BANGLADESH

No classes took place even on the second day at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) that reopened after a 44-day shutdown following protests by teachers and students.

The teachers are not attending classes through there is no programme of agitation while the students are unwilling to return to classroom until the standoff among the teachers is over.

No classes were held at the university on Saturday, the first day of resumption of academic activities at the university.

Admission test to BUET for the 2012-2013 academic session has also become uncertain as the protesting teachers have been boycotting classes and other academic activities for more than a month.

In the wake of movement demanding resignation of the VC and Pro-Vice Chancellor, the BUET authorities had advanced the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation to close it on July 10. The decision, however, failed to deter the protesters from going ahead with the movement.

Some of the demonstrating teachers said they pressed on with their protests at personal level by skipping classes but without any formal declaration of any protest plan to avoid facing contempt of court charge.

The High Court on Aug 14 in a rule ordered authorities to start the admission process of the first-year students amid the teachers' protests.

Students' presence on the campus was very thin on Sunday.

Sudipto Shaha, a student of the Department of Medical Engineering, was one of the very few who came to the campus.

"We will not return to the classes until the standoff ends. We are also demanding removal of the VC. The Eid vacation has just ended and we will decide the next course of action once all returns," said Saha.

Aked why classes were not being held, the VC Prof Nazrul Islam said, "It has to be discussed with teachers why they are not coming to classes."

He observed teachers not taking classes is also a kind of agitation in violation of the court order and accused them of contempt of court.

The VC, who faced harsh protest from his colleagues and students recently, had earlier threatened to continue the university's academic activities by appointing new teachers.

Brushing aside the allegation, BUET Teachers Association General Secretary Prof Ashraful Islam told bdnews24.com: "It is the interpretation of the Vice Chancellor. The teachers are not in any kind of agitation. So, there is no question of contempt of court. If any teacher does not take class, it is completely his personal decision."

The Teachers Association had started abstaining from work on Apr 7 demanding the removal of the VC and Pro-VC Habibur Rahman and continued with the movement for a month. After the Prime Minister had promised to consider their demand, they had postponed the strike. But as their demand was not met within July 7, they started work abstention for two hours from 11am.

The BUET authorities shut the university on July 10, a month in advance for Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr, until Aug 24 and the teachers and students erupted in protest.

On July 11, 24 teachers holding administrative posts resigned and the Teachers Association announced that the teachers would resign en masse on July 22 if there demand was not met.

They, however, postponed the 'resignation decision' until July 30 after Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid had said a solution would be worked out after discussions with the Prime Minister and the President, days before the court slapped the ban on any protests on the BUET campus.

Dhallywood, which was recently declared an industry, is on its 'death bed', say those tied to it.

Filmmakers, directors, producers and critics have pointed out that along with the fall in audience, the number of cinema halls has also shrunk and the crisis of talents, investment-scare and the lack of attention from the authorities have left the field barely breathing.

The fall in vitals

The slump in the industry is most evident through the fall in the number of releases on Eid, the largest festival of the Muslim community, which has traditionally seen the highest releases each year.

The overall releases each year have also slumped to barely 10 percent over the last seven fiscals, records of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) show, with the last fiscal registering the highest level of inactivity.

A hundred films were released in FY2005-06, only two more than the output in the following fiscal.

The same fall was observed over the FY 2007-08, followed by a 32-release fall taking the number down to 64 in the FY2008-09. The industry seemed to have stabilised going down by only one release in FY2009-10.

However, the stability was a short-lived one as the number slumped by 11 releases in FY2010-11, followed by the largest annual fall in the seven-fiscal period, a whopping 34 releases, to stand at only 11 in FY2011-12.

Why this?

The number of audience falling due to lack of production of quality films and continuous closing down of movie theatres had embedded fears of losses in the producers leading to a fall in investments, pointed out film-related professionals.

