported export declines due to global recession and expressed their inability to pay wages and festival allowances this year.
   After widespread criticism from various quarters and the government’s straightway refusal to accept such conditions, BGMEA corrected its position on Monday and urged every factory owner to pay all the dues of the workers before Eid.
   BGMEA’s acting president Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin said his organisation had launched a survey to find out how many factory owners were not in a position to pay workers’ dues before Eid.
   ‘We will sit with such factory owners and discuss how they can be helped by the bankers and the government to have enough cash flow to pay the workers,’ he added.

The finance ministry has sought opinions from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the internal resources division to raise about Tk 6,000 crore from local sources to fund the construction of the proposed Padma Multipurpose Bridge.
   Of the amount, it has planned to raise some Tk 4,000 crore from the local market through bonds which will be issued through SEC, ministry officials said.
   The rest of the amount is expected to be raised through imposing levy on some 48.12 million phone users, including 46.12 million cell phone subscribers, they said.
   IRD secretary Nasiruddin Ahmed told New Age that they were examining the proposal for levying the phone users. The IRD was trying its best to send its opinion to the newly established Bridge Division under the communication ministry as early as possible, he added.
   The communications ministry that will implement the most expensive infrastructure project worth $2.0 billion had proposed the finance ministry to identify the local funding sources before it floats an international tender next December.
   Communications minister Abul Hossian said his ministry made the suggestions on the local funding sources in a way that would enable a wide range of people to contribute in funding the bridge with a length 6.01 km—which will be the country’s longest.
   The government is committed to provide one-third of the project cost or more than $600 million by mobilising funds from the local sources.
   Lenders like Asian Development Bank, World Bank and Japan Bank of International Cooperation have already pledged to lend more than $1.2 billion. Other multilateral and bilateral lenders including Islamic Development Bank committed to provide $120 million in loans.
   The government is also planning to securitise Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge to raise funds which could also be used for financing the Padma bridge project, said Abul Hossain.
   The present government took up the Padma bridge as one of its priority infrastructure projects and planned to complete its construction within its five-year tenure.
   The site has already been selected and initial design of the bridge is nearing completion.
   The bridge, which will connect Mawa with Janjira on the two banks of the Padma, is expected to contribute to the national economy through boosting the gross domestic product by 1.2 per cent annually.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is preparing its reply to the presidential reference, which sought the court’s opinion on whether the Army Act could be applied to the trial of the February 25-26 BDR rebellion in which 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed.
   According to sources in the Supreme Court, the main judgement on the reference has already been prepared and all the 11 Appellate Division judges have agreed on the judgement written by a senior judge.
   Four of the judges, however, are now adding their additional observations to the judgement and after adding the additional observations, the judgement will be sent to the president through the law ministry soon, the sources said.
   The court on September 3 finished hearing the presidential reference after six days of deliberation by 10 amici curiae, seven of whom opposed the application of the Army Act to the trial.
   Two of the amici curiae — Rafique-ul Huq and Rokanuddin Mahmud — suggested the Appellate Division should not give any opinions on the issue while the other amicus curiae, Khondker Mahbubuddin Ahmad, and the attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, said the BDR rebellion cases could be tried under the Army Act 1952 by issuing a notification under Section 5(1) of the act applying it to the Bangladesh Rifles with a retrospective effect.
   The president, Zillur Rahman, on August 17 sent the reference asking for the Appellate Division’s opinion on whether the provisions of the Army Act 1952 could be applied against the BDR personnel involved in the rebellion in which 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed.
   If the court gives its opinion in the negative, the reference further asks whether the Army Act can be applied against those BDR personnel by issuing notification under Section 5 of the act.
   During the hearing, seven amici curiae — TH Khan, Kamal Hossain, Mahmudul Islam, also a former attorney general, M Amirul Islam, AF Hassan Ariff, also a former attorney general and adviser to the interim government, Azmalul Hossain and AFM Mesbahuddin — told the court the Army Act could in no way be applied to the trial of the BDR rebellion cases.
   They also observed the cases should be tried under the general criminal laws by an open court to ensure justice.
   Rafique on August 26 warned the Appellate Division about giving its opinions on the reference.
   He, however, told the court the BDR rebellion cases could be tried under the Army Act.
   Rokanuddin Mahmud argued the court should return the reference to the president without rendering any opinions.
   Khondker Mahbubuddin, also a Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader, on August 26 told the court the cases could be tried under the Army Act, but two gazette notifications — one making the act applicable to the Bangladesh Rifles and the other suspending the Bangladesh Rifles Order — would be required to do so.
   The attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, argued the cases could be tried under the Army Act by issuing notification to apply the act to the BDR with a retrospective effect.

