Israel violated peace treaty: Says watch body

A monitoring force stationed in the Sinai in keeping with the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel said Israel violated it when its troops entered Egyptian territory and fired on security personnel, state news agency MENA reported yesterday.

"The body (Multinational Force and Observer) recorded two violations committed by Israel," the agency said, citing an MFO report.

"The international forces said in their report on the deaths of Egyptian security personnel that the violations were entering Egyptian territory and firing in the Egyptian side of the border," the agency reported.

MENA said the MFO report did not say whether Israel had grounds for attack.

Source : The Daily Star 

No deal yet on US troops staying: Iraq

The United States and Iraq have not agreed to a post-2011 American military training mission, Iraqi officials said Friday, after the US defence chief said Baghdad had given the okay.

Officials differed, however, over whether talks had even begun between Baghdad and Washington over possibly keeping a contingent of American troops in the country beyond a year-end deadline for their withdrawal.

"The Iraqi government denies what the American defence secretary Mr Leon Panetta said about its acceptance to extend the presence of US forces in Iraq after 2011," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

Source : The Daily Star

Israel apologizes to Egypt for killing troops

Israel apologized to Egypt yesterdayesterda for the deaths of three Egyptian soldiers during a cross-border clash with Palestinian militants, hours after Cairo threatened to withdraw its ambassador.

Israel has blamed Palestinians from Gaza who came through Egypt's Sinai desert for killing eight Israelis after they crossed the border. The violence is testing Israel's landmark 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, already strained by the fall of long-time autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.

"Israel deeply regrets the deaths of the Egyptian officers," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said.

The statement came after Egypt threatened to recall its ambassador to protest the killings of its soldiers. The

Egyptian government put an announcement on its website overnight saying it had pulled the envoy, but later backtracked and said it was only considering the move.

On Thursday, the militants who crossed from Egypt launched a series of attacks on cars and buses in Israel's south. Egypt says that the three soldiers were killed in an Israeli air strike along the Israel-Sinai border in response to the attacks. Israel said there was an exchange of fire between its soldiers and "terrorists" on the Egyptian border following the deadly attacks.

Egypt's interim government accused Israel of violating the peace treaty by killing the soldiers and demanded an apology.

The deadly attacks and Israel's response have strained what was always a cold peace between the neighbouring states. Egypt became the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel in 1979. And Israel valued Mubarak as a source of stability with shared interests in containing Iran and its radical Islamic proxies in the region - including the Hamas militants who run Gaza.

The agreement called for Israel to return the captured Sinai to Egypt. In return, Egypt agreed to certain restrictions on the number of troops placed in Sinai.

Several Egyptian political parties issued statements condemning the Israeli raid and calling for changes to the peace treaty, which regulates the number of Egyptian troops allowed in the Sinai Peninsula.

"This crime should be dealt with in an appropriate way," said the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's best-organized political force. "What was possible before the revolution will not be allowed to continue after the revolution."

Israeli officials insisted the peace treaty was "stable" despite the troubling developments.

"No one had any intention to harm Egyptian security personnel," Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official who works closely with Egypt, told Israel Radio.

Source : The Daily Star

Arab League to meet today

The Arab League will hold emergency talks today to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip after a series of Israeli air strikes on the enclave, the deputy leader of the group said.

"The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday, at the request of Palestine, to examine the repercussions of the dangerous situation following Israel's continuous aggression on Gaza," Ahmed Ben Helli told AFP on Saturday.

He said the meeting will be attended by the permanent delegates of the 22-member pan-Arab organisation which has its headquarters in Cairo.

Fourteen people were killed Thursday and Friday in Israeli air strikes on Gaza which began hours after an attack blamed by Israel on a radical Palestinian group.

Source : The Daily Star

Security forces kill 34 protesters in Syria

Tanks rumbled into the central city of Homs at dawn yesterday, a day after security forces killed at least 34 anti-regime protesters across Syria, adding urgency to a UN mission expected this weekend.

"Several tanks took up positions at dawn in the district of Al-Khalidiyeh" in the central city of Homs, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

"Throughout the night and this morning shots were heard from Al-Khalidiyeh to Baba Amr and Inshaat," he added, referring to two other central locations in the city.

Regime forces were also conducting arrests in the city of Latakia early Saturday, the Observatory said, adding that many of those picked up were minors.

In addition, one person was wounded Saturday in the Al-Herak district of southern Daraa province where relatives and parents staged a protest outside a hospital demanding the bodies of their loved ones, the Observatory said.

According to the rights advocacy group the death toll from Friday's crackdown on protesters rose to 34, including 15 people who were killed in Daraa where 25 others were also wounded.

It said security forces had also killed 16 civilians in the central province of Homs, including five in the flashpoint neighbourhood of Al-Khalidiyeh.

Three protesters were also shot dead on Friday in the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Douma, the Observatory said.

The United Nations said that a UN humanitarian mission would visit Syria this weekend to witness the effects of the crackdown on protesters.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Security Council on Thursday there was "reliable corroborative evidence" that Syrian forces are deliberately shooting anti-regime demonstrators.

Pillay also said in an interview with France 24 television that her body had drawn up a list of 50 Syrians in senior positions that she said were responsible for violent repression.

The civilian death toll from the security force crackdown on the protests has now passed 2,000, a UN report said on Thursday.

Source : The Daily Star

Qulkhwani

Qulkhwani of Monir-uddin Ahmed, a former principal of Bangladesh Cooperative College and retired joint register of Cooperatives Directorate, will be held at Narayanpur in Chandpur after Asr prayers today.

He passed away at a hospital in the city on August 18 at the age of 82, says a press release.

He left behind his wife, five daughters and one son to mourn his death.

His namaz-e-janaza was held on Banani Central Mosque premises after Juma prayers on Friday.

He will be buried at his family graveyard at Narayanpur in Chandpur today.

Relatives and well-wishers are requested to attend the programme and pray for salvation of the departed soul.

Source : The Daily Star

Land acquisition move protested

The people of Hemayetpur stopped the motorcade of State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Quamrul Islam on Friday in protest against a move to acquire their lands by the government.

Witnesses said the agitating people obstructed the motorcade at Hemayetpur bus stand for about 20 minutes from 3:00pm protesting the move for land acquisition.

Locals said the government decided to acquire some 10.56 acres of land near Hemayetpur bus stand for construction of a police barrack.

Fearing eviction, the local people formed a human chain and took out a procession in the afternoon when the minister's motorcade was passing by the area.

Source : The Daily Star

Expand livestock vaccination to contain Anthrax: Experts

Experts have emphasised rapid expansion of the livestock vaccination coverage across the country to contain Anthrax, one of the emerging infectious diseases in Bangladesh.

"Massive livestock vaccination can reduce the burden of the disease both in animals and human," said Prof Mahmudur Rahman, Director of Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and National Influenza Centre (NIC), Bangladesh.

Describing livestock vaccination as a huge task, the IEDCR director said it is difficult to keep the track of vaccinated cattle as their number grows fast in the country. "But it's urgently needed to vaccinate the animals to control the disease."

Dr M Abul Kalam, head of the Epidemiology Unit of Department of Livestock Services, said the livestock population in Bangladesh is about 5 crore and the animals need to be vaccinated fast to keep anthrax under control, as unvaccinated animals easily get infected with it.

He said environmental and ecological conditions as well as the disposal practices of dead animals are also the risk factors for anthrax outbreak in Bangladesh.

Both the experts were talking to reporters in a media orientation session on 'Emerging Infectious Diseases' held at The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) on Thursday.

Additional Director General (DGHS) Prof Saiful Islam, Prof Nitish Devnath of FAO, Anupuri of Unicef and Dr Kamruzzaman Biswas of WHO spoke at the orientation with IEDCR Director Prof Mahmudur Rahman in the chair.

About anthrax outbreak in Bangladesh, Prof Mahmudur said humans get infected with anthrax in three ways -- cutaneous route, inhalation and ingestion. "Cutaneous anthrax accounts for more than 95 percent of the human cases."

Referring to human anthrax cases in Bangladesh from 2009 to 2011, he said 99 cases were detected in three districts during Aug 2009 -June 2010, while 607 cases in 12 districts during Aug-Oct 2010 and 107 cases in five districts during April-Aug 2011.

Presenting a paper, 'Anthrax: A reemerging Zoonosis', at the programme, Dr Abul Kalam Azad said anthrax is 'epidemic' in Bangladesh with sporadic occurrence throughout the country. "Villagers always report cattle and goats dying of Tarka, a local term of anthrax."

About actions taken by the government, he said the government in 2010 had declared red alert, launched a vaccination programme and taken quarantine measures to control the spread of anthrax.