On the other hand, lack of patronisation and technical training is creating a crisis of artists and crew, and the low-quality productions are not fit to compete in the markets abroad, negating the scope of earnings from there, creating a vicious cycle of poverty in every aspect of the arena.

"Bengali films lost its glory a long time back, the industry is now on its death bed," said Bangladesh Film Producers-Distributors Association President Masud Parvez.

Parvez, who is also a renowned actor known by his alias Sohel Rana, claimed that the fall saw its start in the nineties.

Vulgarity, recreation of Bollywood and Tamil cinemas instead of original productions, low budgets and repetition of same story lines have pushed away the audiences since then, seeing in fact, the loss of a lion's share of the fan base.

Target: Quick bucks

However, Dhaka University mass communications Associate Professor Fahmidul Haq puts the blame on the 'business-like mentality' of producers and directors.

"With this mentality, many come and take their places behind the camera without any prior preparations and many unneeded films are made every year."

He also questioned the professionalism of directors and producers: "They do not have any clear concept about what recreational movies are, and they keep on making the films based on same type of scripts written on the old formula of stars-songs-fights-love."

Parvez pointed out that even though violence and vulgarity had been somewhat put on a leash over years, questions over the quality of films remain.

He continued that in the past, the film business was profitable and even the artistes, who worked along with the directors and producers, were dedicated.

"But now, even the directors, producers and artistes are here just to make a quick buck. They have neither long-term plans nor experience."

The film arena veteran continued that filmmaking had become like betting on a horse race. "Who wins, wins. The rest lose."

Lack of government interference

He also pointed out that there was a lack of government patronisation and help in the field. "None of the governments since independence took special care of the film industry.

"Instead, wrong steps and lack of support have in many cases held back the industry from booming."

Bangladesh Film Directors Association Chairman Mohammad Hannan also agrees with Parvez about the state of Dhallywood.

"If we make movies, where will we screen them? Cinema Halls are closing down one by one, and there are no government initiatives to save them."

According to statistics of the Information Minister to the parliament this year, nearly two-thirds of Bangladesh's movie theatres have shutdown.

"Many say there is a crisis of talent in and behind the silver screen. I agree. But we also do not have the necessary environment for making films," Hannan vented.

Silver screen's home in tatters?

BFDC's Managing Director has changed 40 times over the last four decades, which Hannan believes sped up the fall of the arena.

"The film industry is a vast area. The overall performance is essentially dependent on internal understanding. However, by the time a new MD manages to develop the understanding, he is transferred. It's FDC's bad luck."

Parvez, the distributors' platform stalwart, points out: "Most of these appointments are political. That would not have mattered if they were tied to films. I have repeatedly advocated for the appointment of someone who understands cinema."

He continued that three appointments were made over the last six months out of which two were 'from theatre' while one of them is 'up to an extent' tied to films.

"They might understand stage drama. But it is not possible to make them understand the totality of films."

Run-down equipment

Parvez also highlighted the desolate state of the technical side of the corporation. "Most of the work is carried out using equipment from the sixties. Besides, those operating them do not have proper training."

"A sound capturing machine was brought in 1990. Of the 40 knobs on the panel, the operators do not know how to switch on most of them. They do not know their functions.

"And the chemicals used to develop negatives in the lab are very low standard. Much better results are gotten when they are developed outside."

Hannan pointed out that despite being a film development corporation, most of the floors were rented out for television programmes throughout the year. Even though the filmmakers were supposed to get separate benefits now that the arena has been declared an industry, film-making is becoming tougher due to various charges being imposed every now and then.

Fahmidul Haq adds that no new equipment entered the BFDC after FY2005-06. The Telecine machine has been out of order for the last three years which is a similar scenario about the sub-title machine and the digital dubbing system.

"Anyone who wants to make a good film and get them to last more has to get his editing done in Madras after finishing off their shoot here.

However, the incumbent MD and drama icon, Pijush Bandopaddhay, is still enthusiastic about the BFDC. "FDC has nine shooting floors along with its own editing panel, lab and sound system, facilities which many South Asian countries do not have."

