The Supreme Court will go into 42-day long annual vacation today on the occasion of autumn and Eid-ul Fitr.
Both the Appellate and High Court Division of SC will reopen on October 8.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain on August 23 constituted 15 High Court benches for hearing and disposing of urgent cases during the vacation.
Source : The Daily Star
A female domestic help working at the house of a retired government high official in the city's Paribagh died mysteriously yesterday morning.
The dead is Morsheda, 14, of Mymensingh.
Police said the girl went to bathroom in the morning and was not coming out for long. As another housemaid, Kalpana, broke open the door, she found Morsheda lying on the floor.
Mahmudur Rahman Chowdhury, owner of the house, rushed the girl to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). But doctors declared her dead.
Source : The Daily Star
Three Bangladeshi youths were repatriated yesterday on completion of their jail terms for illegal intrusion into India.
Nurul Ferdous, officer-in-charge of Hilli Immigration Check Post (ICP) in Dinajpur, received the three from Indian ICP officers PK Mandal and Shantonu Chowdhury of Shuvazone Home at Balurghat in India, said official sources.
The repatriated are Nitai Barman, son of late Kartik Barman of Dinajpur, Umesh Mardi, son of Iswar Mardi of Naogaon and Munna Parvez, son of Akram Hossain of Natore.
They illegally entered India through the border points and were detained by Indian Border Security Force, sources said. Later, they were sentenced to prison terms by the Indian courts for illegal intrusion, sources added.
Source : The Daily Star
Three fishermen were drowned as a small fishing motorboat capsized after colliding with a fishing vessel in the estuary of the river Karnaphuli here early yesterday.
One of the dead is Amzad Hossain, 38. The identities of the two others could not be confirmed immediately.
Police said the motorboat Eagle 7 turned turtle after it was hit by MV Urka around 5:00am.
Seeing the incident, some small fishing boats from nearby areas came to the rescue of the fishermen and rescued 16 of them.
Three small boats pulled the capsized motorboat ashore in the afternoon.
Law enforcers recovered the three bodies from the cabin of the boat, said Md Kamruzzaman, sub-inspector of Potenga Police Station.
Source : The Daily Star
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) shot and injured a Bangladeshi and an Indian man at Hijaldi village in Kolaroa upazila yesterday morning.
The injured are Laltu Hossain, 35, a Bangladeshi cattle trader and son of Saker Morol of Sultanpur village of the upazila, and Indian cattle trader Abdullah, 30, son of Samsher Morol of Gonorajpur village of 24 Pargana of West Bengal of India.
Officer-in-Charge Subhas Biswas of Kolaroa Police Station said Laltu was shot when BSF opened fire from across the border at Bangladeshi cattle traders who gathered at Hijaldi village.
Angered at the incident, Bangladeshi and Indian cattle traders engaged in a clash with BSF at Hijaldi border in the morning, when BSF again fired shots, leaving Abdullah injured. The clash also left two BSF members injured.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and BSF later held a flag meeting at Hijaldi where BGB protested firing on Bangladeshis.
Source : The Daily Star
A college teacher, who sustained serious injuries in a road accident in Laxmipur Tuesday night, is now fighting for life in a city hospital.
The victim, Syed Abdur Rob, 45, is an assistant professor of management at Dhaka Commerce College.
Rob and his brother-in-law Mostaque Ahmed were injured as a CNG-run auto-rickshaw they were riding collided head-on with a tractor near Ramganj upazila bazar Tuesday night.
They were first taken to Ramganj Upazila Health Complex. With Rob's condition worsening, he was shifted to Dhaka. He is now under treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Square Hospital. Mostaque said Rob underwent a major operation on Wednesday.
Source : The Daily Star
Nine people were killed and 45 others injured in separate road accidents in Narsingdi, Jhenidah, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur on Wednesday and yesterday.
Our Narsingdi correspondent reports: Three people were killed in a head-on collision between a covered van and a CNG-run three-wheeler on Dhaka-Narsingdi road in Bhatpara area of Sadar upazila in the district yesterday.
The identities of the deceased were not known immediately.
The accident took place around 9:45am when the Narsingdi-bound covered van from Dhaka and the Ghorashal-bound three-wheeler from Narsingdi collided face-to-face.
The driver of the three-wheeler and one of its passengers died on the spot while another female passenger succumbed to her injuries after she was taken to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital, police said.
Police seized the van but its driver managed to flee the scene immediately after the accident.
The bodies of the victims were sent to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital for autopsy.
Our Jhenidah correspondent says: A bus helper was killed and at least 15 others were injured as a Chowgacha-bound bus collided head-on with a Jhenidah-bound cement laden truck and the bus fell into a road side ditch near livestock office at Kaliganj upazila.
The deceased is Palash Hossain, 24, son of Babul Gazi, of Shalua village of Chowgacha upazila in Jessore.
The injured were admitted to Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex.
Hundreds of vehicles stranded on both side of the road from 8:00am to 10:00am following the accident.
Our Gaibandha correspondent adds: One man was killed and 30 others were injured when a passenger crowded bus of Prime Saikat Paribahan turned turtle after the driver of the bus lost his control over the steering on Rangpur-Bogra highway at Ekbarpur in the district yesterday.
The identity of the deceased passenger was not known immediately after the accident.
The driver was sleepy and he was driving the vehicle carelessly, said Ayub Ali, a passenger of the bus.
Road communications of the route remained suspended for an hour after the accident.
Staff correspondent from Chittagong says: A female student was killed when a truck rammed a rickshaw that carried the student at Singapore Market of Agrabad in the port city yesterday.
The deceased is Sayeda Afrin Tania, 24, daughter of Muhammad Awal of Agrabad T&T colony. She was studied at first semester of Institute of Commercial Management (ICM) of Chittagong.
Our Lalmonirhat correspondent adds: Two people were killed in separate road accidents in different upazilas of the district at the same time on Wednesday night.
Witness said the first accident took place when a Bogra-bound stone laden truck from Burimari Land Port hit jute trader Dulal Miah, 45, of Court Toli village, while he was crossing road at the same village in Patgram upazila.
Transport worker Monsur Ali, 32, of Dowani village, was killed on the spot as he crushed under the wheels of a goods laden truck while he was crossing road in Barokhata area of Hatibandha upazila.
Our Dinajpur correspondent says: A motorcyclist was killed as he lost control over the motorcycle while he tried to over take a rickshaw van at Pachbibi upazila in Joypurhat on Wednesday evening.
The deceased is Ranu Sarkar, 50, of Ratanpur Sarkarpara, of Pachbibi upazila.
Source : The Daily Star
The 35th death anniversary of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam will be observed tomorrow with due honour, dignity, and solemnity.
Various socio-cultural and political organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes to honour the rebel poet and recall his memories.
Students, teachers, and staffs of Dhaka University led by the vice-chancellor will place wreaths and offer prayers at the mausoleum of the poet at 8:00am. Later, a discussion will be held on the mausoleum premises.
Officials and employees of Bangla Academy will place wreath at Nazrul's grave at 8:00am.
Yesterday, the academy organised a discussion at its conference room on the occasion of the poet's death anniversary, said a press release.
National Professor Kabir Chowdhury and Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan, among others, spoke at the discussion.
Kazi Nazrul, who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression, died on Bhadro 12 according to Bangla calendar (August 29, 1976) at the age of 77.
Nazrul enriched Bangla literature with his fiery poems and explored a synthesis of different forces in a rebellion, expressing rage as well as beauty and sensitivity.
Nazrul's writings explored themes such as love, freedom, and revolution and inspired people to raise their voice against oppression and injustice during the British rule.
