Mother shot at by addict son

A drug addict fired at his mother as she had refused to give him money at village Najirpur at Baufal upazila in the district.

The Baufal police arrested the 32-year old man, Sohag, following a case filed by his mother Nurunnahar, and producing him in court on Wednesday sought five-day remand.

Referring to Nurunnahar, the police said that Sohag was jobless and a chronic drug abuser and used to pester his mother for money. On the day of incident at about 8:00pm he shot at his mother from a pistol but failed to hurt her.

Sohag was later caught by his neighbours and handed over to the police.

Baufal police Naresh Chandra Karmakar told New Age that they needed to question Sohag for the recovery of the pistol.

Local UP chairman Ibrahim Faruq also said that Sohag was a long-time drug addict and the local people had earlier complained about his tormenting his mother for money.

Source : New Age

20 buses vandalized

Commuters in Chittagong city vandalised over 20 buses for charging more than the fare fixed by the government. They went on a rampage on Wednesday morning at Bahadderhat, and later the violence spread to Muradpur, Sholo Shahar and the environs of the No 2 Gate.

The violence erupted between furious commuters and transport workers over the charging of excessive fare. Vehicular movement was suspended in several routes of the city till 12:30pm due to the clashes.

Hundreds of people were seen waiting vainly for buses in many places of the city after the clashes, and it was the students of schools and colleges who suffered most due to the suspension of vehicular movement.

Ismail Hossain, officer-in-charge of Panchlaish thana, told New Age that one person was arrested in connection with the violence.

Nurul Alam Chowdhury, general secretary of the Chittagong City Bus, Minibus, Human Hauler Owners' Association, said, 'We have decided to file a General Diary with the police in this connection. We sought help from the police during the violence, but they could not help us as the state minister for home affairs was due in the city.'

During a spot visit, it was seen that though a few ticket counters had been set up in the city, there were no countermen in them. Chittagong City Corporation's mayor, M Manjurul Alam, on July 25 inaugurated the ticket counter service at New Market in the city.

There are a total of 12 routes in Chittagong city which are plied by minibuses and human haulers of 6 transport associations.

Source : New Age

India, Pakistan ministers hail ‘new era’ in ties

India and Pakistan's foreign ministers insisted relations were back on track Wednesday after peace talks that highlighted a 'new era' of cooperation over the ruptures of the past.

Although their meeting in New Delhi produced little in the way of substantive agreements, the tone was one of forward-looking optimism that acknowledged a joint responsibility to bring stability to South Asia.

It was the first meeting of the arch-rivals' foreign ministers for a year, and followed the formal resumption in February of the comprehensive peace dialogue suspended by India after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

After the talks, the Indian foreign minister, SM Krishna, said ties were back 'on the right track,' while his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar spoke of a 'mindset change' that had ushered in a 'new era of cooperation'.

'We have some distance to travel, but with an open mind and a constructive approach ... I am sure we can reach our desired destination of having a friendly and cooperative relationship,' Krishna said.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them triggered by their territorial dispute over Kashmir, which remains a major hurdle in any future comprehensive peace deal.

Khar said the peace dialogue was now an 'uninterruptable' process that both countries were committed to taking forward.

'A new generation of Indians and Pakistanis will see a relationship that will hopefully be much different from the one that has been experienced in the last two decades,' she said.

A joint statement outlined the commitment of both sides to fight militancy, boost trade and keep the peace process going.

Khar, Pakistan's first female foreign minister, was appointed last week and, at just 34 years of age, some had questioned whether she was experienced enough to handle one of the world's most fraught cross-border relationships.

At 79, Krishna is 45 years her senior.

The pre-talks atmosphere had been soured by Khar's decision to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders immediately after her arrival in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Source : New Age

Higher pass rate, more GPA 5 scorers mark HSC results

Results of the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations this year has shown a significant increase in the number of the highest grade scorers.

The pass percentage has also increased, according to the results published on Wednesday.