A four-month-old baby died of swine flu infection on September 3, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control Research director, Mahmudur Rahman, said at a briefing on Tuesday, taking the official count of death from H1N1 virus to two and the
   unofficial count to three.
   ‘A four-month-old child died from swine flu infection on Thursday. It is the second death in Bangladesh confirmed in lab test to have been caused by swine flu infection,’ he said.
   ‘The baby was treated in a hospital and her condition had been critical and unchanged all along. She was later taken back home as her condition deteriorated where she died on Thursday,’ said Mahmudur.
   The girl had some congenital defects and had been treated in a hospital for a month, he said.
   Mahmudur on 27 August told New Age the baby, with complaints of severe respiratory problem, was admitted to the hospital outside Dhaka in a critical condition.
   Declining to identify the baby, Mahmudur said, ‘It is better not to disclose the names of the persons who contracted the flu or died from the infection. The family will need to face hassles during formalities such as burial.’
   The first swine flu death in Bangladesh was confirmed on August 31. Thirty-five-year-old Mitali Chakraborty died in LabAid hospital in Dhaka.
   The IEDCR, however, did not officially recognise the death of Abdus Sobhan Sagar, who died in Dhaka Medical College Hospital on September 4, to have been caused by swine flu. ‘His death was not confirmed in laboratory test to have been caused by swine flu.’
   Professor Quazi Tarikul Islam, physician in charge of the flu ward at the DMCH, confirmed swine flu had caused Sobhan’s death. ‘We confirmed it as a swine flu case from the symptoms,’ he told New Age on Saturday.
   The IEDCR director said, ‘We report swine flu infection death only after confirmation in lab test in line with World Health Organisation recommendations.’
   Thirty-six more swine flu cases have been detected since September 4, taking the number of swine flu patients to 311 in Bangladesh till Tuesday morning, he said.
   ‘The swine flu trend in Bangladesh reached its peak. We think the trend may decline in a week in the light of such cases in other countries,’ he said. ‘But we fear it might spread across the country during Eid vacation. Swine flu has already spread to 14 districts.’
   He said steps had been taken to make swine flu drug available on the market as the people became panicked. ‘But 98 to 99 per cent of the swine flu patients have recovered automatically,’ he said. ‘Pregnant mothers or people suffering from asthma, diabetes and kidney or heart diseases should take the medicine as prescribed by physician and stay at home.’
   He said, ‘We recommend admission to hospital of only the patients who are in a critical condition with respiratory problems.’
   When asked whether the rapid screening test would be applicable to the diagnosis of swine flu infection, Mahmudur said this screening test could only identify whether the type of the influenza was A or B. But this test cannot identify the virus.’
   ‘The World Health Organisation does not recommend rapid screening test,’ he said.
   Sixteen IEDCR surveillance teams are working to collect samples across the country, he said.
   Asked about the availability of antiviral drug oseltamivir, he said five pharmaceutical companies have started producing oseltamivir capsules.
   When asked whether oseltamivir will be available in either suspension or syrup for child patients, he said suspension or syrup cannot be preserved for long period.
   He suggested that the drug should be administered as curative measures and the full course of the medicine should be administered as prescribed by physicians.
   The antiviral drug will be available with 3 selected pharmacies in each upazila town, 5 pharmacies in each district town, 50 pharmacies in Dhaka city and 10 pharmacies in each of remaining cities.

