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Female lawmakers nominated in parliamentary reserved seats by the ruling Awami League will now supervise development activities in constituencies which elected MPs from the opposition BNP-led alliance, officials at the parliament secretariat said.
   In an official letter, Abdus Shahid, the chief whip of Jatiya Sangsad, has designated all but a few women reserved seat AL MPs as ‘lawmaker-in-charge’ in the opposition held constituencies to supervise all development activities.
   The move was taken to build a strong base for the ruling party at grassroots level, it was learnt.
   ‘We have designated them [female MPs] to the opposition lawmakers’ constituencies as BNP, when it was in power, never engaged Awami League leaders in local development process,’ Shahid told New Age on Thursday.
   Zainul Abdin Farroque, the opposition chief whip, termed the ruling party’s move unconstitutional and undemocratic saying that the Awami League once again proved that they wanted one-party rule.
   ‘Responsibilities of an elected representative cannot be carried out by a reserved seat lawmaker. It is unconstitutional,’ said the BNP leader.
   Barring a few, most of the AL’s MPs in the women’s reserved seats received the letter issued on September 10, designating their constituencies and spelling out the nature of work they were expected to do.
   The letter said that the decision was taken in line with the ‘constructive suggestions and directives given by the leader of the house and prime minister Sheikh Hasina’.
   ‘You are given responsibility to encourage the grassroots leaders while discharging your responsibilities to supervise all development activities of the constituency (name mentioned) so that we can build a digital Bangladesh to materialise the vision 2021 announced by the prime minister,’ said the letter signed by the chief whip.
   ‘Therefore, you have been nominated as lawmaker-in-change of the constituency (mentioned in every individual letter),’ said the letter, copies of which were also sent to the local administration, including deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers in the respective areas.
   Asked about the role of the female lawmakers in those constituencies, the chief whip said they will oversee development works and spending of funds allocated for them. ‘Since they have no specific constituency as female lawmakers, they will now work in those areas,’ he added.
   As per the decision, the government, initially, has allocated relief materials from the prime minister’s relief fund to the female MPs for distribution in their designated constituencies, said a lawmaker.
    They started distribution of the relief materials – 500 pieces of sari and 50 pieces of lungi —among the poor section of people in their respective areas ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
   Talking to New Age, a number of female lawmakers vented resentment as they were designated to constituencies far away from their own areas while a few others said they will carry out the responsibilities as directed by the prime minister.
   ‘I have no problem to work in any part of the country as the party gave me the responsibility,’ Opu Ukil, a lawmaker to reserved seat-2, who was designated for Bogra-2 constituency of AKM Hafizur Rahman of BNP.
   She said that female MPs were assigned for overseeing development activities in the constituencies of opposition lawmakers as it has been observed earlier that the BNP lawmakers never engaged the AL leaders and activists in the development process.
   ‘As there is no constitutional provision specifying women lawmakers’ constituencies, the prime minister directed us to work in those areas,’ she told New Age.
   But Shaheen Manwara Haque, who comes from Naogaon and was assigned to work at Joypurhat-2 constituency of BNP lawmaker Golam Mostafa, said that her constituents have many expectations from her since her political career developed in Naogaon.
   ‘It will be difficult for me. But I have to carry out the party decision too,’ she added.
   Some of the ruling party lawmakers have still been negotiating for revision of their constituencies.
   ‘The prime minister assured us for revision,’ said one of the lawmakers preferring not to be named.
   Besides the 300 lawmakers elected to regular constituencies, parliament has 45 female MPs nominated to reserved seats. Among them, 36 belong to ruling AL, five to BNP and the four others to Jatiya Party, an ally to the ruling coalition.
   The ruling Awami League-led alliance won a landslide victory in December 2008 general election with 262 out of 300 parliamentary seats.
   The BNP and its allies – Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party –won only 31 seats. The lawmakers in the BNP-led alliance have been abstaining from parliamentary proceedings since February over a row over sitting arrangement in the House.