The total number of GPA 5 scorers this year is 39,769, up by 10,765 than the figure of the past year.

The combined pass rate this year is 75.08, which is a 0.80 percentage point increase on the figure of the past year. The combined pass rate in 2010 was 74.28.

The results have also shown that there are 6,595 in 7,179 institutions where more than a half of the students have become successful.

A total of 7, 64,828 examinees — 4, 13,675 male and 3, 51,153 female — of 7,179 educational institutions took the examinations at 2,035 centres.

Of them, 5,74,261 students passed the examinations and this is higher by 40,892 than the figure of the past year.

The examinations were held in April 5–May 31.

As in previous years, madrassah students have done well than the general students in terms of the pass percentage.

A total of 76,015 students took the examinations under the Madrassah Education Board. Of them, 68,086 students passed the exams.

The pass rate in the Madrassah Education Board is 89.57, which is a 3.02 per cent increase on the figure of the past year. A total of 4,276 students scored GPA 5 in the Madrassah Education Board, which is up by 1,319 on the figure of the past year.

A total of 62,654 students took the exams under the Technical Education Board. Of them, 52,662 students have come out successful, accounting for a pass rate of 84.05. A total of 728 students scored GPA 5 under the board.

A total of 6, 22,227 students took the exams under the eight general education boards. Of them, 4,50,254 passed the exams which accounts for a pass rate of 72.36. A total of 34,385 students scored GPA 5 under the general education boards.

The pass rate in the Rajshahi education board is 79.01, which is the highest among the general education boards.

The pass rate is 76.89 in the Dhaka board, 68.68 in the Comilla board, 63.37 in the Jessore board, 71.03 in the Chittagong board, 71.12 in the Barisal board, 75.68 in the Sylhet board and 66.18 in the Dinajpur board.

The number of GPA 5 scorers in the eight general education board is 34,385. As in the previous year, the number of GPA 5 scores is the highest in the Dhaka board.

A total of, 17,786 students scored GPA 5 in the Dhaka board, 5,588 in the Rajshahi board, 1,389 in the Comilla board, 3,370 in the Jessore board, 1,795 in the Chittagong board, 1,310 in the Barisal board, 887 in the Sylhet board and 2,280 in the Dinajpur board.

The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, announced the results at the secretariat at 12:30pm. Nahid earlier handed over the results of all boards to the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in the morning.

Results were also available on the Dhaka education board web site at www.educationboardresults.gov.bd and by sending text messages to mobile operators.

This year, for the first time, the results were sent to educational institutions by e-mail. As this is for the first time, a hard copy of the results was also sent.

Nahid said that combined efforts of the education ministry, education boards, and district and upazila administrations were behind the good results.

He said that in the past, most students failed in English and mathematics. This year, special efforts by the ministry have contributed to the good results, he added.

The number of students expelled from exams halls because of cheating increased to 735 from 608 in the past year. The figure was 664 in 2009, 785 in 2008 and 1,046 in 2007, according to statistics.

All the students passed in 892 educational institutions this year and it is higher by 178 than the number of such institutions in the past year.

No students passed in 24 educational institutions. The number of such institutions was 23 in the past year.

Source : New Age

310 more people indicted

A Dhaka court on Wednesday charged 310 more people with murder and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in February 25–26, 2009.

With the 310, the court has so far charged 740 people, including civilians and border guard soldiers out total 847 accused in the case.

Earlier on July 20, the court framed charges against 430 people, including former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali, and a number of deputy assistant directors for murder and 25 other criminal offences committed during the rebellion.

Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Mohammad Jahurul Haque on Wednesday began framing charges against the accused persons by reading out their charges and the court asked whether the accused pleaded guilty or not. None of the accused pleaded guilty.

The court started framing charges against the accused at the makeshift courthouse set up on the Aliya Madrassah ground at Bakshi Bazar in the capital amid tightened security, power outages and excessive hot weather on the day.

