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Members on the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Commission have censured the unilateral decision of the commission chairman to invite applications for settling disputes over land ownership in the three hill districts.
   The members on the commission and ethnic minorities in the three hill districts prefer an amendment to the land commission law 2001 first and then inviting applications for settling disputes and finally conducting a cadastral survey.
   Two political parties of the hill people – the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti, with which the state signed a peace accord 1997, and the United People’s Democratic Front – have rejected as ‘unacceptable’ the public notice of the land commission inviting applications. They said such a move would likely to make the situation more complicated instead of resolving the disputes.
   The commission secretary M Abdul Hamid issued the public notice on March 17 inviting applications from refugees to settle land disputes in the hill region. Applications could be submitted to the head office of the commission in Khagrachari district as well as at the offices of Bandarban and Rangamati deputy commissioners in next 60 days and no application would be received after the deadline.
   Although the land commission has invited applications, its officials are yet to begin attending office regularly and the office housed in a rest house of roads and highways department was yet to be furnished. Some class III and class IV employees have been appointed and they are idling their time away, New Age found.
   The chairman of CHT regional council Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, who is also a member of the commission, expressed his reservations about the commission’s ‘unilateral’ decision before amending the contradictory law of 2001.
   Ruithi Karbari, chairman of Khagrachari district council and also member on the land commission, also expressed dissatisfaction. ‘We know nothing about the public notice. The chairman is doing things unilaterally and does not seem to care about consulting us,’ he said.
   ‘Only a single meeting has been held and no such things were discussed in it,’ he said.
   ‘We want to see the commission functioning. Non-functioning of the commission is mainly responsible for the recurrence of ethnic violence in the hills. But if we are not invited to meetings, how could we contribute to it?’ he said.
   The president of the United People’s Democratic Front, Prasit Bikash Khisha, has asked the government to enact laws to safeguard the hill people’s right to land and to settle all land disputes in the hill districts in keeping with the laws.
   He rejected the government’s inviting applications from the aggrieved persons for settlement of land disputes and branded the move ‘an attempt to put the cart before the horse.’
   ‘The government has to set a baseline to settle the disputes. Laws or policy guidelines must be framed before adjudication of disputes,’ he said.
   ‘If the disputes are settled in keeping with the existing laws, most of the hill people will be deprived of their land as they have no documents or title deeds although they are real owners of the land according to customary land rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,’ he said.
   Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti publicity secretary Mangal Kumar Chakma said the commission chairman’s unilateral move would make the situation more complicated instead of settling the land disputes.
   The party asked the commission to withdraw the public notice and called for amending the land commission act of 2001 and taking initiatives to resolve the land disputes through proper procedure.
   Both the PCJSS and UPDF also questioned the commission’s plan for conducing a cadastral survey of CHT lands.
   Neither the commission chairman nor the secretary was available for comments.
   Since the formation of the Land Commission in 1998 in line with the terms of the treaty, three retired judges served as its chairmen until December 2007 but could hardly make any visible progress in settling the land disputes.
   The Land Commission – with a retired judge as its head and also comprising the chairman of the CHT regional council or his representative, the three circle chiefs, chairmen of the three hill district councils, and the divisional commissioner or his representative as the members – held only one meeting in the first eight years of its life.

The High Court on Sunday asked the government and the Bangladesh Telecommunica-tions Regulatory Commission to explain in seven days why its action suspending the operation of RanksTel and cancelling its licence would not be declared illegal.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir also asked the government to explain why suspension of the RanksTel services should not be declared illegal.
   The posts and telecommunications secretary and the Bangladesh Telecommunica-tions Regulatory Commission chairman have been asked to reply to the rule.
   The court passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by RanksTel director Aman Ullah Chowdhury challenging the legality of the notice issued by the telecoms regulatory commission on March 19 cancelling the telecom’s licence.
   Moving the petition, Rafique-ul Huq argued the government had cancelled the licence of RanksTel without showing any reason or without prior notification. ‘According to Section 46 of the Bangladesh Telecommunica-tions Act, the commission will give a month to the PSTN operator before shutting down its services.’
   Rafique also prayed for the restoration of the services. ‘RanksTel have 4 lakh subscribers and they will be affected if the services are not restored.’
   Seeking restoration of the services, RanksTel’s another counsel Anisul Huq said, ‘The economy will suffer as Grameenphone will capture the market in the absence of RanksTel services.’
   The counsels also argued RanksTel had not been involved in illegal voice over internet protocol business.
   The court, however, declined to grant the prayer for restoration of services saying it had seen news bulletins on television in which the BTRC chairman said RanksTel had been involved illegal VoIP business.