The foreign affairs ministers of Bangladesh and India on Tuesday agreed to resolve the issues of the demarcation of the boundary between the two next-door neighbours, and the exchange of enclaves and adverse possessions in a single package.
   Foreign affairs minister Dipu Moni and her Indian counterpart SM Krishna came up with the views at the bilateral discussions at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, said a release of the Bangladesh High Commission in the Indian capital.
   The two ministers of the South Asian neighbours had their first formal meeting since the installation of new governments on both sides of the border. They discussed the issue of equitable sharing of the waters of common rivers, commercial and economic matters, security and border problems, and increased connectivity in the region between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
   According to the press release, the two foreign ministers also discussed cooperation in the power sector including the import of power from India, and Indian assistance for the upgrading of Bangladesh’s railway sector and procurement of locomotives, passenger coaches and buses with Indian assistance.
   The two ministers also exchanged views on the easing of the customs and immigration procedure of the Maitree Express to make the train service more popular.
   Dipu Moni sought Indian assistance for capital dredging of ports and rivers in Bangladesh and her Indian counterpart expressed his country’s interest in doing so.
   They also discussed the delimitation of the maritime boundary and agreed that the issue should be settled to mutual satisfaction through negotiations.
   To facilitate trade Dipu Moni requested SM Krishna to facilitate greater market access to Bangladesh products into Indian markets by offering duty-free access and also removal of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers.
   They also agreed to upgrade the infrastructure of the Land Customs Stations on both sides of the border for greater facilitation of trade. In this connection both sides also discussed the possibility of easing the visa procedure, particularly for businessmen, patients, students and government officials.
   Both sides also discussed the possibility of opening of border haats (markets) for the benefit of the people in the border areas and transportation of equipment for a power plant in Tripura through Ashuganj.
   Dipu Moni invited the Indian external affairs minister to visit Dhaka at his earliest convenience, which he accepted with pleasure.
   The meeting was also attended by Tariq Ahmed Karim, high commissioner of Bangladesh to India, Mijarul Quayes, foreign secretary, Mohammed Imran, director general of the foreign affairs ministry, and Nirupama Rao, the Indian external affairs secretary.
   Later in the day Dipu Moni also called on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and some other key Cabinet members.

Taliban militants on Tuesday shot dead four schoolchildren and wounded six others in an apparent sectarian attack in a remote tribal town in northwest Pakistan, officials and residents said.
   The students were going to school in Atmankhel town of Orakzai district when the militants opened fire, killing four boys and wounding six others, local administration official Asmatullah Khan said.
   ‘It appears to be a sectarian attack as the slain students belonged to the minority Shia sect of Islam,’ he said. ‘The attackers were Taliban.’
   Residents said the dead students were all younger than 16, but were not able to give the exact ages of the victims.
   ‘I heard gunfire and came out of my home,’ local resident Samiullah Khan said by telephone. ‘I saw people armed with Kalashnikov rifles fleeing in two jeeps, while several students were bleeding.’
   Orakzai borders Khyber district, where the military launched a fresh offencive against Islamist extremists about a week ago, sending thousands of residents fleeing and killing more than 130 rebels, according to army figures.
   Taliban fighters frequently attack and burn schools in the northwest, while tensions are also rife in the area between the majority Sunnis and the Shias.
   But sporadic clashes and attacks continue in Swat, and on Tuesday the military said it had arrested 32 suspected militants during search and clearance operations in the area in the last 24 hours.
   Meanwhile, gunmen in southwest Pakistan on Tuesday set ablaze eight trucks carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces fighting Taliban insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan, officials said.
   The attacks took place on the eastern outskirts of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas rich Baluchistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan, where both separatist rebels and Taliban militants are active.
   ‘Six gunmen riding on three motorcycles first sprayed bullets on the trucks, which triggered the fire,’ local police official Qasim Ishaqzai said.
   A senior security official in the area confirmed the incident, but said nobody had yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The government announced changes to officer postings within the Armed Forces on Tuesday.
   The establishment ministry issued the order a day after the mass promotion of 494 senior civil servants, one of the biggest in Bangladesh Civil Service history.
   Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was appointed Bangladesh Institute of Sports principal, a post moved to the ministry of youth and sports from the defence ministry.
   Lt Col Bhuiyan replaces Lt Col Anwarul Islam Khan, who was withdrawn and vested in AFD.
   Wing commander Sahidur Rahman was appointed Civil Aviation Authority director. He replaces wing commander Saidul Hasan Khan, who was deputed to the Civil Aviation Authority, as member in the same office.
   Navy officer commander Syed Habibur Rahman was appointed general manager on deputation to Chittagong Fish Harbour. He replaced commander Alhaj Hossain, whose job was vested in AFD.
   Lt Col KM Amirul Islam was appointed principal on deputation to Jessore Education Board Model School and College. Lt commander AKM Ekramul Hossain was appointed to Chittagong Marine Academy as adjutant-cum-instructor.
   Major Hasan Ahmed was appointed to Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority as deputy general manager. He replaced Major Syed Borhan Uddin Mahmud who was vested in AFD. Major Mahmud had been appointed to BEPZA on deputation.