Mugging and carjacking have been on the rise in the Dhaka city targeting Eid shoppers and homebound passengers with special security measures, as claimed by law enforcing agencies, failing to keep thugs at bay.
   ‘Agyan’ parties, gangsters who drug their preys before mugging, have become the horror name in terminal areas and approach roads, emptying commuters’ pockets and landing them in hospitals, unconscious and severely injured.
   Police said they have spotted the safe havens of organised muggers and even traced how many gangs are active and which hours of day and night are the ‘high time’ for thugs and drugging gangs.
   But incidents of mugging have seen an alarming rise and walking or travelling in small vehicles is now riskier than before at night and also in daytime as Eid rush for shopping and going home has reached its peak.
   Police recorded more than 100 incidents of mugging only in the last week, but actual figure would be much higher as most of the victims do not lodge complaints fearing further harassment at the hands of police.
   At least five incidents of carjacking were reported in the capital in last one week, in which the criminals killed two cabbies and snatched their cars while a suspected carjacker was beaten to death.
   According to police sources, at least 40 people were hospitalised and their valuables looted after they fell prey to ‘agyan’ parties during their Eid journeys.
   On September 14, ENT specialist Sajal Ashfaq, an assistant professor of Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital, was critically injured as snatchers stabbed him in the forehead in front of Bashundhara Shopping Complex at about 10:00 pm.
   On September 8, muggers shot at an official of a private company and snatched Tk 2.25 lakh in broad day light at the city’s Malibagh area.
   At night on the same day, muggers stabbed two cloth traders of Islampur area and owner of Banaphul Print Sari at Gulistan in the Dhaka city early Wednesday and took away Tk 10 lakh from them.
   In the city’s Mirpur area, carjackers killed two cabbies and snatched the cars early Wednesday and Thursday. Besides, a suspected carjacker was beaten to death and another injured by a mob in the city’s Pallabi area Monday night.
   More than 500 people fell victim to ‘agyan parties’ in the capital in last one week. People took a three-wheeler driver to hospital after the drugging gangsters left him unconscious at the city’s Panthapath roundabout at about 9:00 pm Wednesday. The driver was taking rest after dropping a passenger there.
   Law enforcers arrested four crime suspects and recovered anaesthetic drugs used for surgery from the city’s Gabtoli bus terminal.
   Professional thugs of ‘agyan parties’ fall into two categories, one using firearms and the other using sedatives to tame their preys or applying pungent ointments to eyes before throwing them out of vehicles in a state of unconscious or temporary blindness.
   Police traced at least 50 gangs of woman thugs which are active in the crowded shopping malls and busy market areas.
   Sheuli Begum, a suspected pickpocket who was arrested at Mirpur on September 9, told police that some gangs of woman pickpockets were engaged to prey on festival shoppers.
   A highly-placed source in the police admitted the actual number of mugging and petty crimes must be much higher than the police record, as most of the victims do not bother to report to the police stations.
   Some others just file general diaries stating that they lost their valuables and the police record those as theft cases without any follow-up, he added.
   The Dhaka Metropolitan Police, meanwhile, has identified 470 safe havens for petty crimes and declared the areas of Sutrapur, Jatrabari, Pallabi, Ramna, Tejgaon, Uttara, Mirpur and Dhanmondi as the most vulnerable, keeping law enforcers in uniform or plainclothes on high alert, said an official.
   DMP sources said more than 2,500 uniformed and plainclothes police, drawn from city police stations, the Detective Branch (DB), Public Order Management unit and Special Armed Force unit of Rajarbagh Police Line have been involved in special drives against mugging in the city since August.
   Talking to New Age, DMP commissioner Shahidul Haque said in addition to regular patrols, every police station was directed to form some motorbike units for guarding the streets, and the drive already started last week. The law enforcers have also been directed to use firearms if required and permissible by laws.
   The DMP commissioner said apart from the identified spots, muggers are also active in some other places occasionally in the city.
   Police said they also identified around 300 gangs of muggers comprising 1,200 operatives.
   Intelligence sources said there are over 60 gangs, whose members rub pungent balm in the eyes of their targets or mix sedatives with foods or drinks to debilitate the victims.
   Transport terminals, bus stops and public transports are their common spots.
   DMP sources said muggers are most active between 4:00am and 6:00am, 9:00am and 1:00pm and between 11:00pm and 4:00am, when they often use motorcycles, private cars, taxis, and CNG-run three-wheelers to prey on commuters.
   The use of motorized vehicles in street mugging and hijacking has made things worse for both city commuters and policemen. The muggers use taxicabs or rented cars with fake number plates for their crimes, making it harder for law enforcers to trace or apprehend them.

Security has been stepped up at bus and launch terminals as well as railway stations to ensure safe journey of passengers as people started leaving Dhaka to celebrate Eid and Durga Puja.
   Apart from plain-clothes detectives, extra police were deployed at Kamalapur railway station, three inter-district bus terminals and Sadarghat launch terminal to check pickpocket and bag snatching.
   On Thursday, the last working day before the holidays begin, terminals swamped with thousands of people leaving for their village homes to celebrate Eid and Puja with their near and dear ones.
   ‘Closed-circuit television cameras have been set up at Kamalapur railway station to monitor ticket counters, waiting rooms and platforms,’ station manager MA Zinnah told New Age on Thursday, adding that members of the Rapid Action Battalion were also on guard.
   Bangladesh Railway will operate four special trains on four routes from today to facilitate the passengers’ journey home.
   ‘Each train will carry about 1,000 passengers every day,’ the station manager said adding that trains would carry some 25,000 passengers every day ahead of the festivals.
   The routes are – Dhaka-Rajshahi, Joydevpur-Santahar, Dhaka-Dewanganj and Dhaka-Mymensingh. Special trains will leave Kamalapur station for Mymensingh at 9:10am, for Dewanganj at 8:40am, for Rajshahi at 5:55pm
   and for Shantahar at 5:30pm everyday before Eid.
   ‘If Eid is celebrated on September 22, the railway will also operate the same number of special trains for the next day and tickets will be sold from the evening of September 20,’ he said.
   Law enforcers, including detective branch police and RAB, have also been deployed at the terminals as most of the people will be using road transport and waterways to go home for the festivals. ‘Extra forces of law enforcing agencies have been deployed at all terminals to facilitate smooth journey of the home-bound people,’ additional deputy commissioner of media and community service of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Walid Hossain told New Age.
   Volunteers of the bus owners association are using loudhailers asking passengers to beware of pickpockets and cheats. Security men have been on round-the-clock duty at the Sadarghat launch terminal to ensure a hassle-free journey for the passengers.
   The vessel operators and bus owners on Thursday said the crowds were normal till Thursday.
   ‘The rush of home-goers will begin Friday,’ an executive of the vessels owners association told New Age.
   Asked about the schedule, he said, ‘A vessel will leave the terminal after all passengers have boarded it and that’s why timetable cannot be maintained strictly.’
   Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority have also arranged special steamer, launch and ferry services for passengers.
   BIWTC sources that they would operate special steamer service on different domestic and coastal routes along with their regular service.
   The special service will operate on Dhaka-Chandpur-Barisal and Dhaka-Morelganj-Hularhat-Khulna routes.
   This service began on Thursday with the traditional paddle steamers like PS Ostrich, PS Masud, MV Sonargaon, MV Shella, PS Turn and PS Lepcha.
   Today PS Turn, PS Lepcha and MV Shella will leave Dhaka at 6:30pm 7:00pm and 8:00pm respectively for Morelganj, Hularhat and Barisal and leave Hularhat and Barisal the next day at 1:00pm and 7:00pm for Dhaka.
   PS Ostrich will leave Dhaka at 7:00pm on September 19 for Hularhat and leave Hularhat for Dhaka the next day at 1:00pm.
   On September 20, PS Lepcha and MV Shella will leave Dhaka at 7:00pm and 8:00pm respectively for Morelganj and Hularhat. MV Shella will leave Hularhat for Dhaka at 1:00pm September 26.
   Besides, PS Turn and PS Lepcha will leave Dhaka on September 25 and 26 at 6:30pm and 7:00pm respectively for Morelganj and Hularhat. PS Lepcha will leave Hularhat for Dhaka at 1:00pm September 28.