His writings injected patriotism, vigour, and strength into the freedom fighters during the country's liberation war in 1971.
Source : The Daily Star
A private member bill was placed in the parliament yesterday proposing enacting a law to make Bangladesh a nuclear weapons non-proliferation zone.
Ruling Awami League lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury placed the "Bangladesh Nuclear Weapons Non-proliferation Region Bill 2011" so that the people's safety is ensured.
"Bangladesh should prohibit development, production, storage, and use of nuclear weapons as the country has ratified various international conventions", Saber said in a brief statement tagged with the copy of the bill.
The bill was sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Private Members Resolution Bill for scrutinising and reporting back to the House.
Source : The Daily Star
The Libyan embassy in Dhaka switched to the rebel side and has pledged allegiance to the National Transitional Council.
"The embassy supports wishes of the Libyan people and the revolution of 17th February and remains with choice of the people, as it was representing the people and the state, because it is belongings of the Libyan people," says a press release of the embassy yesterday.
The embassy will continue to provide the people with all facilities and will work to strengthen the relation between Libya and Bangladesh, the statement added.
Earlier, Libyan Ambassador in Bangladesh Ahmad Ateya Hamd Al-Imam resigned from the office on February 21 protesting the bloodshed in his country.
Meanwhile, sources said the officials and employees of the embassy on Wednesday removed portraits of Moammar Gadhafi and the national flag
Source : The Daily Star
Former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar used to avoid Joj Miah when both of them were in Kashimpur jail during the last caretaker government rule.
"I had talks with almost everyone in the jail during that time, except for the former state minister for home, who always avoided talking to me," Joj Miah told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
"I wanted to ask him why he sought to meet me during my remand and to seek his help for getting out of the jail as their government falsely arrested me in connection with the August 21 grenade attack," he said.
He said when he was in Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office on 15 days' remand, the then CID official Ruhul Amin told him that Babar wanted to meet him.
"But the state minister did not meet me," he said.
According to Joj Miah, during his days in Kashimpur jail BNP leader Mossadeq Ali Falu, Awami League (AL) leaders Mohammad Nasim and Obaidul Quader spoke to him but BNP leader Babar refrained from talking to him.
Babar was arrested in 2007 and was in jail during almost the whole tenure of the caretaker government.
The former state minister, now in jail, is an accused in the Aug 21 grenade attack case.
Joj Miah was arrested in 2005 in connection with the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004 that claimed lives of 24 AL leaders and workers and maimed 300 others.
The prime target of the attack was AL President and now-Premier Sheikh Hasina, who narrowly escaped the worst consequence with an ear injury. Joj Miah was cleared of the charges through investigation in 2008 and was released in 2009.
While in jail, he took chances to have a talk with Babar, said Joj Miah, adding that he even sent a message through jail staff requesting Babar to allow him to talk with him. But he was told, "Sir [Babar] would not talk to you as there are some complications."
One day, Joj Miah also tried to talk to Babar face to face when the former state minister was taken to the court. Asked by Joj Miah he said, "Later."
Source : The Daily Star
Hours after a High Court directive, police yesterday arrested six employees, including a doctor and two nurses, of Ibn Sina Hospital in the capital in connection with the death of a newborn because of their negligence.
The arrestees are physician Anwarul Abedin, nurses Amena and Aysha, general manager Aminul Islam, and administrative officers Kamrul Hasan and Akhter Hossain.
Idris Sikder, father of the deceased baby, filed a case with Dhanmondi Police Station on August 24 accusing two doctors and two nurses of the hospital for their negligence in duty. The newborn died on August 9.
Another accused in the case doctor Shahida is now absconding, Officer-in-Charge Moniruzzaman of Dhanmondi Police Station told The Daily Star.
He said they arrested the three other officials of the hospital as their involvement was found in the preliminary investigation.
The OC, who is also the investigation officer of the case, said they picked up doctor Anwarul from Mazar Gate of the High Court around noon and the rest from the hospital around 2:30pm.
Earlier yesterday, the HC directed police to take necessary actions against the officials, doctors and nurses of the hospital, who are responsible for the loss of life, under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobindra Chandra Tagore also ordered police to submit a report to it regarding the case by October 10.
The court passed the order during the hearing of the suo moto rule it had earlier issued against Ibn Sina Hospital authorities following a report aired by private television channel Boishakhi on August 15 on deaths of three newborns in that hospital.
On August 17, the court issued the suo moto upon the hospital officials and doctors to explain why they should not be punished for the offence.
The next day the court also directed two officials of the hospital Sultan Mahmnud and Tajul Islam to appear before the court on October 16 to explain why they filed a general diary against the deceased newborn's father Idris Sikder and the allegation that the hospital authorities tried to bribe the Boishakhi TV reporter.
The HC also asked police to ensure security for Idris Sikder and his family and TV reporter Mahbub Alam.
Assistant commissioner of Dhanmondi circle, OC Dhanmondi, Idris Sikder and Mahbub Alam appeared before the HC bench yesterday as per its August 23 directive.
The HC on August 23 sought wealth statement of Ibn Sina Hospital by October 9 to examine whether it is involved in any corruption.
Source : The Daily Star
The African Union was due to hold a much delayed summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa yesterday to pledge funds for the famine gripping the Horn of Africa.
The AU has already pledged $500m, but the UN says that at least another $2bn is required to help those in need.
At least 12 million people in Somalia and neighbouring countries require emergency assistance, the UN says.
Tens of thousands are believed to have died since the crisis began.
African Union Commission chief Jean Ping urged Africans to "act out against hunger by providing both cash and in-kind support for urgent life-saving assistance to our brothers and sisters in the Horn of Africa".
The US, Britain, China, Japan, Brazil and Turkey have all pledged funds to the region, as has the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) - a gathering of Islamic countries - but the contributions have fallen short of the requested assistance.
Source : The Daily Star
With an unofficial weeklong Eid vacation beginning today, thousands of people started leaving the capital yesterday withstanding the difficulties on roads, and scarcity of train and launch tickets.
The three-day public holiday actually starts from Tuesday, August 30. But as the two-day weekend begins today with Sunday (August 28) another public holiday for Lailatul Qadr, many took leave for Monday to make it a nine-day vacation, September 2 and 3 being weekend again.
However, the Eid holiday will be extended by one day if the moon is sighted on August 31.
"I took leave for Monday just to spend a few days more with my family [in Bagerhat]," said Kazi Nurun Nabi, a government official, waiting at Shyamoli for bus.
Visiting different bus and launch terminals and train stations in the capital, this correspondent found hundreds waiting with their family for transport. Hundreds others were striding ticket counters to get their "dream" ticket.
This year, the pressure on waterways and railways is overwhelming, as many home goers, who travel by bus ahead of the Eid every year, are taking trains and launches this time, fearing dangers on the battered highways.
Officials at Sadarghat Launch Terminal said the number of homebound passengers on waterways has increased by at least 10 percent so far this year compared with the last year. The railway authorities put the rise at around 15 percent.
Many vessels at Sadarghat Launch Terminal were seen carrying passengers nearly double their capacity.
A medium-size vessel weighing 300 tonnes can carry up to 900 people, but they are taking at least 1,500, said an official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.
The number of people taking bus has decreased in almost all the routes due to their crumbling conditions, Khandaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samity, told The Daily Star on Wednesday.
The sorry state of the roads is also affecting the bus operation very badly.
"I've been waiting for half an hour. Every time I ask, the bus operators say it will come soon. I don't know when it'll come," said Salauddin, waiting at Kalyanpur bus station.
"The road condition is so bad that I do not know when we will reach home if the bus gets further delayed," added a frustrated Salauddin, who would go to Gaibandha.