Information Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun said that the government had been undertaking short-term, middle-term and long-term plans for the development of the film industry. "Under the short-term planning, FDC will be given Tk 580 million to bring the organisation up to date."

"It is a misery that the decision-takers do not discuss with us about what we need. This fund will be disbursed over five years, which means that every year, we will get funds a little over Tk 100 million," Parvez said.

"But to buy 12 cameras, we need Tk 480 million, the developing machine will cost Tk 30 million while the digital sound complex will require another Tk 100 million. That is leaving many other things out," he added.

Bandopaddhay agreed that the fund was not enough. "If we want to fully digitalise FDC from the manual system, this fund is in no way enough. But we also have to keep in mind the various limitations of a developing country."

Home Minister Shahara Khatun on Sunday said her government would not hesitate to go tough on opposition leaders when required and said the people were not afraid of BNP's threat of movement.

She made the comment at a discussion organised at Dhaka Reporters Unity by Dhaka Metropolitan Bangabandhu Academy marking the eighth death anniversary of senior Awami League leader Ivy Rahman.

Her remarks came hours ahead of opposition chief Khaeda Zia meeting policymakers of the BNP on Sunday night. The main opposition party has been threatening the government with launching tougher agitation after Eid-ul-Fitr and is expected to discuss the future course of anti-government movement at the meeting.

"The people of Bengal are not afraid of the BNP's threat. If necessary, they (the opposition protesters) would be resisted with a strong hand for ensuring progress of the country," she said.

"Nobody would be able to protect them (BNP leaders) when the people will file cases against BNP leaders and activists."

The ruling Awami League's Presidium Member also urged all to stand united so that the 'war criminals' could not fly national flag riding on the shoulders of the BNP.

"The evil powers that were at play on Aug 15 and Aug 21 of 1975 and 2004 respectively come from the same source," said Khatun.

Ivy Rahman was among the 24 killed in the Aug 21 attack on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue.

The first prosecution witness against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami on Sunday said he had led the Al Badr vigilante militia during the 1971 Liberation War.

Himself a former member of Jamaat's student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury, currently heading a faction of Islami Oikkya Jote, told the first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh that Al Badr was set up with Jamaat student cadres.

The vigilante groups like Al Badr, Razakar and Al Shams are said to have been widely responsible for war crimes during the Liberation War.

The 57-year old witness said Al Badr was not like other anti-liberation militia groups. "The members were trained by the Pakistani Army and they were, in a way, above the other groups."

The International Crimes Tribunal-1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the nine-month War of Independence, indicted Nizami on May 28 for 16 war crimes.

The witness said the Jamaat chief's current number two, the party's Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, was also his number two during the War in Jamaat's student wing and also within Al Badr.

Misbahur Rahman also placed Jamaat guru Ghulam Azam, also a former party chief (during 1971), at the court of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia after the Liberation War where the witness had gone to visit the Saudi King as a young leader of a Muslim students' organisation.

"I saw that Ghulam Azam and his brother Moazzem were already there and the professor (Ghulam Azam) was telling the king that freedom fighters had destroyed mosques."

He said he heard the Jamaat guru tell the Saudi king that madrasas had been closed and Qurans had become scarce and asked for funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction.

"Afterwards, I protested what Ghulam Azam had stated pointing out to the king that most of the freedom fighters were Muslims and thus would not have damaged or destroyed mosques."

Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury told the court that his father had whisked him out of his native Moulvibazar where a local Sangha leader urged him to join the Al Badr.

The witness was then sent off to London, England. "It was very risky at that time to denounce or quiet the Chhatra Sangha."

However, the witness had to return to Bangladesh within two months as his mother was sick while the war still raged on. He again went to the Great Britain after the war and studied at a college in Wales where he founded a Muslim students' organisation.

