Change in temperature unlikely

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at many places over the Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over the Rajshahi division till 6:00pm today.

Moderately heavy to heavy falls are also likely at places, the Meteorology Office said in a forecast on Wednesday.

Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in Dhaka today at 6:48pm and rises tomorrow at 5:11am.

The country's highest temperature, 34.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Wednesday in Feni and the lowest, 25.0 degrees Celsius, in Rangpur.

source:New Age

NU bachelor’s 1st year results published

National University published its results for bachelor's (honours) first year examinations on Wednesday, said a NU release.

A total of 1, 88,622 students took the examinations that were held from February to April this year.

Apart form the colleges; the results are also available on NU website www.nu.edu.bd, the release added.

source:New Age

Case filed against UNO, OC at Nageswari

A case was filed against 11 police officials including Nageswari thana officer-in-charge and the upazila nirbahi officer following a post-election clash erupted among the police and locals.

The Nageswari upazila chairman, Aslam Hossain Saodagar, filed a case with Judicial Magistrate Court on Tuesday accusing 11 police officials.

The accused are Nageswari upazila nirbahi officer, Md Rafiqul Haque, officer-in-charge  Monjur Rahman, sub-inspectors Azizur Rahman, Rabiul Islam, Sana ullah, Musa, Alamgir Hossain, Afjal Hossain, Bidyut Kumer, assistant sub-inspector Shafiqul Islam and constable Moksed Ali.

Locals said that at least 40 persons including the Nageswari upazila chairman and mayor of the district were injured in the clash with police on Sunday.

The supporters of defeated candidate of chairman of Ramkhana union parishad, Mahfuzur Rahman, staged demonstration at Nageswari upazila parishad area on Sunday demanding cancellation of union parishad election and arrange for re-election. At first, the police had fired about 30 rounds of blank shot to bring the situation under control. Later, they had beaten up the agitated people.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

The upazila chairman had also been beaten up when some demonstrators entered into his office to take shelter.

source:New Age

Moulvibazar Government College beset with manifold problems

Manifold problems including shortage of teachers and classrooms are causing serious hindrance for long time to impart education in Moulvibazar Government College.

According to the college source, at present only 44 teachers out of 68 provisioned for the college are imparting education to about 7,500 students in the campus.

Abdul Khalique, assistant professor of Bangla department of the college, told New Age that there were seven provisioned posts of teacher in his department.

'But only two teachers are now imparting education to the students of the department and other five posts of teachers are lying vacant since long causing irregular classes.

The students have become frustrated for

various problems of the college.

Joydip Roy, Amina Airin, Priyanka Paul Chowdhury, Maisha Chowdhury, Sayeed Ahmed, Shayem, students of the college, said that the shortage of teachers, academic building and class room were hampering them to take lessons regularly in the college.

The students alleged that they were also sufferings to prepare their lessons as the library in the college did not have sufficient number of books to meet the demand of around 7500 students.

Besides, insufficient accommodation arrangement in dormitories of the college had compelled a large number of students to reside in messes and rented houses in and around the town, they said.

The college has only a dormitory for female students with 100 seats and two dormitories for male students with 82 seats.

According to the source, students are studying at the intermediate, degree, honours and masters level in the college.

Under honours education programme, there are 14 courses including Bangla, English, Economics, Philosophy, Political science, History, Accounting, Management, Mathematics, and Islamic Studies etc. and there are five courses under master education programme in the college.

Md Badruzzaman Chowdhury, principal in-charge of the college, told New Age that they were concerned about the problems of the students and trying their best to solve those to ease the sufferings of the students'.      

The college authority had earlier written several times to the higher

authority requesting for filling-in the vacant posts of teachers of the college, he said.

source:New Age

BFUJ team calls on information minister

A 13-member delegation of a faction of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, led by its president Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, on Wednesday called on the information minister, Abul Kalam Azad, at his ministry in Dhaka.

The BFUJ leaders demanded punishment to those responsible for the killing of journalists during the tenure of BNP-Jamaat-led four party alliance government, declaration of eighth wage board award and amendment to the 1974 act regarding journalists.

source:New Age

Quader Molla quizzed at ‘safe home’

Investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal have grilled Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla at 'safe home' on war crimes charges.

The interrogation, which started at 10:00am, with a doctor from Dhaka Central Jail and a lawyer of Molla, Farid Uddin Khan, in an adjoining room, continued until 5:00pm on Wednesday.

ICT investigation panel acting coordinator M Sanaul Haque told bdnews24.com that jail authorities took Molla to the 'safe home' around 9:00am and the quizzing started at 10:00am after his medical check-up.

Molla was sent back to the jail after the interrogation, Haque said.

A house at the city's Dhanmondi that the ICT investigation panel is using to quiz suspected war criminals is called 'safe home'.

The ICT on June 1 permitted the investigation panel to quiz Jamaat leaders M Kamaruzzaman and Molla one day each.

The panel on Sunday issued letters to the lawyers for Kamaruzzaman and Molla, informing them about the interrogation dates.

In the appeal to quiz Molla, prosecutor Syed Rezaur Rahman said there had been progress in the investigation into allegations against Jamaat leaders Matiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Quader Molla and Kamaruzzman.

He said Nizami and Mojaheed were grilled earlier and it was necessary to quiz Molla and Kamaruz-zaman to crosscheck the information obtained from Nizami and Mojaheed.

'More evidence is to come against them. Specific charges have been found against them that they have committed atrocities and led crimes against humanity during the Liberation War,' he said.

On July 13 last year, police arrested Molla and Kamaruzzaman in a case filed with the Pallabi Police Station, accusing them of being involved in mass killings during the Liberation War.]

source:New Age

Women Entrepreneurs Fair on July 28

A three-day Women Entrepreneurs Fair 2011 organised by the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry begins at Dhanmondi Sultana Kamal Women Sports Complex on July 28 in the capital.   