Source : The Daily Star

Bangabandhu Murder: Bring back killers from abroad

President Zillur Rahman yesterday said utmost efforts would have to be made to bring back the convicted condemned killers of Bangabandhu who fled abroad to execute the court verdict.

He made the remark while addressing a discussion in the city' s Osmani Memorial auditorium, organised by Gopalganj District Samity-Dhaka, marking the National Mourning Day and the 36th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Zillur said although it took 35 years, trial of the killers of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and his family members has been accomplished on the soil of Bangladesh and the nation has now become mostly free from the stigma.

He noted that the anti-liberation quarters did no let Bangabandhu materialise his dream of `Sonar Bangla' and the father of the nation and his family members were mercilessly killed by the bullets on the black night of August 15 in 1975.

About `Vision 2021', the president said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the father of the nation, has declared `Vision-2010' to bring smiles to the faces of the distressed millions in the country.

Awami League presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Commerce Minister M Faruk Khan, and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman also spoke at the function, chaired by Sheikh Kabir Hossain of Gopalganj Samity.

Source : The Daily Star

Mob beats robber to death

Angry mob beat a robber dead at Shahjadpur upazila in Sirajganj Friday night.

The deceased was identified as Abdul Halim, 35, son of Nodia Pramanik of the upazila's Sherkhali area.

Locals said Halim and his gang broke into one Roich Uddin's shop in Darga Char Market late night Friday.

Sensing their presence, some fishermen called out to the villagers who chased the robbers, they added. All except Halim managed to flee.

The locals beat Halim dead on the spot and disposed his body on the verandah of Potajia Health Complex in Shahjadpur, said police.

On information, police recovered the body yesterday morning and sent it to Sirajganj General Hospital morgue.

The deceased was accused in 10-12 cases filed for murder, robbery and snatching, said Jasim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Shahjadpur Police Station.

Police filed a case in connection with Halim's death.

Source : The Daily Star

One drowns in Shitalakkhya

One of the panicked passengers of a trawler drowned in the river Shitalakkhya and five others were injured as the trawler collided with a sand-laden bulkhead last night.

The deceased identified as Fakir Miah aged about 45 was a security guard of BISIC at Fatullah.

Witnesses and police said the Siddhirganj-bound trawler carrying around 25 passengers collided with the bulkhead around 10:00pm at Bandar Kheyaghat.

Several passengers got panicked and jumped into the river following the incident.

Bandar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Harun-Or-Rashid said all the passengers except Fakir Miah swam ashore.

Source : The Daily Star   

Lawmakers' interference: makes UZs inactive Say chairmen, vice-chairmen

Upazila parishads across the country have been turned into inactive organisations due to unwarranted interference by lawmakers and bureaucrats, alleged upazila chairmen and vice-chairmen yesterday.

Expressing disappointment over the government's inaction to amend the Upazila Parishad Act, 2009, they demanded immediate move in this regard.

They made the demand at the Dhaka divisional conference of Upazila Association of Bangladesh (UPAB), held at the auditorium of Bangladesh Institute of Administrative Management in the capital.

Strengthening Democratic Local Governance, a programme of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organised the conference.

Interference of legislators and bureaucrats has curbed the power of the elected representatives at upazila level, which has ultimately hampered the local development activities, they observed.

Instead of serving people, the chairmen and vice-chairmen had to remain busy in different movements during the last two and half years. This has led them losing respect of the local people, said Mohammad Fakhu, general secretary of UPAB Rangpur divisional unit.

There is no alternative to strengthen the local government institutions in order to establish good governance, Golam Mortuza, president of UPAB Khulna divisional unit, told the meeting.

The UPAB leaders placed seven-point demand to ensure effective upazila parishads. The demands include repealing the contradictory provisions in the upazila parishad act, making the standing committees of upazila parishads effective and depositing one percent of land handover tax to the upazial parishad fund.

They also vowed to rouse a movement to press home their demands.

After conclusion of the conference, a 51-member committee of the Dhaka divisional unit of UPAB was formed.

Source : The Daily Star 

Bir Shrestho Matiur's 40th death anniversary observed

Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) observed the 40th death anniversary of Shaheed Flight Lieutenant M Matiur Rahman Bir Shrestho with due solemnity yesterday, says an ISPR release.

On the occasion, milad mahfil was held at the central mosques of all BAF Bases after Maghrib prayers where munajat was also offered seeking divine blessings for the departed soul and peace and prosperity of the country.

Officers and members of all ranks of the BAF were present.

Earlier in the morning, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Admin) Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari visited Matiur Rahman's grave at Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard in the city's Mirpur and offered munajat.

Matiur Rahman's wife Milee Rahman was present on the occasion.

Source : The Daily Star

Manmohan's Visit: 250MW power import deal with India likely

Bangladesh and India are expected to sign a deal on importing 250 megawatts of electricity from India during Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka next month, an official said yesterday.

"There is a huge possibility of signing of the agreement," Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes said, speaking at a press conference at the ministry.

Bangladesh will get the electricity by June 2014 if the deal is signed, he added.

Asked whether the price of the electricity was fixed, Quayes said he will be able to give a definite answer one week later.

The secretary said they will give a complete picture of what is going to happen regarding transit or other issues days before the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Bangladesh and India will ink the deal as per the Joint Communiqué signed on January 12, 2010 while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was visiting Delhi.

Meanwhile, a high-profile government fact-finding mission has found immense potential for trade and investment in Latin America during its recent visit to a number of countries in the region.

The foreign secretary said Bangladeshi apparels, jute goods, pharmaceuticals, and handicrafts have potential markets in Latin American nations.

He said they have discussed framework agreements and technical cooperation, particularly in rice and maize production, during talks with the officials of the countries.

"We don't have any foreign mission in Latin America although we have multi-lateral relations with most of the countries in the region", he said.

"We have a huge potential to increase trade and investment in the countries and have our various products access to their markets".

Bangladesh had missions in both Brazil and Argentina, but they were shut down later. The government has decided to set up a full-fledged mission in Brazil.

"If we can transform the multi-lateral relations into bilateral ties, we can reap various benefits," said Quayes, who led the fact-finding mission that made a whirlwind tour of Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Jamaica, and Colombia.

In Chile, the delegation discussed visa waiver agreement for Bangladesh diplomats and government officials. The negotiations with Brazil regarding the visa waver have been completed.

Quayes said Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina have also expressed their willingness to sign visa waiver agreement.

There is prospect of sending Bangladesh engineers and construction workers to Panama, as the Panama government is expanding the canal to facilitate the sailing of big merchandise ships through it, the secretary said.

Quayes said the volume of trade between Bangladesh and the Latin American countries may be worth thousands of dollars.

The fact-finding mission to Latin America was the second after West Africa where the foreign secretary had led such an exploratory mission to Ghana, Liberia, Senegal, and Ivory Coast in August-September last year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed to lead fact-finding missions to explore potential in those areas where there is no communications or bilateral relation with Bangladesh.

The delegation, which visited the Latin American countries between July 28 and August 10, was comprised of officials from the ministries of commerce, overseas employment, agriculture, and foreign affairs.

Source : The Daily Star

PM for time-befitting job-oriented edn

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government is underscoring diversification in the education for time-befitting, job-oriented and science-based education for all.

"We have been working relentlessly for diversification in the education to ensure time-befitting job-oriented and science-based education for all to keep pace with the modern world," she said while inaugurating the admission process of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University (BSMRSTU), Gopalganj at her official Gono Bhaban residence.

Mentioning that no nation can prosper without education, she said the present government has been making allout efforts to build a country free from poverty and illiteracy as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

"Without education no nation can stand keeping its head high, while an educated country can present a developed nation," she said.

Hasina said the aim of the government is to improve quality of education and ensure higher education for all. In this connection, she said the government has constituted a Tk 1000 crore trust fund to make easy access to higher education.

"Poor and meritorious students will be provided scholarships from this fund for higher education," she said.

She called upon the well-off people of the society to come forward for the development and expansion of education and said tax waiving facilities would be given to those who contribute to the development of education.

She said there is no scope for frustration of the students for admission to the higher education as the government has taken steps so that all students get facilities of enrollment to the higher educational institutions.

Hasina said the previous Awami League government enacted a law for establishment of 12 public universities. Of them, she said, academic activities of four universities have already begun.

About 'Digital Bangladesh' programme, she said a silent revolution of digitalisation has taken place in different sectors including admission to educational institutions, banking, tender and bill payments of different utility services.

Hasina blamed the BNP-Jamaat alliance government and the subsequent caretaker government for their failure to develop the education sector. She said her government wants to ensure balanced development of the country in all the sectors including education.

She deplored the fact that the southern region of the country, particularly Gopalganj, remained deprived of higher education facilities for a long time and hoped that with the setting up of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, the country will move a step forward in ensuring a balanced education system.