Five organisations of ethnic minorities will march towards the Prime Minister’s Office today to demand institution of a judicial inquiry commission to investigate the attacks on ethnic minorities at Baghaichari in Rangamati and in the Khagrachari town and immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
   Sajek Bhumi Raksha Committee, Sajek Nari Samaj, Pahari Chhatra Parishad, Hill Women’s Federation and Democratic Youth Forum will first gather in Muktangan and then march towards the Prime Minister’s Office at 10:30am.
   The organisations will also submit a memorandum to the prime minister, said a release issued by Sajek Bhumi Raksha Committee.

Ultra-left Gana Mukti Fauz regional leader Abdul Khaleque Jhoru, 37, was killed in the ‘crossfire’ with the police early Sunday.
   Sunday’s incident took to 167 the total number of extrajudicial killing in incidents such as ‘crossfire’, ‘encounter’ or ‘gunfight’ after January 6, 2009 when the Awami League-led alliance government assumed office.
   This is the 15th extrajudicial killing after the High Court on December 4, 2009 asked the authorities not to kill any more people in ‘crossfire’ or ‘encounter’ until it hears a rule it issued suo moto on the government in connection with extrajudicial killing. The first such killing after the High Court order took place on January 9.
   Abdul Khaleque, killed on Sunday, was a resident of Saotan of Chapra in the district and wanted in seven cases including three related to murder, police said.
   A joint team of the Detective Branch and the Kumarkhali police reached a banana orchard at Koburat of Bagulat about 2:00am on information that Khaleque and his associates were meeting there. As the lawmen approached, the outfit operatives fired into the team, which fired back after which Khaleque was found lying dead, the police said.

The High Court on Sunday again rejected the petitions filed by five groups of industries challenging government notices asking them to remove seven jetties they had set up on the River Sitalakhya in Narayanganj.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, however, asked the authorities to suspend the demolition of the jetties for a month as an appeal against their eviction was pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
   The court passed the order after hearing separate writ petitions filed by the City Group of Industries, Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Limited, Kamal Vegetable, Akij Group and Molla Salt challenging the legality of the notices the Narayanganj deputy commissioner issued on February 9.
   Another High Court bench on February 23 on Tuesday summarily rejected a writ petition filed by the City Group of Industries challenging a notice asking it to remove three jetties.
   The group later filed another petition seeking revision of the High Court order.
   The four companies also filed separate applications to become party to the original case on which the High Court in 2009 directed the government to demarcate the boundaries of four rivers around Dhaka, and sought stay on the notices, issued by the Narayanganj deputy commissioner, asking the companies to remove their jetties from the river side.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Quamrul Islam Siddiqui on January 24 also asked the government to complete the removal of illegal structures on the river banks by November and to report to the court on the progress of the drive every three months.
   The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid on behalf of the rights organisation Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh in pursuant to the High Court verdict delivered on June 25, 2009 detailing a series of directives to stop encroachment on the four rivers.
   The Narayanganj deputy commissioner on February 9 issued the letter to the City Group of Industries managing director, Fazlur Rahman, asking him to remove the structures and jetties by February 20.
   Fazlur Rahman filed a writ petition saying the City Group of Industries had set up the jetties at Rupganj on the Sitalakhya on permission of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

