BANGLADESH

The BNP will enforce for a second straight day a daylong countrywide shutdown on Monday to protest the disappearance of the party's organising secretary M Ilias Ali.

The main opposition party's acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement at a media call at the Naya Paltan headquarters minutes before Sunday's lockdown was to end.

Fakhrul, who has been threatening the government with a non-stop general strike, said, "I'm telling the government again, return Ilias Ali and his car driver. Otherwise, the protest will be tougher."

"Monday's hartal will also be a 6am-to-6pm one like Sunday," he added.

Ilias Ali, also the chief of Sylhet district chapter, went missing since in the early hours on Wednesday. Police recovered his car, abandoned with doors open, from a street in Mohakhali.

Sunday's shutdown saw law-enforcers clamping down on pickets as sporadic clashes took place around the country. BNP leaders were cordoned off at the Naya Paltan headquarters all day long.

Sylhet, the home of Ilias Ali, had the biggest share of violence between police and opposition pickets leading to 20 people being injured and more than 50 detained.

The main opposition has been alleging the government has 'abducted' Ilias while the government refuted the allegation claiming it is trying it's best to find Ilias, a former MP.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia alleged that Rapid Action Battalion 'abducted' Ilias. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, however, said that Ilias has gone into 'hiding' and BNP is staging a 'drama' over it.

Fakhrul at the press briefing on Sunday said, "Remarks of the prime minister and the government officials have led us to believe that a government agency has abducted Ilias and now they are staging dramas over the issue of returning him."

Meanwhile, RAB on Saturday night raided several suspected houses at Gazipur's Pubail to find Ilias but had nothing to show for.

Apart from Sylhet, situation was normal elsewhere during Sunday's shutdown. Train, launch and plane operations were normal. Long-route buses were at a halt while rickshaws dominated the streets as usual.

Several local-made hand bombs exploded in the capital since the morning, most of them in front of the BNP headquarters.

Officials and employees of Biman Bangladesh Airlines demonstrated in front of the flag carrier's headquarters on Friday as its board of directors held a meeting there.

Only on Apr 10, the staff called off their strike after the civil aviation minister assured them the board would be dissolved as per their demand.

Some 200 Biman employees, under the banner of Biman Banchao Oikya Parishad, took part in the demonstration on Friday evening.

Additional police were deployed at the scene to avert any unpleasant incident.

"The civil aviation minister had assured us of dissolving Biman board of directors. Even after that, the board of directors has called a meeting in the evening," Biman Banchao Oikya Parishad publicity secretary Harun-or-Rashid told bdnews24.com.

"We demonstrated in front of Balaka Bhaban for one and a half hours starting from 4pm protesting the meeting," he added.

Shamshul Azad, a security official of Biman, told bdnews24.com that all of the board members reached the airliner's headquarters before 6pm to attend the meeting.

Airport Police Station sub-inspector (SI) said the protesters left the scene just after 6pm after staging their programme peacefully.

The Parishad on Apr 3 had called a 48-hour strike from Apr 16 demanding resignation of the chairman and dissolution of the board.

The pilots, cabin crew, officials and employees of Biman have been protesting since Mar 3 to press for their demands, terming the board corrupt and incompetent.

A platform of owners and workers of petrol pumps and oil tank lorries has postponed a nonstop strike scheduled to be enforced from 6am on Sunday.

Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners and Tank-Lorry Owners-Workers Unity Council announced the postponement in a media statement on Friday evening.

The platform had said that fuel oil will not be sold at about 9,000 petrol pumps while tank lorries would also have stopped supplying oil to press home its several demands including a hike in sales commission.


Convenor of the Council Nazmul Haque told bdnews24.com on Friday that at a press conference on Mar 31 they had issued an ultimatum for the government to raise commission on the sales of petroleum fuel and meet other demands before Apr 21.

"As the government has not made any move on the issue, we will enforce the indefinite strike from 6am on Sunday," he added.

One of the major demands of the association is implementation of the government's decision about increasing the pump owners' commission on sales of petroleum products.

After long negotiations, the government on Feb 23 last year agreed to raise the commission, but has yet to implement the decision.