Referring to the establishment of union information service centres (UISCs) across the country, she said the centres have empowered people by ensuring their easy access to all the necessary information.

Later, the PM inaugurated the admission process of the university through mobile phone SMS.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Adviser to Prime Minister Syed Modasser Ali, Chairman of University Grants Commission Prof AK Azad Chowdhury and BSMRSTU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khairul Alam Khan also spoke on the occasion.

Lawmaker Nur-e-Alam Liton Chowdhury and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Abul Kalam Azad were present at the function moderated by Education Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury.

The vice chancellor said candidates could submit their applications to four faculties of BSMRSTU till October 12 through SMS using Teletalk mobile phone.

Source : The Daily Star 

Bangabandhu Museum Extended Building Opens: Tungipara house to be nation's property: PM

The extended building of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum was inaugurated yesterday.

Sheikh Rehana, younger daughter of Bangabandhu and vice-president of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust, inaugurated the six-storied museum building in the afternoon in presence of her elder sister and president of the Memorial Trust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a brief function on the premises of the Dhanmondi 32 house.

The present museum will be kept as usual as the House Museum while the extended building will be turned into a modern museum to preserve the eventful history of the Father of the Nation and his family members.

Hasina announced that a trust will be formed after the name of Bangabandhu's father Sheikh Lutfur Rahman and mother Sahera Begum, and Bangabandhu's ancestral home at Tungipara in Gopalganj would be given to the nation.

She told the function that the decision to give Bangabandhu's Tungipara house to the nation was taken following consensus of every member of the families of the six offspring of her grandfather and grandmother.

Recalling her time with her parents and other members of the family, Hasina went back to the past. With an emotion-choked voice, Hasina said their father always remained busy with public functions. "My father had spent her whole life to achieve the independence of the nation."

Hasina recalled that despite being the wife of the country's president and prime minister, her mother Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib never liked to live a luxurious life. "My mother never wanted to leave the small house of Dhanmondi."

Referring to the establishment of Bangabandhu Museum in 1994, she said they decided to build the Dhanmondi 32 house as the Bangabandhu Museum as they used to feel that this house is not of them, rather it is the property of the people who fought the liberation war under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib.

While weeping with her younger sister Rehana on the podium, Hasina mentioned the August 15, 1975 killing of Bangabandhu and most of his family members and said she and her sister Rehana escaped the assassination as they were abroad at that time.

"We are so unfortunate that we were not allowed to return home for six years till 1981 after the killing of our family members. When I returned home in 1981, the then military ruler did not allow me to visit our house and hold milad and doa for my family members," she said.

Rehana said the extended part of Bangabandhu Museum would be very effective to inform the new generations about the true history of the nation.

"The true history of the nation will inspire the new generations to build our motherland as a country of peace and prosperity," she said.

Bangabandhu Museum President Prof AF Salauddin Ahmed, curator Syed Siddiqur Rahman, member Maj Gen (Retd) Abdul Hafiz Mallick and co-curator Kazi Afrin Jahan also spoke at the function.

Hasina opened the museum website www.bangobondhu.org .

The two sisters later visited every level of the museum.

Source : The Daily Star

KL Amnesty to Workers: Registration deadline now Aug 31

Malaysia yesterday again extended the deadline to Aug 31 for biometric registration of irregular expatriate workers to regularise them under an amnesty programme.

Initially the registration schedule was fixed for August 1 to 14, which was extended to August 21.

The authorities are also registering regular foreign workers since July 13 to determine the total foreign workforce in the country.

The extension was made as the home ministry observed that a large number of undocumented workers were still crowding the registration counters, Malaysian newspaper The Star Online reported yesterday, quoting home ministry Secretary General Tan Sri Mahmood Adam.

The ministry also considered the fact that many registration agencies were entering remote areas to list the reluctant workers, he added.

Besides, a lot of employers requested for another extension to the time limit.

The regularised workers will either be allowed to return home without facing any penalty or issued work permits to continue in their jobs.

Of around 5 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia, an estimated 3 lakh are irregular. A total of 2,33,938 undocumented and 1,19,960 regular Bangladeshis have been registered until Wednesday.

"If the deadline was not extended, a majority of the workers would have been left out and ultimately would have jeopardised the aim of the exercise," Mahmood Adam said in a statement.

He urged all the employers and illegal workers to seize the opportunity, insisting the time line would not be extended again.

The Southeast Asian nation will start a crackdown on illegal foreign workers on the expiry of the August 31 registration deadline.

Source : The Daily Star 

Border gets in order: Dhaka, Delhi start signing strip maps

AT A GLANCE
*Total border 4156 km, 1,129 strip maps
* Disputes at 25 points
*Dhaka possesses 1,880.80acre at seven points
*India possesses 1,165.49acre at 18 points

Dhaka and New Delhi have started signing boundary strip maps to settle disputes along the 4,156 kilometre border between the two countries ahead of the Indian prime minister's Bangladesh visit.

The two nations yesterday inked a map for demarcating Bangladesh's border with West Bengal.

Of the 4,156 km borderline, 320 km border with the Indian state of Mizoram had been drawn earlier. Land surveyors of both the countries have been working on the rest of the borderline, and so far finalised 1,083 maps for 3829.5 km of the borderline except 6.5 km strips along Panchagarh, Moulvibazar and Feni.

The remaining 6.5 km boundary line will be drawn in a month, said Abdul Mannan, director general of Directorate of Land Record and Survey (DLRS).

Tarique Ahmed Karim, Bangladesh high commissioner to New Delhi, and Rajeet Mitter, Indian high commissioner to Dhaka, signed the map yesterday at the DLRS in the capital.

A strip map is a simple drawing of a route to include critical points along the border, roadside features and town facilities. It usually incorporates distances.

"There won't be any change in the boundary line drawn earlier. But these maps will end all the border disputes," said the DLRS director general.

"Hopefully, all the maps will be signed in a month," said Abdul Mannan.

Both the countries will have four signed copies of the maps each.

He said one copy will be kept at the foreign affairs ministry, one at the home ministry, one at the DLRS and another at the National Archive of Bangladesh.

"We did not discuss the enclaves."

The prime ministers of the two nations will decide on 111 Indian enclaves (17,160 acres of land) with a population of 37,000 and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110 acres of land) with a population of 14,000 during Manmohan Singh's Bangladesh visit on September 6-7.

The two countries have disputes over land at about 25 points in West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam. Bangladesh adversely possesses 1,880.81 acres of India's land at seven points while India adversely possesses 1,165.49 acres of Bangladesh land at 18 points.

A total of 628 maps have been drawn for 2,262 km border with West Bengal, 93 maps for 264 km border with Assam, 20 maps for 320 km border with Mizoram, 269 maps for 874 km border with Tripura, and 139 maps for 436 km border with Meghalaya.

India and Pakistan surveyed jointly to draw borders after the partition in 1947. But they stopped it after diplomatic relations between the two countries deteriorated in 1962.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed Bangladesh-India Land Boundary Agreement in 1974 to demarcate the border between the two countries. But the demarcation process was later halted.

The issue came to the fore during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit last year. The two countries have been working to settle all border disputes since then.

When asked about barbed-wire fencing by the Indian authorities along the border, the director general said they put up fences 150 metres inside their territory.

"So, it is not a matter of concern for us till now," said Abdul Mannan.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Home Minister Shahara Khatun, and Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira, State Minister for Land Mustafizur Rahman, Chief of Indian border cell Maj Gen Girish Kumar, and the chiefs of Bangladesh Border Guard and Indian Border Security Force were also present at the signing.

Source : The Daily Star 

Battered Highways: Abul blames all but himself

Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain yesterday blamed the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) for the miserable conditions of the highways across the country.

During a visit to the damaged Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, the minister also put the blame on lack of fund and unplanned tall buildings and illegal set-up by the road for its dilapidated condition.

The RHD has hurriedly embarked on repair at Bhogra bypass roundabout on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway to keep the inter-district transport moving ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.

The minister travelled up to Mawna intersection along with top RHD officials to see for himself the damaged highway.

"The Roads and Highways Department has earned such a bad name that neither the finance ministry nor development partners agree to release road repair fund easily," the minister told reporters.

The RHD is definitely responsible for today's dilapidated highways, he said, regretting the public sufferings caused by the damaged roads.

Md Sumon, a local resident in Bhogra, said he had always seen potholes on the highway being filled up with brick chips. As a result, damaged parts returned to the sorry state within a few days.

Locals identified a three-kilometre stretch of the highway from Mugholkhal Bijoy Sarak to Bhogra roundabout as the worst portion with large potholes and ditches. They said traffic movement through Mawna and Bhogra is very risky as vehicles get stuck in the potholes and some even overturn.