Hackers from outside Bangladesh on Saturday broke into the country’s district web portal, Window to District Information, which provides basic information on the country’s 64 districts, said a statement of the Access to Information (A2i) programme at the Prime Minister’s Office.
   The statement issued on Sunday said the hackers had broken into and defaced the sites about 11:00am on Saturday. The sites were restored about 5:00pm.
   The United Nations Development Programme, Cabinet Division and Access to Information programme at the Prime Minister’s Office provided assistance in the making of the web portal with information on the offices of deputy commissioner of the districts.
   The prime minister on January 6, 2010 launched the web portal in her office marking the first anniversary of the Awami League-led government.
   The statement, however, said the portal had not suffered any permanent losses.
   The web site of the Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs ministry was, meanwhile, found to be hacked on Sunday.
   Information on the homepage of the ministry web site was defaced with a message that read ‘Owned by Hero_Aze Fuck armenian people.’ Some of the web site addresses posted on the page include www.human.az, www.genocide.az and http: //www.january20.net/.
   Dhaka University computer science and engineering professor Haider Ali told New Age internet security had almost been neglected for government web sites. ‘And this is too risky for national web sites. The access control system should be properly maintained and visitors should not be allowed to write anything on any pages of the sites.’

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s nomination board Sunday night nominated the party’s vice-chairman M Hafiz Uddin Ahmed as the candidate for by-election to the Bhola 3 constituency, which was vacated by the High Court.
   The board met at the party chairperson’s office at Gulshan and decided the nomination, sources attending the meeting said. The party chief, Khaleda Zia, presided over the meeting.
   The by-election to the constituency will be held on April 24, according to the election scheduled announced on March 18.
   The Election Commission on February 3 declared the constituency vacant on a Supreme Court verdict as retired major Jasim Uddin, who was elected lawmaker for the constituency on the Awami League ticket, had contested the polls within five years of his retirement from the defence service.
   The electoral law stipulates none could contest the national elections within three years from the date of retirement and within five years from the date of forced retirement from any public offices.
   According to the electoral law, a fresh election must be held within 90 days after any parliamentary seat is vacated.
   Jasim Uddin, forced to retire from the army on August 31, 2006, won the seat polling about 12,000 votes more than his opponent Hafiz Uddin Ahmed in the December 29, 2008 general elections.'

International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination was observed in the country on Sunday as elsewhere across the world with a call for enactment of a law to eliminate social discrimination against the marginalised people.
   Different organisations held various programmes including human chain and rally across the country to mark the day.
   The Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement and the Nagorik Udayog jointly formed a human chain at Muktangan in the Dhaka city.
   The speakers demanded enactment of a law to eliminate social discrimination against country’s marginalized people towards ensuring their civic rights.
   They also called on the government to provide Dalit community with special allocation for housing and introducing quota in higher education for their children.
   In his speech, the movement president Mukul Shikdar said Dalit community people are living a miserable life with no civic rights.
   `We are not allowed to enter hotels, restaurants and saloons simple because we are Harijans,’ he added.
   Movement general secretary Bodhanoki Sholoman, joint secretary N Ramu and Dalit Woman’s Forum president Moni Rani Das, among others, spoke at the programme.
   Bangladesh Dalit Parishad and Paritran, non-governmental organisation, jointly held a rally at Zia Hall in the Khulna city.
   Dalit community people from all the districts of Khulna division, civic group representatives and journalists joined the rally.
   Speaking at the rally Dalit community members called on the government to ensure equal rights for all in the society.
   Chaired by Bangladesh Dalit Parishad Khulna district president Kalipada Das, the rally was addressed, among others, by Khulna mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque, parishad president Uday Das, Paritran executive director Milon Das, vice-president Dipali Rani Das and rights activist Sheikh Kamal Uddin.
   The speakers alleged that Dailt people are still facing social society and often they are not allowed to attend any religious festival and restaurants and saloons.
   They demanded equal rights for all in the society as the law of the land speaks of equal rights for all.
   The speakers also demanded special quota for Dalit community students in higher education and in jobs, reserved seat in the local government bodies and interest-free loans, stoppage of racial discrimination in the name of religion, giving preference to Dalit people for distribution of khas land and VGF cards.