For a round trip from Dhaka, buses in all routes are taking three to four hours more than usual these days, SR Travels Manager Masudur Rahman said.
Meanwhile, hundreds were seen queuing at the Kamalapur Railway Station.
"It's safer, especially when you're travelling with your family," says Md Ibrahim, a banker.
Many said they had to wait for trains for more than 10 hours.
Many others did not get ticket.
"I didn't get any ticket for Sylhet. They [officials] said all the tickets were sold out," said a dejected Mosharraf Hossain.
A number of ticket seekers alleged some officials were selling those in black market.
Meantime, a mobile court fined two youths Tk 20, 000 for selling two train tickets at the Kamalapur station.
The court led by Executive Magistrate of Dhaka District Administration Al Amin fined Abdul Alim, 16, a garment worker, and Safiqul Islam Palash, 26, a computer operator at a private firm.
They said they were selling their tickets, as they decided not to go home.
Source : The Daily Star
Canadian researchers have found the first evidence that older brains remember information better if it is learned through trial and error, rather than passively taking it in, a study said Wednesday.
"Learning the hard way proved to be the best way," lead study investigator Andree-Ann Cyr told AFP.
Educators and cognitive rehabilitation clinicians were surprised at the findings, which challenge a large body of published science that has shown that making mistakes while learning information hurts memory performance for older adults, and that passive learning is better suited to older brains.
Source : The Daily Star
Rebel commanders said yesterday they were readying a new advance against forces defending Gaddfi's hometown Sirte, seeking to flush out the elusive strongman, who has a $1.7 million price on his head.
British Defence Minister Liam Fox said Nato was helping the rebels with intelligence and reconnaissance to find Gaddafi, but the Western alliance denied his claim.
However, an AFP reporter discovered that French and British operatives are working with rebels as they press towards Sirte, 360 kilometres east of Tripoli.
One excited group of rebels said they thought they might have trapped Gaddafi and some of his sons in a building -- though there was in fact no indication Gaddafi was inside, reports Reuters.
"They are in a small hole," said one fighter, Muhammad Gomaa -- but like many in the irregular forces that have overthrown the 69-year-old Gaddafi, he seemed to be expressing more hope than reality. "Today we finish. Today we will end that."
As the six-month rebellion against the former colonel appeared to be drawing to an end, rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said it had "resulted in more than 20,000 dead."
He also said countries that had helped the rebel cause would be rewarded accordingly.
"We promise to favour the countries which helped us, especially in the development of Libya. We will deal with them according to the support which they gave us," he told a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Rebel commanders said that while they control most of Tripoli, hot spots remain where sniper fire, rocket explosions and heavy weaponry make life dangerous.
"Heavy shooting is going on in central Tripoli just at the doorstep of our hotel. Street battle. Sniper fire. Hotel under gunfire attack," an AFP correspondent reported of the firefight, which last about 40 minutes.
The rebels are hell-bent on finding Gaddafi, so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by Gaddafi's forces before Nato warplanes gave crucial air support to the rebels.
Britain's Defence Minister Liam Fox told Sky news that Nato is providing "intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC to help them track down Colonel Gaddafi and other remnants of the regime."
Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu denied that.
"No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Gaddafi or anybody else," she told AFP in Brussels.
The alliance has repeatedly denied targeting Gaddafi since Nato-led warplanes began bombing regime forces in March and has always rejected claims that it was serving as the rebels' proxy air force.
"There is no military coordination with the rebels," Lungescu said.
Fighting is concentrated along the perimeters of Bab al-Aziziya and the neighbouring Abu Slim district, where Gaddafi reportedly released, armed and paid former prisoners to fight for his regime.
'DEAD OR ALIVE'
Col Gaddafi's whereabouts are unknown, though rebels have said they think he is still in or around Tripoli.
Libya's defected former prime minister Abdessalam Jalloud said embattled Gaddafi is either in southern Tripoli or has already fled to the desert.
"He has only four people left around him. There are two possibilities: either he is hiding in the southern part of Tripoli or he left some time ago," Jalloud, who fled Tripoli and has been in Italy since Saturday, told a press conference.
A spokesman for Col Gaddafi, Moussa Ibrahim, has said he is safe and "leading the battle for our freedom and independence every day".
The rebels have announced an amnesty for anyone within his "inner circle" who captures or kills him.
The head of the NTC, Mustafa Abdul Jalil also said the NTC supported an offer by a group of businessmen to pay $1.7m for Col Gaddafi, "dead or alive".
Col Gaddafi faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
The rebel leadership have also offered Col Gaddafi safe passage out of the country, if he renounces his leadership.
In the last audio message believed to be from him, the fugitive leader vowed to fight until victory or martyrdom.
Rebel leaders say they want to put Gaddafi on trial even though he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Seif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On Wednesday, the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) offered a $1.7 million reward for the capture of Gaddafi, dead or alive, and amnesty to any members of his inner circle who kill or capture him.
The 69-year-old Gaddafi has not been seen in public for weeks. But despite losing control of the oil-rich North African country he ruled with an iron first for 42 years, he is still managing to broadcast messages urging Libyans to drive out the "rats" -- as he disparagingly calls the rebels.
Source : The Daily Star
Initial US weekly jobless claims surged to 4,17,000 last week, dimming hopes of an imminent recovery in the jobs market, the US labour department said Thursday.
New claims for unemployment insurance rose in the week to January 20 from a revised 4,12,000 the previous week, well above the four-week moving average of 4,07,500.
The department said that for the week to August 6, the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits at all levels fell to 7.29 million from 7.34 million the week earlier, and 10.16 million a year earlier.
The US overall unemployment rate remained at a high 9.1 per cent in July, with nearly 14 million workers without jobs.
Source : New Age
China has an 'essential role' to play in efforts to boost the global economy at the next G20 meeting in November, French president Nicolas Sarkozy told his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Thursday.
Sarkozy made the comments to President Hu Jintao during a brief stopover in China, the world's second largest economy, on his way to the French territory of New Caledonia.
'As president of the G20, I never imagined not coming to China to talk to my Chinese friends about the major economic issues that are preoccupying the world,' the French president told Hu in the Great Hall of the People.
'The G20 summit must... take decisions and participate in the revival of global growth. This is a major issue and China has an essential role to play.'
As current president, France will host the next G20 meeting in the coastal resort of Cannes.
The French president is spending just five hours in Beijing, where he will have a working dinner with Hu before delivering a statement to the media.
Source : New Age
Shares in Samsung jumped on Thursday and other competitors also benefited as Apple chief Steve Jobs stepped down, with analysts seeing a window of opportunity for rivals of the trailblazing US firm.
The cancer-stricken Jobs — the driving force behind iconic products such as the Mac computer, iPhone and iPad — said Wednesday he would step down as chief executive and retreat to the back seat as chairman.
Apple, the world's second most valuable company by market capitalisation, said chief operating officer Tim Cook would succeed Jobs as CEO. The announcement sent Apple shares tumbling 5.3 per cent in after-hours US trade.
But in Seoul, Apple's South Korean rivals rallied. Shares in Samsung Electronics, whose Galaxy tablet is sparring with the iPad, jumped 2.4 per cent, while LG Electronics surged 1.27 per cent.
Greg Roh, analyst at HMC Investment Securities, said the next three to four years would be vital for Apple's rivals as the Jobs era winds down.
'South Korean tech companies should work really hard to race ahead in this crucial period of time to catch up with or outpace Apple,' he said.
Bryan Ma, at Singapore-based research firm IDC, stressed that the influence of Jobs had benefited the entire technology industry for both Apple and its rivals.
