Sunday Bangladesh Information

Dialogues enter uncharted waters Govt, parties drive hard bargains Nazrul Islam
The ongoing dialogues between the military-controlled government and political parties seem to have entered uncharted waters with the incumbents trying to impose their own agenda under cover of reforms and major parties pressing for release of their top leaders before parliamentary polls. Qualitative changes in politics by way of reforms – the avowed objective of the government-sponsored protracted dialogue – have apparently been sidelined with stakeholders trying to drive hard bargains for gains. The government seems to have entered behind-the-scenes negotiations with major political parties beside the dialogues, by which, political observers believe, the administration wants to impose certain agenda. The analysts cast doubt on the prospects of the ongoing dialogue and implementation of the recommendations derived from the talks because of the government’s tendency to impose its agenda under cover of political reforms and attempts to eject some leaders from the political scenes. They believe that the government and the parties were still sticking to their guns over a slew of issues despite efforts, overt and covert, for compromise. ‘Imposing anything from outside will hardly do any good to politics, especially if it is related to reforms. It must come from within the political process’, Talukdar Muniruzzaman, a noted political scientist, told New Age on Saturday. He accused the government of being biased in favour of a certain political party. Public perception is that the government has bias for the Awami League…, he said. Muniruzzaman, who taught political science at Dhaka University for long, feared that many things on the reform agenda were aimed at paving the way for strangers to intrude into the political scene. ‘That is why they are pleading for a balance of power between top constitutional positions’, he added. The government started the process for dialogues through chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed’s address to the nation in January, a year after more than 100 top politicians were detained after its takeover. But it failed to bring all the parties to the talks despite its repeated claims that efforts were on to ensure participation of all in the dialogues and parliamentary polls, promised to be held in December this year. It took the government six months to prepare the ground for the dialogues, and nearly a month in April for parleys before the formal phase of the talks started in late May after the chief adviser again addressed the nation suggesting a ‘national charter’ on the basis of consensus on relevant matters prior to the elections to bring about qualitative changes in governance and the political system after the polls. The head of the government had also floated the idea of ‘balance of power’ between the top constitutional positions – president and prime minister. His proposals are also being pursued at the bilateral meetings between the government and the parties at the Chief Adviser’s Office. It so far held talks with 17 political parties, including the Awami League and the Jatiya Party, representatives of business community and a group of union parishad chairmen in Dhaka and with two civic groups outside the capital. But it failed to bring the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies, which announced a five-point demand, to the dialogue. The conditions put forward by the BNP-led four-party alliance for joining the dialogue include unconditional release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, and other political detainees, withdrawal of all cases against them, lifting of the state of emergency and national elections before all other polls. An adviser to the interim administration said that the process of negotiations with the parties continued. ‘We hope we will be able to bring all the parties to the dialogue, and the election as well’, commerce and education adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman said. The Awami League, the other major political party, meanwhile, had an inconclusive meeting with the government. At the talks the AL leaders placed a set of demands including permanent bail for the party chief Sheikh Hasina, who is visiting North America for treatment after being released from jail by an administrative order, lifting of the emergency and national elections before other polls. The parties at the meetings generally asked the government to lift the state of emergency, hold parliamentary elections first, create an atmosphere conducive to elections and take steps to ease the sufferings of the people caused by rocketing prices. They also asked the government to concentrate on holding the elections and stop pursuing the idea of constitution amendments. They said the matter should be left for the next elected parliament to decide. A few parties, born after the military-backed government assumed office in January, 2007, and some civic groups were in tune with the government’s proposals at the dialogues. They advocated elections under the state of emergency, local polls preceding the national election, balance of power between the president and the prime minister, formation of a constitution commission, a national consensus government for a few years, a ban on political party-linked student and workers politics and enactment of laws banning hartals and strikes. The government lauded the recommendations saying that it must initiate the process before the polls. ‘We cannot sit idle. We should initiate the matters with courage although these issues would be dealt with by an elected parliament’, commerce and education adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman had told reporters after a meeting recently. After the meeting with the Awami League on Thursday that remained inconclusive, the adviser said that the matters would be taken up without undermining the authority of the parliament. Asked whether the on-going dialogue could result in qualitative changes in politics and governance, Ataur Rahman, professor of political science at Dhaka University, told New Age that it was still unclear to him. The parties and the government still stick to their respective positions. The government wants a guarantee that its activities would get legitimacy after the elections while the parties do not seem so serious about it. According to the government plan, a document will be prepared after the end of the series of dialogues based on the issues agreed upon. The document might be sent to the parties for signing to forge a consensus on national issues.