Government offices, including the administrative hub secretariat, have plunged into a holiday mood, Many employees and officials have taken a casual leave in advance connecting with the weekly holidays.
   The secretariat like many other offices had thin attendance on the last working day, Thursday, before Eid-ul-Fitr as many officials and employees went to offices just to sign attendance register while some others left Dhaka on Wednesday either by taking a day’s leave or skipping offices.
   ‘It seems the office has plunged into a holiday mood,’ said the law minister, Shafique Ahmed, at the secretariat on Thursday as he talked with newsmen.
   The three-day public holiday for the religious festival of the Muslims begins Sunday with Eid falling the next day, but the vacation will be extended by a day if Eid, which is subject to the sighting of the moon, falls on Tuesday, according to an official notification.
   Some officials and employees, meanwhile, took a casual leave in advance and left city on Wednesday for homes to avoid hustles while many have applied for leave on Wednesday and Thursday after Eid, pushing the government, semi-government and autonomous institutions into a holiday spree, said officials.
   ‘Many employees carried luggage in the secretariat on Thursday… It is a common phenomenon that every year some employees somehow manage their bosses and take the opportunity to tag the holiday to the weekends... The people came to office today will try to manage leave for a day or two after Eid so that they can enjoy weekly holidays through the weekends,’ said an official at the secretariat.
   Most offices on Thursday went into a holiday mood and officials and employees of government and semi-government are likely to enjoy a nine-day consecutive holiday by taking a causal leave or skipping offices on Wednesday and Thursday as the vacation scheduled to end on Tuesday or Wednesday.
   Moreover, September 28 is also a public holiday on the occasion of Durga Puja.

American company Chevron has submitted to the Petrobangla a new estimate of gas reserve in the Bibiyana field, putting the ‘proven recoverable reserve’ at 4.4 trillion cubic feet, up by a staggering amount of 2.7 TCF, said Petrobangla officials.
   Energy officials at a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday presented the new estimate of gas reserve in the country’s second largest gas-field.
   As per the new estimate, the ‘gas in place or proven gas reserve’ of the field has been put at 6.6 trillion cubic feet, of which 4.4 TCF is recoverable, said Petrobangla officials. The earlier estimate had showed that the proven gas reserve was around 2.51 TCF, and Petrobangla had estimated that around 60-70 per cent of the reserve was recoverable.
   ‘The PM told the meeting that it was good news for the country that the Bibiyana gas reserve was much higher than the earlier estimate. She was hopeful that more gas would be found,’ said a source who was present at the meeting.
   Petrobangla officials said that Chevron submitted its new estimate, made by another US consultant, Degolyer and MacNaughton, on September 13.
   ‘We have now formed a committee to scrutinise the company’s new estimate. If the findings are right, production at the Bibiyana gas-field could be increased to around 1,000 million cubic feet per day in the next two years from the present production of 670mmcfd,’ Petrobangla’s chairman Muqtadir Ali told New Age on Thursday.
   He said that the new estimate puts the total ‘proven plus provable reserve’ at more than 7 TCF and the ‘proven plus probable plus possible’ reserve at more than 8 TCF.
   He claimed that the new estimate would remove the confusion surrounding the gas reserve and daily production rate at the Bibiyana field.
   Energy experts and a seven-member expert committee of Petrobangla had earlier criticised Petrobangla for allowing Chevron to extract more than 450mmcfd of gas as the second estimate of gas reserve by another US company, Ryder and Scott, had put the proven reserve at 2.51 TCF.
   After the initial estimate of Degolyer and MacNaughton put the proven reserve at 1.2 TCF in 2000, Chervon and Petrobangla agreed to appoint Ryder and Scott for again estimating the reserve.
   After Ryder and Scott put the proven reserve at 2.51 TCF in 2008, Chevron insisted on a further study of the reserve and Petrobangla earlier this year allowed Chevron to appoint D&M.
   ‘When the two initial estimates were made, there was no data on gas pressure in the wellhead. After three years of production, D&M got all the data and found the “gas in place” or “proven reserve” of the field at 6.6 TCF, of which 4.4 TCF was recoverable,’ said Muqtadir.
   One of the members of expert committee that scrutinised the report of the second estimate of the Ryder and Scott, however, was sceptical about the estimate.
   ‘The data we went through showed there was undeveloped proven reserve. I do not know whether they counted the undeveloped proven reserve to show a larger gas reserve. I will have to go through the detailed report of the D&M before making any comment,’ he said.
   Muqtadir, however, said that all the data on gas pressure in the Bibiyana gas-field showed that the reserve would be higher than what Ryder and Scott had estimated.
   The Titas gas-field of the Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd is the largest gas-field in the country with a proven reserve of 9 TCF.