The court read out the charges against the accused individually in the overcrowded room till 1:05pm with two breaks including a 30-minute break for power outage.

Most of the accused wanted to say something when the charges were being framed but the court did not allow anyone to speak.

The court did not pay heed to their speech and just asked, 'Tell me, you pled guilty or not.'

A middle-aged civilian accused, Javed, told the court that there was nobody to whom 'we can tell our plight... I was picked up from a roadside tea-stall by the law enforcers one year ago on charge of BDR carnage and I was implicated with the charges...'

The court did not allow him to complete his sentence and asked him to answer whether he pleaded guilty or not.

As the court asked accused Subedar Elias whether he was accused or not, he replied, 'I was asked to be one of the witnesses of the case. As I denied doing so, I was made an accused.'

During framing of charges, Arshad Ali, another accused, requested the court to tell him the number of witnesses to the charges brought against him.

But the court denied telling him the number of witnesses set for him, saying, 'There is no opportunity to do so.'

Many of the accused told the court that they were arrested one year after the mutiny took place in their headquarters.

Nayeb Subedar Nurul Islam told the court that he was arrested one year after the mutiny took place in the headquarters while he was not involve with mutiny.

During the proceedings, an apparently sick accused, Nayek Shahidul, told the court that he was suffering from diabetics, paralysis and other diseases.

He applied to the court for a directive so that his fetters and shackle, and hand-cuff could be removed. The court, however, did not give any directives.

At once, one of defence counsels, Sultan Mahmud, approached the dais and requested the court to consider the rights of the accused as they were most of the time kept with hand-cuffs, fetters and shackles.

As excessive heat made the court proceedings difficult, some defence counsels, including Faruque Ahmed and Sultan Mahmud, at about 1:00pm requested the court to adjourn the proceedings for the day.

The court agreed to adjourn the proceedings. 'It is very hot. We are uncomfortable due to excessive heat and the accused are hungry,' the presiding judge said while adjourning the proceedings till August 10.

But one of the prosecutors, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, snatching the microphone from the defence lawyers, repeatedly requested the court to continue with a short break. The court, however, denied continuing.

Of the accused, 829 including Nasir Uddin and Torab Ali, a retired Subedar, were present in the courtroom.

The Criminal Investigation Department filed two cases — one under the Penal Code for murder, arson, robbery and other crimes and the other under the Explosive Substances Act for illegally taking up arms — against 850 border guard personnel and civilians.

Three of the accused have meanwhile died and they were not indicted. Twenty of the accused are still in hiding.

A total of 75 people, including 57 army officers, were killed at Pilkhana, the headquarters of the BDR in course of the mutiny on February 25-26, 2009.

Source : New Age

Dhaka, Delhi to sign deal

Bangladesh and India are going to sign an agreement on 'coordinated border management plan' to check crimes such as killing, trafficking in persons and drug smuggling in the borders of the two neighbouring countries during the official visit of India's home minister to Dhaka in July 29–30.

The Indian home minister, P Chidambaram, scheduled to arrive in Dhaka tomorrow, will hold a meeting with her counterpart Sahara Khatun at the secretariat on Saturday morning to discuss border security, border management and the planned move for enclave exchange now in adverse possession between the two countries, said a senior official at the home affairs ministry.

The chiefs of India's s Border Security Force and the Border Guard Bangladesh are expected to sign the deal on July 30. 'This is for the first time that India and Bangladesh are planning a coordinated border management, especially to reduce the number of casualties of civilians,' joint secretary of the home ministry Kamal Uddin Ahmed told New Age on Wednesday.

He said that both the countries would strengthen patrol in 'designated areas' along the borders to check cross-border crimes and illegal movement of persons.

The Joint Boundary Working Group headed by joint secretaries of the two countries has prepared the draft of the document. The group will sit at the BGB headquarters in Dhaka today to give a final touch to the draft.