The criminal investigation department of police on Sunday sought extension of time by anther three months to complete the investigation into the biggest-ever arms haul in Chittagong in 2004.
   The investigation officer, Mohammed Moniruzzaman, filed a petition before the court of metropolitan sessions’ judge Bhabani Prashad Sing seeking three months to submit the charge-sheet in the sensational case.
   The court, which has so far extended the timeframe for completion of investigation seven times, fixed today the date for hearing the petition.
   Meanwhile, the CID is yet to send former director general of National Security Intelligence retired major general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury to the task force interrogation cell in Dhaka for interrogation in connection with the case.
   The court of Chittagong metropolitan magistrate Osman Gani on March 9 placed Rezzakul, who had been taken on remand thrice earlier, on a six-day remand for further quizzing at the cell.
   The police recovered a total of 4,930 different types of sophisticated firearms, 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11,40,520 bullets while being offloaded on 10 trucks from two engine boats at the jetty of the Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited on April 2, 2004.
   Rezzakul Haider and another former NSI DG, retired brigadier general Abdur Rahim, former director retired wing commander Shahabuddin Ahmed, former deputy director retired major Liakat Hossain and field officer Akbar Hossain, former managing director of CUFL Mohshin Talukder and former general manager AKM Enamul Hoque were remanded in connection with the case.

A delegation from Japan’s House of Representatives has assured the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, that they will work towards increasing Japanese foreign direct investment into Bangladesh, as well as on reducing the deficit in the current account of the balance of trade between the two countries, which is currently lopsided in favour of the East Asian country.
   The assurances came when Naoto Sakaguchi MP and Mieko Tanaka MP met with the prime minister at her Ganobhaban residence on Sunday evening.
   During the meeting, they also praised the prime minister’s leadership in bringing about development in social and economic fields since taking office, deputy press secretary to the PM, Mahbubul Huq Shakil, told reporters.
   The Japanese parliamentarians said they would give special emphasis to developing Bangladesh’s promising tourism sector.
   The MPs told Hasina that the government and the people of Japan were ‘waiting anxiously’ to welcome the prime minister to Japan.
   The prime minister in turn told them that her government wanted to develop the tourism sector, and encouraged Japanese tourists to visit Bangladesh.
   In this regard, Hasina expressed her hope that the Japanese government could extend its cooperation in developing the tourism infrastructure in Cox’s Bazar, Sundarban, Kuakata and other places of attraction.
   The prime minister said the aims of her present government were to project Bangladesh’s own, independent culture, as well as the diversity of its various indigenous tribes, to the world.
   Ambassador-at-large M Ziauddin, secretary to PMO Molla Wahiduzzaman and the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, Tamotsu Shinotsuka, were present during the meeting.

At least 15 persons were injured in police action during a protest in front of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police headquarters in the city on Sunday.
   Witnesses said some 2,000 people gathered in front of the SMP office about noon to submit a memorandum demanding immediate withdrawal of a case against Kucha union council chairman Abul Kalam.
   As the protestors tried to enter the SMP headquarters, the police charged at them with truncheons leaving at least 15 persons injured, they said. The police also seized about 15 motorcycles and nabbed the drivers of a microbus and a pick-up van from the spot.
   Ten of the injured were identified as Gafur Miah, 50, Alauddin, 45, Bazlur Rahman, 35, Fakhar Uddin, 25, Enamul Haq, 40, Rajan Miah, 55, Nanu Miah, 40, Mizanur Rahman, 23, Suman Ahmed, 24, and Swapan Ahmed, 28.
   The arrested are pick-up van driver Nanu Miah and microbus driver Shahed Miah.
   Abul Kalam, chairman of Kucha union council under Dakshin Surma upazila said some 5,000 people of his union went to the SMP office to submit a memorandum to press for withdrawal of a case against him.
   ‘The police action on the innocent people of my area is a part of conspiracy to tarnish his image as union council chairman,’ Kalam, also a BNP leader, addedd
   Gias Uddin Reki, a neighbour, filed a case against Abul Kalam and four others with Dakkhin Surma police station on March 12 for allegedly looting his house, local people said.
   When contacted, SMP commissioner Aftab Uddin told New Age the police charged at the protestors with truncheons to disperse them.

Altafur Rahman, former managing director of the City Bank Limited, died at Apollo Hospitals Dhaka on Saturday. He was 74.
   He is survived by one son Sairas Altaf (Shasha), an officer of the City Insurance Co. Ltd.
   Altafur was the elder brother of Bir Shrestha Matiur Rahman and younger brother of Khurshed Alam, principal adviser of Bangladesh General Insurance Company Ltd and former governor of Bangladesh Bank.
   The qul khwani of the deceased will be held after the maghrib prayers at his city residence at Nouse 88, Sector 13, Gausal Azam Avenue, Uttara.