Earlier the first war crimes tribunal rejected a bail petition for acting Jamaat Secretary General A T M Azharul Islam saying that it had previously rejected other bail applicants whose health condition was 'far worse' than that of the instant applicant.

The tribunal, however, directed the jail doctor to perform an MRI and a CT scan as recommended earlier and make sure that all medical treatment is accorded to Azharul Islam. The court directed that if needed Azharul Islam be taken to the medical university hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University.

At the second tribunal, Shahriar Kabir, a long time activist calling for the trial of suspected war criminals, testified as the first prosecution witness against Jamaat Secretary General Mujaheed.

A platform of medical and dental college admission-seekers on Sunday announced that they were resuming their protests against the new enrolment system from Monday.

The students said at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity that they would assemble at the Central Shaheed Minar at 9am for 'peaceful' demonstration.

Farzana Afrin, representative of the platform, claimed students of various medical colleges, universities, schools and colleges across Bangladesh have thrown their weight behind them.

She said a 'civil assembly' would take place at 11am and a memorandum will be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office at noon.

"We'll be compelled to wage tougher agitations from Aug 28 if no announcement comes [from the government] within Monday," Afrin warned.

On Aug 12, Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque said the government had decided to enrol students at the medical and dental colleges based on their SSC and HSC GPAs from this year in lieu of admission tests.

The Minister's announcement triggered off protests by admission seekers and guardians.

The admission-seekers had staged daylong demonstrations on Aug 13 and 14 Dhaka's Central Shaheed Minar, the National Press Club and the Shahbagh intersection resulting in huge tailbacks across the capital.

The students put off their protest on Aug 14 and on the same day the government decision was challenged in the High Court. The court ordered authorities to explain why the new system would not be declared illegal.

Amid the ongoing protests, the Health Minister had said the medical and dental admission 'coaching centres were instigating' the demonstrations.

At Sunday's press conference, the student demonstrators demanded closure of all coaching centres claiming no one was instigating their demonstration or was associated with it. They also argued against the new enrolment system.

On Aug 23, another petition was filed in the High Court in a bid to secure an order to start admission process like previous years.

The online admission process for the first year honours courses under 2012-13 academic session of Dhaka University (DU) will begin from one minute past Saturday midnight.

Vice-Chancellor Professor A A M S Arefin Siddique will inaugurate the online admission process at the central admission office in the university's administrative building at 00:00am, DU public Relations Officer Ashraf Ali told bdnews24.com.

The application forms and related information will be available online at www.admission.univdhaka.edu till Sep 15. The forms have to be submitted online during the period.

The last year's price of Tk 300 for each admission form will remain the same this year. Students, however, will have to pay an additional Tk 20 for bank charge this year.

Students will be required to fill in and submit admission forms as per directions available on the website.

They will have to download a three-part pay-in-slip, fill that up, and deposit Tk 320 with the slip to any branch of Agrani, Rupali, Sonali, and Janata banks across the country.

Admit cards for admission tests will be available on the website as well after 48 hours of depositing the money. The applicants will have to download the admit cards and get them printed.

Students, who successfully completed the HSC examinations in 2011 and 2012 and fulfil other requirements set by the DU authorities, will be eligible to take the admission tests.

Admission test of 'Ka' unit (Science Faculty) for the first-year Honours course will be held on Oct 12, 'Kha' unit (Arts and social sciences) on Oct 19, 'Ga' unit (Business Studies) on Nov 23, 'Gha' unit (changing discipline) on Nov 9 and 'Cha' unit (Fine Arts) on Nov 16.

Police have arrested four suspected robbers while the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) held one on Saturday in connection with the murder of the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) leader Dr Narayan Chandra Datta Nitai.

Despite his family's belief that it was a premeditated murder over recruitment in a hospital, the law enforcers insisted that the incident took place during a burglary.

At a press conference, where the four detainees were produced, Deputy Commissioner (South) of the Detective Branch of Police Monirul Islam said the law enforcers had recovered looted gold ornaments and the knife used for killing the 48-year-old doctor.