Kamal Uddin, also leading the Joint Boundary Working Group from the Bangladesh side, said that India usually attributed the cause of casualties to illegal movement of civilians along the border. 'So we have decided to strengthen patrol in designated areas along the borders.'

Both the countries have agreed to sign the deal to jointly manage 700 'vulnerable stretches' to contain crimes along the borders between the two countries, officials concerned said.

'The  two governments have been working for about two years on a joint border management plan to reach an agreement on managing 700 vulnerable stretches along the borders. The stretches have been created by rivers or infrastructures. Most of the cross-border crimes are committed at these points,' an official said.  

Chidambaram will visit Dhaka at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Sahara Khatun. 

The agreement on the coordinated border management plan would be inked in line with the Land Boundary Agreement signed in 1974 between the two countries.   

The two countries formed the working group headed by the joint secretaries of their home ministries in 2002 to settle issues involving territories in adverse possession, enclaves and demarcation of 6.5 kilometres of un-demarcated border areas. Bangladesh and India share a 4,098-kilometre porous border.

Source : New Age

Six robbery suspects lynched

Six men said to be getting away after committing a robbery and killing a grocer were beaten to death at Companyganj in Noakhali early Wednesday.

The police arrested three other robbery suspects at the place at Miarteka of Charkakra in the upazila.

The Companyganj police officer-in-charge, Moham-mad Rafique Ullah, and the local people said that a group of about 25 men had burgled into houses of Wadud Mia, Seraj Mia and Mafiz Mia and looted valuables at gunpoint about 3:00am.

Local people rushed to the spot as the occupants of the houses cried out for help after the group had left. On reaching Miarteka, the group tried to break into the shop of Mosharaf Hossain Masud and shot dead Mosharraf when he cried out for help.

The local people had reached the place by the time and captured nine of them. Six were beaten to death and the police rescued the remaining three. Others managed to get away firing shots.

The four of the people beaten to death who could be identified are Alauddin, 30, Pichchi Kalam, 25, Faruk, 28, and Negro Helal, 25. 

The additional superintendent of police in Noakhali AFM Nizam Uddin said the people beaten to death had robbery cases against them.

The police, having recovered the bodies from the spot, sent them to the Noakhali Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations.

The arrested are Nur Islam, 22, Abdullah, 26, and Mohammad Rubel, 20. The police also recovered four knives, four mobiles and 15 bullets from them.

According to statistics provided by human rights organisation Odhikar, 75 people were beaten to death across the country in January–June 2011.

Source : New Age

Local govt taxes may increase

The government at the deputy commissioners' annual conference on Wednesday hinted at an increase in taxes of city corporations and municipalities to improve their services.

'We have laid stress on tax increase to increase revenue collection and improve service delivery by local government bodies such as city corporations and municipalities,' the LGRD and cooperatives minister, Syed Ashraful Islam, told reporters after a working session at the secretariat.

He said that the deputy commissioners had sought more allocations for local government bodies that include upazila and union councils.

The deputy commissioners sought legal authority to monitor the implementation of development programmes directly related to public welfare.

The minister said that it would be impossible to improve service delivery by local government bodies without an increase in revenue. The city corporation taxes were last revised in 1998 as most local representatives are against any moves to increase taxes, he added.  

'We have asked them to take measures to increase revenue collections to strengthen local government bodies. It is not possible to improve and expand services without increasing the revenue of local government bodies,' Ashraful said.  The deputy commissioners in another session of the three-day conference that began on Tuesday asked the commerce ministry to provide them with lists of dealers and distributors of essential commodities so that they could strengthen market surveillance, a number of deputy commissioners told New Age.

They said that in most of the cases, dealers were politically influential and local administrations find it tough to control them.

In the absence of the minister, the commerce secretary, Ghulam Hossain, assured the district administrators that the ministry would provide them with the lists in a week.

The matter came to be discussed amid soaring prices and shortage of sugar and cooking oil which are still selling for prices higher than what the government set in view of Ramadan.