AL in dilemma over mayoral candidature for Rajshahi, Sylhet Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee
The Awami League is in a dilemma over nominating mayoral candidates for the Rajshahi and Sylhet city corporation polls as the party and the combine partners have more than one candidates for the posts. The party along with the allies have already confirmed candidates for the mayoral posts for the Khulna and Barisal city corporation polls. It will decide on the candidates for the polls to Rajshahi and Sylhet city corporations by July 12, a day before the last date for candidature withdrawal. The polls to the four city corporations and nine municipalities are scheduled for August 4. The Awami League on June 27 decided to contest the local government elections along with its alliance partners under banner of Nagarik Committee as the elections to the local bodies are non-partisan and the combine led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party decided to boycott the polls. The Awami League is now in trouble in choosing mayoral candidates for Rajshahi and Sylhet as the combine have more than one candidates for the posts along with some rebel candidates. Eighteen Awami League leaders have submitted nomination papers for the mayoral posts of four city corporations. Four of them submitted nomination papers for the Khulna mayoral post. They are city AL president Talukdar Abdul Khaleque, city AL general secretary Mijanur Rahman Mijan, joint secretary Mallik Abid Hossain Kabir and city committee member Enayet Ali. Four of them submitted nominations for Barisal mayoral post. They are city AL convener Shawkat Hossain Hiron, city AL joint convener Alamgir Khan Alo, district AL joint secretary Rejaul Huq Harun and Juba League leader Masidul Huq Khan Mamun. The Awami League has already decided to give the combine ticket to Talukdar Abdul Khaleque for the Khulna mayoral post and Shawkat Hossain Hiron for the Barisal mayoral post. Three of the leaders submitted nominations for the Rajshahi mayoral post. They are city AL president Maksudul Haque Dulu and general secretary AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, and central Juba League leader Nasir Ahmed Babul. Fazle Hossain Badsha, a member on the Workers Party politburo, also submitted nomination paper for the Rajshahi mayoral post. The combine is in a dilemma in choosing one from among Liton and Badsha as its candidate for the position of the Rajshahi mayor. Awami League leaders at its central working committee meeting on July 1 recommended that the high up in the party should nominate Liton as the candidate for the Rajshahi mayoral post. The combine led by the Awami League earlier selected Badsha to contest the suspended January 22, 2007 national elections for the Rajshahi 2 (sadar) constituency when Liton was assured of being nominated as the mayoral candidate in Rajshahi. Now Liton is laying his claim to the combine ticket for the mayoral post, but a meeting between the Awami League and the Workers Party on June 28 decided in principle to nominate Badsha as the mayoral candidate as he is a popular leader in the north. The combine leaders will sit for talks in a few days to solve the matter as the alliance wants to keep united at any cost. Seven Awami League leaders submitted nominations for the Sylhet mayoral post, making a win for the combine difficult with all the candidates remaining in the election fray. The aspirants are detained mayor Badar Uddin Kamran, central Awami League advisory council member Dewan Farid Gazi, Sylhet district general secretary Iftekhar Hossain Shamim, city unit general secretary Mejbah Uddin Siraj, district unit vice-president Abduz Zahir Chowdhury Sufian, former lawmaker Enamul Haque Chowdhury and former upazila council chairman Babrul Hossain Babul. If Karman’s nomination is not cancelled in scrutiny, scheduled during July 6–7, he will stand as the combine candidate for the mayoral post. But if Kamran becomes disqualified, the combine might nominate Babrul or Dewan for the post, party sources said. The Awami League’s central working committee will resolve all the disputes over the mayoral candidature at a meeting which take place on July 12.
Delwar reaffirms BNPstance on dialogue Staff Correspondent
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has reaffirmed its strong stance on dialogue and elections, making its participation conditional on having its demands, including the release of party chief Khaleda Zia, met. ‘We want to participate in the dialogue and the elections too, but congenial atmosphere has to be created first,’ BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said on Saturday, two days after the Awami League had joined the dialogue with the interim government. ‘Our stand is clear. The dialogue has to be aimed only at holding free and fair national polls and nothing else,’ he told reporters at his Sher-e-Bangla Nagar residence. He reminded the interim government of its constitutional mandate. ‘But they are walking along a different path, which does not reflect their good will for handing over power to people’s representatives through free and fair polls.’ Delwar said the party would consider joining the dialogue only after a favourable atmosphere and a positive impression were created for a dialogue only aimed at holding parliamentary elections. He referred to the demands for releasing BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami to pave the way for both the parties to join the dialogue. ‘Only then we can expect that a ground will be created for free, fair and acceptable polls with participation of all parties,’ Delwar said. Delwar gave a cold shoulder to the proposal of the party’s pro-government faction for a formal discussion on unity and advised the faction leaders to scrap the October 2007 meeting decisions to create ground for their return to the mainstream party. Earlier on the day, acting secretary general of the party’s splinter group, M Hafiz Uddin Ahmed stressed the need for unity in the party and expressed his readiness to forget about the October meeting. Hafiz opposed the government’s plan to hold upazila election before the parliamentary polls, but said he had no objection to elections to lower local government bodies like union parishads. BNP’s youth front Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal Saturday announced a fresh action programme to press for their seven-point demands including release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami. The programmes include forming a human chain in front of the special jail on the Jatiya Sangsad complex on July 7, forming human chains on July 10 in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Sylhet and exchanging views with district and divisional level representatives from July 20 to 30. Their other demands include release of former Juba Dal president Mirza Abbas, its general secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and Chhatra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal.