The BWCCI leaders announced the holding of the fair at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Tuesday.

source:New Age

Left parties in Rajshahi on demo over power

Activists of three left-leaning parties in Rajshahi city on Wednesday demonstrated and laid a siege on the office of Power Development Board and submitted a memorandum demanding uninterrupted electricity supply.

Witnesses said at around 11am several hundred people under the banner of Bangladesh Gana Sanghati Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Somajtantrik Dal demonstrated in front the local PDB office at Hetem Khan in the city.

Later they observed an hour-long sit-in programme and laid a siege on the PDB office demanding uninterrupted power supply in the city area.

A large numbers of local people expressed their solidarity with the demands of the three political parties and joined the demonstration that caused a huge traffic jam in front of the PDB office.

CPB Rajshahi city unit president Abul Kalam Azad, district unit general secretary Enamul Haque, Gana Sanghati Andolan Rajshahi district coordinator Murad Morshed and Bangladesh Somajtantrick Dal Rajshahi district secretariat member Dabashish Ray addressed the rally among others.

Speakers at the rally said that due to frequent outages and load-shedding, industrial units were suffering production loss.

Tthey pointed out that traders and shopkeepers could use generators because of high prices of diesel and petrol.

source:New Age

OMS of rice, flour begin at secretariat

The government on Wednesday launched Open Market Sales of rice and flour at the secretariat to shield its low-income employees from the pressure of rising food prices.

The OMS began at the administrative hub two weeks after the OMS programme across the country, except in Dhaka and its adjacent areas, was closed at the end of May.

The government move came after repeated appeals from the Class IV and Class III employees for providing them with rice and flour at subsidised rates.

'The OMS of rice across the country had cushioned the low-income people from soaring prices of the staple. We launched the OMS operation in December when the rice prices rose abnormally,' food and disaster management minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said while inaugurating the OMS outlet at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

He said the poor had been able to buy rice at Tk 24 a kilogram in both urban and rural areas from the OMS outlets when the price of coarse rice reached Tk 38-40 a kilo.

The coarse rice is now selling at Tk 32-33 per kg, despite this year's bumper boro production, said officials.

'We have distributed around 77 lakh fair price cards among the poor and low-income government employees to make the staple available for them at a cheap rate as well as to rein in the price hike,' the minister said.

The Bangladesh Secretariat Employees' Multipurpose Welfare Association has been tasked with running the OMS outlet, which will remain open from 9:00am to 5:00pm five days a week. One person will be allowed to buy a maximum of five kilograms of rice at Tk 24 per kg and three kilograms of flour at Tk 20 per kilo. 

The government revived the OMS of rice in the capital on December 26, 2010 in the face of rice price spiral and later expanded the programme to all other districts down to the union level. The OMS coverage, however, became limited to some specific areas in Dhaka and its adjacent areas in May as the rice price began to ease.

source:New Age

General Masud withdrawn from MoFA

The government has withdrawn lieutenant general Masududdin Chowdhury from the foreign ministry.

A public administration ministry statement on Wednesday said General Masud, a former coordinator of military-controlled caretaker government's anti-corruption drive, was withdrawn to the Armed Forces Division.

In the same order, Anti-Corruption Commission director general Colonel Hanif Iqbal was also withdrawn.

Gen Masud was attached to the foreign ministry from the National Defence College on June 8, 2008.

Six days earlier on June 2, he was sent to the NDC from the Armed Forces Division where he had been its principal staff officer.

General Masud was in-charge of the 9th Infantry Division in Savar when a state of emergency was declared across the country on Jan 11, 2007.

He was appointed high commissioner to Australia on Sept 3, 2008.

source:New Age

Two former presidents oppose use of EVM at present

Two former presidents of the country — HM Ershad and AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury — on Wednesday opposed the Election Commission's move to initiate the countrywide use of Electronic Voting Machines in the next general elections scheduled for 2014.

They suggested that the EVMs be used in the local government elections so that both the officials who conduct elections and the electors can get used to them before their use in the national elections.

HM Ershad, chairman of the Jatiya Party, and Badruddoza Chowdhury, president of Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, led their party delegations in the dialogues with the Election Commission.

'The use of EVMs is good, but how far this machine is secure and proof to technical manipulation is still unknown. No general elections can be held on the basis of trust alone,' said Badruddoza Chowdhury in the dialogue.

The Jatiya Party suggested that the introduction of EVMs should be considered only after they have been used in the local government polls.

Both the parties expressed opposite opinions about the election-time caretaker government system.

'After the High Court's verdict on the caretaker government, there is no further scope to hold elections under that system,' said Ershad

Bikalpadhara Bangladesh recommended the holding of general elections under the caretaker government system, saying that the political governments of Bangladesh do not have the ability to conduct free and fair elections. 'The Election Commission cannot discharge its duty independently since its hands are tied,' said Badruddoza.

Bikalpadhara Bangladesh proposed enhancement of the number of constituencies under the Dhaka City Corpo-ration from 15 to 18 before the next national elections.

Chief Election Commi-ssioner ATM Shamsul Huda, Election Commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hossain and M Sakhawat Hossain represented the Election Commission in the dialogues.

source:New Age

Pakistan arrests CIA’s bin Laden informants

Pakistan's top military spy agency has arrested five CIA informants who fed information to the US spy agency before the raid last month which killed Osama bin Laden, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani Army major whom officials said copied license plates of cars visiting the al-Qaeda leader's compound 30 miles northwest of Islamabad.

The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the newspaper reported, citing American officials.