They had been detained from Dhaka and adjacent areas over the past two days, Islam said.

"We are preliminarily confirmed that the murder was conducted during the robbery," he said.

"But," he added, "this isn't final. We are giving similar priority to the other chances, including the talks over politics."

Those detained are Masud alias Peda, 28, Saidul, 38, Pichchi Kamal, 35 and Faisal, 32.

Faisal said one of his associates, barred during the burglary at the house, knifed a person.

"We heard later in the morning that the victim has died," he said.

Four of the seven robbers, including Faisal, entered the house after cutting the window grill, he said.

"He (Nitai) was asleep when we entered [the house]. Getting awake, he scuffled with us. We wanted to tie him up but he resisted. Then Mintu knifed him and we fled after looting some things," he added.

RAB arrested another member of the gang, Kamal. RAB spokesman M Sohail said he would be handed over to the police.

Dr Nitai, an Executive Committee member of BMA, was knifed to death in the early hours of Thursday at his home in Mahakhali's National Institute of Disease of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH).

On the fateful night, he was alone in his room and his octogenarian mother Manju Dutta was on the floor below. On the first floor, police found household items scattered all over the place, leading them to suspect the killing was part of a robbery.

A case filed by the father of the deceased, Tarit Kanti Datta, over the incident with the Banani police mentioned Tk 500,000 has gone missing.

But DR Nitai's brother-in-law Surash Chowdhury claimed after the murder that it was premeditated.

He alleged Nitai was being threatened over recruitment of third and fourth-class employees at NIDCH.

"Everything is false. It is a staged drama. If it was an incident of burglary, it would have been carried out after tying his hands, legs and mouth, and he would not have been killed. Though money and gold ornaments were looted, I would still say it was a premeditated murder," said Surash.

Surash, however, could not name any of those threatening Nitai.

Superintendent of the NIDCH Dr Bashir Ahmed said Dr Nitai never talked about receiving any threats.

According to Ahmed, the 55 newly appointed NIDCH staffs included Nitai's brother Goutam and Gautam's wife. The appointment was formalised on Aug 1.

"Narayan (Nitai) was superintendent of the NIDCH even six months ago and the possibility of killing him to avenge previous enmity cannot be brushed aside," said one of his colleagues, preferring anonymity.

Jahangirnagar University is slated to resume academic activities from Sunday after a 24-day closure in the wake of violent clashes between ruling Awami League student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League and police.

Authorities say dormitories would be opened from Saturday afternoon.

A media release from the university said students would have to present their identity cards at the hall gates. Teachers would examine the cards, it said.

Students residing at halls would be allowed to enter their dormitories only between 8am and 11pm every day, the press release added.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Anwar Hossain hoped that academic activities would go unhindered after the reopening.

On Aug 1, Tahmidul Islam Likhon, a post-graduate student of Economics and leader of a Chhatra League faction, was stabbed by assailants. The pro-government student wing's activists responded violently when the law enforcers went to detain a student in connection with the attack.

Five students were injured when police fired rubber bullets as the agitated students vandalised Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall Provost's residence and smashed a vehicle of the law enforcers.

Students had to leave their dormitories within Aug 3 when the university authorities announced Eid vacation in advance apparently to avert further violence.

Jurors felt Samsung Electronics Co Ltd should pay significant damages in the landmark patent trial against Apple Inc, even though they viewed Apple's demands as too high, according to the foreman.

Apple won a sweeping victory against Samsung on Friday in a federal courtroom in San Jose, California.

A nine-member jury found the Korean company had infringed on several Apple features and design patents and awarded the iPhone maker $1.05 billion (664 million pounds) in damages, which could be tripled because the jury also decided the Korean firm had acted wilfully.

Apple said it intends to seek sales bans against Samsung mobile products, which Samsung will oppose.