Petrobangla on Thursday invited US company ConocoPhillips and the Irish company Tullow Oil to initial the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for the three offshore blocks as early as possible.
   The state-run corporation, in separate letters to the companies, informed Conoco that the government had decided to award it deep sea Blocks 10 and 11 and told Tullow that it would be awarded shallow sea Block 5.
   ‘We have sent letters to the companies today, inviting them to initial the Production Sharing Contracts as early as possible. We are hoping that the agreements will be initialled after the Eid vacations,’ Petrobangla’s chairman, Muqtadir Ali, told New Age on Thursday.
   This is the first time that the government has officially contacted the companies to ask them to sign the PSCs, in spite of criticism and protest, after they participated in the tender for the blocks in February-May 2008.
   Conoco, which submitted tender for eight blocks, and Tullow will be given eight to nine years to complete exploration of the blocks to find deposits of hydrocarbon.
   Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month approved Petrobangla’s proposal to award the blocks to the companies after the Cabinet committee on economic affairs, headed by finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, approved the awarding of the blocks on August 24.
   Energy officials said that after the representatives of the government, Petrobangla and the two companies initialled the PSCs, the agreements would be sent to the law ministry for being vetted.
   ‘After the law ministry has vetted the PSCs, they will be signed by all the three parties,’ said an official.
   Various rights groups, energy experts and left-leaning political parities have been protesting against the government’s decision to award the blocks on the plea that the PSCs would allow export of up to 80 per cent of the gas extracted by the two companies.
   The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, which is spearheading the protests, enforced a half-day hartal in the city to underline the demand for scrapping the government’s decision to include the provision for export of gas in the PSCs.
   The committee also said that it would go for a tougher movement after October 16 if the government did not withdraw its decision by that time.
   The parliamentary standing committee on the power and energy ministry on Wednesday claimed that the protesters were ‘misleading’ the people and that the PSCs would not allow gas export.
   The committee said that the PSC would be discussed in the parliament as demanded by some lawmakers, and the parliamentary committee would hear the leaders of oil and gas committee.

More than 80 civilians were killed in an air raid which blasted a makeshift camp of displaced people in northern Yemen, witnesses said on Thursday, as the army pursued its offencive on Shia rebels.
   One witness, reached by telephone, said that most of those killed in Wednesday’s raid were women and children.
   The attack was carried out by a ‘warplane (that) targeted displaced families who had gathered under trees in the area of Adi,’ in Amran province — scene of heavy fighting between the army and the rebels, the witness said.
   Another witness, also reached by telephone, said killed’ in the attack, which was acknowledged by a Yemeni official.
   ‘The jet fighter targeted Huthi rebels who were firing while hiding among the displaced people,’ the official said. He declined to comment on the death toll.
   A rebel statement condemned the attack, accusing the Sanaa government, which has vowed to crush the five-year-old rebellion, of thirsting for blood.
   ‘The bloodthirsty authorities have committed a new massacre,’ said a statement issued by the Huthi rebels.
   It said that government MiG warplanes at 12:00 noon (0900 GMT) on Wednesday had targeted displaced people gathering along the Barata road, close to Adi village near Harf Sufyan, which lies on the route linking Saada to the capital.
   ‘Dozens were killed and the bodies were blown away by the impact of the strike,’ the statement said.
   The Yemeni army, which launched operation Scorched Earth against the rebels on August 11, said Thursday it has delivered heavy blows ‘over the past hours.’
   A military commander claimed the army had killed and wounded many rebels, whom it accused of using civilians as human shields. He did not elaborate.
   New York-based Human Rights Watch urged the Yemeni government to ‘promptly and impartially investigate responsibility for any attacks on civilians.’
   In a statement it also urged all parties to the armed conflict in the region to ‘respect the prohibition under international law against targeting civilians.’
   There has been no reliable sources for the death toll of the ongoing fighting.
   The government accuses the rebels of seeking to restore the Zaidi Shia imamate which was overthrown in a 1962 coup that sparked eight years of civil war.
   An offshoot of Shia Islam, the Zaidis are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen but form the majority community in the north.
   The Zaidi rebels are known as Huthis, named after their late leader Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi, who was killed by the army in September 2004
   Relief groups have warned of worsening humanitarian conditions among the tens of thousands of civilians forced from their homes by the latest fighting.