A special committee formed by the government last year recommended increasing the sales commission of diesel and kerosene by 3.4 percent and octane and petrol by 4 percent.

"But the government on Jan 26 fixed 2.45 percent commission for the pump owners on diesel, 3.27 percent on petrol and 3.3 percent on octane without any discussion with us," he said.

Currently, around 4,900 petrol pumps are in operation.

Haque said the government raised prices of fuel oil several times in past few months but did not revise commission for the pump owners. Also the president of Petrol Pump Owners Association, Haque said pump owners and workers were being affected financially.

After the government raised fuel oil prices on Dec 29 last year, price of per litre diesel and kerosene went up to Tk 61, petrol to Tk 91, octane to Tk 94 a litre and furnace oil to Tk 60.

Their other demands include a guideline on installation of petrol pumps, increase in fares for tank lorries and an end to alleged police harassment in the name of checking papers of tank lorries.

"We have been pressing for several demands for past few years. The government assured us of meeting the demands but it is not keeping its pledge," Haque said.

The council had enforced an indefinite strike on May 9, 2010 but later called it off after prime minister's energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and state minister for energy Enamul Huq had a meeting with them.

On May 17 last year, they once again announced to enforce a strike but later suspended it upon assurance from the government to meet some of their demands.

The ruling Awami League on Sunday brought out several anti-hartal processions at different points of the capital.

They also gathered in front of the party headquarters at the Bangabandhu Avenue.

AL activists and supporters started gathering at the party's Bangabandhu Avenue office since morning.

Party's city unit official Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya was at the headquarters where the supporters chanted anti-strike slogan.

The BNP is enforcing Sunday's shutdown protesting against the disappearance of the party's one of the organising secretaries M Ilias Ali. The opposition asked the authorities to find Ali.

The government, however, had requested BNP to withdraw Sunday's strike. The opposition rejected the call and threatened to enforce indefinite strike if Ali was not found.

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), AL student wing, Paltan unit brought out a procession at the Nightingale Crossing near the BNP headquarters. Police, however, did not allow them to move towards the BNP headquarters.

Ulama League, a religious group affiliated with AL, brought out a procession at the Bangabandhu Avenue and held a rally in front of the National Press Club.

Several other anti-strike processions were also seen across the capital.

The BNP leaders had been alleging that the government had a hand in Ilias Ali's going 'missing'. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina rejected the allegation and said it was a "drama staged by the BNP".

Home minister Shahara Khatun on Friday called on the opposition to withdraw the strike, saying law enforcing agencies were working to find out Ilias.

BNP spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the opposition might call non-stop shutdown if Ali was not found.

Police on Sunday fired around 100 rounds of blank shots and tear shells in Sylhet as massive clashes broke out between the law enforcers and pro-shutdown pickets on Sunday afternoon.

At least 20 were injured during the clashes and over 50 people detained, police said.

However, the situation was peaceful until the afternoon.

Clash ensued in Sylhet city after police barred BNP activists from taking out a procession in support of the shutdown protesting disappearance of one of the BNP's organising secretaries, M Ilias Ali.

The clashes ensued around 12:30pm at Zindabazar when police barred a procession led by Jamiyate Ulamaye Islam, member of the newly formed BNP-led 18-Party Coalition, Kotwali police officer in charge Ataur Rahman said.

Police fired at least 20 tear shells and 30 blank shots to bring the situation under control. They also detained 14 activists from the area that turned into a battle zone with opposition activists pelting the law enforcers with brickbats.

Earlier, opposition activists gathered at City Centre after police foiled a number of their attempts around the city to take out processions.

Chases and counter-chases also took place at the city's Babna Intersection. Law enforcers detained an activist during the altercation, South Surma police said.

A clash broke out at Tuker Bazar also and police fired 20-25 tear gas shells and blank shots and detained around 20 activists, Sylhet Mertopolitan Police deputy commissioner Ezaz Ahmed said.

BNP activists surrounded the Bishwanath Police Station, the area where Ilias Ali's home is, around noon and pelted brickbats. A clash between the law enforcers and protesters began and police fired 50 tear shells and blank shots. They also detained 11 activists from there.