'It may be getting their (competitors') hearts pumping but it does not mean it will fall into their laps by default. They still have to work for it,' he said.
'It does not matter who the competitors are, Asian or American, for them to capitalise it's whether they have the ability to captivate the hearts and minds of consumers the way Steve Jobs has.'
Samsung has been embroiled in a series of patent lawsuits with Apple over designs and technologies in their smartphones and tablet computers.
Source : New Age
German consumer sentiment has been hit by the trans-Atlantic debt crisis and fears of a new recession, falling to its lowest level since late last year, the GfK research institute said Thursday.
GfK said its index of household confidence for September came in at 5.2 points, the lowest figure since November 2010.
That was the sixth consecutive decrease and was in line with an average analyst forecasts compiled by Dow Jones Newswires and recent other data all showing the Germany economy, Europe's biggest, beginning to slow.
GfK also revised down its August reading to 5.3 points from the initial 5.4 points.
'The worsening of the international debt crisis and rising fears of a return to recession for the global economy have clearly left their mark on the economic optimism of Germans,' the statement said.
GfK noted however that shoppers' willingness to buy has improved once again, even though they think the economy and their own incomes will worsen in the coming months.
Economy minister Philipp Roesler noted the dip in consumer confidence but insisted that it remained 'robust.'
He added in a statement that 'household confidence will remain a pillar of growth in the second half' of the year.
Berenberg Bank senior economist Christian Schulz was modestly upbeat about the latest data as well, noting that as the GfK index remained above 5.0 points it was still doing better than in any of the three previous years.
'Consumer confidence is one of the less reliable leading indicators of growth in Germany but the fact that it is decreasing at a moderate pace, and that purchasing intentions remain firm, gives reassurance that a buyers' strike is not on the cards,' Schulz said.
GfK also publishes sub-indices which refer to the current month and its economic expectations index plunged to 13.4 points from 44.6 points in July.
Personal income expectations were moderately lower.
The consumer outlook was confirmed moreover on Wednesday by the business sentiment index released by the Ifo institute, GfK said.
The Ifo index hit a 14-month low in August following its sharpest drop since 2008, a clear sign that Europe's biggest economy is faltering.
Data released by the federal statistics office has shown that the economy grew by just 0.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2011, well below the first-quarter figure of 1.3 per cent.
The central bank and government officials nonetheless expect growth overall of around 3.0 per cent this year.
Source : New Age
Bangladesh Bank on Thursday directed banks that deal with foreign trade transactions to keep open their Authorised Dealer branches at air, sea, river and land ports on August 30.
The central bank in a circular said that the government had declared three-day holiday on August 30-September 1.
The foreign trade might be hampered as there would be other government holidays and weekend before and after the Eid vacation, it said.
'In this circumstance, bank branches that deal with foreign trade will remain open on August 30,' said the circular.
Source : New Age
Gold extended losses on Thursday to fall as much as $200 from Tuesday's record high, as investors cashed in scorching gains in the metal after the CME Group hiked trading margins for the precious metal for a second time this month.
Investment appetite for gold has cooled ahead of a widely awaited central bankers' meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as speculation grows over whether or not the Federal Reserve will signal a further round of US monetary easing.
More quantitative easing — or money printing — for the Fed could significantly lift gold, but it could have further to correct if no additional action is signalled.
Spot gold was down 2.2 per cent at $1,711.99 an ounce at 7:01am EDT, having earlier touched a low of $1,702.44.
Investors have cashed in on gold's latest rally after the yellow metal surged nearly 20 per cent in early August to record highs at $1,911.46 an ounce.
'In a sense the decline is just subtracting the frothy increase (from the market),' said Mitsubishi analyst Matthew Turner. 'That increase has been going on since around $1,600 an ounce, so it is hard to see where the bottom lies.'
But the metal's overall uptrend, which has seen it climb more than 20 per cent this year, is still intact, analysts said.
'To be convinced you'd seen the top of the market you would have to see more signs of the issues that had lifted gold being resolved, such as the euro zone crisis, and US growth coming back,' said Turner.
Source : New Age
The progress of implementation of the annual development programme in July, the first month of the current fiscal year, reached four per cent, two per cent more than the corresponding month of the previous year.
According to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation division Tk 1,632 crore was utilised during this July while the amount was Tk 836 crore in the corresponding month of last year.
Of the total expenditure, the share of local funding was Tk 1,203 crore while project assistance was Tk 430 crore.
According to the IMED, the power division achieved the highest implementation rate of 14 per cent (Tk 967.36 crore) in July.
It should be mentioned that 27 ministries and divisions are yet to make any expenditure in July as they have achieved 0 per cent implementation rate. These include ministry of agriculture, ministry of environment and forests, food division, ministry of science and ICT, post and telecommunication, ministry of fisheries and livestock, disaster management and relief division, ministry of textiles and jute and housing and public works.
Among the top ministries and divisions, local government division made expenditure of Tk 468.14 crore achieving an implementation progress of 5 per cent, followed by primary and mass education ministry Tk 8.34 crore.
Education ministry's progress was 0.10 per cent (Tk 2.13 crore), health and family welfare ministry 5 per cent (Tk 49.68 crore), energy and mineral resources division 1 per cent (Tk 13.50 crore), water resources ministry 0.34 per cent (Tk 5.01 crore) and Roads and Railways Division 2 per cent (Tk 89.48 crore).
The implementation status of other ministries and divisions for the month of July: cabinet division (8 per cent), parliament secretariat (6 per cent), legislative and parliamentary affairs division (5 per cent), ministry of women and children's affairs (4 per cent), statistics division, ministry of labour and employment, ministry of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment (3 per cent), finance division, planning division, ministry of foreign affairs and home affairs (2 per cent), bank and financial division and ministry of social welfare (1 per cent).
Source : New Age
The stocks rally that begun Wednesday in the Dhaka bourse continued unabated on Thursday, the last trading session before the Eid vacation, as the investors went on buying shares in the hope that the gaining streak would roll on following the regulatory move for making a uniform face value of all the scrip and mutual fund units.
DGEN, the benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, rose by 80.50 points, or 1.31 per cent, to close the day at 6,211.99 points.
The turnover of the bourse was Tk 545.21 crore on the day, almost equal to that of Tk 544.79 crore posted on Wednesday.
Market operators said a few institutional investors went on buying on the day as the participation of retail investors was not as strong as that on the previous day.
'Retail investors were the main contributors to Wednesday's turnover through their active participation in trade but today institutional investors have taken the lead,' said a stockbroker.
He said the downtrend in the market for the past one month had pushed the prices of a number of scrip down to a reasonable level, which was also a reason for the market to rebound on Wednesday.
'You can see that the shares having a face value of Tk 100 have not outperformed those of a face value of Tk 10. This means the investors had been waiting for a positive signal and the decision to go for a uniform face value has turned out to be just that,' he said.
'Today, there was no selling pressure from investors as they knew the cash would not come in their hand before the Eid. Besides, a significant number of retail investors remained optimistic about the market situation following the move made for a uniform face value of shares,' said AIMS Bangladesh Ltd managing director Yawer Sayeed.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday decided that the face value of the scrip of all listed companies and the units of all mutual funds would have to be converted to Tk 10 by November 30 and the uniform face value would come into effect from December 1.
At present, of the 231 companies listed with the DSE, 124 have shares of Tk 100 face value and 107 of Tk 10, while 14 of the 36 mutual funds have units of Tk 100 face value, one has units of Tk 1, and the face value of the units of the rest is Tk 10.
Of the 251 issues traded on Thursday, 201 advanced, 44 declined, and six remained unchanged.