The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, pledged Wednesday to work to boost US trade with Bangladesh, calling the nation a model as a democratic and secular-minded Muslim-majority nation.
   Meeting with her Bangladeshi counterpart Dipu Moni, Hillary said the two nations would look at the possibility of a trade and investment framework to make it easier
   for US companies to expand in the South Asian nation.
   ‘The United States stands ready to work with Bangladesh. And we will work to enhance economic opportunities,’ Hillary told a joint news conference.
   Hillary hailed December’s election - in which the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, won the latest rematch against arch-foe Khaleda Zia - as ‘the freest and fairest in the country’s history.’
   ‘Bangladeshis now have the opportunity to build on this success,’ Hillary said.
   The US president, Barack Obama, has made reaching out to the Islamic world a signature policy, including through a June 4 speech in Cairo. Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is strongly critical of radical Islam.
   ‘As a country with a strong secular and democratic heritage, a record of respect for women
   and a Muslim-majority population, Bangladesh embodies the promise
   that president Obama spoke of in Cairo,’ Hillary said.
   Dipu Moni said Bangladesh attached ‘great importance to our relations with the United States.’
   ‘We consider the US as our close friend and partner,’ she said.
   Dipu Moni said she asked Hillary to work for duty-free and quota-free access for Bangladeshi goods to the US market.
   Proposals before the US Congress would extend such trade benefits - now enjoyed by poor African nations that meet US criteria on free elections and markets - to less developed nations elsewhere such as Bangladesh and Cambodia.
   But the measures have met resistance by some African nations, which fear they cannot compete against the Asian nations.
   In a personal concern for the new government, Dipu Moni also
   sought Hillary’s help in extraditing culprits of the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina.
   Dipu Moni said some involved in the military coup might now live in the United States.

The cargo handling at the Chittagong port remained suspended on Thursday as the workers and employees of the private berth operators stopped working for payment of increased festival bonus, port officials said.
   They stopped unloading of cargos from the ships anchored at the port jetties at 8:00am to realise their demand. Around 40 cargo vessels remained stranded at the port jetties and outer anchorage due to the work stoppage.
   The private berth workers and employees staged demonstration at the jetties and manhandled three staff members of the private berth operators firms, the port sources said.
   The director (traffic) at the Chittagong port, Ahsanul Kabir, said ‘We have asked both the private berth operators and the demonstrating workers to resolve their disputes amicably to restore cargo handling activities at the port immediately.’
   The private berth operators should resolve the disputes as soon as possible as it is their issue, not the matter of the port authority, he added.
   President of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury, however, expressed concern at the stopping of loading and unloading of cargos at the port as a good number of ships were remaining anchored at the port jetties and outer anchorage.
   Labelling the work stoppage as ‘part of a conspiracy by a vested quarter’ to create unrest at the port, he said the private berth operators should resolve the disputes by paying the festival bonus to the deserving workers and employees.
   He also blamed the syndication of the private berth operators for creating a problem at the port before the Eid festival.
   The convener of the private berth operators’ association could not be reached over cell phone for his comments despite repeated attempts.
   Director of a private berth operator’s firm Shawkat Hossain said the workers and employees deliberately had stopped working despite the berth operators increased the festival bonus amount from Tk 2,000 to Tk 3,000 for them.
   ‘We want to resolve the problem through amicable discussion, but the workers and employees manhandled private berth operators’ several staff members, including a manager, who tried to resume cargo handling at the jetty no.13’ he said.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha on Thursday allotted a total of 1,077 residential plots in four categories under its Purbachal New Town project through a computerised lottery.
   The lottery for applicants from four categories – judges, freedom fighters, artist-cultural personality-sportsperson and non-resident Bangladeshis – was held at the city’s Osmani Memorial Hall.
   The state minister for housing and public works, Abdul Mannan Khan, housing secretary Mahbubur Rahman, Rajuk chairman in-charge AYM Golam Kibria and other officials of the ministry as well as of the capital city development authorities were present.
   Professor Masroor Ali of BUET, which has been vested with the authority to scrutinise the applications, along with his team conducted the lottery.
   A total of 591 plots were allotted to Bangladeshi expatriates against 22,673 applications, of which 1,513 were cancelled during the scrutiny as those were found ‘faulty’.
   Of the allotted plots, 32 were 10-katha plots, 72 were seven and half kathas, 267 were five-katha and 220 three-katha plots.
   Some 2,536 freedom fighters applied for the plots. Of them, 713 applications were declared invalid for ‘being filled up in a faulty manner’ and 296 plots were allotted to the freedom fighters. The number of 10-katha plots is 16, seven-and-a-half-katha plots 36, 134 were five-katha plots and 110 were three-katha ones.
   In the artist-cultural personality-sportsperson category for which some 313 applications were submitted, 176 plots were allotted, of which nine were 10-katha plots, 21 were seven-and-a-half-katha plots, 80 were five-katha and 66 three-katha plots. The number of cancelled applications in this category is 74.
   Judges have been allotted 14 plots in two sub-categories – a seven-and-a-half-katha plot and 13 ten-katha ones while some 17 applications of judges were cancelled due to faulty applications.
   Abdul Mannan Khan, while inaugurating the draw, said the lottery had been conducted in a transparent manner, unlike that of the previous years.
   ‘I challenge all of you to find out if there are any irregularities in the lottery. If anyone can find out irregularities, he will be rewarded. Neither I nor any of my relatives even applied for the plots,’ the state minister said.
   However, the applicants present during the lottery found the process puzzling as most of them were not acquainted with the technology.
   ‘The results of the lottery came up as soon as they [lottery conductor] clicked on the computer after taking seven digits from seven participants. How can I be sure that it was not stage-managed,’ Morshidul Haque, an applicant asked.
   The authorities, however, explained that the lottery was conducted through ‘random sampling’.
   Moreover, the delay in publishing the lottery results added fuel to the confusion. Though Rajuk officials had said the result would be published on its web site, it was not found on the web site till last evening.
   The draw was completed at 12:00 in front of the audience but Rajuk officials left the place without showing them any copies of the results.
   When contacted over phone, Rajuk chairman in-charge told New Age that they were in the ministry to have photocopy of the lottery sheets.
   After about four and a half hours, Rajuk officials came back to hang the result sheets.
   In response to a question from reporters at the ministry, Mannan Khan said, ‘Lottery of the rest of the categories will be conducted in two phases soon after the BUET completes the process.’
   Referring to the demand of the unsuccessful applicants to return their deposited money, Khan said, ‘We have already talked to the banks. We are trying to pay money back as early as possible. A cell will be formed in the Rajuk so that the process is completed smoothly.’
   He, however, did not give any deadline for returning the deposited money.
   The Rajuk chairman in-charge said the unsuccessful applicants could apply for withdrawing the money soon after Eid holidays.
   Only 6,000 of the 17,500 residential plots under the Purbachal project are available after the past governments had allotted over 11,000 plots.
   Officials said as many as 1.57 lakh people had applied for the plots of the two projects after Rajuk invited applications for the lottery last year.