Outgoing CIA director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants' detention during a trip to Islamabad last week where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers, the newspaper said.

Some in Washington see the arrest as another sign of the deep disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the Times reported.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the May 2 raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan's armed forces and putting US military and intelligence ties under serious strain.

Asked about the Times report, a CIA spokeswoman neither confirmed nor denied it and said she had no further comment.

source:New Age

Deal with ConocoPhillips amid protest today

Amid protests from different civic forums and political organisations, the state-run oil and gas resources authority Petrobangla will today sign a deal with US oil giant ConocoPhillips for oil and gas exploration and extraction from deep sea hydrocarbon blocks 10 and 11 in the Bay of Bengal.

The national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports called on the people to hoist black flags on their houses on the day across the country as mark of protest.

Experts and activists have been protesting at the government's move for oil and gas exploration and extraction under model production sharing contract-2008 that was initiated by the immediate past interim government.

They warned that there were provisions in the model PSC- 2008 and certain geo-political circumstances that would not protect the national interest and encourage 100 per cent gas export in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas from two hydrocarbon blocks in the Bay of Bengal.

Officials of Petrobangla and energy ministry, however, claimed that there were also provisions in the model PSC according to which the contractor would be allowed for export the natural gas only if Petrobangla would permit.

About the condition in the PSC, experts and activists said that the energy ministry and Petrobangla had violated such conditions in the past and gave many facilities to the IOCs ignoring national interest.

Petrobangla had allowed Cairn Energy to sell

its part on the total recoverable gas from hydrocarbon block 16 directly to the private sector at a negotiated price.

The oil-gas protection body on Tuesday held a demonstration demanding to scrap the proposed deal with ConocoPhillips.

They also threatened to announce tough agitation programmes, including general strikes and a march towards Dhaka in October if the government does not drop its plan to lease out the offshore gas blocks.

source:New Age

Libyan rebels take new ground in Western Mountains

Libyan rebels pushed deeper into government-held territory south of the capital on Wednesday, but their advance came as strains began to emerge in the Western alliance trying to topple Muammar Gaddafi.

Fighters in the Western Mountains, a rebel stronghold about 150 km south-west of Tripoli, built on gains made in the past few days by taking two villages from which pro-Gaddafi forces had for months been shelling rebel-held towns.

But the rebels are still a long way from Gaddafi's main stronghold in Tripoli, while their fellow fighters on the other two fronts — in Misrata and in eastern Libya — have made only halting progress against better-armed government troops.

'The revolutionaries now control Zawiyat al-Babour and al-Awiniyah after pro-Gaddafi forces retreated this morning from the two villages,' said Abdulrahman, a rebel spokesman in the nearby town of Zintan.

'The government brigades had been positioned in those two villages for three months. They posed a real threat from there,' he said by telephone from Zintan.

The NATO military alliance, which has been pounding Gaddafi's military and command-and-control structures for nearly three months, has failed to dislodge him.

In a theatrical show of defiance, Libyan state television showed Gaddafi at the weekend playing a game of chess with a visiting Russian official.

Ties are becoming strained in the alliance, with some reluctant to commit additional resources needed to sustain the bombing mission in the coming months.

source:New Age

Election without CG system will be resisted, says BNP

Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Wednesday said the opposition would resist holding of any election in the country if it is held under a political government. 

He was addressing a rally organised by Dhaka city unit of BNP in front of the party's Naya Paltan central office in protest against 'police torture' and mobile court trial of opposition activists during the last 36-hour nonstop nationwide hartal.

BNP and its allies enforced the hartal in protest against the government's move to scrap the caretaker government system.

Accusing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of 'misinterpreting' the court verdict on the 13th amendment, Khandaker Mosharraf alleged that she was trying to hold the next general election under a political government to perpetrate in power as she lost her confidence in people.

'The court verdict has clearly stated that the next general elections could be held under the caretaker government provision,' he said.

'BNP along with the countrymen will resist the government's evil design to hold the election under a political government, not to speak of joining the election if the polls are not held under a caretaker government,' Mosharaf said. 

He said the government would be forced to step down through a tough mass movement to retain the system of caretaker government for holding elections.

Mosharraf, also a former minister, came down heavily on the government for what he said launching an 'unprecedented repression and torture' on the opposition activists during the last hartal hours.

He demanded withdrawal of all 'false cases' filed against the BNP leaders and activists in connection with hartal and immediate release of all who those who were arrested.  

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government was losing ground day by day.

'That's why,' he said, 'the Awami League was conspiring to abolish the caretaker government system to pave the way for holding the next general election under its own regime to regain the power somehow.'

He called upon his party activists to get prepared to take part in another 71-like war to protect the country's independence and sovereignty. 

The BNP acting secretary general strongly condemned and protested at the police action on a march programme of the national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports.

The police in front of the National Press Club on Tuesday stopped a march of the committee headed for the energy ministry when about 10 activists, including anthropologist Rehnuma Ahmed, were injured in police action.

Mirza Fakhrul said Sheikh Hasina has stained her hands with blood by launching attacks on the country's leading personalities. 

Presided over by BNP vice-chairman and Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khokha, the protest rally was also addressed, among others, by BNP standing committee member MK Anwar and Nazrul Islam Khan, chairperson's advisers Abdul Mannan and Shamsuzzaman Dudu and joint secretary Amanullah Aman.

source:New Age

Two more killed in UP polls violence

Polls-related violence caused the death of two more persons on Wednesday night, one of whom was a housewife, raising the number of people killed during the ongoing second phase of the Union Parishad elections to twelve.

Ten persons were killed earlier in violence caused by UP polls which began on May 31 amidst stray clashes, intimidation and snatching of ballot boxes.