The minister directed the Gazipur district administration to start demolition of makeshift illegal structures occupying the RHD land from today.

"But it is not possible to remove the permanent structures immediately," he observed.

He admitted the repair work would not sustain due to rains, but the government had to undertake it as a temporary solution ahead of Eid.

He once again blamed the finance ministry for not releasing the repair and maintenance funds in time.

As the reporters pointed out that the finance minister publicly denied the allegation, Abul Hossain said, "I don't want to engage in a debate over this issue."

He said water remains stagnant on the highways as unplanned buildings and factories have destroyed the drainage system, causing colossal damage to the roads and highways.

Asked what he has done to save the roads, Abul Hossain said, "We can't just knock down such big buildings and factories." Blaming the last government for "leasing and selling" huge RHD land, he said it is now very difficult to free the roads of such structures.

The minister said the prime minister has instructed his ministry to submit a report to her on monetary allocation for the road sector and expenditures over past one decade.

He added he has already asked the RHD, Bangladesh Railway, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to submit their respective report to his office.

Citing fund deficit, he said his ministry last year took up a two-year Tk 1,410-crore project to maintain and repair the severely damaged roads across the country.

But the ministry has so far received Tk 107 crore in last two fiscals, he added.

The ministry in the current fiscal sought Tk 5,100 crore for repairing and maintaining all the damaged roads but received Tk 690 crore.

In fiscal 2008-09, the ministry sought Tk 4,206 crore and received Tk 568 crore. The ministry got the allocation of Tk 610 crore against the demand of Tk 4,004 crore in FY 2009-10. In FY 2010-11, the ministry sought Tk 4,745 crore and received Tk 688 crore, Abul Hossain said.

Source : The Daily Star 

Let justice be done

The explosions which swiftly put an end to the lives of 24 people at a rally of the Awami League in Dhaka seven years ago continues to haunt our collective public conscience.

For those deaths, and with them the injuries which left scores of others traumatised and even maimed, were but a bleak reflection of the thousand and one heartbreaks we as a people have suffered from since the mid-1970s. The grenades which exploded on August 21, 2004 left in our lives a gaping wound that has only festered during all this time, owing principally to the failure of the then government, and of the caretaker one that followed it, to search for and nab the criminals responsible for the misdeed.

Even today, with governmental authority now being exercised by the very leadership whose obliteration or liquidation was the aim of those behind the blasts, the families of those who died, of those who were injured, of a nation wanting to put it all behind it wait for justice to be done.

The mayhem and tragedy of August 2004 ought never to have happened. But when it did happen, it should have been the foremost responsibility of the then BNP-Jamaat coalition government to get to the bottom of the tragedy and convince the nation that the law enforcers were fully equipped to handle it, that the scales of justice were at work, and to let us in on the thought that the perpetrators of the misdeed would not go unpunished.

That did not happen. What did happen was the shaping of a tale wrapped in irony. Suspicions of involvement of the mighty and the powerful, and of efforts being made to push the investigations into directions sinister and dark began to be voiced. The constitution of a one-man commission of inquiry, meaning a single High Court judge doing the rounds of questioning that lacked credibility, only reinforced the public belief that a cover-up was what the authorities were engaged in.

Indeed, the cover-up had begun soon after the explosions, when all evidence of the carnage perpetrated -- body parts making their macabre presence known, marks of blood making a carpet of the street, sandals and shoes scattered around and unexploded grenades lying there --- was swiftly done away with. The government found a scapegoat in Joj Mia. Nothing could have been more farcical, more a playing out of a gory comedy in a situation calling for the highest degree of probity and dedication to the task of unearthing the truth, than having an innocent man agree to bear the burden of guilt for those who had actually committed the crime. In the days and weeks and months that followed, police investigation officers played for time, went out on a limb to present a truth that was but an undermining of the truth.

Seven years on, new inquiries into the explosions are at work. Charges have been filed against as many as 30 people, some of them influential government functionaries at the time of the tragedy. A new set of law enforcers has gone busily about trying to dig out the facts. If compulsions of justice and the necessity for truth are behind these efforts; if a fair, impartial and thorough inquiry is the purpose here, the nation will not complain. It is a message that should go out loud and clear to the government, indeed to people in this country and beyond it. Let those behind the planning and execution of the tragedy be unmasked. Let those who patronised those killings be hauled before the law and let a comprehensive, foolproof and therefore credible trial and judgement be arrived at.

Meanwhile, we tell ourselves that we have not forgotten those dead and those wounded; that their sacrifices were but a reinforcing of our faith in the power of democracy to hold at bay and then neutralise the very elements -- and others like them -- who have sought to exercise power through deceit and a surfeit of murder. We tell ourselves that justice will be done, that the spectre of death will be replaced by a renewed belief in the sanctity of life.

We remember. And we tell ourselves: Never again!

Source : The Daily Star 

Human-shield saved me: PM says govt obligated to try culprits

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government wants to end killing, terrorism and militancy in the country through bringing the masterminds and killers of grenade attacks of August 21 under trial.

The premier also said the August 21 grenade attack was aimed at halting the trend of independence, democracy, peace and development as well as making the country leaderless and to give the killing, conspiracy, terrorism, militancy and corruption a permanent stay.

Terming the attack a 'stigmatised day' in the political history of the country, Sheikh Hasina said, "The killers carried out the barbaric attack in broad day light on a peaceful rally of Awami League to kill me".

"Our party leaders and workers by forming a human-shield saved me from the series of grenade attacks," she recalled.

"I survived the attack due to immense blessings of the Almighty, but some 24 leaders and workers including president of Mohila Awami League Ivy Rahman embraced martyrdom. Many of the injured in the attack are now leading painful lives," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said it was the moral obligation of a government to arrest and to try the culprits involved with any such heinous attack. But, the then government of BNP protected the killers and helped a number of attackers to leave the country.

They destroyed the evidences of the incidence and in the name of investigation, diverted the heinous incident to other direction, she said.

She paid her deep homage to the martyrs of August 21 and urged all to create such a democratic political atmosphere where peace and safety of all people will be ensured.

Source : The Daily Star 

21 AUGUST: Haunted forever

Seven years after the August 21 grenade attack on Awami League rally, survivor Abdul Matin, who has been partially paralysed, wants to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and ask for a job.

Today is the seventh anniversary of the heinous attack, which was carried out apparently to kill Hasina, then opposition leader. Twenty-four people were killed in the blasts including Ivy Rahman, wife of President Zillur Rahman. The attack also left scores of people injured, many of them maimed.

One of the many splinters Matin still carries in his body had entered his head and paralysed the right side of his body.

He lost his job as salesman at a shop and has been unemployed ever since. He can now walk but with great difficulty.

Hailing from Barguna, the 40-year-old reached Dhaka on Friday. This is the first time Matin is going to attend programmes in Dhaka commemorating the August 21 attack.

He wants an audience with the prime minister. He is eager to be self-reliant, earn for his survival and treatment since he is regaining senses in the paralysed part of his body.

"I can only move slightly, but I cannot do other things. I need help of others even if I want to get on a bus," the Awami League activist told The Daily Star yesterday.

In the last two and a half years, he received Tk 25,000 from the government for treatment, but for medicines alone, he has to spend Tk 750 a month.

On that fateful day, Matin was listening to Hasina at the rally. He heard the sound of a huge blast and within seconds, he heard a number of similar bangs. "Suddenly, I understood that something had hit me in the head and then I lost consciousness. I can't remember anything else. I regained senses at Dhaka Medical College Hospital several hours later," Matin recalled.

Stories of other survivors are not different from Matin's. They still suffer from various physical and mental complications. The Daily Star talked to several of them to know how they are passing their days now.

With around 200 splinters inside his body, Mohammad Mukti Mamun, a survivor and Jubo League leader from the city's Basabo, cannot walk for a few minutes. The excruciating pain stops him.

"I have to take medicine every day, otherwise the splinters inside my body start itching," said Mukti.

"I could not stand up and I got frightened seeing blood oozing out of my body," he recalled. He was first taken to DMCH and later moved to a private hospital.

Kazi Jamir Uddin Siddique Titu has another problem. He cannot sleep well.

"I often wake up having nightmares. I have been living with around 50 splinters inside my body, mainly in the back and left chest," Titu of Brahmanbaria said.

He cannot even offer his prayers the usual way. He has to pray sitting on a chair since he still feels pain.

His doctor asked him not to climb more than a few flights of stairs. He is now in Dhaka to join today's commemoration programmes.

Mukti and Titu are pleased with the supplementary charge sheets submitted in the cases filed in connection with the attack. They want exemplary punishment to the masterminds and others involved.

CHARGE SHEET & TRIAL
The Criminal Investigation Department on July 3 submitted supplementary charge sheets against BNP chief Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman, former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, Khaleda's political secretary Harris Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and 30 others in the August 21 grenade attack cases.