Journalists were forbidden from running any report on ‘happenings’ during Thursday’s High Court hearings on the twin-petitions of ex-premier Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman for quashing Zia Orphanage Trust fund embezzlement case as the proceedings hit snags.
   The taboo was announced in the open court of a High Court vacation bench comprising Justice AFM Abdur Rahman and Justice MR Hasan, court sources said.
   Both sides refrained from making any remark on the court affairs.
   The admissibility hearing on the petitions began Wednesday and, as the submissions by the Attorney General remained inconclusive, the court adjourned the hearings for Thursday.
   When contacted, the attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, declined to make any comment about what had happened during the day’s hearing.
   The chief law officer of the government, however, said the counsel for
   the petitioners ‘took back’ their petitions from the bench.
   A week after the Metropolitan Sessions Judge set October 25 for the commencement of trial of the case, charge-sheeted accused Khaleda and Tarique on September 15 filed separate petitions with the High Court for quashing the case proceedings as they think it was one of zillion cases tainted with political motives.
   On July 3 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case against Khaleda, Tarique and others with Ramna police station in Dhaka amid an anti-graft drive under state of emergency following the January 11 changeover.
   According to the case, the then prime minister, Khaleda, and the other accused ‘embezzled’ over Tk 2.10 crore by establishing an organisation styled Zia Orphanage Trust that exists ‘only on paper’.

A worker was killed and three others were injured critically while three others are feared to have been trapped inside when the roof on an under-construction CNG filling station collapsed at Sadar Dakkhin municipality Thursday night.
   The deceased was Mohammad Sujan, 22, a resident of Kushtia.
   Local people and the police said the workers were busy working on the roof of the VSZ CNG filling station at Uttar Rampur in the Sadar Dakkhin municipal area when the roof collapsed at about 8:00pm.
   Local people immediately called in the police, who cordoned off the area. The Rapid Action Battalion also reached the spot.
   Fire engines were called in and fire fighters rescued three of the workers, aged between 30 and 35, from the debris.
   The three were taken to Comilla Medical College Hospital and they were reported to be in a critical condition.
   The body of Sujan was recovered after removing the debris from a portion while fire service men continued rescue operation till 10:30pm.
   Local residents said at least three other workers had worked on the roof and they might have been trapped.

Hundreds of residents of the ten villages affected by land subsidence caused by coal-mining in Barapukuria on Thursday besieged the office of the mining company for about three hours, demanding due compensation.
   They gathered in front of the office of Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd at around 11:00am, demanding full implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding that the villagers and the mining authorities had signed in May for payment of compensation for subsidence of their land.
   Scuffling and chase and counter-chase took place between the protesters and the police at one point after the latter were deployed in the area. Angry people pelted the office building with brickbats and shattered the window panes.
   The people alleged that although the authorities signed the MoU three months back, they were yet to get full compensation for subsidence of their land. The authorities have distributed around Tk 2 crore so far among the residents for the damage caused to their belongings like houses, schools and other establishments.
   People complained that the authorities have also not informed them of what steps were being taken to compensate them.
   However, the villagers stopped their protest programme after officials of the BCMCL assured them that their demands would be met soon, but in phases.
   The managing director of the BCMCL, Md Quamruzzaman, told New Age that they had already given around Tk 2 crore to around 2,500 affected families of ten villages.
   ‘This amount was given as a lump sum on an emergency basis for compensating them for the damage caused to their establishments before we compensate them for subsidence of their lands. Each of the families got Tk 5,000-6,000 for each of the rooms in their homes. More will be given to them later,’ he said.
   Quamruzzaman claimed that a few people with vested interest were instigating the general people to realise a huge amount of money from the government.
   He said that the recent problem arose after they had fixed compensation for six Chatals (concrete yards for drying rice) at Tk 81,000, but the owners were demanding Tk 27 lakh. ‘These people are instigating the general people for realising the money,’ he claimed.
   He said that Petrobangla had already taken up a Tk 300 crore project for compensating the villagers for loss of land and also acquiring land from them. ‘Once this project is approved by the government, the affected people will get the full compensation,’ he said.
   The local people, however, said that they had participated in the demonstration as they had no knowledge of any project of the government for compensating them.