Jamuna Oil topped the list of the day's turnover leaders, with its shares worth Tk 67.28 crore changing hands. The rest on the list of Top-10 turnover leaders were Titas Gas, Lafarge Surma Cement, The City Bank Ltd, United Airways, ONE
Bank Ltd, Meghna Petroleum, Grameenphone, Square Pharmaceuticals, and Islami Bank
Bangladesh Ltd.
Source : New Age
The Dhaka bourse on Thursday suspended trading of Grameen Mutual Fund One and Grameen Mutual Fund One (Scheme Two) units as per a directive of the Securities and Exchange Commission after the funds had declared a stock dividend for the year to June 30 without taking the regulator's permission.
Grameen1 on the day announced a 25 per cent cash dividend and a 50 per cent stock dividend while GrameenS2 a 10 per cent cash dividend and a 10 per cent stock dividend for the last fiscal year.
But, a SEC member said, 'A close-ended mutual fund cannot raise its capital by issuing a stock dividend as it is against the conceptual framework of such funds.'
It is why the capital market watchdog has ordered the suspension of trading of units of both the funds, besides taking the decision of sitting with the fund managers to learn the reasons for making such a unilateral action, he explained.
The commission is scheduled to hold the meeting with the parties concerned on September 4, sources said.
The funds in their postings on the website of Dhaka Stock Exchange, however, said the announcements of the decisions taken by their trustee committees to distribute cash and stock dividends were proposals that were subject to approval of the SEC.
Source : New Age
The inter-bank call money rate jumped to 25 per cent on Thursday as clients went for mass withdrawal of cash ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Bangladesh Bank officials said the call money rate or the interest rate a bank or a non-bank financial institute charged on the money lent for a short period to other banks and NBFIs ranged between 12 and 25 per cent on Thursday, with most of the deals falling in the range of 15 to 20 per cent.
Although the BB in December 2010 asked the banks not to charge more than 12 per cent interest on cash transacted between the banks and the NBFIs, many of them have been flouting the order.
'The volume of bulk withdrawal of funds by clients for Eid shopping has been increasing in the past few days before reaching its peak today as the banks have just two more working days – August 28 and August 29 – before the Eid vacation,' said an official of a commercial bank.
Officials of a number of private banks said, as many of the banks were facing a cash crunch, they were taking short-term loans from the banks that had excess liquidity.
'The liquidity situation of many of the banks is not good as their credit-deposit ratio is high. So, they are now facing difficulties in handing out cash to their clients ahead of the Eid,' said an official of a private bank, adding that the rate might increase further in the last two working days.
The call money rate ranged between 12 and 18 per cent on Wednesday, increasing from the range of 12 to 15 per cent of the previous day.
The commercial banks of the country transacted around Tk 5,500 crore on Thursday.
BB officials said, although the call money rate hike was normal before the Eid, they would take action against the banks that were charging high rates.
The BB put the limit on the interest rate charged on inter-bank money lending when it had reached an all-time high of 190 per cent on December 19, 2010.
The call money rate had posted its earlier record high in 2006, shooting up to 150 per cent.
Source : New Age
Road communication on Sailkupa-Garaganj in Jhenaidah, which is the only road to connect the upazila from and to the district headquarters, is in bad shape causing disruption in traffic movement as the maintenance works on the roads are not furnished for past couple of years, according to locals.
The district administration office sources said that the Jessore District Council constructed the road in 1960 as the earth one. In 1965 the road was constructed as herringbones by them. Later it went under the Khunna Division Development Board.
After abolishing the KDDB in 1980s, the District Council was looking after the road. But within a few years they had stopped the maintenance work.
Both Local Government Engineering Department and Roads and Highways were maintaining the roads anyhow.
The government and other sources said that the RHD in 2007 reconstructed the road at a cost of Tk 3 crore.
But the pitch and other materials had started damaging faster as the construction work was furnished anyhow. Since then small and big potholes and cracks developed on the road that had made it unfit both for vehicles and pedestrians, the sources said.
Harun Mia, a truck driver, said that they were compelled to change the tires of his truck frequently as those were damaged faster due to cracks and potholes on the road.
Tempo driver Alim Mia of village Baroipara on Garaganj-Sailkupa road said that they had no alternative to stop plying of their vehicles until and unless it was repaired.
The executive engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department in Jhenaidah, Tamjid Sarwar, said that they had informed the higher authority regarding the matter and requested for taking step as soon as possible.
Source : New Age
Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, president Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, has been freed from Dhaka Central Jail after he secured bail from the High Court.
The jail superintendent Partha Gopal Banik told the news agency that Tuku was released on Thursday afternoon. JCD's Dhaka University unit senior joint convenor Obaidul Haque Nasir was also released the same day.
JCD leaders and activists received them at the jail gate.
Tuku was arrested on July 5 in a case filed over the killing of one Faruq Khan in an arson attack in a pre-hartal violence at Moghbazar, Dhaka on June 26 last year. Although Tuku managed to secure bail in the case, he still wasn't released as some other cases were also filed against him.
The court on Wednesday directed the police not to arrest Tuku and Nasir from the jail gate without its order.
Central JCD joint convenor Anisur Rahman Talukder Khokon, who was arrested on July 12, was also released on Wednesday afternoon.
Source : New Age
The government has taken a move to make a law for the declaration of public holidays for government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous organizations.
An inter-ministry meeting held at the secretariat on Thursday asked all ministries and divisions to give their opinion, within a week, on the proposed 'Public Holiday Announcement Bill, 2011.
Chaired by public administration ministry secretary Iqbal Mahmud, the meeting was attended by joint secretaries from various ministries and divisions, besides others, officials said.
A joint secretary of the public administration ministry told New Age that in the absence of a law the government declares public holidays each year for the celebration of national, religious and other important days through administrative order.
He said that for finalizing a bill on public holiday the opinion of all the ministries and divisions had been sought.
He said the public administration ministry already drafted the bill on the issue.
The draft bill would be placed before the cabinet meeting soon for approval, he said.
Important national days celebrated as public holidays include, Shaheed Day and International Mother Language Day on February 21, March 17 — birthday of the father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, March 26 — Independence and National Day, December 16 Victory Day.
Officials said that the government can declare other public holidays besides 14 usual public holidays in its annual calendar.
Public holiday law of New Zealand stipulates that an alternative holiday must be provided if an employee works on a public holiday.
Source : New Age
A passenger train derailed near the Chapainawabganj railway station in the morning on Thursday that suspended railway communication from Chapainawabganj to other districts.
the station master of the Chapainawabganj railway station, Moniruzzaman, said four wheels of a
compartment of the 15
Up Mohananda Express train that left from Khulna derailed at 5:00am just before entering the railway station.
The station master added that a rescue team from Amnura reached the place and started rescue operation at 8:30am.
The train communication is likely to be normal after 11:00am, the station master expected.
No casualty was reported in the the accident, he said.
Source : New Age
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed for six weeks a High Court verdict that had declared illegal the appointment of two firms of chartered accountants to audit the financial operations of Grameenphone and Banglalink.
The eight-member full bench of the Appellate Division, chaired by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, also directed the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to file a regular petition seeking permission to appeal against the High Court verdict.
The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the BTRC, seeking stay of the HC verdict.
In March the BTRC appointed two firms of chartered accountants to audit the two mobile operators after short-listing six audit firms.
Later KM Alam and Co, one of the short-listed firms that did not get the job, challenged the bidding process for its alleged anomalies.
After hearing a writ petition filed by the company, the High Court on August 18 declared the appointment of the two audit firms illegal.