The High Court is scheduled to pass an order today on the public interest litigation writ petition seeking a directive for the police to assist the Dhaka City Corporation in resuming its drive against illegal and unauthorised hoardings.
   The High Court bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Md Delwar Hossain posted the order for today after hearing on Sunday the petition filed by three Supreme Court lawyers on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh.
   The rights group’s counsel Manzill Murshid said the court should direct the Shahbagh police officer-in-charge to submit a report in seven weeks giving an explanation regarding his suspending the city corporation drive on the police station premises on Thursday night.
   He further sought the court should direct the government to form a committee of experts to examine whether the hoardings approved by the city corporation had been set up in the right way.
   The police stopped a city corporation team, led by an executive magistrate, when the team about 10:00pm on Thursday started pulling down the hoardings set up on the land of the Shahbagh police control room without any permission from the city corporation.
   The city corporation on Thursday launched the drive to dismantle risky and illegal hoardings after two people were killed as a hoarding at Gulshan in the capital collapsed on them during storms on Monday.
   ‘According to our constitution, the government will ensure the safety of life of every citizen but two people were killed because of the negligence of the authorities concerned,’ Manzill argued, seeking resumption of the drive against illegal hoardings.

The arts faculty dean of Dhaka University, Sadrul Amin, on Sunday alleged that Eden College principal had threatened to file a case against him over ‘link to militant outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir’.
   Sadrul, also convenor of the BNP-Jamaat backed White panel, told reporters at his office that Eden College principal Mahfuza Chowdhury at around noon today (Sunday) threatened to sue him on charge of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir activities.
   The threat came after White panel teachers had formed a human chain on the university campus on March 18 protesting at harassment of Eden College students by college unit Chhatra League activists, he said.
   ‘I did not demand removal of the Eden College principal. I wanted a permanent solution of such this type of harassment of the college students.’
   When contacted, Mahfuza Chowdhury said she had talked to Sadrul Amin over phone but did not give any threat to him.
   ‘I have only said White panel teachers by forming the human chain had undermined the image of Eden College students as they tried to make true the ‘baseless’ news about Eden College students.
   Sadrul Amin also alleged that Mahfuza Chowdhury said she is the wife of an Awami League leader and will take revenge against him in future.
   Mahfuza Chowdhury, wife of Ismat Kader Gama, general secretary of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad, said she can not say this as per the service rule.

BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy on Sunday said the people who refuse to accept Ziaur Rahman as the proclaimer of the nation’s independence are the real war criminals.
   ‘Bangladesh was not liberated by any court verdict and we did not join the war of independence at the order of any court. We rather plunged into the war hearing his proclamation. The people who claim Zia is not the proclaimer of independence are the real war criminals,’ Gayeshwar said at rally of Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal in Muktangan in Dhaka in protest against the attack on the house of BNP lawmaker MK Anwar, also a standing committee member of the party, and cases filed against party leaders and activists.
   Gayeshwar threw a challenge to the state minister for law, Quamrul Islam, saying, ‘People will call Zia the proclaimer of independence. No one could stop them from doing so.’
   Presided over by the Swechchhasebak Dal president, Habinunnabi Khan Sohel, the rally was also addressed by BNP standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Mia, BNP joint secretary general Amanullah Aman and former Chhatra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal.
   Activists from ward units joined the rally in small processions.

Bus workers blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway at Shiroil in the Rajshahi city on Sunday following an attack on their three fellows by footpath traders.
   Witnesses said the road blockade had come after an associate of a bus MP Suffery Paribahan was attacked by a footpath trader in Shiroil bus stand area at about 9.30am.
   Footpath trader Saju was locked in an altercation with the associate of the bus Hafizur Rahman over cleaning of the vehicle in front of his shop, they said.
   Later, Saju called some people and beat up Hafizur leaving him seriously injured.
   Hearing the news, bus driver Shahidul and supervisor Nazrul went to the spot but they were beaten by Saju and his associates.
   Enraged by the incident, the bus workers blocked the highway by keeping buses on the road at about 10.00am, suspending traffic for about three hours.
   The agitating bus workers also ransacked at least five footpath shops.
   They withdrew their road blockade at about 1.00pm after police officials assured them of arresting those involved in the incident with 24 hours.