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has given her consent to reforms in mutiny-stricken Bangladesh Rifles, renaming the paramilitary frontier force as Border Guard Bangladesh with a new combat uniform, officials said in Dhaka on Thursday.
   A senior official familiar with the situation told the news agency that under the reform or reconstitution plan a huge number of retired army personnel would be inducted in lower ranks of the frontier force on a ‘makeshift basis’.
   The official, who preferred anonymity, said the decision was made to fill up the vacuum to be created following the trial and conviction of BDR men who would be found involved in the February 25-26 mutiny when 57 army officers serving the border force on deputation were killed.
   ‘The prime minister has given her consent to an amended proposal for BDR reforms on late Tuesday while the decision would now be implemented gradually with engagement of home, law and other ministries,’ said the official.
   He said in line with the proposed reforms, army officers would lead the paramilitary border guards on deputation like the previous, while BGB would now have four regional headquarters to be headed by a brigadier general while officers from navy and air force too would now be posted in the frontier force on deputation alongside army.
   The official said the reconstituted frontier force would have reduced service length for the soldiers and other rankers having required qualification and age and could be inducted as regular commissioned officers of BGB with six months of training in Bangladesh Military Academy.
   The official said the border guards would now have 16 sectors, forming two new ones for the south-eastern hills and north-western regions, while the average distance of their border outposts would be as long as five kilometres and they would be equipped with motorbikes for patrolling in their new deep and light brown combat outfits.
   The premier’s consent came days after the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry blasted BDR chief Major General Mainul Islam for his decision to use a proposed new name and new uniform ahead of the final government approval, in a bid to free the frontier guards from the stigma of the February 25-26 mutiny.
   The parliamentary standing committee demanded that the BDR chief should be summoned to clarify his ‘audacious actions’ but an apparently embarrassed home minister Sahara Khatun requested the committee not to call him at this moment as he was already called in by the home ministry when he said ‘sorry’ for his actions.

The government has initiated a move to resume disbursement of stipend for more than 16 lakh secondary schoolgirls in 302 rural upazilas, education ministry sources told New Age in the past week.
   Stipend for the schoolgirls were disbursed earlier under the Female Secondary Stipend Project (Phase II), which closed in June. The students had not been given the stipend even for the January-June period.
   ‘The planning section of the education ministry held several meetings in the past week and prepared a draft proposal for the resumption of the stipend under a new project called ‘Secondary Education Stipend Project,’ a joint secretary of the ministry said.
   ‘The government faced criticism from different quarters, including foreign lending agencies, after the media had reported the project was closed. The ministry has now initiated the new project to resume stipend disbursement among more than 16 lakh schoolgirls,’ he said.
   More than 1,200 officials and employees, engaged in monitoring the stipend disbursement in schools, have also not been getting their salary since May.
   ‘We need to face pressure from parents who belong to lower income groups as the stipend was stopped without any prior notice,’ said an upazila secondary education officer.
   ‘On the other hand, we have not been paid since May,’ he said. ‘We are passing our days in hardship in running the family in Ramadan. Eid-ul-Fitr will be a sad one this time,’
   Under the project, first launched in 1994, secondary female students, who meet certain criteria, had received the stipend, allowance to buy textbooks and examinations fees.

Armed Indonesian police stormed an Islamic militant hideout early Thursday in a raid that killed fugitive terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top and three other militants, the police said.
   Noordin’s body was among four recovered after the early morning raid on a village house in Central Java, national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters, bringing to an end an exhaustive six-year manhunt.
   ‘From national police doctors’ examinations, antemortem (investigations) and finger prints sent by Malaysian police, thank God on this holy month of Ramadan... it’s Noordin M Top,’ Danuri said to applause.
   Loud explosions and gunfire were heard as police raided the rented house at around sunrise after a nine-hour siege on the outskirts of Solo city, a stronghold of the Jemaah Islamiyah radical network.
   The raid left the simple house in the lush, densely populated region a burnt-out shell.
   Danuri said police from an elite unit known as Special Detachment 88 launched the raid after interrogating two Noordin acolytes arrested nearby on Wednesday afternoon.
   ‘Despite repeated warnings to surrender there was a firefight. A motorcycle was hit, caught fire and they took refuge by huddling in the bathroom,’ Danuri said.