Earlier, around 11:00am, pickets vandalised an auto-rickshaw carrying newspapers and a medicine shop and torched a food shop. Police have detained three pickets from there, Sylhet district SP Shakhawat Hossain said.

Additional police have been deployed at the key points of Sylhet city including Ambarkhana, Chouhatta, Court Point, Jindabazar and City Point. Rapid Action Battalion personnel are also patrolling the city.

Additional commissioner of Sylhet Mertopolitan Police Abdullah Al Azad Choudhury said, "Police are working to ensure safety and security of the people."

He added they detained two Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) activists, Saidul Enam Choudhury Lahin, 28, and Enamul Haque Choudhury Shamim, 32, from Zindabazar in the morning along with a knife and a motorcycle.

Most of the streets are empty due to the shutdown except for the rickshaws plying the streets. Long route buses are not operating and most of the shops are closed.

Around 8am, police detained four pickets from Eidgah area in Shayestanagar. They are Azizul Islam, 35, Sumon Mia, 30, Jewel Mia, 28, and district JCD joint convenor Imran Ahmed, 30.

A daylong shutdown was also enforced on Thursday in Sylhet over Ilias Ali's disappearance, who is also the chief of the district BNP.

A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced a former police deputy inspector general and his wife to life for illegally keeping seven children in their custody for trafficking.

Judge Mohammad Arifur Rahman of the Fourth Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal handed down the guilty verdict against Anisur Rahman and his wife 'Anowara'.

Wednesday's verdict came six years after the incident came to light. The judgement is related to seven children although according to reports the couple had 14 children in their custody.

The court also fined the couple Tk 500,000 each. The convicts will have to serve another year in jail if they fail to pay the fine.

Defence lawyer Kazi Mohammad Sazawar Hossain said he would appeal the verdict.

Anowara was present in the court when the judgement was delivered on Wednesday but her husband has jumped bail.

Media reports in May 2006 said that Anowara claimed to be the mother of seven children of similar age. The incident had created a public sensation that time. Allegations had it that the couple kept these children for trafficking.

The couple claimed the 14 children that used to live in their home were their own.

According to media reports, Anisur's wife had undergone permanent birth control measures five years back. If the birth certificate information was true then Anowara had given birth to three of the children within an eight month period.

Advocate Elena Khan, then executive director of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR), filed a general diary with Badda Police Station against the couple. Later on Feb 6, 2007, the court accepted the complaint as a case as media and rights activists continued to press for it.

According to case details, seven of the 14 children of the couple were very young. Discrepancy surfaced as their information varied from time to time and it emerged that the children were not theirs.

The couple's past deeds made it clear that they illegally collected these children from various hospitals, clinics or from the guardians for trafficking.

On Nov 10, 2006 investigation officer of the case, detective Humayun Kabir submitted the final report to the court.

He sought discharge of the accused from the case, saying the incident surfaced merely because of "misinformation". But when the case's plaintiff objected to the report, the court decided to continue with the case.

According to case details, Jannatul Mariam Nazifa, one of the children, died.

Nafiza, Jannatul Nafiza Rahman, Jannatul Tanisa Rahman , Ayman Rahman Anis, Nafes Akan Anis, Anas Akhand Asin and Diyan Rahman currently stay at the Jatiya Mahila Ainjibi Samity's safe home 'Proshanti' at Agargaon.

The coast guards on Tuesday seized the cargo vessel responsible for the recent Munshiganj ferry capsize that claimed lives of around 150 people.

Bangladesh Coast Guard officials said 'MV City-1' cargo ship was seized around 12pm from the Meghna River at Chandpur Sadar's Rajrajeshwar area.

Assistant sub-inspector of Chandpur Police Station Mohammad Salauddin said eight of the cargo's crewmen were handed over to police.

At least 147 people died when passenger carrier Shariatpur-1 collided with the cargo vessel on the night of Mar 13 and capsized with more than 250 passengers on board.

The committee that investigated the accident held the cargo vessel responsible for the accident. MV City-1 was on its way to Dhaka from Shariatpur on the fateful night.