Polling in 132 unions was held on Wednesday and elections in 109 more UPs are scheduled to be held today.

The New Age correspondent in Sirajganj reported that a man was killed and 25 others injured in a clash between supporters of two chairman candidates at the polling station in Karshalika Government Primary School in Rupkathi union under Shahzadpur upazila in Sirajganj on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Shah Alam, 38.

The police fired around 28 rounds of bullets to bring the situation under control. Voting at the centre was suspended for about half an hour from 1:00pm.

Our correspondent in Gopalganj reported that a woman was killed and at least 55 others injured in polls-related violence that took place from Tuesday night to Wednesday evening at Gohala, Ujani, Gobindapur, Pashergati and Batikamari unions of Muksedpur upazila in Gopalganj district.

Locals said that supporters of two councillor candidates — Badsha Dorji and Salam Dorji — of Gohala union clashed on Wednesday noon. At one stage the supporters of Salam Dorji, the defeated candidate, attacked the residence of Tota Mia for not voting for their candidate and beat Khodeza Begum, his wife, to death. Police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Our correspondent from Lalmonirhat reported that at least 50 persons, including a chairman candidate, were injured in post-polls violence in different areas of Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat on Tuesday night. The injured were admitted to the Aditmari Upazila Health Complex, Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital and Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

Police and local sources said that 25 persons were injured in a clash between two groups of member candidates at Bosintari village of Durgapur union under Aditmari upazila at around 10pm on Tuesday night. Fifteen persons were injured in a clash between two groups of the Awami League and BNP over the counting of votes at Choritabari polling centre in Kamlabari union under Aditmari upazila at around 8.30pm on Tuesday night. Five persons were injured in a clash between two groups of chairman candidates at Chondimari polling centre in Mohishkhocha union under Aditmari upazila. Five more persons, including a chairman candidate, were injured in a clash at Majhar polling centre in Saptibari union under Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat.

Several thousand people at Barokhat union under Hatibandha upazila in Lalmonirhat blocked the Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway for one hour at Milonbazar in Hatibandha upazila, demanding re-polling, at noon on Wednesday. Later they formed a human chain on both sides of the highway for a period of two hours.

The participants of the human chain claimed that the Awami League candidate, a cousin of state minister for primary education Motahar Hossain, won the election for chairmanship of Barokhata union by rigging the election with the collaboration of government officials at Koladabri polling centre of Ward number 7. The election was held on June 9. AL activists also assaulted Abdul Hai, who was nominated by the BNP.

source:New Age

Hasan held, blames Rumana for infidelity

A team of Detective Branch of police on Wednesday arrested Hasan Syeed, 38, who reportedly had tortured his wife Rumana Monzur, a Dhaka University teacher, leaving her grievously injured, at Uttar Mugda in the capital.


The detectives nabbed Hasan nearly four hours after the High Court on Wednesday had issued summonses on assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Dhanmondi circle, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi police station, and the investigation officer of the case to appear before it on Thursday to explain their failure to arrest Hasan Syeed.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore passed the suo moto order at 10:30am as deputy attorney general ABM Altaf Hossain drew the court's attention to newspapers reports on Rumana Monzur, an assistant professor of international relations at the DU, being admitted to an Indian hospital, Sankara Nethralaya, after being brutally tortured that left her left eye and left side of her nose critically injured.
Rumana was tortured allegedly by her husband Hasan on June 5 at her parents' Dhanmondi residence.
'On that day I removed an Iranian friend's name from her Facebook account without her consent. It made her furious and we locked horns over issue...,' claimed Hasan Syeed when the detectives produced him before the media at the DB office on Minto Road in the afternoon.
Hasan claimed Rumana betrayed his love. He said they got married 11 years ago after going steady for seven years.
When asked about torturing his wife, Hasan denied the allegation and claimed it was a 'scuffle' in which he, too, was injured.
He said, 'I am victim of the situation.'
Hasan said Rumana had been a very good lover and wife, a good mother to their daughter, and there had been no problem between them. But, after she had gone to Vancouver [in Canada] for higher studies, she changed all of a sudden.
'In Canada, she recently became involved in an affair with an Iranian man. I found some text messages on her cell-phone, which made me angry with her,' claimed Hasan.
DB officials said Hasan had fled to Chittagong in June but returned to Dhaka at about 4:30am on Wednesday.
The DB team led by assistant commission Abdul Ahad arrested him in his relative's house at Uttar Mugda at about 2:15pm, DMP DB deputy commissioner (south) Monirul Islam told reporters.
Monirul said the brutal incident took place due to the deep depression Hasan developed from being unemployed for a long period.
Hasan claimed he had returned to Dhaka to surrender to a court but the detectives arrested him before he could do that.
Monirul said they would verify all the statements Hasan made before the media to defend his actions.
After undergoing treatment in Labaid Specialised Hospital in Dhaka for more than a week, Rumana was sent to Chennai in India on Tuesday afternoon for better treatment of her eyes, her family told New Age.
One of the family members on Wednesday told New Age that senior eye specialists of Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai on Wednesday had examined for five hours whether she would regain vision in her right eye or not as there was no hope to restore vision in her left eye.
'She is yet to be admitted at the hospital as the senior consultants will examine her right eye tomorrow (Thursday) too,' the relative said, adding, 'The physicians in Chennai finally confirmed that Rumana's left eye was completely damaged.'
Meanwhile, Dhaka University teachers, students, rights activists, and people from all walks of life on Wednesday reiterated the call upon the government to bring Rumana's torturer to book.
Rumana is doing a post-graduate course in political science at the University of British Columbia in Canada. She returned home last month for research work, with a plan to return to Canada after three months.
source:New Age

Libraries hamstrung by lack of policy support

MOST of the libraries in Bangladesh—public or private, big or small—are in deplorable conditions because of sustained indifference from the authorities concerned, says Professor SM Mannan of the Department of Information Science and Library Management at Dhaka University.