All the newspaper offices will remain closed on March 26 on the occasion of Independence Day, said a release of the Newspapers Owners Association of Bangladesh in Dhaka on Sunday.
   In accordance with the decision of the executive committee of NOAB, the members of the association will observe Friday (March 26) as a holiday on account of Independence Day, the release said.
   The press release, however, said NOAB members if desire can bring out their publications under special arrangement.

The food and disaster management minister, Abdur Razzak, has said Bangladesh has made a commendable progress in food production that has been increased nearly by three times since the independence, outpacing the population growth.
   Food grain availability in the country from domestic production increased significantly which helped overcome repeated natural disasters like floods and cyclones, he said.
   The food minister was addressing as the chief guest a workshop on ‘Research in Support of Food Security Policies: Improving Availability and Access,’ as part of National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme jointly implemented by food and disaster management ministry, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN on Sunday.
   The secretary of food and disaster management ministry, Barun Dev Mitra, chaired the session. The FAO representative in Bangladesh, Ad Spijkers, addressed the function as special guest.
   The director of FAO headquarters, Kostas Stamoulis, charge de affaires of EU Milko Van Gool and deputy chief of mission of US embassy in Bangladesh Nicholas Dean spoke as guests of honour. Chief technical adviser of NFPCSP Ciro Fiorillo presented a paper at the function.
   The food minister said the present government had given top priority to augment domestic food production to protect people from price volatility of the world market, as it had learnt a lesson from unprecedented global price hike of food commodities in 2007-08.
   For increasing food production, the government drastically reduced the price of non-urea fertilisers side by side measures were taken to make more quality seed available to the farmers, he said.
   ‘To facilitate irrigation, we have made more electricity available for the irrigation pump users and arrangements have been made to provide cash incentives to small and marginal farmers using irrigation facilities side by side giving diesel operated pumps,’ he said adding: ‘All these measures have been paying dividends in the form of successive record harvests of Boro rice.’
   Referring to imbalance food habits of people, he said because of relatively comfortable level of rice production, people consume more rice than the amount that nutritionists would recommend.
   Production of nutrient-rich food items like meat, fish, milk and egg is lower, which creates imbalance in the diet and as a result a large part of population especially women and children suffer from under-nutrition.
   ‘To address this situation, we need to diversify our agriculture production,’ he added.
   Highlighting the government’s efforts to ensure food security for the people he said as a pro-people government, it was pledge-bound to uphold the Article 18(1) of the constitution which vested all responsibilities on the state to ensure food security, health and nutrition for all.

A two-day regional climate conference will be held in Dhaka on May 19-20 bringing more than 15 Asian, African and small island states under an umbrella to raise their common issues with regard to the climate change.
   The state minister for environment and forests, Hasan Mahmud, said this while talking to reporters at his office on his return after a five-day official visit to Britain at the invitation of the UK government.
   The regional climate conference in Dhaka will be one of the four similar conferences of Least Developed Countries across the globe, mostly vulnerable to climate change, he said.
   The European Union has proposed for such conference to expedite the global negotiation process ahead of the sixteenth Conference of Parties (COP-16) in Mexico.
   Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Cambodia, Lesotho, Guiana, Jamaica, Mali, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania are likely to join the conference.
   Asian countries are confirmed while African and Small Island States are being communicated, Hasan said adding the EU would provide technical and financial support to arrange the conference.
   The six-member Bangladesh delegation returned home Saturday after the visit, which the state minister termed a significant step towards widening bilateral cooperation between the UK and Bangladesh on climate issues.
   During the visit, the delegation held separate meetings with secretary of environment David Miliband, climate envoy Robin Gwynn, secretary of state for development Mike Foster and chair of All Party Parliamentary Group in the UK House of Commons Collin Chappell.
   They discussed with senior British officials regarding UK support for adaptation programme of Bangladesh in the form of grant in addition to existing overseas assistance.
   Nik Gowing of BBC World Service also interviewed the state minister Hasan Mah-mud where vulnerability issues of Bangladesh to climate change as well as its adaptation and mitigation programmes were highlighted.
   In the meeting with David Miliband, the UK minister said his government would provide support to Bangladesh to conduct a survey to assess its necessity for green development, Hasan said.
   Miliband also reaffirmed Britain’s commitment for providing 60 million pound to the Multi-donor Trust Fund of Bangladesh to implement the projects taken for tackling climate change and additional 15 million pound for disaster management and research.
   The members of the delegation included noted climate expert Ainun Nishat, director general of the Prime Minister’s Office Moinuddin Abdullah and joint secretary (development) of ministry of environment and forest Nasir Uddin.