Khandaker Reza-E-Raquib, BTRC's counsel, told reporters that the two audit firms could continue to audit Grameenphone and Banglalink after the Supreme Court order.
Source : New Age
Ten people were killed and 20 others injured in separate road accidents in Dhaka, Narshingdi, Lalmonirhat, Tangail, Comilla and Jhenaidah on Thursday.
In Dhaka, an unidentified man was killed at Tejgaon industrial area while a pregnant woman was critically injured at Banani in road accidents on the day.
Police said an unidentified man, aged about 35-year, was killed when a speeding truck hit him while he was crossing the road near Agriculture Science Institute at about 5:30am.
The helper of the bus driver was arrested but the driver managed to flee.
The body of the victim was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination.
In another mishap, Minara Akhter, a 30-year-old pregnant woman, was critically injured when a speeding pick-up van knocked a CNG-run three-wheeler in which she was going to Farmgate.
Local people and traffic police rescued unconscious Minara from the scene and sent her to DMCH as her condition deteriorated.
In Narsingdi, three people including one woman were killed and three others injured in a road accident near Bhatpara area in sadar upazila of the district early on Thursday.
Among the dead, one was identified as Mohammad Mintu, 35, son of Sanaullah of Jhartola village in sadar upazila. The identities of the others could not be known immediately.
Police said the accident occurred when a Ghorashal-bound CNG-run three-wheeler from Panchdona collided head-on with a covered-van from Tongi. The three died on the spot.
Police took the bodies to sadar hospital morgue for autopsy. A case was filed with sadar police station. The drivers of both the vehicles managed to flee.
New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that two people were killed in separate road accidents at Barokhata of Hatibandha upazila and Court Toli area of Patgram upazila on Wednesday night.
Police recovered the two dead bodies and sent them to Lalmonirhat sadar hospital morgue for autopsy.
The two killed persons were identified as Dulal Miah, 45, son of late Abdul Jobbar, of Court Toli village of Patgram upazila and Monsur Ali, 32, son of Hamid Mollah, from Dowani village of Hatibandha upazila in Lalmonirhat.
Police said the accident took place when a Bogra-bound stone laden truck knocked jute trader Dulal Miah when he was crossing the road at Court Toli area.
Dulal Miah was critically injured and died on the way to Patgram upazila health complex.
Transport worker Monsur Ali was killed when a speeding truck ran him over while he was crossing the road at Barokhata in Hatibandha upazila.
Two separate cases were lodged with Patgram and Hatibandha police stations.
Our Tangail correspondent said that a motorcycle rider was killed in an accident on Tangail-Mymensigh highway under Kalihati municipal area on Thursday morning.
Kalihati police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Yunus Miah said the accident took place when a Tangail-bound truck collided head-on with the motor bike, killing bike rider on the spot. Police seized the truck but its driver managed to get away.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Jobbar, son of Haji Marfot Ali of Pach Bethor village in Tangail Sadar upazila.
New Age Jhenaidah correspondent reported that a helper of a bus was killed and 15 passengers injured in a road accident in Jhenidah on Thursday morning.
The injured were taken to Kaliganj upazila health complex. The dead was identified as Palash Hossain, 24, son of Babul Gazi of village Salua under Chowgachha upazila in Jessore.
Police said that the accident occurred when a Chowgachha-bound night coach from Dhaka collided head-on with a Jhenidah-bound truck carrying cement at Kaliganj on Jhenaidah-Jessore highway.
Following the accident, traffic movement on the highway remain suspended for nearly two hours from 6:00am.
The injured persons were admitted to different local hospitals and clinics. A case was filed with respective police station in this connection.
Our correspondent in Comilla reported that a girl and her grand father were killed and another was critically injured in a road accident at Khojoriya Kapastola area on Comilla-Chandpur Road in Borura upazila on Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Dula Mia, 60, and his nine-year old grand daughter Ruma Akter.
Witnesses said the accident occurred when a Chandpur-bound microbus plunged into a roadside ditch when its driver lost control over steering at Kapastola at about 9:30am.
Source : New Age
The national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports observes Phulbari Day today to mark the 5th anniversary of the Phulbari uprising.
Three people - Aminul, Salekin and Tariqul - killed and more than a hundred were injured this day in 2006 when the police fired into a rally at Phulbari in Dinajpur.
Local committee of the national committee had organised the rally in protest at the plan for open-pit coal mining by the Asia Energy.
On August 30, the government of the time that was led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party had signed a six-point Phulbari deal with the protesters to contain the movement.
After the signing of the deal, then the leader of opposition in the parliament, Sheikh Hasina, now the prime minister and president of the Awami League, at a rally at Phulbari gave her commitment to implement the deal, when it would go to power, and said that the BNP would face serious consequences if it did not implement the deal.
But the deal has not been implemented even in two years and a half of the tenure of the Awami League-led government.
The national committee has planned various programmes to mark the day today. The local unit of the national committee will host black flags at Phulbari at 7:00am and the people will wear black badges, gather in the Phulbari crossing at 9:00am and place wreaths at the monument set up there and hold a commemoration meeting in the Nimtali crossing at 10:30am.
The central leaders of the national committee will place wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka at 9:00am.
Local non-political professional bodies will also hold programmes such as the placing of wreaths at the monument. They will also hold discussions.
The national committee convener, Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah, and the member secretary, Anu Muhammad, in a statement called on the government to implement the Phulbari agreement without further delay.
Source : New Age
The opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, has greeted the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Private secretary to the leader of the opposition ASM Saleh Ahmed handed over the Eid greetings card to prime minister's PS-1 Nazrul Islam Khan at the Prime Minister's Office at 1:30pm Thursday.
The BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, is now in Makkah to perform Umrah and scheduled to return home on August 30.
Source : New Age
The police have recovered another large haul of ammunition from Jhenaigati upazila in Sherpur.
The recovery was made in the Bara Gajani area early Thursday. A person has also been arrested in this connection.
'A total of 1,219 bullets for a Chinese rifle were recovered from under a bridge, following information from one Saiful Islam, 35, arrested earlier,' acting superintended of Sherpur police Mohammad Anisur Rahman told reporters.
On May 19, a haul of 995 rifle bullets had been recovered from Guchchhagram of Jhenaigati. Two people were arrested at that time. Five days later, 367 round bullets were again recovered from the same upazila.
Additionally a total of 13,680 rifle bullets were recovered on December 18 2010, a week before seven land mines were recovered in the same area.
Source : New Age
Hardened rebel fighters streamed into Tripoli Thursday seeking to deliver a knockout punch to Muammar Gaddafi's diehards and to flush out the elusive strongman, who has a $1.7 million price on his head.
Rebel commanders said they were also readying a new advance against forces defending Gaddafi's hometown Sirte, 360 kilometres east of Tripoli and to break a siege of Zuwarah, a town to the west.
The British defence minister, Liam Fox, said NATO was helping the rebels with intelligence and reconaissance to find Gaddafi, but the Western alliance denied his claim.
However, an AFP reporter discovered that French and British operatives are working with rebels as they press towards Sirte, amid unconfirmed reports British special forces SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago.
Leading the army of reinforcements into Tripoli were seasoned combatants from Misrata, whose fellow fighters spearheaded the weekend assault that saw the capital swiftly overrun and Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound captured.
Rebel commanders said that while they control most of Tripoli, hot spots remain where sniper fire, rocket explosions and heavy weaponry make life dangerous.
In an example of that, Tripoli's Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, where numerous foreign journalists are based, came under attack on Thursday, apparently by Gaddafi snipers, but there were no reports of casualties.
'Heavy shooting is going on in central Tripoli just at the doorstep of our hotel. Street battle. Sniper fire. Hotel under gunfire attack,' an AFP correspondent reported of the firefight, which last about 40 minutes.