In an interview on Saturday, jury foreman Velvin Hogan, 67, said Apple's arguments about the need to protect innovation were persuasive in the jury room. He also said video testimony from senior Samsung executives made it "absolutely" clear to them that the infringement was purposeful.

"We didn't want to give carte blanche to a company, by any name, to infringe someone else's intellectual property," Hogan told Reuters a day after the verdict.

However, Hogan said Apple's damages demand of up to $2.75 billion were "extraordinarily high," partly because it was unclear whether Apple had enough component supply to sell more phones even if it had wanted to.

FIGURING DAMAGES

Apple's damages expert testified that Samsung earned margins of roughly 35.5 percent on the products at issue in the lawsuit, on $8.16 billion in revenue. However, Hogan said they thought Apple's percentage did not properly take into account many other costs identified by Samsung.

Samsung's damages expert testified the margin should be closer to 12 percent, and the jury picked a number slightly above that, Hogan said.

"We wanted to make sure the message we sent was not just a slap on the wrist," Hogan said. "We wanted to make sure it was sufficiently high to be painful, but not unreasonable."

Hogan worked as an engineer for decades before he retired, and holds a patent of his own. He said jurors were able to complete their deliberations in less than three days - much faster than legal experts had predicted - because a few had engineering and legal experience, which helped with the complex issues in play.

Once they determined Apple's patents were valid, jurors evaluated every single device separately, he said.

"We didn't just go into a room and start pitching cards into a hat," he said.

At one point during the second day of deliberations, jurors turned off the lights in the room to settle a debate about the potential influence screen brightness might have on Apple's graphics interface. Their verdict: Apple's designs were unique.

"All of us feel we were fair, that we can stand by our verdict and that we have a clear conscience in that we were totally not biased one way or another," Hogan said.

The case in US District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.

Gultekin Khan, the estranged wife of virtuoso writer Humayun Ahmed who died on July 19, visited her former husband's grave at Nuhashpalli in Gazipur for the first time on Thursday, and prayed for the departed soul.

Sculptor of Nuhashpalli, favourite retreat of the popular Bengali fiction writer, Asaduzzaman said Gultekin accompanied by her in–laws arrived at the grave around 10am.

The in-laws accompanying Gultekin were her mother-in-law Ayesha Fayez, her two sons Zafar Iqbal and Ahsan Habib, and their three sisters Sufia Haider, Mamtaz Shahid and Rokhsana Ahmed. Humayun's nephew and nieces also went there along with their families.

Humayun's fan visiting the grave that time also joined the prayer.

The celebrated writer was buried at Nuhaspalli on July 24.

Humayun's second wife Meher Afroz Shaon visited the grave along with her two sons a day before the Eid.

Myanmar on Thursday told the Prime Minister it had formed a high-powered commission to investigate the causes of recent sectarian violence between Muslim Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists at Rakhine State.

Myanmar's Ambassador to Bangladesh U Myint Than informed Sheikh Hasina of latest situation of Rakhine state after the riot at a meeting at her office, PM's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said.

The envoy said the tension in violence-hit Rakhine state had eased after the Myanmar government sincerely tackled the situation, which was now under control of the authorities.

"The high-powered commission will dig out the cause of the violence and recommend necessary measures,' Azad quoted him as saying.

Hasina hoped the Yangon will soon start repatriating refugees from the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Other bilateral interests were also discussed at the meeting.

Ambassador at-Large M Ziauddin, PM's Principal Secretary Sheikh Wahid-Uz Zaman and Office Secretary Mollah Wahiduzzaman were present.

A relative of Dr Narayan Chandra Datta Nitai is refusing to take the incident as a robbery and believes the murder was premeditated.

Brother-in-law Surash Chowdhury claims Dr Nitai was being threatened over recruitment at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH).

Unnamed assailants had stabbed him to death at the residential building of NIDCH in Mohakhali on Thursday.

Police found everything on the house's first floor in a disorderly manner and suspected the killing was part of a robbery.