Commander of Chandpur Station Coast Guard lieutenant Mohammad Zahurul Haque and director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Emdadul Haque told bdnews24.com that 12 sailors were on board the cargo ship when it was seized.

The vessel had no goods and was on its way to Chittagong from Dhaka, they said.

According to the information given out by the detained crew, one Fazlur Rahman owns the vessel. He stays at Dhaka's Gendaria area, they said.

The detainees are – master Shahidul Islam, 54, pilot Amir Hossain, 42, crew Rafiqul Islam, 35, 'Zafar', 27, 'Shahid', 25, Babul Hossain, 28, 'Niyamat', 19, Sanowar Hossain, 32, 'Yousuf', 19, 'Nuruzzaman', 28, Mobarak Ali, 22 and Monir Hossain, 32.

The High Court has ordered the Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker to hand over responsibility of probing the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi to the Rapid Action Battalion.

The bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Jahangir Hossain gave the order on Wednesday after Detective Branch officials admitted that they have failed to make any progress in murder investigation.

Maasranga Television news editor Sagar and ATN Bangla senior reporter Runi were killed on Feb 11 at their rented apartment in the city's West Rajabazar.

A case was filed against unidentified miscreants with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station over the incident. The DB police have been investigating the case.

After the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a writ petition on Feb 28 as there had been no visible progress in the investigation, the High Court issued a rule upon the government to explain why it should not be directed to find out the motive of the killing and to arrest the killers.

The court also directed the police to submit the progress report of the investigation into the case before it. Two progress reports were submitted to the office of the deputy attorney general by the DB police and the inspector general of police (IGP) on Mar 21 and Mar 22 respectively.

Deputy attorney general A B M Altaf Hossain placed the report before the court on Tuesday. The court after seeing the report said that no progress was there and summoned deputy commissioner Monirul Islam and investigation officer of the case Rabiul Alam to appear before the court on Wednesday.

Bangladesh are through to their first ever Asia Cup final after beating Sri Lanka by five wickets in Tuesday's cricket match.

News reports say storms with heavy rains and strong winds have killed at least 17 people and injured dozens more in Bangladesh.

Dhaka's Prothom Alo and Janakantha newspapers say Friday's storms damaged mud-and-straw huts and felled trees in 10 of the country's 64 districts.

The reports say most of the deaths occurred from lightning. Some victims were buried under their collapsed houses.

Official confirmation of the reports was not immediately available.

Rainstorms are common in Bangladesh, a tropical delta nation of 160 million people.

An allegation of making up 'fake plaintiff' has surfaced to withdraw a case filed on charges of fraud against four people including Destiny Multipurpose Co-operative Society chairman and Kutub Bagh Darbar Sharif's 'Pir'.

The issue of the 'fake plaintiff' in the case came to light on Sunday when two lawyers for the plaintiff contradicted his location and pleas in the court of magistrate Mohammad Hasibul Haque of Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Haque, after hearing plea of both lawyers, ordered Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police to check the voter ID cards of the two people who claimed themselves as plaintiffs. Police will have to submit their findings on May 15.

The court also ordered the Ramna Police Station officer-in-charge to make sure that first plaintiff Syed Shariful Haque Chishti is produced before the court on Tuesday.

One of the plaintiffs' lawyers, Amirul Islam, in his plea, said, "After filing the case on Mar 13, Syed Shariful Haque Chishti has gone missing. And now, the accused in the case are trying to withdraw the case by presenting a fake plaintiff."

Islam claimed, "The fake plaintiff's name is Shariful Islam, son of late Wasim Uddin. But Chishti is the real plaintiff, son of late Syed Nasirul Haque Chishti."

The lawyer also urged the court to protect the 'real' plaintiff and take measures against the 'fake' one.

Meanwhile, Shariful Chishti's lawyer Mohammad Golam Sarwar in a plea submitted on Mar 28 to withdraw the case said the case was filed following a misunderstanding between the plaintiff and the accused. But now, the plaintiff does not want to continue with the case as they have reached an understanding, he said.

The judge ordered to quash the case following his plea.