The Corinthia is located a few hundred metres from the centre of Tripoli's Old City, near the sea.
The rebels are also hell-bent on finding Gaddafi, so they can proclaim final victory in an uprising that began six months ago and was all but crushed by Gaddafi's forces before NATO warplanes gave crucial air support to the rebels.
Rebel leaders say they want to put Gaddafi on trial even though he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Seif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On Wednesday, the rebel National Transitional Council offered a $1.7 million reward for the capture of Gaddafi, dead or alive, and amnesty to any members of his inner circle who kill or capture him.
The 69-year-old Gaddafi has not been seen in public for weeks. But despite losing control of the oil-rich North African country he ruled with an iron fist for 42 years, he is still managing to broadcast messages urging Libyans to drive out the 'rats' — as he disparagingly calls the rebels.
Britain's defence minister Liam Fox told Sky news that NATO is providing 'intelligence and reconnaissance assets to the NTC to help them track down Colonel Gaddafi and other remnants of the regime.'
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu denied that.
'No specific individual is a target as an individual, whether it's Gaddafi or anybody else,' she said in Brussels.
The alliance has repeatedly denied targeting Gaddafi since NATO-led warplanes began bombing regime forces in March and has always rejected claims that it was serving as the rebels' proxy air force.
'There is no military coordination with the rebels,' Lungescu said.
Meanwhile, Fox declined to comment on reports that Britain's SAS special forces were working with the rebels to track down Gaddafi.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper, quoting defence sources, said SAS members were sent to Libya several weeks ago and played a key role in coordinating the battle for Tripoli, which fell into rebel hands on Sunday.
In the oil refinery town of Zuwaytina, the new eastern front about 150 kilometres southwest of the opposition bastion Benghazi, an AFP reporter saw French and British operatives working with Libyan rebels .
They are equipped with telecommunications equipment and housed in two shipping containers, within walking distance of the headquarters of Fawzi Bukatif, commander of the eastern front.
In Tripoli's Souk Al-Jumaa, the arrival of at least 60 Misrata rebels on Wednesday sparked joy among residents.
'We are very happy. Misrata's soldiers can win anything,' said Taha Abu Zeid. 'They could even win Afghanistan.'
They were joined by rebels from the western Nafusa mountains and as far east as Benghazi, as field commanders vowed to bring the capital under full rebel control.
Fighting is concentrated along the perimeters of Bab al-Aziziya and the neighbouring Abu Slim district, where Gaddafi reportedly released, armed and paid former prisoners to fight for his regime.
The streets were quiet there Thursday after heavy fighting in the area the previous day.
Rebel commanders said Gaddafi forces were pounding insurgents holding the centre of Zuwarah, west of Tripoli, adding that they needed reinforcements to help them break the siege.
Rebels advancing towards Sirte were also blocked Wednesday in the town of Bin Jawad as loyalists kept up stiff resistance.
'Gaddafi's forces are still fighting, we are surprised. We thought they would surrender with the fall of Tripoli,' rebel commander Fawzi Bukatif said.
Meanwhile, at a press conference with the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, in Milan, NTC number two Mahmud Jibril repeated calls for urgent financial help.
'This is an urgent call upon our friends,' Jibril said, adding that the 'biggest disabling element' for the NTC 'would be the failure to deliver services and salaries' in the post-Gaddafi period.
On Wednesday, the NTC sought $5 billion in emergency aid from frozen assets at a meeting with foreign representatives from the Libya contact group in Qatar, a sum twice that announced by Jibril on Tuesday.
But at the United Nations South Africa refused to lift a block on the United States unfreezing $1.5 billion of Libyan assets to buy humanitarian aid, setting up a diplomatic showdown at the Security Council.
The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, urged the United Nations to take action to unlock the assets, at the start of a Libya Contact Group meeting of senior diplomats in Istanbul.
Source : New Age
The High Court on Thursday asked the police, Rapid Action Battalion, and Ansar to ensure that no launch could take passengers and goods beyond its capacity so as to prevent accidents.
The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Md Nuruzzaman asked the director general of shipping to explain why he would not be prosecuted on charge of contempt of court for not complying with the directives the High Court had issued in 2003, 2005, and 2009 to ensure safe launch journey.
The court also asked the government to take appropriate measures to prevent launch accidents, especially during the Eid-ul-Fitr.
It ordered to put in place a series of safety measures including running of fit and properly designed launches by efficient staff, inspecting passenger launches and all inland water transports on a regular basis to ensure that those were properly designed and built and were furnished with life-saving equipments, putting an end to plying of unfit launches, and ensuring availability of buoys and beacon lights.
It also ordered taking all the safety measures stipulated in the laws.
The court ordered the home secretary, shipping secretary, director general of shipping, chief inspector of the shipping department, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority chairman and director, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation chairman, and the Launch Owners' Association president to ensure implementation of the directives.
It also asked them to report it on the compliance with the directives by October 17.
Appropriate legal actions will be taken against any of them for any negligence in implementing the directives.
The court passed the order after hearing a supplementary petition filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association in the furtherance of a writ petition lodged by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh and the BELA in 2001.
In the original writ petition, the High Court had issued a series of directives in 2003, 2005, and 2009 for preventing launch disasters.
The court also came down heavily on the offices of the attorney general and solicitor for not taking appropriate steps for implementation of the earlier HC directives.
Source : New Age
The police on Thursday arrested Ibn Sina Hospital physician Syed Anwarul Abedin and five of the hospital employees hours after the High Court had asked the them to take legal action against physicians and nurses concerned and all the members of the hospital's trust who were sued for their alleged responsibility for the death of a newborn in the hospital on August 9. The Dhanmondi police officer-in-charge, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, told reporters that a police team had arrested physician Anwarul in the Supreme Court's premises and the other five — the hospital's general manager Aminul Islam, assistant administration officers Akter Hossain Khan and Kamrul Hasan and nurses Amena Begum Ayesha Akter — at the hospital.
He said that investigation was under way and other people responsible for the death of the child would be arrested at the instruction of the court.
Earlier, the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore also asked the Dhanmondi police to take action against the hospital's deputy general manager (marketing and media) Sultan Mahmud for filing a 'false' complaint with the police accusing the victim's parent of theft and vandalism in the hospital after baby's death.
Dhanmondi circle police assistant commissioner M Sharifur Rahman and the Dhanmondi police officer-in-charge were directed to report to the court on October 10 on steps taken against gynaecologist Shaida Sultana, paediatrician Syed Anwarul Abedin, two nurses of the hospital and others related to the hospital who were accused in the case.
The court ordered immediate arrest of the accused preventing them to seek bail in the High Court.
It also said that being a rich organisation, Ibn Sina had engaged much expensive lawyers such as Abdul Baset Majumber and Rokan Uddin Mahmud and they could move bail petitions for the accused any time. 'So you prove after arrests of the accused that the authority of the police is more than that of any other people,' the court said.
At that time, three lawyers were sitting in the front row of the jam-packed courtroom but they remained silent.
The court also directed Shaida Sultana, Anwarul Abedin and Ibn Sina trustee Quamrul Islam to appear in court on October 16 to explain their conduct.
Quamrul was accused of offering bribe to journalists before a private television channel telecast the incident.
The court, however, asked the police not to harass Ibn Sina trust chairman, Mojibor Rahman, on humanitarian grounds as he is 95 years old.
The police was also asked to inform the court on October 10 of the progress in the investigation of the case.
The court also asked the police to provide adequate security for the victim's father Idris Sikder, who had lodged the case with the Dhanmondi police on August 25 accusing the two doctors, two nurses and others of their negligence in duties which resulted in the death of the baby.