Expecting price fall unrealistic: Mirza Aziz Staff Correspondent
Finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam Saturday said it would be unrealistic to expect that prices of essentials, especially rice, would come down, and the government rather planned budgetary steps to stop prices from spiralling further, report agencies. He cited rice hoarding at farmer’s level and soaring global prices of other commodities as factors that made prospects for cooling down local market bleak. ‘We should not expect a fall in market prices as the prices of commodities including food, fertiliser and fuel are increasing on the international market,’ he told a function, attended by trade body leaders, economists and consumer rights campaigners. Our staff correspondent reports, the adviser said holding of a significant amount of rice by the farmers might result in relatively higher price of the food-grain in the coming days. ‘It is necessary to ensure certain benefits to the farmers although as consumers we will slightly suffer for rice price hike,’ he said at the seminar on ‘price hike and poverty alleviation: budget 2008-09’. Organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Bangladesh Economic Association and Oxfam Bangladesh at the chamber auditorium, the discussion was chaired by Bangladesh Economic Association president Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad. The seminar was told that only 25 per cent of rice produced in the just-concluded boro season had come to the market compared to around 40 per cent traded through the market in one month of harvesting. Stating so, a commerce ministry official Bikash Chandra Saha blamed some non-governmental and local financial organisations for hoarding a huge quantity of rice, putting a negative impact on the market. He termed the price of coarse rice at Tk 33 a kilogram reasonable but the price of soya bean after upward adjustment of fuel prices appeared to be irrational. He mentioned that the commerce ministry had initiated certain studies on market data. A representative of Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh Emdad Hossain Malek said prices of essentials increased by more than 15 per cent during the previous one year, adding that prices of food items increased by Tk 1-Tk 2 only after fuel price hike in the past week. ‘We have been hearing for the last 15 years that a Consumer Rights Protection Act will be enacted. This government had also said it would be framed by June 30,’ he said, and regretted that there was no arm of the government to make market interventions. Kholiquzzaman pointed out that the trends of increase in the prices of rice and pulses were likely to affect the food habit of the Bangladeshis. The economist underlined the importance of strong government to ensure fair practices and improve the management of the market so that there was no undue rise in commodity prices. Admitting to the government’s due role in monitoring and regulating the market management, the finance adviser sought cooperation from all including the business community to help the people overcome the plight of the price inflation, which in his views, was mostly an imported one. He, however, said the government had taken a combination of fiscal and other measures to ensure the welfare of the poor and vulnerable groups. He added that the proposed Consumers’ Rights Protection Act would be announced within a couple of months. Dwelling on a trade body leader’s claim that fariahs [middlemen] were not businessmen, Mirza Aziz said they were also traders and the market system currently operative in the country had developed in many years. In his address, DCCI president Hossain Khaled suggested that easier, cheaper and quicker transportation of essential commodities could ensure proper supply of goods and thus reduce their prices. Presenting a paper, Uttam Kumar Deb of Centre for Policy Dialogue stressed the need for proper implementation of the Tk 2,000 crore minimum employment guarantee scheme and suggested that the government could also play the role as facilitator in domestic labour migration.
Nasim’s brain haemorrhage continues Staff Correspondent
Though the condition of ailing Awami League central leader Mohammad Nasim is ‘clinically stable’, his brain haemorrhage continues. Different tests confirmed that Nasim’s brain haemorrhage continued, said AKM Mahbubul Hoque, head of medical services at LabAid Hospital, while talking with reporters about his (Nasim) latest health condition on Saturday. Hoque also informed that Nasim was not out of danger yet and he would be kept under intensive care for some more days. The former home minister, convicted in a graft case, was first taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and later shifted to LabAid Hospital on June 24 after he had suffered a brain stroke at Kashimpur jail in Gazipur. The stroke paralysed the left side of his body and triggered brain haemorrhage.
1m tonnes of rice go towaste for milling Kazi Azizul Islam
Rice millers have sought help from the government for developing the technology in their units to save about one million tonnes of rice being wasted while milling. Millers said maximum 67 kilograms of rice are produced by husking each quintal of paddy in the old angle-bar milling units while output in the modern auto-crushing unit is at least 70 kilograms. The ratio of broken rice is much higher in old angle-bar milling units that cannot net a significant mount of thinner rice being drained out with husks. Federation of North Bengal Rice Millers Association in a letter sent to the food ministry on June 18 called for immediate installation of auto-crushers in the rice mills across the country, replacing backdated angle-bar mills. ‘It is possible to save one million tonnes of rice if the government provides us with technological support,’ said Layek Ali, general secretary of the federation. The federation represents some 12,000 rice mills in the 16 northern districts which supply more than two-thirds of the government’s procurement and supplies to the market. ‘If the government undertakes a special programme for upgrading technology in mills and arranges loans to millers at 6 per cent, at least one-fourth of the country’s rice mills will replace the old mills,’ Ali said. He said that the government was committed to providing support to agro-based industries, and the central bank had launched such soft funds for thrust sectors. M Abdul Baqui, an agro-economist, told New Age that rice surplus countries like Thailand and Vietnam are entirely diverted into auto-crushing from old ones. ‘Potential for much more outputs through advanced milling has been overlooked in Bangladesh,’ said Baqui, also a former director general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. ‘The government should pay attention soon in this regard.’ He informed that the Indian government banned angle-bar rice milling in early ’90s and provided package support to the millers for installing auto-crushers. Industry sources said installation of a small capacity auto-crusher, made in China or India, requires between Tk 3.5 lakh and Tk 5.5 lakh while advanced ones from England or the USA require Tk 30 lakh. A few rice millers in the northern region have already installed advanced milling units for husking and polishing rice and sorting out inedible black rice and stones automatically. The rice millers usually sell fine variety of rice with their own brands and receive much higher than average prices.
Rain adds to woes of city’s poor people Parvin Khaleda
Sufferings of the low-income people, already hard-pressed by soaring prices, have been intensified because of water-logging and downpour that kept many of them away from jobs. Day labourers and small vendors are the worst victims as torrential monsoon rains squeezed their work scopes and flooded their shanties in the poor inner-city areas often without proper drainage system. Marzina Begum, a day labourer, said she had no work for the last four days because of heavy rain. ‘I do not know how I will survive with my three children as I do not have any work, money and rice in my house’, said Marzina, adding that her addicted husband had left them few months ago, which forced her to go for construction work. ‘Usually I earn between Tk 120 and Tk 150 per day, most of which is spent on buying foods for the family. Moreover I need to pay the house rent of Tk 750 per month in the Mohammadpur Bheribadh area’, she said. Marzina is one of those day labourers who are struggling to survive in the capital during extreme weather. Rain-triggered water logging has disrupted the hawkers’ business as well in the city as most of the footpaths where the hawkers usually sit to sell their merchandise have gone under water. Hawkers have closed their business at Gulistan, Sadarghat, Old Town, Baitul Mukarram, Gausia, New market, Elephant Road, Mouchak, Karwan Bazar and other places because of rain and water logging. Street vendors who sell books, magazines, towels, lemon and other things at the traffic signal are having a dull sale as rains kept most of the city people indoor. Munna, a street vendor, who sells towels, said usually monsoon brought misfortune for them as they could not go out for selling things during rains. ‘I usually sell goods of between Tk 200 and Tk 400 every day in good weather but during the rainy season my sales drop to between Tk 100 and Tk 200’, added Munna. According to the Met Office, almost all parts of the country are experiencing downpour and more rains are expected over the next few days. The rain has caused water logging in most parts of the capital. Many lanes and by-lanes in Malibagh, Maghbazar, Shahjahanpur, Badda, Demra, Madartek, Basabo, Manda, Trimohoni, Manipuripara, Mirpur and Old Town of Dhaka went under knee-high water for poor drainage system.