Inaugurating the conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, asked all the deputy commissioners and seven divisional commissioners to guard against attempts at price manipulation in Ramadan, beginning in the first week of August.

She asked the deputy commissioners to be more active in Ramadan so that unscrupulous traders could not increase prices through manipulations. 

Nine working sessions dealing with the ministries of communications, social welfare, commerce, agriculture, fisheries, local government, labour, expatriates' welfare, health, food and public administration and the Prime Ministers' Office were held on the second day of the conference to be concluded today.

The Dhaka deputy commissioner recommended legal authority for them so that they could monitor the government's development programmes.

The Gazipur deputy commissioner asked for strengthening tax collection while the Lakhshmipur deputy commissioner proposed to double the rate for the lease of government land to increase revenue.

A number of deputy commissioners complained against deputations of an increased number of personnel from the Armed Forces to civil administration.

Deputy commissioners of Kishoreganj, Gopalganj and Rangpur asked the public administration ministry to increase the ceiling of their fuel from 200 litres to 300 litres.

The Gopalganj deputy commissioner asked the PMO for more coordination in local administrations to monitor the activities of non-governmental organisations.

Source : New Age

HSC results today

The results of this year's Higher Secondary Certificate and its equivalent examinations will be published simultaneously today.

The results will be released at 2:00pm through the respective centres, educational institutions, websites of all education boards and also short message services (SMS) of different mobile phone operators, officials said.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will announce the results at a press conference at his ministry after handing over the copy of the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Students have been asked to collect their results from respective centres or educational institutions. Heads of all academic institutions have been advised to receive the result sheets from the officials of the respective centres.

The examinees can get their results directly from the website -- www.educationboardresults.gov.bd

The results will also be sent to the email addresses of the colleges and madrasas that had submitted their addresses earlier.

Results will not be available at the education boards, education ministry and newspaper offices.

A total of 7,79,441 students registered for this year's exams in 2,074 centres under 10 education boards.

Around 6,29,619 lakh students took the exams under eight general education boards while 76,957 sat the Alim exams under madrasa board and 68,961 BM exams under technical board.

Source : The Daily Star

BNP, Jamaat demonstrations tomorrow

BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami will stage demonstrations across the country tomorrow protesting price hike of essentials, issuance of arrest warrants against Tarique Rahman and demanding release of detained leaders.

BNP and Jamaat's acting secretaries general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and ATM Azharul Islam announced the programme yesterday from separate press briefings at their respective central offices at Nayapaltan and Moghbazar.

Before addressing the media, Mirza Alamgir chaired a joint meeting of his party leaders. The meeting discussed the country's latest political situation including arrest warrants against party's Senior Vice-chairman Tarique Rahman.

Two Dhaka courts recently issued arrest warrants against Tarique in connection with the August 21 grenade attack cases.

"The government has failed to run the country. Prices of essentials are already beyond people's power of purchase. This situation must be improved before Ramadan," Alamgir told the newsmen.

He also threatened to declare more agitation programmes even during the holy month of Ramadan if the government fails to check the price spiral.

The Jamaat acting secretary general at his briefing censured the government for its "absolute failure to control soaring prices of essentials."

People are annoyed with the government and that is why they (govt) have scrapped the caretaker government system aiming to hold a one-party poll to stay in power, mentioned Azharul.

Parliament on June 30 passed the 15th amendment to the constitution. It annulled the caretaker government provision making way for the next general election to be held under the incumbent government.

Source : The Daily Star 

5 Hizb-ut Tawhid men held

At least five activists of the Islamist outfit Hizb-ut Tawhid, including the district Ameer were arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) Monday night in front of Northern University in Rajshahi city.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab-5 arrested the district Ameer Md Mizanur Rahman along with four activists as they gathered in front of the university to hold a meeting around 8:00pm, Rab officials said.

The arrestees, Md Azizul Haque, 24, Tota Sheikh, 38, Md Abdul Hasan, 25 and Md Moniruzzaman, 39, were handed over to Motihar Police Station.