'The very fact that we sometimes say libraries to mean bookstores is an indication of the poor state and status of libraries in the country,' he said in an exclusive interview with New Age on Tuesday.

The sorry state and status of libraries boils down to lack of policy support and professional management, he said.

Professor Mannan also raised questions about the procedure of purchasing books and reading material for libraries.

Most government-run and government-backed libraries collect low-quality books written on the ideology of the party in power and/or life and works of its leaders, he said. 'Readers' choice is always neglected.'

source:New Age

Refugees flee Myanmar clashes near Chinese border

Myanmar's military has clashed for several days with a militia controlled by the country's ethnic Kachin minority in a remote but strategic region where China is building hydropower plants, various sources said on Tuesday.

The fighting, which began last Thursday, has killed at least four people and forced thousands to flee toward the Myanmar-China border, the sources, including a Washington-based advocacy group and Chinese media, said.

More than 2,000 villagers from the conflict area have fled toward China, and 28 Chinese engineers and dam workers were being held by government forces, the USCampaign for Burma said in a statement.

Ethnic rebel armies like the Kachin Independence Army have fought Myanmar's military for decades, and the clashes mark one of the most serious upticks in hostilities since the government held rare but tightly controlled elections late last year.

Those elections were widely condemned abroad and by ethnic groups within the former British colony, also known as Burma, which have no interest in giving up control of their land for what they believe are hollow promises of self-government and political representation.

An observer based in Kachin state capital Myitkyina confirmed that battles broke out between KIA and Myanmar troops on June 9 in Momauk Township, about 130 km southeast of Myitkyina and about 40 km from the Chinese border.

'It's said that the battles are still going on but we have no idea about the casualties,' a source who asked for anonymity told Reuters.

'We don't think the government wants to launch a major offensive against the KIA headquarters at the moment. So far as we heard they just want to drive the KIA away from the Taping hydropower project being developed in cooperation with China,' the source said.

Chinese-built dams have been divisive projects, experts say, with ethnic minorities in Myanmar seeing the construction as expanding military presence into their territory.

Last year, a series of bombs exploded at a hydropower project site being jointly built by a Chinese company in the Kachin state.

At least 100 Chinese engineers and workers returned to China after fighting erupted near the Taping River dam sites, only about 90 km from Yingjiang in China's southern Yunnan province, China's Global Times newspaper said on Tuesday.

The condition of the 28 workers apparently being held by government forces is unclear.

'China has always attached much importance to the safety and legitimate rights of Chinese nationals abroad, and the Chinese side has taken stock of the situation and is making all out rescue efforts,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing.

Four ethnic militia groups have pledged to fight against the Myanmar government forces, US Campaign for Burma said, citing Kachin General Gwan Maw.

According to the advocacy group's statement, the fighting erupted following a dispute on prisoner transfers between government troops and the KIA, prompting government forces to advance on KIA-held territory.

A notice on China Datang Corporation's website, the Chinese state-owned company that operates the Taping River hydroelectric plants, said 90 per cent of the power generated at the facilities will flow into China's power grid. Chinese media reports said the project is already producing electricity.

Aung Naing Oo, a Myanmar analyst and deputy head of the Thailand-based Vahu Development Institute, said the next few weeks would be crucial in determining if the clashes were about the dams or the broader conflict.

'The main issue here appears to be the security of these dams. All the stakeholders involved, the government, the Chinese, the Kachin — they have interests to protect,' Aung Naing Oo said.

'Low-level fighting has been going on for a year now and it's only logical that at some point there would be a crisis. All that was needed was a little spark, a catalyst.'

source:New Age

RMG factory owners demand withdrawal of 1.5pc tax at source

Owners of textile and readymade garment industries on Wednesday urged the government to withdraw the 1.5 per cent tax on export earning at source that has been proposed in the budget of FY2011-12.

They also demanded increase of the alternative cash incentive to 15 per cent from the existing five per cent for the export-oriented apparel sector.

The leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association placed the demands at a joint press conference in Hotel Ruposhi Bangla, and later before finance minister AMA Muhith when they called on him at his secretariat office.

Muhith said that he had not given them any assurance that the government would meet the demands as other departments would have to be consulted before making a decision in this regard.

He, however, said that he  would discuss the issue with the government.

'I have listened to their demands and commented on a few of them,' he told reporters after the meeting.

BTMA leaders told reporters at the press conference that the export-oriented garments and textile sectors have been worst affected by the proposed budget.

They demanded 15 per cent alternative cash incentive till 2015, immediate implementation of the announced stimulus package, export stimulus package for the small and medium enterprise sector, 'new market' stimulus package, 10 per cent rebate on electricity bill and withdrawal of 9 per cent

VAT on house rent.

The garment sector's leaders urged the government to reduce the price of furnace oil and fix it at Tk 22 per litre, and give the garment and textile sectors tax holiday and continue it till 2015.

BGMEA president M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin read out a written statement at the press conference that contained their demands, with explanations, on behalf of the three bodies.

BKMEA president AKM Selim Osman, BTMA president Jahangir Alamin and other leaders were present on the occasion.

They said that the proposed 1.5 per cent income tax at source on exports will hinder the growth of the garment and textile sectors.

The garment and textile sectors are facing increasing risk factors, which are now as high as 30 to 35 per cent, due to the price-hike of raw materials, high bank interest, higher workers' wages and the increasing cost of doing business, they told reporters.