Musharraf says army still backs him Agence France-Presse . Karachi
The president, Pervez Musharraf, insisted on Friday that Pakistan’s powerful army still supports him, but he said he would step down if he thought it would solve all of the country’s problems. Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, blasted ‘hypocrites’ for saying that the nuclear-armed Islamic republic’s 500,000-strong military had turned against him since he stepped down as army chief last November. ‘The army will never leave me alone,’ Musharraf told a meeting of business leaders in the southern port city of Karachi. ‘Those who said the armed forces are not with me are the worst hypocrites and rumourmongers.’ The US-backed leader, a key ally in Washington’s ‘war on terror’, has been on the defensive since parties led by slain former premier Benazir Bhutto and ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif won elections in February. Pakistani newspapers have been filled with reports in recent weeks about the relationship between Musharraf and his successor as chief of army staff, General Ashfaq Kayani. Musharraf however rejected calls by Sharif and other opposition figures for him to quit as president. Musharraf’s fate has caused a split within the ruling coalition led by the parties of Benazir and Sharif. ‘I am not leaving Pakistan, I am not leaving the country to get a mansion in America or Turkey and why should I do this? I have committed no crime or sin,’ Musharraf said. ‘But, I will take not a single day to resign when I see it will benefit the country and solve all of its problems,’ added Musharraf, who was speaking after keeping a low public profile for several weeks. Musharraf also urged the newly elected government to focus on political reconciliation and economic problems and to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda militants responsible for a wave of suicide attacks in the country. ‘If the flood of Talibanisation is not stopped the whole of Pakistan will see Red Mosques everywhere. We have to stop it,’ he said, referring to an Islamabad mosque besieged and stormed by troops a year ago with the loss of more than 100 lives. Officials say Musharraf may try to reach out to the ruling coalition, especially members of Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party, in a bid to shore up his position. The visiting US assistant secretary of state, Richard Boucher, this week urged Pakistan’s government to tackle security and the crumbling economy, saying that Musharraf’s fate was ‘not the issue right now’. Pakistan has been hit by spiralling food prices and frequent electricity shortages. The prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is from Benazir’s party, is set to meet with the US president, George W Bush, on July 28 for talks on stepping up efforts against Islamic militants along the Afghan border.
Fakhruddin leaves for KL tomorrow to attend D-8 summit United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka
The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, leaves for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia tomorrow to attend the 6th D-8 Summit to be held on July 8. The summit is expected to adopt the D-8 Roadmap for Economic Cooperation in the Second Decade of Cooperation (2008-2018). The Developing 8 Countries, known as D-8, was set up in 1997 comprising eight developing Muslim nations — Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria and Egypt. The D-8 embarked on its journey as an economic alliance with an aim to improve the economic conditions of the developing Muslim countries through diversification of their economies by creating new opportunities by bolstering trade relations. The theme of this year’s D-8 summit is ‘Meeting Challenges through Innovative Cooperation.’ On the first day in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, the chief adviser is scheduled to have bilateral meetings with the president of Iran and the prime minister of Pakistan in addition to a meeting with the Bangladesh community in Malaysia. Apart from addressing the summit on July 8, Fakhruddin will also have a bilateral meeting with the Malaysian prime minister on the sidelines of the summit. The 2008 summit is expected to adopt the decision on setting up of D-8 permanent Secretariat and the D-8 Roadmap for Economic Cooperation in the Second Decade of Cooperation (2008-2018). The one-day summit is also likely to adopt Kuala Lumpur Declaration and endorse the Rules of Origin Protocol of D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement. There is also a schedule of a retreat meeting of the heads of the state or government. The D-8 Secretariat is based in Istanbul, Turkey, while the post of secretary general is currently being held by Dr Dipo Alam from Indonesia as it is held on rotation. At the opening session, the Malaysian prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will deliver the inaugural address to be followed by handover of the group’s chairmanship by the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to Badawi. The summit was hosted last by Indonesia, the current chairman of D-8, in Bali, Indonesia on May 13, 2006. The summit is held once in every two years with Bangladesh having hosted the second one in 1999. For Malaysia, it will be the first to host the D-8 Summit. The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, principal secretary to the chief adviser, Ali Imam Majumder, and press secretary to the chief adviser, Syed Fahim Munaim, are also in the Bangladesh delegation to be led by Fakhruddin. The chief adviser is scheduled to return home later at night on Tuesday (July 8).