A Satkhira special court resumed trial of BDR mutiny suspects after a two-month break on Sunday.
   The special court, situated at the 41 Rifles Battalion headquarters, began hearing witnesses from 10:00am in the case against 60 BDR guards of Nildumur, accused of taking up arms in rebellion and solidarity with the BDR headquarters mutineers in February 2009.
   The court was previously adjourned on January 21 after 15 witnesses had testified. A total of 40 witnesses have been called up to testify in the case.
   The BDR director, General Mainul Islam, heads a three-member judge’s panel. The other two members are Lieutenant Colonel Gazi Md Khalid and Major Lutful Kabir. Deputy attorney general Khashruzzaman is filling in for the attorney general.
   The bloody February 25-26 mutiny saw over 70 people brutally killed, nearly 60 of them army officers deputed to the border force. Rebellion also spread to other BDR outposts around the country.
   On November 15, the government formed six special courts, including two in Dhaka, to try some 3,500 border guards accused in some 40 cases around the country.
   The first of the mutiny trials began at Rangamati on November 24. Along with Satkhira, trials are also ongoing in Feni and Thakurgaon.
   The BDR headquarters mutiny trial began in Dhaka, at Durbar Hall, last month.
   In the event of a guilty finding, the maximum penalty for rebellion under the BDR Act is seven years in jail. The six special courts are trying charges of mutiny, looting and arson. The killings will be tried separately under civil law, which holds the maximum death penalty.

Organised gangs of human traffickers have taken at least 53 Bangladeshi people to Pakistan and demanded ransom from their family members in Bangladesh, according to the detective branch police.
   The DB police rescued a middle-aged man abducted allegedly by a Pakistan-based gang of kidnappers on Saturday, a week after arresting six members of the gang from the city.
   The six were arrested when they were trying to flee the country by a Pakistan-bound flight from Shah Jalal International Airport, Dhaka, the deputy commissioner of detective branch (north), Mainul Hasan, told newsmen on Sunday.
   The detectives, based on their records and confessional statements, mentioned that the traffickers had taken at least 53 Bangladeshis to Pakistan.
   ‘The gangs virtually abduct many Bangladeshi nationals in the name of sending them abroad especially to some European countries. They end up in Pakistan and the gangsters demand ransom from their families,’ the police official said.
   The family of Aminul, too, paid the gang about Tk 3.80 lakh for his release, he added.
   As the gang refused to release him even after paying ransom, Aminul’s family sought help from the victim support centre of the Tejgaon police which later handed over the matter to the DB police. One of the members of the gang named Kamal Hossain was made accused of kidnapping Aminul.
   Acting on a tip-off, a team of detectives led by assistant police commissioner Marufat Hossain arrested the six people suspecting them as kidnappers of Aminul.
   They were identified as Mohammad Yunus Mian, Kamal Hossain, Lipu Mollah, Mohammad Shahin, Morium Begum and Abdul Mannan. A case was filed with the Motijheel in this connection.

The Jatiya Sangsad deputy speaker, Shaukat Ali, has urged the members of parliament to find out ways to come out of the bureaucratic system for formulating the national budget.
   The demands of the common people must be considered during the budget formulation, he said while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop for the MPs at the Sonargaon Hotel in the city on Sunday, said a JS press release.
   The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies organised the workshop on ‘State of the Bangladesh Economy’ as part of the programme ‘National Budget and the Economy for the MPs’.
   The deputy speaker said the MPs had scopes to get involved closely with the process of budget formulation. The MPs help the government in budget implementation too, he added.
   Shaukat Ali stressed the need for curbing the population rise and said the existing manpower would have to be turned into human resources.
   Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, MP, MA Mannan, MP, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, MP, Professor M Ali Ashraf, MP, and Dhirendra Nebanath Shamvu, MP, spoke on the occasion while MK Anwar, MP, was present.