According to the charge sheets, Hawa Bhaban, former political office of Khaleda Zia, which was considered an alternative centre of power, different militant organisations and a number of people from the administration had collaborated in planning and staging the grisly attack.

The Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on August 16 this year transferred the supplementary charge sheets of the murder case to the Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court of Dhaka for trial.

Two cases were filed in connection with the attack, one for murder and the other under Explosive Substances Act.

PROGRAMMES
The ruling Awami League has taken up a number of programmes to observe the seventh anniversary of the grenade attack.

The programmes begin at 11:00am today with the placing of wreaths at the memorial plaque in front of the AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in memory of the deceased leaders and workers.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will exchange views with family members of those killed and the survivors at Gono Bhaban at 5:00pm. A discussion will also be held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital at 3:00pm tomorrow with Hasina as chief guest.

AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has urged all to observe the day and attend the discussion programme.

Source : The Daily Star 

S&P downgrades Venezuela a notch

US ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Venezuela's foreign and local currency sovereign ratings by one notch Friday, citing the country's political risk as a credit weakness.

It cut the ratings from BB- to B+ with a stable outlook, saying the decision 'reflects our recently revised sovereign rating methodology's heavier weight on political risk, which is a credit weakness for Venezuela.'

S&P said its outlook also weighed both the negative impact of the Chavez government's interventionist investment and growth policies on the one hand, along with the country's modest fiscal and external positions.

'In our opinion, changing and arbitrary laws, price and exchange controls, and other distorting and unpredictable economic measures have undermined private-sector investment and hurt productivity — weakening Venezuela's domestic economy,' it added in a statement.

'Furthermore, the recent developments regarding President Hugo Chavez's health could add to policy uncertainty.'

Chavez has undergone two rounds of chemotherapy in Cuba to treat a cancerous tumor in his pelvic area. Since returning to Caracas, he has announced plans to run for a third presidential term.

The S&P downgrade came after Chavez announced plans Wednesday to repatriate 211 tonnes of gold held overseas and to nationalize gold exploration.

Source : New Age

Export-import thru Akhaura land port comes to a halt

Export and import activities between Bangladesh and India through Akhaura land port remained suspended since Saturday morning due to strike enforced by workers in Agortala of India.

Sources said huge goods are exported to Agortala, capital of Tripura state, through the land port from Bangladesh every day.

The Indian traders said they are facing enormous problems since long to carry the goods to different destinations due to dilapidated condition of roads and highways and lack of storage facilities.

They said Agortala Workers Association called the indefinite strike demanding immediate reconstruction and renovation of the worn out roads and highways and adequate storage facilities for the imported goods.

As a result, export-import activities through the land port remained suspended since Saturday morning.

Akhaura port officer Mohammad Abul Bashar confirmed the suspension of the port activities due to the strike by laborers in Agortala.

Source : New Age

Pak textile makers look for moving to Bangladesh: report

Amid growing energy crisis in Pakistan, many textile manufacturers in its textile hub Faisalabad are planning to relocate their manufacturing units in Bangladesh.

Though the power crisis is also prevails in Bangladesh, business leaders in Dhaka welcomed the move, but said no-one would be allowed to set up readymade garment units in the name of textile factory relocation.

'If any country wants to relocate their manufacturing units in Bangladesh, they're welcome. But we won't accept it if any country tries to run RMG unit in the name of textile unit,' president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh Abus Salam Murshedy told the news agency over phone.

The country's RMG sector is now in a stronger position and around 25 per cent capacity remains idle due to shortage of skilled manpower and infrastructure, he said.

According to a report of The Express Tribune, Pakistan published on August 18, Bangladesh has been offering a lot of incentives, including uninterrupted power supply (at cheaper rates than in Pakistan), tax-free status for the first 10 years and tariff-free access to markets in the European Union.

These incentives on offer have convinced many Pakistani businessmen to invest heavily in Bangladesh.

Owner of Tauseef Enterprises Salamat Ali, for instance, has already invested Rs 300 million in setting up a textile factory in Bangladesh. Others like K&M Textile, are considering doing so, the report says.

'The cost of doing business in Pakistan is very high,' said Rana Ghulam Irtiza, coordination manager at Tauseef Enterprises.

In addition to cheaper and more reliable electricity, Irtiza says, labour costs in Bangladesh are cheaper and the workers tend to be more efficient. The per capita income in Bangladesh is about half that of Pakistan's $1,250.

Profit margins in Bangladesh tend to be around 30 per cent higher for textile exporters than in Pakistan, according to Irtiza.

Source : New Age

Dhaka stocks sink for fourth week

Cautious trading by retail investors and inactivity of the institutional ones kept Dhaka stocks in the negative zone last week amid a significantly low volume of transactions, stretching the current bear run to four straight weeks.

Last week, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, or DGEN, lost 94.84 points, or 1.53 per cent, to close at 6,118.02 points, the level from which it had started its journey on Sunday. In the previous week the index shed 47.04 points, or 0.75 per cent.

The average daily turnover of Dhaka bourse posted a sharp fall in last week, dropping by 22.90 per cent to Tk 391.72 crore as the market was in the grip of a liquidity crisis due mainly to a lack of confidence among the investors. In the previous week the average daily turnover of the DSE was Tk 508.08 crore.

Market operators said the market was facing a liquidity crisis as the prolonged volatility in the market for the past one month made most of the investors backtrack.

They said investors were yet to recover from the trauma of January's stocks debacle.

'After the stock market crash in January, the investors became highly sensitive about the market trends as they are still in loss,' said a stockbroker.

'In last week retail investors were sceptical about any positive development in the market and the institutional investors continued to sit on the fence,' he said.

'The big market players and the institutional investors are waiting for the price level to dip further to buy shares at low rates, while the retailers are waiting to take their cue from the big fishes,' he explained. 

He said the increased need for cash ahead of the Eid was also a reason for the market facing the liquidity crunch.

The daily turnover of the bourse posted a record high of the year in July-August but it has been decreasing for the last four weeks amid a fresh volatility in the market. On July 24 the turnover rose to Tk 1,957.92 crore from that of Tk 954.84 crore on June 30 following the passage in parliament of the provision of allowing investment of undisclosed money in the equities market subject to payment of a 10 per cent tax.

Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in last week said the government was making some changes to the statutory regulatory order relating to money-whitening to stop investment of money laundered or obtained through terror routes in the capital market. 

In last week the investors staged street demonstrations on two days to protest the steep fall in share prices. They demanded immediate resignation of the finance minister for his failure to stabilise the capital market.   

Instead of five, the bourse had four trading sessions in the week as Monday was closed on the occasion of National Mourning Day.

On Sunday, the DGEN lost 0.65 per cent, or 40.56 points, and the turnover dropped to a one-and-a-half-month low of Tk 439.89 crore.

The DGEN on Tuesday lost 60.02 points, or 0.97 per cent, while the turnover dipped further to Tk 354.29 crore.

On Wednesday the fall in share prices extended with the general index, shedding 1.11 per cent, or 68.35 points, which prompted the general investors to took to the streets in protest. They also went for panic-selling on the day that boosted the turnover of the bourse to Tk 435.67 crore. 

Dhaka stocks posted a sharp rise on Thursday, with the DGEN gaining 74.09 points, or 1.22 per cent. But, the turnover on the day dropped to a two-and-a-half-month low of Tk 337.02 crore.

The weekly tally of DSE shows 34 gainers, 223 losers, and eight unchanged of the total 265 issues traded.

United Airways topped the list of turnover leaders of the week, with its shares worth Tk 66.19 crore changing hands. The rest of the turnover leaders on the Top-10 list included Beximco Limited, Square Pharma, Lafarge Surma Cement, MI Cement, Malek Spinning, GP, Keya Cosmetics, City Bank, and Fu-Wang Food.

Source : New Age

Apple is worth as much as all euro zone banks

US technology company Apple is now worth as much as the 32 biggest euro zone banks.

That's the stark result from a steep fall in the share price of banks including Spain's Santander, France's BNP Paribas, Germany's Deutsche Bank and Italy's Unicredit, compared to a steady rise in Apple's valuation, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Earlier on Friday the DJ STOXX euro zone banks index fell 4 per cent, valuing its 32 members at $340 billion. That's based on the market capitalisation of their free-float shares, which for some French banks in particular is less than 100 per cent.

The index has crashed by a third since the start of July, hammered by fears banks will lose billions from their holdings of euro zone government bonds and a failure of policymakers to stop a euro zone debt crisis from spreading.

The euro zone banks have lost three-quarters of their value since peaking in May 2007.

In contrast, Apple's market capitalisation has soared to $340 billion on the back of the success of innovative technology products like iPods, iPhones and iPads.