Pakistan’s prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has urged the United States to speed up delivery of aid, saying the nation needed more aircraft, ammunition and funds to battle Taliban rebels.
   US officials have praised Pakistan’s recent military offensives against the Taliban in northwest Swat region, while operations are expanding into the insurgent strongholds in the semi-autonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
   Speaking to a US congressional delegation in the capital Islamabad, Gilani ‘called on the US to expedite passage’ of bills that would see aid to Pakistan tripled, the prime minister’s office said in a statement Monday.
   Aid was key to upholding peace in Swat and the tribal regions by funding healthcare, industry and infrastructure, the prime minister said.
   ‘Pakistan’s Armed Forces needed immediate replenishment of aviation spares and ammunition against terrorism,’ he said.

The Jatiya Sangsad speaker, Abdul Hamid, on Tuesday rejected notices mostly submitted by boycotting opposition lawmakers seeking discussion in the house on various issues of public importance, including the controversial Indian plan for the Tipaimukh dam on a common river.
   ‘I am extremely sorry that I could not accept the notices as most of the issues are covered by the existing laws and the others lack sufficient evidence and ground,’ the speaker told the house as he disposed of notices submitted before the ongoing session began on Monday.
   He disposed of 36 notices seeking debate in the house adjourning the parliament’s regular business. Thirty-five of the notices were submitted by Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmakers Jafrul Islam Chowdhury and Nizam Uddin Ahmed and independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim. The other notice was submitted by ruling party lawmaker Omar Faruk Chowdhury.
   According to the parliamentary rules, a lawmaker can submit in writing notices seeking discussion suspending other business of the parliament on recent matters of public importance.
   The speaker examines the notices and disposes of them in the house in line with the rules. If the notices are accepted, all other scheduled businesses of the parliament are suspended immediately for discussion on the issues.
   The opposition lawmakers in their notices observed the parliament needed to hold discussions on matters related to dipping law and order, disruption in tender process by ruling party activists in different places, increased extortion, repression on opposition activists, volatile situation in educational institutions, syndicated sales of sugar, increase in robbery and mugging, gas shortage, flood situation, Indian Tipaimukh dam plan, drug adulteration, traffic jam in the capital, essential goods price spiral, government’s attempt to evict opposition leader Khaleda Zia from her house in the cantonment and oppression on opposition activists across the country.
   Although opposition lawmakers belonging to the mainstream BNP and its allies Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party have been boycotting the parliament sessions since late January over a seating arrangement dispute in the house, they submitted the notices and questions to be dealt on in the session.
   Ruling party lawmaker Faruk brought an adjournment notice on irrigation by submergible pumps.
   Reading out the headings of the notices, the speaker said most of the issues raised by the lawmakers could not be accepted as the existing laws are enough to redress them.
   ‘Some of the notices are based on assumption and have no supporting evidence along with them,’ he said.