EC arranges live TV dialogue between mayoral candidates, voters Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka
The Election Commission has arranged live television dialogue between mayoral candidates and voters of the areas concerned. The first dialogue between mayoral candidates of the Barisal City Corporation and voters of the area will be held on July 15 in Barisal Auditorium on Band Road, public relations officer of the commission SM Asaduzzaman told the news agency on Saturday. The dialogue of the Khulna City Corporation will be held on July 21 at Zia Hall, Rajshahi City Corporation on July 25 in Rajshahi Medical College Auditorium and the Sylhet City Corporation on July 31 in Sylhet Jalalabad Gas Auditorium. Two-day dialogue will be arranged for the city corporation that has more mayoral candidates than other city corporations. At the dialogue, mayoral candidates will face voters and inform them about their future development and welfare plans, if they are elected. Editor of BBC Bangla Service in London Kamal Ahmed will act as moderator of the dialogues to be held from 8:45pm to 9:55pm on the set dates. Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar will broadcast the programme live, and interested private TV channels can air the programme live taking the feed from the BTV. The BTV and the BBC, under the supervision of the Election Commission, are carrying out all responsibilities, including recording and broadcasting of the programme. The scrutiny of listeners and viewers is going on and those who are interested in taking part in the dialogue have been asked by the BBC and the EC to contact at mobile phone numbers: 0172-7174400 (Barisal), 0172-7174411 (Khulna), 0172-7174422 (Rajshahi), 0172- 7174433 (Sylhet) or email at bengali@bbc.co.uk or mail at BBC Bangla Service, Postbox-2060, Dhaka-1000 by July 8. Questions will not be accepted by telephone and selected viewers, who will contact by July 8, can participate in the programme, EC officials said. A tripartite memorandum of understanding was signed between the EC, BTV and the BBC on Thursday in this regard. BTV deputy director general (programme) Quamrunnesa Hasan, BBC Bangla Service chief Sabir Mustafa and EC public relations officer SM Asaduzzaman signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides. According to the EC schedule, the elections to four city corporations and nine municipalities will be held on August 4. The last date for filing nomination papers was July 3. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be held on July 7 and 8 and the last date for withdrawal of the nomination papers is July 13. Sixty-eight mayoral candidates submitted nomination papers in four city corporations, the EC officials said.
Indigenous people want climate talks inclusion Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Sapporo, Japan
Indigenous communities from around the world urged G8 rich nations on Friday to help them participate in global climate change talks, saying they contributed least to but are most affected by global warming. Clad in colourful traditional robes, 26 representatives from countries including the United States, Canada, and Japan, along with some 400 students, activists, and academics, met on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. The island is the venue of the July 7–9 Group of Eight summit and home to the indigenous Ainu ethnic group. At the meeting, members of indigenous communities blamed the market-oriented economic model of the G8 nations as the main cause for climate change, a food crisis, and high oil prices. These are issues high on the discussion agenda at the G8 summit. ‘As we all know, the G8 is composed of the most powerful and richest governments in the world. The G8 is the one which makes decisions… that have direct impact on us,’ said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. ‘As far as I am concerned… we have seen that many of these problems are actually caused by the G8 themselves,’ added Tauli-Corpuz, also a representative of the Igorot people of the Philippines. A declaration issued at the meeting’s end said the G8 leaders should pave the way for indigenous people to be included in global climate change talks led by the United Nations. ‘Indigenous peoples need to be included in all levels of climate change negotiations, because they are the most affected, but also because they have the most to contribute,’ said Ben Powless, a Mohawk from Canada. Many sang and chanted prayers in their indigenous languages at the meeting. The United Nations has estimated 370 million indigenous people were already exposed on the front line of climate change to more frequent floods, droughts, desertification, disease and rising seas. At the meeting, indigenous communities highlighted the troubles they were also facing from the effects of measures intended to mitigate climate change. For example, Tauli-Corpuz said people had been displaced when biofuel plantations were expanded in the Philippines and when forests were used as carbon sinks in Uganda. ‘We are really pleading to the governments to ensure that in the process of undertaking programmes, they will not further (marginalize) and violate the basic rights of the indigenous peoples,’ she told Reuters in an interview. In their declaration, representatives also called for the governments of Canada, the United States and Russia to adopt the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The United States and Canada voted against the non-binding declaration while Russia abstained. Australia and New Zealand also voted against it, but it was passed overwhelmingly in the General Assembly in September 2007. Representatives welcomed the move by the Japanese government last month to recognize Ainu as indigenous people, but called for an official apology for mistreatment of the Ainu and concrete steps, as well as including more Ainu representatives in an experts’ committee. Only one Ainu was named to the eight-member committee formed by Japan’s government this month. The declaration from the meeting will be handed over on Friday to Japanese lawmakers, who will pass it to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda before the summit, meeting organisers said.
Afghan member of parliament killed Reuters/bdnews24.com . Kabul
Two gunmen shot dead an Afghan parliamentarian near his home in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the interior ministry said on Saturday. Habibullah Sanzenai, a member of the lower house of parliament for Kandahar and a tribal leader, was shot returning home overnight in the Zhari district of the province, a hotbed of Taliban militant activity. Taliban insurgents have targeted members of parliament and tribal leaders in the past, but denied any involvement in the latest killing. ‘This attack represents an assault on the democratic will of the Afghan people who voted in their millions for peace, stability and progress during historic elections in 2005,’ the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said in a statement. Ten parliamentarians have been killed since the Afghan assembly was set up in 2005. Five members of parliament were killed in a suicide attack that killed 72 people in the northern town of Baghlan in November last year. Another deputy died in an attempt to assassinate president Hamid Karzai at a military parade in April. The Taliban have created a ‘resilient insurgency’ in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said last week and violence has risen to new heights in recent weeks, despite the increased presence of foreign forces and more and better trained Afghan troops. More than six years after US-led and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001 for refusing to hand over al-Qaeda leaders behind the September 11 attacks, many Afghans are growing weary with the ongoing violence and slow pace of development. The almost inevitable deaths of civilians caught up in the conflict also does little to bolster public support for international forces in Afghanistan. Officials in the northeastern province of Nuristan said only civilians had been killed in an airstrike there on Friday, despite a US military statement insisting militants had been killed. ‘Fifteen people were martyred and seven wounded. A six-month-old baby was also among those killed, so were six members of a family,’ provincial spokesman Mohammad Yousuf said. ‘All of them were civilians.’ The governor of the district where the strike took place has said 22 civilians were killed. The US military said there were ‘no official reports of non-combatant injuries or casualties.’ US-led coalition forces killed more than a dozen militants after an attack on an outpost in Nuristan, a military statement said. ‘Ground forces called coalition attack helicopters for support. The helicopter crews coordinated with ground forces to positively identify the militants’ vehicles. The attack helicopters then destroyed the two vehicles, killing more than a dozen militants,’ the statement said. In the first six months of this year, 698 civilians were killed, 255 of them by Afghan government and foreign forces, the rest by the Taliban. In the same period last year, a total of 430 civilians were killed, the United Nations said.