The Gulshan police was asked to provide adequate security for the television office and the journalist.
The court passed the order after hearing the statements of the father of the baby which died, the Dhanmondi zone's assistant commissioner, the officer-in-charge and the journalist, Mahbubul Alam Lablu, of the private television channel Boishakhi.
Idris told the court that his wife was admitted to the hospital at the advice of the gynaecologist on August 2 and she gave birth to a male baby through caesarean section. When he told the physician that his wife had earlier given birth to two babies naturally, the physician said that that his wife could have faced difficulty in giving birth to the child naturally, he added.
After the surgery, Idris was told that the baby was well and his mother was unconscious.
The gynecologist was later paid Tk 15,000 for the surgery and the hospital was paid Tk 26,000 for the medical treatment.
The paediatrician later told Idris that the baby needed to be kept in the incubator as he had respiratory problems. The baby was kept in the incubator which cost the family Tk 4,000 a day and his mother was discharged from the hospital.
Idris was called to the hospital at night on August 8 and was asked to pay the incubator bill but he was not allowed to see the baby.
The next day, Idris was told that the baby had died.
Idris told the court that the paediatrician had told him that there were been mistakes in the treatment the diagnosis had been wrong.
When the court asked him why he had not lodged any case against the people responsible for the death before the matter reached the court, Idris said that he had gone to Bhola as his mother died soon after the baby's death.
The Boishakhi television channel reporter Mahbubul Alam told the court that he had investigated the incident based on the reports published in the daily Manabzamin on August 10.
During his investigation, the hospital's trustee Quamrul Islam offered him a handsome amount of money and requested him not to proceed with the story. The story was later aired on August 15.
Lablu also said that later he had not responded to Quamrul's calls and telecast the report. He also submitted to the court a disc with records of the conversation between him and the trustee.
In their statement, the police said that they were not aware of the incident. On receiving the court order, they had communicated with Idris on Wednesday and recorded a first information report filed against the two physicians and two nurses.
On August 17, the court issued a rule suo moto asking the hospital authorities why they should not be punished for their reported negligence in saving the life of a newborn.
On the day, the court also asked the hospital authorities to appear in the court to explain their conduct.
The court passed the order taking cognisance of the Boishakhi's television report aired on August 15 saying that three newborns had because of negligence of the hospital authorities. The physicians even had kept the bodies of the babies for three days and had not allowed the parents to see the bodies of the deceased babies.
On August 23, the High Court also ordered the hospital authorities to submit by October 9 its wealth statement. The court asked the Ibn Sina authorities to inform the court of the assets the hospital had when it began functioning and the assets it now has.
The order came following a prayer by the attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, during the hearing in the rule suo moto.
Source : New Age
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday assured the people that her government was working sincerely to resolve the existing problems and urged them to keep their patience.
Pointing out the reasons for some basic problems such as soaring prices, traffic congestion, power shortage, run-down conditions of roads and highways and traffic accidents, she that the matters would be addressed and asked the people not to get frustrated.
'There are problems but we are working to address them. There is noting to be frustrated. You [people] keep your patience,' said the leader of the house in her speech that wound up the 10th session of the ninth parliament.
Hasina also said that the government had given priority to the food, agriculture and power sectors for which adequate fund for road repair could not be given.
She said that the damaged roads would be repaired before Eid but the road rehabilitation work would begin in the dry season.
'I suggested that the communications minister should not begin road rehabilitation work amid rainfall and he should wait for the dry season,' she said, adding that she instructed the minister to just fill the potholes and craters just for vehicle movement and asked the finance minister to release some more fund.
She said that all the money would go down the drain if the government wanted to repair the roads now.
As for run-down condition of the roads, she said that excessive rainfall and the plying of overloaded trucks were responsible for the situation and the government was planning to buy weighing machines to detect the overloading of vehicles.
She also said that the previous BNP government had allowed the establishment of CNG filling stations and other structures by the roads without keeping drains, which resulted in water stagnation on the road.
The prime minister said that an increased number of cars that ply the roads were responsible for the traffic congestion.
'It will not work if you [people] blame the government for the congestion. You also have a role to play,' said Hasina, adding that middle-class people who had no car were using a number of cars on becoming financially solvent.
The prime minister said that frequent traffic accidents were unfortunate but a number of people, including members of the so-called civil society, who drive cars did not have genuine licences or did not have any idea of traffic rules.
'We are planning to hold training for drivers who do not know traffic rules well,' she said.
Hasina said that her government had added 2,000MW of power in two years and a half and hoped that the power shortage would be also resolved gradually.
'We handed over power to the BNP with a generation of 2,000MW of electricity in 1996 but the BNP and the interim government failed to increase the generation even by a single megawatt in nine years,' she said.
The prime minister said that her party had assumed office when the whole world was mired in rescission but her government had tried to keep prices stable.
She said that although prices were high, the earning of the people had almost doubled.
She also said that the AL-led government was much hopeful that it would be able to keep its election-time pledges before it would serve out its tenure.
Source : New Age
The parliamentary standing committee on the communications ministry on Thursday asked the ministry to take measures to prevent undue intervention of the shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, into communications ministry affairs.
The committee at a meeting also decided not to invite further the shipping minister to its meeting in the future in the capacity of a minister, sources attending the meeting said.
A BNP member on the committee demanded resignation of the communications minister for irregularities in the communications sector and of the shipping minister for his unauthorised intervention in the issuance of driving licences, the sources said.
The sources added that the committee had discussed the present situation of the communications sector and observed that some issues such as the condition of roads and highways, pressure exerted by the shipping minister on the issuance of driving licences and traffic accidents.
'We recommended that the communications ministry should take measures so that the shipping minister could not intervene into the affairs under the jurisdiction of our ministry by any means,' committee member Golam Mawla Rony told New Age, adding that the committee decided not to invite the shipping minister to its meeting in the future.
The committee members also said that Shajahan could attend the committee as a labour leader leaving the portfolio of a minister if he was interested.
The meeting observed that the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority had issued about 1.75 lakh driving licences without test and asked the authorities to clarify the reason for it. It also asked the authorities whey they were not taking measures to cancel the licences.
The committee also decided to issue a show-cause notice to former chief engineer of the Roads and Highways for the run-down road conditions that persisted for two months, the sources said.
It also appointed a sub-committee set up earlier to investigate the alleged corruption and irregularities in the Roads and Highways Department.
Headed by Golam Mawla Rony, the three-member subcommittee was asked to submits a detailed report on the present condition of the roads and to figure out the reasons for such condition, the sources said.
'It is unlikely that there was no corruption in the communications sector. We assigned one of the sub-committees to investigate the matter,' the committee chair, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, told reporters after the meeting.
He also said that the committee had recommended stern action against the issuance of forged licences.
BNP lawmaker Nazrul Islam Manju at the beginning of the meeting urged the chairman to include into agenda the road situation, accidents and contradiction between the finance and communications ministers by cancelling agenda that was scheduled and demanded resignation of the shipping and the communications minister.
'I have demanded that the communications minister should resign for his failure to repair the roads and that the shipping minister should resign for his unauthorised intervention in the issuance of licences for drivers,' Manju told New Age after the meeting.
Committee member Omar Faruk Chowdhury told New Age that they had raised the issue of road situation repeatedly but the ministry did not listed to their calls.
'If the minister could have taken necessary measures based on our recommendations, he could have avoided the blame now,' he said.
The committee also expressed its disappointment at the increased number of snatching incidents on highways and recommended that the Highway Police should be brought under the communications ministry.
Source : New Age