The government is set to ask the Bangladesh mission in the United States to ascertain the latest status of 25 Bangladeshis arrested some 80 kilometres off the El Salvador coast.
   The expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment secretary, Elais Ahmed, on Tuesday told New Age his office had come across the news of detention of Bangla-deshis through the media.
   ‘As we do not have any mission in Central America, we will ask our mission in Washington to check out their status and take steps for their repatriation,’ said Elias.
   The Associated Press on Sunday reported that the navy in El Salvador on Saturday had detained 76 migrants, including 25 Bangladeshis, on board a boat in the Pacific Ocean on their way to the United States.
   Others detained by the Salvadoran navy about 80 kilometres off the coast include 25 Nepalese, 21 Eritreans and 5 Ecuadorians.
   Quoting Maximiliano Corado, a captain of the El Salvadoran navy, the agency also said the boat had set sail a week ago from the Ecuadorian port of Manta.
   He said all the migrants appeared to be undocumented and all but the Ecuadorians would be deported.
   The Ecuadorians were turned over to police for investigation of possible migrant trafficking.
   New York-based news agency ANA on Monday reported that the 25 Bangladeshi migrants, all from Noakhali and Greater Dhaka, had paid Tk 20 lakh each to the manpower brokers to reach the United States.
   It reported that the people migrating to the United States from Bangladesh were college or university students and were leaving the country in search of better lives.
   The journey to the United States using the route of India-Africa and Central America is very risky.
   There are allegations that human traffickers even sank the boat carrying migrants to avoid arrest, ANA reported quoting police sources.
   Bangladesh embassy officials in Washington said they would soon inquire about the arrest of the Bangladeshis, but their deportation may take a few weeks.

Former army chief general Moeen U Ahmed moved a Dhaka court Tuesday to dismiss a Tk 100 crore defamation suit against him.
   Moeen’s lawyer Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan filed the appeal at the Third Joint District Judge’s Court, Dhaka in the afternoon.
   The judge, SM Saiful Islam, fixed September 13 for hearing the appeal and the case.
   BNP’s former state minister for power Iqbal Hassan Mahmud Tuku filed the defamation suit against Moeen on July 12, claiming Tk 100 crore in damages, for alleged defamatory statements made against him by the army chief in the presence of media.
   ‘The allegations brought against the former army chief are political controversy. The court does not have the jurisdiction to try it,’ Bhuiyan told the court on Tuesday.
   The court on August 16 set Moeen a September 13 deadline for submission of a written rejoinder in the defamation case.
   Bhuiyan had requested the court for three months to submit the statement.
   Mahbubuddin Khokan filed the Tk 100 crore case on behalf of the former state minister alleging that the statement had damaged Tuku’s reputation.
   The appeal said Moeen expressed his feeling as a citizen of Bangladesh at the reception ceremony of freedom fighters on March 27, 2007.
   That day he regretted the failure to recognise the architect of the nation and in doing so drew the rage of the anti-liberation forces. Tuku has filed the case as a part of expressing that rage.
   Maintaining his claims, Tuku said, ‘On June 20, the present state minister for power said in the question-answer session that during the rule of four-party alliance government the budget was Tk 13,500 crore. It proves that Moeen U Ahmed gave that speech to smear my reputation.’

Fitra has been fixed at Tk 40 per head this year.
   The Islamic Foundation at its meeting Tuesday fixed the Sadqatul Fitr. The meeting was presided over by Maulana Mohammad Salahuddin, Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.
   The Fitra had been fixed for Dhaka and adjacent areas, taking into consideration of the price of rice and aata.