Source : New Age

More visitors, fewer buyers in Barisal Eid markets

Markets and malls in the Barisal city have started experiencing huge turnout of shoppers although the sale is yet to peak there, with only 10-11 days left for Eid-ul-Fitr.

The city's Chwakbazar, Hemayetuddin Road, Fazlul Huq Avenue, Bogura Road, Sadar Road, Bazaar Road, Port Road areas were found abuzz with expectant buyers as most of them were yet to decide their pick.

'Women and youths are still choosing their Eid dresses and other items and the sale, which was dull during the fortnight-long inclement weather, will catch up in the last five days of Ramadan when people would get salaries and Eid allowances,' said Bilkis Lily, owner of Achal Boutiques at Chwakbazar.

'Customers are coming to my store mostly to watch products, get idea about the prices and become familiar with the fashion trends. This year, the dresses attired by the artistes of Indian TV serials are on top of the choice chart,' said Moinuddin, an owner of a dress selling shop at Barisal Chwakbazar.

Masuda Begum, a college girl, after visiting different shops of the market, said new fashion items were yet to hit the

market.

Sheikh Abdur Rahim, former president of Barisal Chamber of Commerce and Industries and owner of dress seller Moyuri Departmental Store, said, 'We are expecting that the sale will be record high as the festival will be celebrated in a relatively peaceful circumstance.'

He expected a good sale in the last week of Ramadan when the middle and lower income groups would throng their shops after getting salaries and Eid allowances.

Mahmuda Begum, a shopper at Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hawkers Market, said she tried to finish her shopping within the second week of Ramadan every year to avoid the rush, but this year fortnight-long downpour did not let her do so.

Besides, the price of dress is now comparatively higher than that of the first half of Ramadan, she added while selecting dresses at the market.

Source : New Age

Communications, shipping ministers urged to resign

Participants in a human chain in the Barisal city Saturday called on the communication and shipping ministers to resign over their failure to discharge their responsibilities.

Speakers at the programme, demanding people's safety on the roads and waterways in the country, also called for trial of those responsible for the road and waterway accidents.

Barisal Sangskritik San-gathan Samanway Parishad, an alliance of 28 local cultural organisations, organised the human chain in front of the Ashwini Kumar Hall.

The speakers at the programme brought a number of demands to curb accidents, including end to rotation system on Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal launch routes, transparency in the road maintenance work, marking the accident-prone spots both in the waterways and on roads and punishment for those driving without valid driving licences and vehicles without fitness.

Demanding immediate withdrawal of the rotation system on the Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route, they blamed the launch owners for their outright violation of the government directions for plying launches on this route. 

They said while the government directed that a total of 13 launches would ply the route every day, the launch owners association, saying they did not receive adequate passengers for so many launches, plied only tow to four launches a day.

This not only caused terrible sufferings to the passengers but endangered their lives too as the launches often carried passengers far beyond their capacities.

They also called on the government to compel the launch owners to abide by the decision of the Barisal Sub-judge Court which had declared their act illegal early 2005.

The human chain, presided over by Samanway Parishad president Nazrul Islam Chunnu, was joined by journalists, advocates, social workers, cultural and political leaders, among others.

Barisal Press Club president Manabendra Batabyal, Barisal Reporter's Unity president Sushanta Ghosh, Group Theatre Federation divisional president Syed Dulal, college teachers association divisional secretary Mohsinul Islam Habul, school teachers association district president Dasgupta Ashish Kumar, Nagarik Samaj member-secretary Mizanur Rahman, Commu-nist Party of Bangladesh leader AK Azad, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Abdul Hye Mahbub and sector commanders forum representative Kazal Gohsh also attended the programme.

Source : New Age

Suranjit for quick trial of August 21 grenade attack

Awami League advisory council member Suranjit Sengupta has said the trial of August 21 grenade attack must be held to establish rule of law and ensure security of national leaders.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a discussion meeting organised by Banga-bandhu Projanma League at Mukti Bhaban auditorium in the city marking National Mourning Day Saturday.

The AL leader demanded completion of the trial of grenade attack case by 2012. The charge sheet has already been submitted and there is no bar to start the trial process, he said.

This trial would have to be done speedily to strengthen democracy in the country, he added.

Presided over by Bangabandhu Projanma League president Zakir Ahmed, the meeting was also addressed by AL advisory council member MA Mannan, MP,  Talukdar Mohammad Yunus, MP, Janata Bank director Shahjahan Kamal, and Dhaka City Mahila AL General secretary Shahida Tareque Dipti, MP, among others. Those involved in procurement of the weapons and explosives used in August 21 attack and those who helped the attackers to flee would have to be found out and brought to justice, he said.

'Those involved in the attack are enemies to humanity and democracy'. They must be tried to uphold the country's democracy and judiciary, he added.

MA Mannan criticised the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, for celebrating her birthday on August 15,  National Mourning Day.

Source : New Age

10 members of Coast Guard withdrawn

Ten Coast Guard members of Padma Out Station have been withdrawn in the wake of a clash between fishermen and Coast Guard members in Patharghata upazila on Friday.

Lieutenant Harunur Rashid, commander of Coast Guard Patharghata Station, said the Coast Guard members were attached to Patharghata station after their withdrawal on Friday night.

The decision was taken after DC Mujibur Rahman, SP Mahbub Hakim and Coast Guard southern zone commander Saidur Rahman visited the spot.

A departmental investigation will also be conducted into the incident.

Patharghata sadar union chairman Asaduzzaman Asad said Tk 10,000 on behalf of Coast Guard had been given for treatment of the injured fishermen.

Meanwhile, traders, fishermen and local people demanded investigation into the clash and punishment of the Coast Guard members.

At least 21 people were injured, three with bullet, in a clash between fishermen and Coast Guard members at Padma Sluice Gate in Patharghata upazila on Friday morning over the seizure of illegal net.

Source : New Age

Patient’s death sparks protest in Thakurgaon

A clinic was vandalised in the district town Friday night following the death of a patient due to alleged negligence of duty by the doctors.

Ranjana Begum, 45, who had been suffering from kidney problem, was admitted to Mum Hospital and Diagnostic Centre Friday morning.

After diagnosis Ranjana underwent a surgery at 5:00pm but her condition deteriorated after the operation that led to her death.

As the news spread her relatives and local people got furious. They cordoned off the clinic for about five hours from 9:00pm and ransacked various rooms.

On information the police rushed in and brought the situation under control.

Source : New Age

PM for job-oriented edn to cope with modern world

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has said her government is underscoring diversification of education for time-befitting, job-oriented and science-based education for all.

'We have been working relentlessly for diversification of education to ensure time-befitting job-oriented and science-based education for all to keep pace with the modern world,' she said while inaugurating the admission process of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj at her official Ganabhaban residence on Saturday.

Mentioning that no nation can prosper without education, the prime minister said the present government had been making all-out efforts to build a country free from poverty and illiteracy as dreamt by  Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

'Without education no nation can stand keeping its head high, while an educated country can present a developed nation,' she said.

Hasina said the aim of the government was to improve the quality of education and ensure higher education facilities for all. In this connection, she said the government had constituted a Tk 1000 crore trust fund to make easy access to higher education.

'Poor and meritorious students will be provided scholarships from this fund for higher education,' she said.

She called upon the well-off people of the society to come forward for the development and expansion of education and said tax waiving facilities would be given to those who contribute to the development of education.

She said there was no scope of frustration of the students for admission into the higher education as the government had taken necessary steps so that all students get facilities of enrolment to the higher educational institutions.

The prime minister said the previous Awami League government enacted a law for establishment of 12 public universities. Of them, she said, academic activities of four universities have already begun.

Hasina blamed the BNP-Jamaat alliance government and the subsequent caretaker government for their failure to develop the education sector and said her government wanted to ensure balanced development of the country in all the sectors including education.

She deplored the fact that the southern region of the country, particularly Gopalganj, remained deprived of higher education facilities for a long time and expressed hope that with the setting up of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, the country would move a step forward in ensuring a balanced education system.

Referring to the establishment of union information service centres across the country, she said the centres had empowered people by ensuring their easy access to all the necessary information.

Later, the prime minister inaugurated the admission process of the university through mobile phone SMS.

Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid, adviser to prime minister Syed Modasser Ali, chairman of University Grants Commission professor AK Azad Chowdhury and BSMRSTU vice-chancellor professor Khairul Alam Khan also spoke on the occasion.

Parliament member Nur-e-Alam Liton Chowdhury and press secretary to the prime minister Abul Kalam Azad were also present at the function, conducted by education secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury.

The vice-chancellor of the university said candidates could submit their applications to four faculties of BSMRSTU from Saturday till October 12 through SMS using Teletalk mobile phone.