'If the government imposes 1.5 per cent tax at source, the risk factor will rise by 25 per cent and we won't be able to survive in the competitive global market,' they said.

They said that there was 5 per cent cash incentive support which could not help to offset the current difficulties in the textile sector, and demanded 15 per cent cash incentive for the next four years.

They said that the stimulus package announced by the government remains unimplemented for unknown reasons, and should be implemented without any further delay.

The entire apparel sector is the core industry of the country and it is also an organised sector, said Muhith, adding that the Cabinet members, especially the prime minister, are very much aware of the current problems facing that sector.

He said he would find out why no entrepreneurs have received the benefits of the announced stimulus package and export stimulus package for the SME sector.

He said that he would favourably consider the demand for reducing VAT and tax on polyester, viscose staple fibre, acrylic toe and tops, pet-chips and chips that will reduce dependence on cotton. 'We have already reduced the tax on polyester,' he added.

source:New Age

Law and order situation will improve if war crimes trials completed: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told the Jatiya Sangsad that there would be a permanent and qualitative change in the law and order situation of the country if the trial of the war criminals was completed.

'In order to establish the rule of law, the present government wants to complete the trial of the war criminals of '71,' said Hasina while answering a question during the PM's question-answer hour, adding that there would be a permanent and qualitative change in the law and order situation if the trials were completed.

She said that the government's relentless determination to uproot terrorism was appreciated by people at home and abroad, and the government would not tolerate the country to be used as a base for terrorism against other countries.

'It was our electoral pledge to ensure the security of the lives and property of the people by improving the overall law and order situation, and the government is continuing its work to fulfil the promise,' said Hasina.

Replying to another question, the prime minister said that the government had given subsidy of about Tk 15,000 crore to the agriculture sector in the last three fiscal years.

'The government has already given Tk 14,714.29 crore for fertilizer, power, diesel and other agricultural necessities since January 2009,' she said, adding that Tk 5,426.27 crore was given in FY2008-2009, Tk 4,894 crore in FY2009-2010 and Tk 4,894.02 crore in FY 2010-2011.

Hasina claimed that agricultural production had been increasing every year after the present government assumed state power.

'Production of rice increased by 2.43 per cent, of wheat by 4.38 per cent, of potato by 21.55 per cent, of lentil by 10.62 per cent and of spices by 37.64 per cent during fiscal year 2009-2010,' she said, adding that rice production was increased by 1.81 per cent in FY2010-2011.

She also said that the government had also taken various measures, including upgrading of the national agricultural policy and ensuring the supply of good seeds and fertilizer to get higher yields.

source:New Age

Govt contradicts itself over forest coverage

The finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in April admitted that the forest coverage was nine per cent of the country's total land area, but the forest department continues to claim that 17 per cent of Bangladesh is forested.

The minister when he was speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the first Bangladesh Forestry Congress 2011 on April 20 said, 'The forest coverage is nine per cent. It is not 17 per cent.'

In a leaflet, printed on May 31, the forest department, however, states that there are 2,597,252 hectares of forested land in Bangladesh — 17 per cent of the country's total land area. It adds that 1,576,496 hectares — 10.7 per cent of the country's land — is managed by the forest department.

Similar statistics are also set out on the department's web site.

Not only are the forest department statistics in conflict with the finance minister's comment but they also contradict the National Forest and Tree Resources Assessment 2005–2007, which was undertaken by several government agencies including the forest department and the Bangladesh Space Research and Remote Sensing Organisation, which is part of the defence ministry.

Technical support for the research was provided by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation's Forest Resources Development Service.

Whilst the forest department says that Sundarban, the world's largest contiguous natural mangrove, covers an area of 6,01,000 hectares, the inter-ministry assessment found that in fact the forest only covered 4,36,000 hectares.

There are other similar discrepancies. The department claims that there are 1,20,000 hectares of plain-land 'Sal' forest — situated mainly in Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Netrakona, Naogaon, Rangpur, Dinajpur and Panchagar — but the study found that in fact it covered 34,000 hectares.

And whilst the forest department says that the hill forests, situated mainly in Chittagang, Coxs Bazar, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, covered a total of 6,52,000 hectares, the assessment said that they covered 5,51,000 hectares.

Some experts in the country, however, claim that forest coverage is even less than what is there in the assessment.

M Mahfuzur Rahman, a principal investigator of the botany department in Jahnagirnagar University, claimed that forests only covered six per cent of Bangladesh and that the government assessment was only higher as it counted denuded forest areas.

He said that the government statistics included the denuded forest areas where no one would 'hardly be able to find any tree and it includes mountain area.'

'Whenever the forest department claims that the country has 17 per cent of total forest, it actually is talking about forest land, but in the forest land, you can find land completely denuded of forest, with people living there making houses, and there are mountains completely denuded of trees,' said Niaz Ahmed Khan, the country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

'I have seen a four storey building in Bhawal under the protected forest of the forest department,' he added.

He claims that the forest department statistics are based on unorganised and unscientific studies.

Numerous attempts by New Age seeking a response from the chief conservator of forest, Ishtiaque Uddin Ahmed, went unanswered. 'I am too busy,' he said.

source:New Age

Non-students keep leading students’ bodies

Most 'student' leaders, including the current president of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, who graduated from Dhaka University 19 years ago, and the president of the Chhatra League, who graduated from the university in 2001, stopped being students a long time ago.

The Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal is the associate body of students of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Bangladesh Chhatra Dal is the associate body of students of the ruling Awami League.

Many general university students now call the leadership of these students' organisations as 'uncle' committees.

The presence of such older people as leaders of the student bodies, even though they are no longer students, is in breach of the constitutions of each of these organisations.