Govt to amend regulation for pvt hospital establishment Alpha Arzu
The government has planned to amend the regulation for establishing hospitals, clinics and pathological centres in private sector aiming to combat environmental pollution and communicable diseases spreading through medical waste. A high official of the health and family welfare ministry said a committee had been reviewing the Regulation for Establishing Hospitals, Clinics and Patholo-gical Centres in Private Sector 1982 to ensure proper treatment of the patients who depend on private health service providers. Akhter Hossain Bhuiyan, director (hospitals) of the directorate general of health services, said without getting environment clearance certificates, private initiators won’t be allowed to establish any hospital, clinic or pathological centre in the country. ‘The committee has given priority to the issues relating to environmental pollution as most of the hospitals, clinics and pathological centres have been discharging the medical wastes into the sewers and gathering the garbage openly, posing threat to public health,’ he said told New Age on Wednesday. According to the data available from the DG health services, there are 437 registered clinics in the capital city and 1,971 elsewhere in the country. Also, there are 4,245 pathological centres and dental clinics, including 817 in Dhaka city. The privately-owned hospitals, clinics and pathological centres in Dhaka produce around 400 tonnes of medical waste every day which may cause HIV/AIDS, diarrhoea, skin ailments and other fatal diseases, medical experts said. The medical wastes include infectious pathogens, blood, body fluids, tissues, organs, body parts, sharp needles, blades, syringes, scalpels, saws, broken glasses and nails apart from hazardous pharmaceutical and chemical wastes. Taking into account the public health hazards, the committee also includes the issue relating to waste management, Bhuiyan said. According to the proposed revision, the private sector hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres will have to renew their licences after every three years, a member of the committee said. The members of the committee formed in November last year are additional secretary of the health ministry, director of DG health services, director of medical education wing of DG health services, director of hospitals of DG health, principal of Dhaka Medical College Hospital and director of Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control and Research.
Restriction imposed on meat imports Asif Showkat
From now on, no meat or bone meal can be imported without prior permission from the livestock authorities, says an official order issued amid global concerns about mad-cow disease outbreak. The fisheries and livestock ministry slapped the restriction on the import of meat and bone meal on June 30, while the commerce ministry on July 2 ordered the customs check-posts to enforce the directives immediately. Bangladeshi importers so far required no such permission for meat imports, mainly for five-star hotels and a few fast-food chain shops. However, there is no official data on meat imports in monetary terms. Customs authorities have already been alerted to the possible risks from meat imports from countries already affected by or exposed to mad cow disease, said the authorities concerned. They cautioned that if any meat consignment proved mad cow positive, Bangladeshi traders would risk losing opportunities of export animal bones, horn, hoof and so on. Currently, they are required to take mad-cow-free clearance certificates approved by the World Organisation For Animal Health. In absence of restriction on meat imports, Bangladesh is exposed to the risks of getting mad cow disease, scientifically called Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, which has already affected the livestock in some countries including USA, resulting in cancellation of export orders from countries like Japan. It is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease for the cattle and causes harms to brains and spinal cords of human beings in case of consumption of meat of affected animals. The disease had claimed 163 lives in Britain and 37 elsewhere till April 2008, according to reports that forecast further rise in the casualties from mad cow disease because of the long incubation period of the disease. ‘Importers have been asked not to import meats from mad cow disease-affected countries,’ said an official concerned, with a note of caution that such imports might make Bangladeshi exporters pay the cost in terms of losing exports. Meanwhile, the fisheries and livestock ministry had requested the commerce ministry and the Bangladesh Bank to make sure that meat importers take ‘special permission’ from the livestock directorate before payment of customs duties. Around 2,000 samples (cattle heads) have so far been examined at Bangladesh Agriculture University, but no mad cow disease was detected, said the letter, sent to the commerce secretary and the central bank governor. Director of the Livestock Directorate Mohmmad Salehuddin Khan told New Age that they wanted to ensure that meat imports were not made from mad cow disease-affected countries. Asked about imports of cattle heads through the porous borders, he said the sources of the imports — India and Nepal — were free from mad cow disease.
25 killed in Syrian prisonriot: rights group Agence France-Presse . Nicosia
At least 25 inmates were shot dead by Syrian security forces during a riot by political detainees at a prison in mountains outside Damascus on Saturday, a human rights group said. ‘Islamist prisoners started a riot inside the prison Saturday morning,’ the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received in Nicosia, quoting a political prisoner in the Saydnaya jail contacted by mobile phone. ‘Shooting is continuing against the prisoners,’ the London-based group said, adding that a number of inmates had climbed the roof of the military prison north of Damascus to escape the violence. Helicopters were buzzing the facility near the hilltop village of Saydnaya, about 30 kilometres from the capital. The Observatory, which is close to the opposition, said initially that the number of dead was 10 but a spokesman later telephoned AFP to say that the toll had risen to 25. The Observatory said about 400 detained soldiers were being held hostage in the prison as bargaining chips to apply pressure on Syrian authorities. The group said it was also receiving phone calls from relatives of prisoners asking the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, to intervene to stop the clashes in Saydnaya, an ancient town with biblical connections. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian authorities. The Saydnaya prison is one of the biggest in Syria and houses mainly Islamist political prisoners. Syria has launched a crackdown against dissidents in recent months, drawing strong criticism from the West particularly since the arrests are being carried out under emergency laws in force since 1963. At least 14 signatories of a December petition calling for radical democratic change in Syria have been rounded up, including former MP Riad Seif. The prison riot comes just a week before Assad is due in Paris to meet the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, on July 12, signalling a resumption of high-level contacts between Paris and Damascus. Assad is among about 40 foreign leaders who will be in Paris for a July 13 summit that will see European countries come together with states in the Mediterranean region including Arab nations and Israel to improve cooperation. Saydnaya prison was built in 1987 to accommodate 5,000 detainees but can take up to 10,000, according to the Syrian Human Rights Committee, another non-governmental organisation. In 2004, it held several hundred Muslim Brothers as well as leftists, Palestinians, Islamist militants and detained Syrian army soldiers, according to the rights group. Saydnaya is the site of an Antiochian Orthodox convent dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, which was founded in 547 AD and houses a rare icon of her believed to have been painted by the author of one of the gospels, St Luke.