Source : New Age

Lightning kills two at Gazipur

Two young men died struck by lightning at Maddhapara in Kalikoir upazila of the district Saturday afternoon.

The two victims, 25-year old Khorshed Alam and 22-year old Shahjahan were fishing in a local beel when the mishap occurred.

Son of Jalal Uddin, Khorshed hailed from the village Jaluaviti and Shajahan, son of Sahaj Uddin hailed from the village Purbachan-dpur in Kaliakoir upazila. 

Quoting neighbours, who recovered their bodies, the police said that they died on the spot.

Source : New Age

AL observes 7th anniv of Aug 21 grenade attack today

Today is August 21, the 7th anniversary of the deadly grenade attack on Awami League anti-terrorism rally on Bangabandhu Avenue that killed 24 Awami League leaders and workers including front-line leader Ivy Rahman, and injured over 500 others.

The shock and horror that the nation felt on that day will be remembered with tears and tributes and deepest sympathy for the families of the martyrs.

The Awami League in a statement said under direct patronisation of the BNP-Jamaat government enemies of humanity and terrorist killer squad launched the grenade attack and gun fire to kill the Awami League chief, Sheikh Hasina.

Although Hasina, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, survived by the grace of Almighty Allah, Awami League women affair secretary Ivy Rahman and 23 other party leaders and workers were killed.

'Such heinous act is unprecedented in the history of human civilisation,' the Awami League said.

It alleged that the then BNP-Jamaat government did not take any legal action against this dastardly massacre.

The ruling party further alleged that top leaders and workers of the BNP-Jamaat alliance were directly involved in this heinous act.

It said it was the demand of the time to give exemplary punishment to the killers and the perpetrators of the August 21 grenade attack.

The Awami League has drawn up two-day programmes to observe the day. The programmes include placing wreaths at the altar of the memorial in front of the party's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue and PM's iftar with the members of the slain and wounded families at Ganabhaban today.

On Monday the party will hold discussion at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the afternoon. The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, will address the discussion as chief guest.

The AL general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, requested all units of the party, associate organisations and like-minded parties to observe the day with due sombreness.

Source : New Age

Medical college student, another killed in road accident

Two people, medical college student, were killed and 10 others injured in collision between a bus and a truck  at Majlishpur on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Nabiganj upazila Saturday morning.

One victim was Ashraful Islam Shakil, 23 of Shasan Gachha of Comilla. He was a student of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College. Identity of another victim could not be known immediately.

The police said the accident occurred at about 10:00am when a Dhaka-bound passenger bus crashed with a goods truck, leaving the two dead on the spot and 10 others injured.

The injured were admitted to Sylhet Medical College Hospital.

Source : New Age

Worker falls from ship, dies

A worker has died after falling from the ship at a ship-breaking yard on which he was working.

Mohammad Selim, 28, and co-worker Nur Mohammad fell of off the ship around 12 noon Saturday at the Peninsula Ship-breaking Yard in Shitalpur.

Both were taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital  where Selim died around 2:00pm, CMCH police camp's sub-inspector Jahirul Islam said.

The yard is owned by former Bangladesh Ship Breakers' Association president Mohammad Jafar Alam.

Source : New Age

Floodwater inundates low-lying areas in Rajshahi C’nawabganj

With the continuous onrushing of floodwater from the upstream, more new low-lying areas in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj along with other downstream points of the River Padma are being inundated.

According to the control room sources of Bangladesh Water Development Board in Rajshahi Saturday, water of the River Padma in Rajshahi rose by 12 centimetres during the past

24 hours till 6:00am, flowing 41 centimetres below the danger mark of 18.5 metre.

The BWDB sources said quantum of onrushing waters from the upper catchments the major river marked an increase by 1.05 metre during the past one week.

Locals said standing crops like vegetable, Aush paddy, and transplanted Aman on a vast tract of lands were  submerged besides devouring a large number of dwelling houses and precious fruit-bearing trees by the frequent erosion.

Furthermore, the farming of vegetables like tomato and aubergine are being delayed due to the flood, said Md Lalon Hossain of Char Mazar Diar under Paba upazila.

The low-lying remote char areas in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj sadar, Godagari, Paba, Charghat and Bagha of Rajshahi and Ishwardi upazila of Pabna are facing a flood-like situation.

The BWDB, district and upazila administrations are monitoring the situation and taking necessary precautionary measures to face the situation in the wake of deterioration anywhere.

On the other hand, water of the rivers— Atrai and Fakirni— under Manda upazila of Naogaon district is now flowing above the danger mark making at least 15 points of the rivers vulnerable.

With continuous rising of water flow in the two rivers, hundreds of people have become marooned.

Around 50 villages of Manda and Atrai uapzilas of Naogaon have been flooded following collapse of a flood control dam at the east of Fakirani river at Jesopara in Manda upazila Saturday, reports UNB.

Rise of water level in the river due to onrush of hill water damaged the dam early in the morning, rendering hundreds of people marooned.

Around 50 thatched houses were damaged and vast tracts of cropland went under water.

The worst affected villages are Chakrampur, Karnabhog, Durgapur, Daspara, Fatehpur, Saharbari of Manda upazila and Kalupara, Bandaikhara, Paharpur, Dargapara, Shimla, Kachua and Goalbari villages of Atrai upazila.

Water Development Board executive engineer Md Muktar Hossain said the embankment collapsed due to rise of water level in the river.

Source : New Age

End near for Gaddafi: rebels chief

Libyan rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Saturday 'the end is very near' for Muammar Gaddafi and that it will be 'catastrophic,' as insurgents pushing on the capital claimed to have seized a third key town in 24 hours.

'We have contacts with people from the inner circle of Gaddafi,' said the chairman of the rebel National Transitional Council. 'All evidence (shows) that the end is very near, with God's grace.'

Abdel Jalil was speaking to reporters as a flurry of rumours suggested that Gaddafi was preparing to flee Libya.

'I expect a catastrophic end for him and his inner circle, and I expect that he will a create a situation within Tripoli. I hope my expectation is wrong,' Abdel Jalil said.

'That would be a good thing that will end the bloodshed and help us avoid material costs. But I do not expect that he will do that,' Abdel Jalil added.

Earlier, rebels claimed to have captured the strategic eastern oil hub of Brega, a day after saying they had seized two other key towns.

In another blow to Gaddafi, the rebels also said former premier Abdessalam Jalloud, who fell out of favour with the Libyan strongman in the mid-1990s but remains a highly popular figure, had defected and joined their ranks.

Jalloud 'has gone to Benghazi yesterday night (Friday),' rebel spokesman Juma Ibrahim told reporters Saturday. 'I don't know who he met there. He left by car,' he added.

Overnight, rebel military commander Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said the ex-premier had managed to flee Tripoli and 'has joined the rebels.' Another source said his family accompanied him and they stopped first in Zintan.

His defection comes amid rumours that the Libyan strongman himself was preparing to flee as rebels appear to be closing in on the capital.

Jalloud was among the officers who grabbed power with Gaddafi in 1969 and was long considered the regime's second-in-command before being gradually sidelined in the 1990s.

Prime minister during the 1970s, he retired from politics following his dispute with Gaddafi and lived under hour arrest.

Libya's Awalam television channel quoted the former premier on its news ticker as saying: 'Gaddafi's regime is finished.'

On the ground, a top-ranking rebel official said of Brega, 'the industrial zone is under our control; all Brega is now under our control.'

On Friday they claimed the western refinery town of Zawiyah to be free, the last major barrier as they try to advance on Tripoli from the west.

The refinery is the only source of fuel to the capital, and could leave it without critical supplies.

Insurgents also said they seized Zliten from Gaddafi's forces, hours after saying they were in the town's centre, 150 kilometres east of Tripoli.

Rebels have been seeking to sever Tripoli's supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte in the east, hoping to cut off the capital, prompt defections and spark an uprising inside Tripoli.

Meanwhile, a Tunisian defence official said Tunisian troops clashed with a group of armed Libyans overnight in the country's southwest.

An army patrol came under fire from men travelling in several 4X4 vehicles with Libyan registration plates in the Douz region, the official said.

No one was caught and the attackers were still being hunted Saturday by ground and air forces, the official said, adding there were no casualties on the Tunisian side.

With the rebels vowing to take Tripoli before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan ends in late August, the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, urged the population of the capital to rise up against Gaddafi.

'We hope the people of Tripoli... understand the regime has harmed its own people and will therefore join a process of political change to cut off room for manoeuvre for Gaddafi's regime,' Frattini said.

The International Organisation for Migration said it was drawing up plans to evacuate thousands of migrants stranded in Tripoli because exit points have been cut off after a spate of rebel successes.