At least one-third of the garment factory owners did not pay festival allowances and dues to their workers till Thursday, said labour leaders.
   Workers in many of the factories are avidly waiting to get their dues today or tomorrow but a lot of them remain at risk of not getting any money before Eid
   After compiling reports from activists of her organizations in various industrial areas, Najma Akhtar, a leader of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Federation, said, ‘Nearly two-third of the factory owners paid their workers the dues and Eid bonus by Thursday evening.’
   Najma, who represented the workers in the tripartite commission on reviewing their wages in 2006, said the lower number of pre-Eid clashes in garment factories this year showed that the ‘payment situation was relatively good’.
   ‘Sustained psychological pressure on the industry for payment of dues before Eid, by the government, media and others in the society, might have improved the situation this year,’ she said.
   Disagreeing with Najma, convener of the Garment Workers Unity Moshrefa Mishu said, ‘Payment of bonuses and dues has not been completed in more than 50 per cent of factories.’
   Citing the siege of the residence of the owner of Panorama Garment at Mirpur by the workers on Thursday, Mishu said, ‘Workers in many factories in Ashulia, Savar and other areas are chasing their employers for getting their dues.’
   The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s president, Fazlul Haque, said that the pre-Eid payment situation was much better this year.
   He admitted that in many factories workers got angry when factory owners refused to pay half month’s salary in September.
   ‘In many factories workers have been paid half month’s salary in September,’ said Siddiqur Rahman, vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
   Siddique claimed that the BGMEA has persuaded many factories to pay the workers all their dues before Eid.

Maoist lawmakers in Nepal have demanded the national flag be changed to reflect the country’s new status as the world’s youngest republic, a party spokesman said Thursday.
   Nepal’s last king left the throne in 2008 after the Maoists won landmark elections and voted to abolish the country’s 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
   But the sun and moon that appear on the flag are associated with the Rana and Shah dynasties that once ruled Nepal, and the Maoists say it should be changed to reflect the country’s new status.
   ‘We and some other parties think it would be best to change the flag to reflect the spirit of the country,’ Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma said. ‘The current flag does not represent the aspirations of the people.’
   The debate over the national flag is part of negotiations to draft a new constitution in Nepal as required by the 2006 peace agreement that followed a 10-year civil conflict between the Maoists and the state.
   Nepal’s flag is unique in that it is made up of two triangles — every other country in the world has a rectangular flag.
   Its white crescent moon and sun are set against a red background to represent victory, with a blue border to represent peace.

A local leader of Awami League was gunned down and its four activists were wounded in a gun and bomb attack at a tea stall near the Chaugachha upazila party office in Jessore Wednesday night.
   The killed was Enamul Hasan Tutul, 45, organising secretary of the Chaugachha upazila unit of AL and the injured were the ruling party activists Aslam Hossain, Harun, Abdul Mazid and Shafiqul Islam, Chaugachha upazila unit president of Bangladesh Chhatra League.
   Police and locals said an unidentified group of 10 masked armed men launched a gun and bomb attack on AL leader Tutul and four activists of the party when they were taking tea at a stall near the party office at Chaugachha at around 10pm.
   The masked men fired several gunshots at AL leader Tutul killing him on the spot and exploded a number of hand bombs.
   AL activist Aslam was also injured with bullets in the attack and he was rushed to the Jessore General Hospital in a critical condition.
   Soon after the attack, locals rushed to the scene and took the victims to the upazila health complex, where the attending physicians declared Tutul dead.
   Later, police arrested Debashish Mishra Joy, general secretary of the Chauga-chha upazila unit of Awami Juba League, an associate organisation of AL, Masud Parvez, Hasanuzzaman and Liakat Ali in connection with the gun attack.
   Ahsan Habib, officer-in-charge of the Chaugachha police station told the journalists that the gun attack might be launched as a sequel to intra-party feud.

More than 200 people have died from swine flu in India since the first fatality was reported in early August, government figures showed.
   The health ministry said in a statement late Wednesday that 208 people who were confirmed to have the A(H1N1) virus have died, after eight deaths on Tuesday and five on Wednesday.
   Some 6,800 people have been diagnosed with the virus across the country, the department added.

Jumat-ul-Wida, the last Friday of Ramadan, will be observed today with religious fervour throughout the country.
   The largest congregation of the Jumat-ul-Wida will be held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. Muslim devotees will also offer Friday prayers in all other big mosques of the country.

Muslims across the country observed the holy night of Shab-e-Qadr, or Lailatul Qadr, Thursday night, marking the revelation of the holy Qur’an.
   The Qur’an was believed to have been revealed on this night to show mankind the path to eternal emancipation.
   It was observed with special prayers at mosques and residential houses, seeking blessings from Allah. Devotees also visited graves of their near and dear ones and offered prayer for the salvation of the departed souls.
   The day after Shab-e-Qadr is an annual public holiday, though it falls on the weekly Friday holiday this year.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, is returning home tomorrow after performing umrah in Makkah. She is expected to land at Zia International Airport at around 9:30am.
   The BNP will give her a warm welcome on her arrival. The BNP and its associate bodies held a joint meeting on Thursday on the preparation to receive Khaleda.
   Khaleda left for Saudi Arabia on September 11 to perform umrah at the invitation of the Saudi king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz al Saud.

Food aid is at a 20-year low despite the number of critically hungry people soaring this year to its highest level ever, the United Nations relief agency said Wednesday.
   The number of hungry people will pass 1 billion this year for the first time, the UN World Food Programme said, adding that it is facing a serious budget shortfall.
   To date the WFP has confirmed $2.6 billion in funding for its 2009 budget of $6.7 billion.
   ‘This comes at a time of great vulnerability for the hungry,’ the WFP said in a statement.
   ‘Millions have been buffeted by the global financial downturn, their ability to buy food is limited by stubbornly high prices,’ the WFP said.