2 more killed, 11 hurt in flooding, landslide in Cox’s Bazar Our Correspondent . Cox’s Bazar
Two more persons died and 11 were injured in flooding and landslide in Cox’s Bazar on Saturday. The death figure from flooding and landslide in the district rose to 15 in a week. Thirty-two were injured in the period. Eight more houses and a school were damaged by landslide at the Jadiram Hill and Pahartali in the municipal area. The Chakaria police said two, including a child, died in flooding at Chakaria Saturday morning. Sources said Noor Ahmed, 60, at Lotoni drowned in flood water. He was later found dead in the River Matamuhuri. The other deceased was Khosi Moni, 5, daughter of one Anwar Hossen at Dakkhin Palakata in the Chakaria municipal area. She drowned in floodwater near her house. She was later found dead in a paddy field.The Chittagong divisional commissioner, Hossain Jamil, distributed relief goods such as rice and cash among the flood victims at Chakaria and Ramu Saturday afternoon. The Cox’s Bazar municipal chairman in-charge, Sarwar Kamal, said eight more houses, a mosque and a school were damaged by landslide. Eleven persons were injured in the landslide. Sarwar said houses of Anil Day, Nani Bala Day, Shikha Rani Day and Arjun Paul of Jadirum Hill and of Manto Das, Taran Biswas of Shangkar Math, Amir Hossen and Khalilur Rahman of Baidyarghona in the town were damaged. A primary school, set up by non-governmental organisation Mukti, and a mosque were also damaged. The district administration and municipal authorities were trying to move all the people living in and around the hills. The Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner, Sajjadul Hassan, said flood situation in the district improved slightly after eight days. He said two more died in flooding, taking such death toll to 15 in a week. He said the division commissioner, Hossain Jamil, had distributed relief goods among the families affected by the flooding at Harbong and Baraitali of Chakaria and at Rajarkool and Dakkhin Mitachari of Ramu in the afternoon. The houses of the families were washed away after a breach in the flood protection embankment by the River Bagkhali at Rajarkool. About 2 lakh people at Ramu, district headquarters, Chakaria and Pekua were marooned. Two hundred educational institutions were closed. The road communication among Chakaria, Baniharchara and Magnama still remained suspected as the road went under three-foot high water at the Shanti Bazar point. Local Met Office recorded 47mm of rainfall in 24 hours till 3:00pm Saturday. Nine of two families died in landslide caused by downpour at Teknaf on July 3. One person died in landslide at Maheskhali, another in wall collapse at Ukhia and a minor drowned in flood water at Kalatali on July 2. A man drowned in flood water in the district headquarters on July 4.
8,072 cases pending with 33 police stations in DMP Moneruzzaman Mission
Eight thousand and seventy-two cases remain pending with the 33 police stations for investigation in the Dhaka Metropolitan police area, according to police officials. Of the cases, 926 were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, 969 by the Narcotics Control Department, 1,521 were filed under the Prevention of Repression of Women and Children Act and the rest were filed on different criminal charges. The DMP completed investigations of 9,593 cases in the first six months of this year. In June, the DMP completed investigations of 1912 cases, of which charge sheets were filed in 1242 cases. In the rest 670 cases, the police submitted final reports pressing no charges against the accused persons due to lack of evidence. In June, 2,055 cases were filed with the 33 police stations. The numbers of pending cases were 4964 in June, 1427 in 2007, 285 in 2006, 163 in 2005, 61 in 2004, 52 in 2003, 48 in 2002, 33 in 2001 and 14 cases in 2000. The under-investigation cases till June included 1032 cases with the Airport police station, 423 with the Motijheel police station, 229 in Paltan, 247 in Sabujbagh, 307 in Khilgaon, 340 in Mirpur, 59 in Shah Ali, 427 in Tejgaon, 136 in Tejgaon industrial area, 332 in Mohammadpur, 101 in Adabar, 361 in Ramna, 164 in Shahbagh, 298 in Dhanmondi, 169 in Kafrul, 165 in Pallabi, 231 in Uttara, 90 in Dakshin Khan, 31 in Uttar Khan, 61 in Turag, 158 in Badda, 337 in Gulshan, 90 in Cantonment, 83 in Khilkhet, 54 in Hazaribagh, 60 in Kamrangirchhar, 71 in Newmarket, 156 in Shyampur, 157 in Sutrapur, 38 in Demra and 217 cases in Jatrabari polices stations.