Source : New Age

Judicial body member visits spot with lone survivor

The one-man judicial committee, formed on August 10 to probe the killing of six students at Amin Bazaar in Savar, visited the places of occurrence on Saturday along with the lone survivor of the brutal lynching that took place in the early hours of July 18.

The judicial committee of Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Utpal Chowdhury, amidst tight security, took the survivor, Al Amin, to Amin Bazaar in the morning.

Al Amin, whose arm was bandaged and who wore a helmet and bullet-proof vest for security, identified the two places where the six students were killed by a group of youths.

The six victims were Sitaf Jabid Munif of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Shams Rahim Shamam of Maple Leaf International School, Tipu Sultan of Tejgaon College, Towhidur Rahman Palash, Kamruzzaman Kanto and Ibrahim Khalil of Mirpur Bangla College.

Al Amin had earlier told New Age that he, along with the six others, went to Amin Bazaar on an outing after offering their special prayers on early July 18.

'We reached the BIWTA launch terminal near the Amin Bazaar bridge. As rain began to fall, we split into two groups, one of which took shelter in a makeshift hut in the area,' he said.

According to Al Amin, some 15 to 20 youths suddenly appeared and started beating up the group in the hut, killing them all mercilessly.

'Then the youths, most of whom were 20 to 30 years in age, approached us, snatched our money and mobile phones, and assailed me. When Palash, one of the victims, protested, they beat him to death, and Kanta was killed by them at the same time,' he told New Age.

On August 10 Utpal Chowdhury was asked to probe the incident and submit a report within 30 days in compliance with an order that the High Court had issued on August 3.

He told New Age that he started work on August 11 and recorded the statements of various people.

'I will submit the probe report before the deadline,' he said.

Source : New Age

RU teachers, students demand withdrawal of all cases

Rajshahi University teachers and students on Saturday demanded that the government and the authorities concerned should withdraw the cases filed against the university students in connection with the August 2007 campus protests.

Campus protests began on August 20 with Dhaka University students taking to the streets demanding removal of army camp from the university gymnasium after a few army men had beaten up three students in the ground.

The protests spilled over to other places, especially the universities, on August 22 and the ordered ordered curfew in metropolitan cities and closed the universities and colleges on the day. Two hundred people, most students, were injured in clashes between the students and the army men and the police in Dhaka in August 20-22.

The teachers and students on Saturday put forth the demands at a human chain organised by Kendriya Sangskritik Jote, a combine of 15 university-based cultural groups, about11:00am on the campus.

Several cases were filled against RU teachers and students on charges of getting involved in violent protests and burning a vehicle of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and attack on policemen, the speakers said.

They said that cases were still pending against 13 students of the university and other cases filed against the teachers and some other studetns were withdrawan, they added, urging the government to withdraw the cases immediately.

They said that as the students were still accused in the cases, they found it difficult to get government jobs and were denied some other opportunities.

The talked about how the military and the police carried out repression against the teachers and students and demanded that the people responsible for the repression against the teachers and students on the campus and in jail should be punished.

The Teachers and Students' Cultural Centre director, Sujit Sarker, the university unit Chhatra Union president Rafi Ahmed Chanchal, Kendriya Sangskritik Jote president Apurbo Krishna Chhakravarty and Anushilan Natyadal vice-president Jewel Rana spoke.

Sujit Sarker said that lawmen had tortured teachers and students on August 22 in the university when teachers and students were holding a peaceful procession in protest at three students being beaten on the Dhaka University campus.

Referring to the cases of Limon, who was shot at by the Rapid Action Battalion, and Abdul Kader, who was beaten up by the police, Sujit said that the law enforcers kept committing such crimes.

Amanullah Sarker Roni, one of the accused in the cases, demanded withdrawal of all false cases against the students so that they could lead normal life.

Source : New Age

Know correct history of independence, says Hasina

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has called upon the new generation to know the correct history of the independence struggle and the war of liberation of Bangladesh.

'The new generation should know the true history of the war of liberation through which the country achieved independence in 1971,' she said while addressing the inaugural function of extension building of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city on Saturday.

Co-chairperson of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust and younger daughter

of Mujib Sheikh Rehana formally inaugurated the extension building.

Hasina, also the chairperson of the trust, said Bangabandhu Bhaban was the birthplace of all movements and it remained as a testimony to the history.

'My mother constructed rooms of the building one by one and it was later turned into the birthplace of all movements,' she said.

The prime minister said she and her daughter were not allowed to return home for six years after the August 15 carnage.  'When we came back home after six years of the massacre, we are not allowed to enter our house. As a result, we were compelled to attend milad on the road,' she said in an emotion-choked voice.

She said the property of her grandfather and grandmother would be donated to the trust.

Recalling the simple lifestyle of Mujib, Hasina said people would be able to learn about the country's true history by visiting the museum as it bears the memories of the tireless and historic activities of the great leader.

She called upon all to work unitedly to materialise 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Mujib.

The prime minister also launched the 'Web Archive' of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on the internet. Later, she went round different sections of the newly-constructed extension building of the museum.

Terming Mujib as the leader of the common people,  Rehana said,' The new generation is learning wrong history of the country and I hope they would know the correct history by visiting the museum.'

With Memorial Trust president professor AF Salauddin Ahmed in the chair, the function was also addressed, among others, by trust member Abdul Hafiz Mallik, curator of the museum Syed Siddikur Rahman, assistant curator Kazi Afrin Jahan and Iqbal Habib of 'Vitti Sthapati'.

Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid and adviser to prime minister Syed Modasser Ali, lawmaker Sheikh Helaluddin and PM's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad were present at the function, among others.

The newly constructed extension building of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum will present the visitors with a glimpse of the life and works of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman based on 31 themes.

Besides, the tragic events of August 15 will be presented through the use of light and sound to make people learn about the true history of the country.

Source : New Age

Garrulous ministers embarrass govt

The ruling Awami League is embarrassed by remarks some ministers often make in public over different national issues causing uproar and undermining the image of the government.

The AL high command and the government feel that the persons holding responsible positions should be cautious while speaking in public. It has already instructed two of the ministers concerned to refrain from making irresponsible remarks that cause embarrassment to the government, sources in the government and AL said.

Admitting that some ministries have shortcomings, they hoped that those would be addressed soon.

Finance minister AMA Muhith, communications minister Syed Abul Hossain, shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, commerce minister Faruk Khan and home minister Sahara Khatun made some statements in recent weeks that caused uproar and drew criticism from various quarters.

'Persons holding important and responsible positions should speak less in public,' senior cabinet member Matia Chowdhury told New Age on Saturday.

Matia, also a presidium member of the AL, said that the government could not avoid responsibility of its failures in some sectors and it was aware of that and trying to address the problems.

'Ministers should avoid remarks that hurt the people. Their statements should be accepted by at least 70 percent of the people,' AL presidium member Kazi Zafar Ullah told New Age on Saturday.

He said that the party had already summoned the commerce and communications ministers and asked them to be cautious that their remarks did not cause resentment among the people.

About the commerce minister's 'eat less' advice to the people, Zafar Ullah, however, said that what the minister had said should not be taken literally. 'He [Faruk Khan] did not ask people to eat less; he actually urged the people to avoid taking more adulterated food,' Zafar Ullah explained and accused the media of misquoting the minister.

AL presidium member Obaidul Quader said that the ministers often make such statements to hide their failures in different sectors under their respective jurisdictions. 'But such utterances cause a negative impression of the government and the party among the people,' he said.

'I hope they will stop making such irresponsible remarks after parliament gave them a bashing on Thursday,' he told New Age, adding that no one in the government or in the party liked such remarks that embarrassed them.

The remarks of the ministers drew fire from parliament on Thursday when the lawmakers censured the finance and communications ministers for the appalling condition of roads and the ministers accused each other for the situation.

'It is unfortunate that the ministers advised the people to eat less and refrain from shopping one day a week,' AL lawmaker Tofail Ahmed said in parliament.

The communications minister recently said that the roads could not be repaired for want of money with the finance minister contradicting the claim saying he had already disbursed the fund.

'How BRTC [Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation] buses are plying the roads, if the roads are not usable,' he said.

The finance minister on another occasion advised people not to shop one day a week because of the price hike of essential commodities.

He also came under fire from lawmakers in parliament in early February when he termed the investors in capital market fatkabaz or speculators.

The 'eat less' advice of the commerce minister stunned the people and drew widespread criticism from the media.

Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan did not fall far behind when he said on Thursday that a driver did not need education to have a driving licence.

'If a driver can sign his name, can understand traffic signs and signals, can differentiate between a cow and a goat and has good driving skills, what is the problem in giving him a licence,'he said at a press conference while trying to clarify his position on recommending 24,000 people for driving licence without tests.

The home minister, Sahara Khatun quite often claims that the law and order is far better than any other time in the past.

Source : New Age