All arrestees confessed to their involvement with the outfit, said Akbar Ali, officer-in-charge of the station.

Rab also recovered a Jihadi book, six notebooks containing information about the outfit and 10 mobile phone sets from their possession.

The outfit which is not banned yet was hurting religious sentiments of Muslims by propagating their ideology.

Source : The Daily Star 

Tarique's Arrest In Aug 21 Case: Cops asked to report by Aug 11

The prosecution yesterday drew flak from the court for its failure to submit any progress report on arrest of Tarique Rahman and 11 others in August 21 grenade attack cases.

Also, the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court directed heads of different police stations to submit by August 11 their reports on the execution of warrant against the 12, who are yet to be held.

An additional public prosecutor on condition of anonymity told The Daily Star police negligence in submitting reports on execution of warrants for their arrest would delay the start of trial.

Meantime, pro-BNP lawyers yesterday brought out a procession on the court premises, demanding withdrawal of names of BNP's Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique and other leaders from the grenade attack cases.

Earlier on Monday, another Dhaka court asked Tarique to appear before it on August 8 in connection with a money laundering case.

Tarique, also the elder son of former premier Khaleda Zia, and the 11 are among the charge-sheeted accused in two cases filed following the attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004.

The court on July 14 issued arrest warrant against Tarique and 11 others in a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act.

Also yesterday, thirty-one accused including Lutfozzaman Babar, former state minister for home; Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general; Abdus Salam Pintu, former BNP deputy minister; the three former inspectors general of police and three former CID officials and Harkatul Jihad (Huji) chief Mufti Abdul Hannan were produced before the court during a hearing.

Another accused, Ariful Islam Arif, a ward councillor of Dhaka City Corporation and now out on bail, was also present in the court.

Judge Mohammad Zahurul Hoque asked Syed Rezaur Rahman, chief counsel for the grenade attack cases, to explain why they failed to place the reports and he got no satisfactory answer.

The court further asked the prosecution why police were making so much delay in submitting reports on the execution of the arrest order while it takes only two to three days.

It also rejected the bail petitions of eight accused including three top police officers--Ashraful Huda, Khoda Baksh Chowdhury and Shahudul Haque--and three former CID officials who probed the cases earlier and reportedly forced Joj Miah, a Noakhali youth, to make false confessional statements.

The court will hear the bail petition, submitted on behalf of Babar, on August 11.

On July 3, a metropolitan magistrate's court issued arrest warrants against 18 accused in a murder case lodged for killing 24 Awami League leaders and workers in the gruesome attack.

Earlier that day, the Criminal Investigation Department submitted supplementary charge sheets in the August 21 blast cases, accusing 30 including the 18.

The CID on June 11, 2008, submitted charge sheets in the cases against 22 people, including Pintu and 21 Huji men.

Source : The Daily Star 

Remarks on Charter, SC Amini, Azharul have to face HC

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the High Court orders that summoned Fazlul Haque Amini and ATM Azharul Islam for their derogatory remarks about the constitution and the apex court.

Following the decision, Amini, president of a faction of Islami Oikyo Jote, and Azharul, acting secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, will have to appear before the HC to explain their comments.

Giving "no order" on the petitions by Amini and Azharul seeking stay on the HC order, Appellate Division chamber judge said there is no such precedent, Manzill Murshid, counsel for the writ petitioners, told The Daily Star.

The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore on July 20 summoned Amini to appear before it on August 2 to clarify his remark about the country's charter.

On July 25, the same bench ordered Azharul to appear before it on August 8 to explain his comments about the SC.

The orders came following separate writ petitions.

Amini at a meeting in the city's Lalbagh on July 14 reportedly said the recently-amended constitution will be thrown in the dustbin.

Azharul on July 19 at a press conference said that the government scrapped the caretaker government system by exploiting the SC.

Source : The Daily Star