The incumbent leaders told New Age that there were some student leaders who are overage and no longer students but said that their leadership was needed as the organisations could not 'run smoothly' otherwise.

The most extreme example of the problem is the current president of the Chhatra Dal, Sultan Salah Uddin Tuku, who is about 46 years old and was a student when people were chanting slogans against the autocratic HM Ershad.

The affidavit, available on the Election Commission's web site, which he submitted to be a parliamentary candidate for the Tangail 2 constituency in the 2008 general elections, states that his highest education qualification was a bachelor's degree from the marketing department of Dhaka University in 1992.

The affidavit adds that he is a 'businessman' and owner of Messrs Tisha Enterprise with an annual income of nearly Tk 4.57 lakh.

Apart from being the president of the student body, he is also a member of the BNP's central committee.

Just behind Sultan Salah Uddin is the Chhatra Dal's general secretary.

Amirul Islam Khan Alim is 45 years old, according to fellow activists, and was admitted to the sociology department in the 1988–89 session.

Section B of Provision 6 (1) [Primary Membership] of the Chhatra Dal's draft constitution states: 'Regular students from school to university level and equivalent levels will be able to become members of the organisation.'

Chhatra Dal activists told New Age that at least a hundred on the organisation's 171-member central committee were not regular students or had finished their education at least three years ago, and were aged over 35.

'We need experienced leaders in the central and district-level committees,' said Sultan Salah Uddin.

He claimed that newspapers had exaggerated his age.

'Activists do not follow the orders of leaders who are of the same age and, therefore, we need senior leaders to ensure an effective chain of command,' added Alim, who also claimed that he was a student of Dhanmondi Law College.

The situation in the Bangladesh Chhatra League is a little better, with the oldest member of its central committee being aged about 36.

The Chhatra League president, Mahmud Hasan Ripon, completed his academic life in 2001, according to BCL activists, while Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury Ratan, the general secretary, is now aged at least 35, having completed his academic life in 2004.

The Chhatra League's constitution 5(A) sets 29 as the upper age limit and requires that to be a member, one must be a regular student.

According to a number of BCL members, the vice-presidents and joint general secretaries of the organisation are all aged between 32 to 38 years.

Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury refused to tell New Age his age, claiming that his organisation was run by regular students.

It is not only Chhatra Dal and Chhatra League leaders who have long ago stopped being students and are nearing middle-age.

Leaders of the left-leaning student organisations such as the Bangladesh Chhatra League, backed by the Jatiya Samajtrantik Dal, and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, backed by Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, are also no longer students.

Hossain Ahmed Tafsir of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal's associate body of students ended his academic life at least a decade ago and is about 45 years old, and the general secretary, Muhammad Shamsul Islam, completed his education some time ago.

And the Chhatra Front's president Sharifuzzaman Shakon ended his student life in 2005.

Activists of both the organisations said they were disappointed at their overage leadership.

'Because of such overage leaders, many regular students could not take part in student politics as they did not get positions in the central, district and university committees,' said a leader of the Chhatra League's Dhaka University unit.

Tafsir refused to tell New Age his age but admitted that his student life had ended long ago.

He and the other leaders said that experienced students leaders were needed for the smooth running of the organisations.

Shaifuzzaman Shakon told New Age that many work for welfare of the students after finishing academic life.

The BNP's student affairs secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie said that overage non-students were leading the organisation because of the political culture of the country. 'We will try to have outgoing students who has recently completed their master's degree in the Chhatra Dal's committee in the next council,' he told New Age.

Ahmad Hossian, the organising secretary of the Awami League, said the Chhatra League is free of overage leadership. 'The Chhatra League follows the age limit of 29 years and the organisation does not have any problem of overage leadership.'

source:New Age

Police, apparel workers clash over pay at Savar

http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/frontpage/22685.htmlAt least 5,000 workers of two factories at Savar and Ashulia, agitating for long for an increase in stitching charges, on Wednesday vandalised an apparel factory, forcing four factories in the area to announce a holiday for the day and another to announce closure for an indefinite period, the police said.

The Savar police officer-in-charge, Mahbubur Rahman, said that nearly 2500 workers of the Hot Dress Sweater factory, agitating for an increase in the payment for stitching, on Wednesday went on demonstrations in front of the factory after several negotiations in a few days had failed.

When the authorities on Wednesday refused to meet the workers' demands, a group of workers of Hot Dress at Kalma entered the factory and the other group started vandalising the factory, the police said, quoting witnesses.

Sources said that the Hot Dress management after the last week's agitation had increased the payment for stitching but the workers were also demanding payment for working overtime.

The management then announced holidays on Thursday and Friday after the agitation, the sources added.

The Hot Dress workers on Wednesday went on demonstrations again and pelted with stones the factory and four other adjacent industries — Dynasty Sweater, New Horizon, Titash and Century Fashion. The workers also called the workers of the adjacent factories to join them.

The management of the four adjacent factories then announced a holiday for the day, factory sources said.

The industrial police, the Savar police and the Ashulia police reached the place and charged at the workers with truncheons. The workers pelted the lawmen with stones. At least 10 people were injured, witnesses said.

The police said that the Hot Dress workers tried to involve the workers of nearby factories in the clash and the police dispersed the workers by charging at them with truncheons.

The Ashulia police officer-in-charge, Sirajul Islam, said that workers of Indian-owned export oriented factory Amara Apparels in the Dhaka Export Processing Zone had also rallied on Wednesday to push for their 12-point demands, which include increase in wages, payment for working overtime and allowances and withdrawal of cases filed against workers.

Witnesses said that the workers had gone on demonstrations after they had joined work as they came to know that the management had prepared a list of 33 workers who would be suspended for their suspected involvement in instigating unrest.