"Everything is false. It's an organised drama. Robbers would only take away things. They would not kill," Surash said.

"Even if money and gold were looted, I'll take it as a planned murder," he added.

He said the NIDCH had been plagued with problems during the past several days over appointment of the third and fourth-class employees.

"One of the doctors and his associates often threatened him," Surash said without naming anyone.

However, Superintendent of the NIDCH Dr Bashir Ahmmed said Dr Nitai never talked about receiving any threats.

He said Dr Nitai's brother Gautam and his wife Korna Das were among the 55 employees appointed to third and fourth-class posts on Aug 1.

Officer-in-Charge (Investigation) of the Banani Police Station Moinul Haque told bdnews24.com that the incident took place in the wee hours.

An Executive Member of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), spokesperson for medical profession, was also an Assistant Professor at the NIDCH.

"The assailants entered Dr Nitai's residence breaking the window grill and stabbed him to death. He was rushed to the hospital in the morning where doctors declared him dead," the police officer said.

Two knives and a crowbar were found at the scene of the murder, he said.

"Most probably the miscreants entered the house to steal. They knifed Dr Nitai as he would have sensed them," he added.

Moinul Haque said one "Saidul" had been nabbed in connection with the murder.

Dr Nitai's wife, Dr Lucky Chowdhury, who and her husband are leaders of pro-government Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, had gone to her village home in Chittagong on holiday. She came back around 1pm after learning about her husband's murder.

Dr Nitai's octogenarian mother Manju Dutta lived on the floor below him, according to police who believe the assailants entered the residence to commit burglary and fled killing Nitai when he noticed them.

Mother Manju Dutta told journalists that around Tk 500,000 in cash and 30 tolas of gold ornaments had gone missing.

Night guard in the hospital area Abdur Rauf told journalists he had gone to the first floor of the building hearing Dr Nitai's mother's scream in the morning. There, he said, he had found the doctor in a blood-stained state.

He said, "Sir's (Dr Nitai) face was covered with a lungi. When I removed the lungi, Sir said, 'Call in a doctor'. He did not make any more noise."

Rauf said 17 night guards were appointed for the area and that his colleagues had asked him to take up the "duty" in front of the quarter during night as he was old.

The night guard added that assailants often chased guards there.

Dr Nitai's body was taken to his residence around 2pm after autopsy. His brother-in-law said Nitai's funeral would take place at Kalipur village in Chittagong's Banshkhali Upazila.

He will be cremated at the Great Crematorium in the Baluar Dighir Parh.

Health and Family Welfare Minister A F M Ruhal Haque rushed to the hospital soon after hearing the news. The minister, President of Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad, expressed his deep shock and told the law-enforcing agencies to nab the killers at the earliest.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered quick arrest of the murderers.

Former U.S. astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said on Saturday.

Armstrong underwent a heart-bypass surgery earlier this month, just two days after his birthday on August 5, to relieve blocked coronary arteries.

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said: "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language.

Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time and even though he had fulfilled one of mankind's quests that had loomed for centuries and placed him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his accomplishment. He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought.

"I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" program in 2005.

He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said.

A VERY PRIVATE MAN

James Hansen, author of "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," told CBS: "All of the attention that ... the public put on stepping down that ladder onto the surface itself, Neil never could really understand why there was so much focus on that."

The Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight. The next year he was appointed to a desk job, being named NASA's deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research and technology.

Armstrong's post-NASA life was a very private one. He took no major role in ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the moon landing. "He's a recluse's recluse," said Dave Garrett, a former NASA spokesman.


"Howard Hughes had nothing on him," he said, speaking of the reclusive aviator.

Hansen said stories of Armstrong dreaming of space exploration as a boy were apocryphal, although he was long dedicated to flight. "His life was about flying. His life was about piloting," Hansen said.

He left NASA a year after Apollo 11 to become a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

The former astronaut lived in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Carol.

"We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures," the family said in a statement. "Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.