Revetment needed to protect Debhata from river erosion Mustafizur Rahman . back from Satkhira

Though Water Development Board has been trying to check erosion of the River Isamati at Debhata point in Satkhira with bamboo structures, they fail due to fund crunch. ‘A vast tract of land with shrimp enclosures on our side has gone into the gorge of the river with no permanent protection from erosion to date,’ Abdul Quader, 55, a resident of Shushilgati on the riverside, told New Age. Bangladesh has so far lost 500 hectares of land to India as the trans-boundary rivers Isamati and Kalindi by changing their course devoured more areas left unprotected in the south-western part of the country while the opposite side in the Indian 24 Pargana district stands well-protected with concrete structure, according to locals and officials. ‘As Isamati and Kalindi are trans-boundary rivers, we cannot go for any development work on our own without consent of the counterpart. We will raise this issue in the next meeting of the Joint Rivers’ Commission scheduled to be held in Delhi. Revetment work cannot be initiated on the rivers as Border Security Force of India obstructs such attempts,’ water resources adviser CS Karim told New Age on Thursday. He said Bangladesh was pressing for holding the meeting as early as possible by this year. ‘We are throwing bamboo structures and branches of tree for temporary protection as we don’t have enough funds for revetment work at all vulnerable points of the Isamati riverbank,’ said Lutfor Rahman, executive engineer of Water Development Board, Satkhira. He said revetment on only 6.8 km out of 75 km-long bank of the Isamati has been done so far. ‘Revetment is very costly which we cannot afford. Only one metre of revetment requires Tk 75,000.’ The localities including Sreepur, Shushilgati and Khan Zia would be affected seriously by river erosion during this rainy season as 100 hectares of land had already been eroded in 10/12 years, Rahman, a civil engineer, told New Age, adding that immediate measures should be taken to protect these areas, where most people depend on fishing and farming, from the erosion. He said a project proposal involving Tk 32 crore had been sent to the planning division for constructing a 5.5 km embankment on the river covering the most vulnerable areas. According to water development officials, there are eight turns in the rivers Isamati and Kalindi engulfing more areas due to strong current and causing problems to poor people who used to earn livelihood by fishing. Like many other border rivers, the Kalindi has started shifting its course from the original borderline inside Bangladeshi territory. As a result, around 500-hectare island (known as Kalindi dwip) is gradually merging with the Indian land as the borderline is drifting. ‘We will lose our control over the green island in the Kalindi if the riverbank is not protected soon from erosion. India is throwing something in the river on their side as a result the current is affecting our land,’ Mansur Ali Gazi, 45, of Banshjharia told New Age. The bordering rivers while changing their course are eroding Bangladesh’s land and adding land to India and thus changing the country’s map set in the 1974 Indira-Mujib border treaty, an official said, adding that the Bangladesh-India borderline, as per the treaty, runs along the middle of the bordering rivers. In 1999, the Bangladesh government took up a Tk 130 crore project to protect and develop the bordering rivers which was completed in 2007.
Film actress, female TV model held with Yaba Staff correspondent
The Department of Narcotics Control arrested a film actress, a female television model and another person on charge of possessing illegal drugs in the capital Friday night. The arrested were film actress Yasmin Sikdar Mou, 22, female television model Bipasha Akhter Munni, 21, and their associate Kaisarul Islam, 21, also a student of Mirpur Bangla College. According to the department of narcotics control, tipped off, a team of Dhaka sub-division led by Lalbagh circle inspector Iqbal Hossain raided a hideout located at House-187, Block-C, of Rupnagar Housing Project at Pallabi at around 10:15pm and arrested the three suspects. The team also seized 12 contraband Yaba tablets from their possession at the apartment which was rented by the film actress Mou. An official of the department, who was involved in the operation, told New Age preferring anonymity, ‘We conducted the raid after getting it confirmed that the arrested were involved in drug trade in the locality’. Assistant Director, Fazlur Rahman of the department told New Age, ‘The arrested admitted that they were used to taking Yaba tablets collecting it from different parts of the city but they refused the charge of peddling the tablets during interrogation.’ Mou has reportedly acted in 18 Bengali films while Munni has acted as a model in a series of recently released music videos. The arrested would be handed over to the Pallabi police after filing a case against them under the narcotics control act, the department sources said.
Taliban fighters free two Pak journalists Reuters/bdnews24.com . Peshawar
Taliban militants released two Pakistani journalists on Saturday more than 36-hours after they were abducted in a tribal region near the Afghan border. ‘When it was proven that they’re journalists and not spies, we freed them,’ Taliban spokesman Asad said. A group of tribal elders had gone to negotiate for the release of the journalists, freelance reporter Pir Zubair Shah and photographer Akhtar Soomro, after they were kidnapped in the Mohmand region on Thursday. Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior administrator in Mohmand, confirmed that the two men had been freed and said both were fine. Pro-Taliban groups control large chunks of territory in ethnic Pashtun regions, like Mohmand, and al-Qaeda militants are also hiding in the area along the Afghan border. The semi-autonomous tribal regions have never come under the full control of any government and security forces rarely entered the area before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
BRIDAL PARTY BUS ACCIDENTDeath figure raises to 10 as 3 more die United News of Bangladesh . Brahmanbaria
Three more victims of Friday’s bridal party bus accident at Baisamura on the Dhaka–Sylhet Highway in Brahmanbaria died Saturday, raising the death toll to 10. Aush Mia, 20, Mizan, 13, and Fazlur Rahman, 60, died in hospital Saturday. The bus carrying a bridal party had skidded off the road and plunged into a roadside ditch, killing seven persons dead on the spot. Twenty people injured were admitted to the hospital. The bride and bridegroom were unhurt as they were travelling by a separate vehicle.
Jamuna devours 40 feet of spur in Sirajganj Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Sirajganj
About 40 feet of a protective spur at Enayetpur in Sirajganj was devoured Saturday by the swelling River Jamuna. The water resources adviser, CS Karim, during a visit to Enayetpur Saturday evening directed the Water Development Board to protect the spur. WDB director general Hossain Shahid Mozaddak Faruk and local officials accompanied him. WDB officials said they had already initiated some actions to protect the spur. They said 10 families had already been shifted to safe places as their houses were eroded by the mighty river. The WDB, they said, could not earlier work to protect the embankment as their vessels could not approach it due to the fury of the river. The intensity of the high tides together with strong currents in the river breached and eroded the embankment at several places during the last few days, they said.