The Ashulia industrial police deputy director Fayezul Kabir, quoting the management said that the factory had been closed for an indefinite period.

The police said that additional forces were deployed in both the places to avoid any untoward incidents.

source:New Age

Bureaucracy bogs Down opening of 21 missions

The government's plan to open and re-open at least 21 embassies and consulates abroad has been bogged down by bureaucratic red tape, said officials of the foreign affairs ministry.

The government decided in 2009 and 2010 to open and re-open embassies in several countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Angola, Brazil, Botswana, Denmark, Greece, Lebanon, Mauritius, Portugal, Romania, Sierra Leone and Sudan to advance the country's economic and strategic interests and boost the export of manpower.

It decided to open consulates in Istanbul in Turkey, Lagos in Nigeria, Mumbai and Guwahati in India, Kunming in China and Milan in Italy.

'We were successful in opening a consulate in Milan and have made hectic efforts for opening and re-opening several missions in the last two years,' a senior official told New Age on Tuesday.

The decision to open and re-open missions was taken at the highest political level, he said.

Finance minister AMA Muhith told reporters on 30 August, 2009 that the government had decided to set up and re-open several diplomatic missions abroad. Foreign affairs minister Dipu Moni reiterated the government's commitment on different occasions, in and outside the Parliament, in the last two years to open missions in a number of countries to advance the country's economic and strategic interests.

When asked about the causes that were hindering the opening of missions, the official said, 'We are struggling to overcome bureaucratic hurdles at the establishment and finance ministries'.

The establishment ministry recently approved the proposals for re-opening embassies in Brazil, Romania and Sudan. 'We are now trying hard to get clearance from the finance ministry for only three missions, so getting clearance for rest of the missions will be a difficult task,' said a senior official.

Not all hurdles are inside the country, said the official, mentioning that the Indian government has not yet approved the opening of consulates in Mumbai and Guahati.

China is persistently asking which region in the that country Bangladesh would serve from Kunming.

Some countries, including Brazil, were asking Bangladesh to expedite the opening of the missions.

'Having an embassy is important for promoting diverse economic and strategic interests,' Maria Edileuza Fontenele Reis, an under-secretary of the Brazilian external relations ministry who was on a three-day fact-finding mission in Bangladesh, told reporters in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Brazilian ambassador to Dhaka, Ricardo L Viana De Carvalho, said that Brazil had made a 'mistake' in shutting down its embassy in Dhaka.

Foreign policy experts point out that Bangladesh remains almost unrepresented in South America, Central Asia and Africa, though relations with the countries in those regions, together with banking facilities there, could be beneficial for Bangladesh both economically and culturally.

Many of those countries, they said, can provide employment to skilled Bangladeshi workers in agriculture, health, education, economic and technical services.

Bangladesh has resident ambassadors or high commissioners in 47 countries to look after the welfare of about seven million Bangladeshis working abroad as well as promote the strategic and economic interests of the country, said a foreign ministry official.

Besides, it has several deputy high commissions and consulates, they said.

Bangladesh's embassies in Afghanistan, Algeria and Brazil were shut down in the 1990s. Afghanistan, however, continues to operate its mission in Dhaka. Brazil, the largest South American country, re-opened its mission, which was shut down in 1998, in May last year.

source:New Age

JS panel disappointed at schoolboy killing

The parliamentary standing committee on the home ministry on Wednesday said that it was disappointed at the killing innocent people by the Rapid Action Battalion and asked the authorities to be careful about use of firearms, especially in residential areas.

The committee at a meeting referred to the killing of a 15-year-old schoolboy in Narayanganj and said that it was disappointed at the battalion's activities. The committee observed that it could be wise if the battalion was more careful in such cases, sources attending the meeting said.

The schoolboy was killed and two others were wounded in 'accidental discharge' from weapons of Rapid Action Battalion personnel when a group said to be of drug peddlers jostled with them at Fatullah in Narayanganj on Tuesday night.

The sources said that the state minister for home affairs, Shamsul Hoque Tuku, at the meeting asked the battalion's director general, Mokhlesur Rahman, to be more careful to avoid such unwarranted incidents incident in future.

'We have observed that RAB should have been careful in such cases and have asked the force to be careful in future,' the committee chairman, Abdus Salam, told reporters after the meeting.

He also said that the incident was not acceptable as it did not take place during war or in the border and the place where it took place is a residential area.

'Criminals can escape arrest but it is important that no innocent people become victims,' said the committee chairman adding that it had asked RAB to be more careful about use of firearms in residential areas.

Shamsul told New Age that he had asked RAB to be more careful to avoid such unwarranted incidents in future.

'We have discussed law and order and asked RAB to be more careful so that its image does not get tarnished for a few incidents,' Shamsul said after the meeting.

Committee member Mujibul Haque, also a Jatiya Party lawmaker, told New Age that the committee had said that it was disappointed at the killing of the schoolboy and asked the battalion's director general to be careful in future.

The sources also said that the committee had been disappointed at the ministry's role in taking action against the director general of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah.

The committee based on an inquiry report earlier recommended that the director general of the Fire Service and Civil Defence should be removed on charge of being involved in irregularities in connection with an international purchase.

The panel set up a six-member subcommittee, headed by Mirza Azam, to investigate the allegation levelled against the fire service and civil defence director general and the committee found him involved in irregularities of Tk 25 core in the purchase.

But the home minister, Sahara Khatun, at Wednesday's meeting defended the director general and questioned the inquiry report, the sources said.

'I do not think that such a big amount was misappropriated,' the committee chairman quoted the home minister as saying.

He also said that the report was prepared after proper investigation by the committee set up by the standing committee and it would be difficult for the committee to do its tasks if the report was termed incorrect.

source:New Age