But Amirul on Sunday raised the allegation of creating a 'fake' plaintiff to drop the case.

Kutub Bagh Darbar Sharif's Pir Mohammad Jakir Shah's former 'Khadem' Shariful Haque Chishti filed the case at the Dhaka CMM's Court on Mar 13 accusing Jakir Shah, Destiny Multi-purpose Co-operative Society Limited chairman Amin, one Kabir Hossain and Ismail Hossain Babu.

Magistrate Hasibul Haque had ordered the accused to be present in court on Apr 15 after the hearing that day.

According to the case details, the accused confined Chishti inside the Kutub Bagh Darbar Sharif and forced him to sign some stamped blank cartridge papers on Apr 13 last year.

Later, he came to know that some pieces of land he owned at his paternal home were sold to Destiny Co-operative Society chairman Amin by Pir Jakir Shah for Tk 16.5 crore.

When Chishti went to him to talk about it, the accused had threatened to kill him, the case details said.

The High Court on Monday ordered authorities to suspend the process of the 33rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) preliminary test for three weeks and asked why the circular should not be declared illegal.

Following a writ petition filed on Sunday by 20 candidates who applied online but did not get admit cards, the bench of justices Farid Ahmed and Sheikh Hassan Arif issued the orders.

"According to the High Court order, all sorts of activities of the 33rd BCS will remain halted for three weeks," petitioners' lawyer A K M Fayez told bdnews24.com.

"The court wanted to know why the BCS circular with the condition of online application only should not be declared illegal," he said.

The court also asked why the Public Service Commission (PSC) would not be given directives to allow the applicants, who did not get their admit cards, to sit the test slated for June 1.

The court ordered the PSC chairman, Cabinet secretary, PSC's examination controller and Teletalk chairman to respond in one week.

"We told the court that the deprived applicants are at no fault. They applied in proper time. They cannot be deprived for the problem in Teletalk server. They did not get recourse even after appealing to the PSC chairman," Fayez said.

"In line with law, applications with the process to fill up online forms do not give everyone equal opportunity, which is contradictory to Section 29 of the constitution. The Section says everyone will have to be given equal opportunity in appointments," he added.

On Feb 29, the PSC published the circular for the test to fill up 4,206 vacant posts.

Amidst threat by applicants who did not get admit cards to move the High Court, the PSC had announced on Apr 10 that the 33rd BCS preliminary test will be held on June 1.

According to the PSC, 183,627 applicants have applied online from Mar 8 to Apr 7 for the 33rd BCS. This is first time BCS candidates have submitted applications online. The fee for the test was Tk 500.

State-owned mobile-phone operator Teletalk was assigned the task to collect the money submitted by candidates using its SMS service.

Teletalk said money of some 13,500 candidates could not be deposited as the pressure on the server was at its peak in the last two days as 50,000 candidates applied on those days.

The PSC argued that those who failed to submit the fee will not be allowed to take the test as 'the commission had alerted them about the pressure on the server by the end of the deadline to submit applications'.

Hours before the PSC announcement to hold the preliminary test, eight to 10 aspirants who had failed to get admit cards even after filling up online forms at a media conference threatened to move the High Court if they were not allowed chance to sit the test.

Apart from Fayez, lawyers Mostafizur Rahman and Parvin Hannan stood for the petitioners while assistant attorney general Samarendra Nath Biswas stood for the government.

Opposition leader and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has returned home after undergoing a medical treatment at Singapore's National University Hospital.

A Singapore Airline flight carrying her touched the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport just before 11pm.

Khaleda's press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan said the opposition leader underwent a full medical check-up in Singapore.

"She (Khaleda) is fine now," he added.

Top party leaders including acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Jamir Uddin Sarker, Nazrul Islam Khan, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Aman Ullah Aman, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Fazlul Haque Milon and Juba Dal president Moazzem Hossain Alal, among others, received her at the airport.

She had left Dhaka for Singapore to undergo a medical check-up on Apr 9.

Taking 'full responsibility' for the recent cash scandal involving one of his personal aides, railway minister Suranjit Sengupta stood down on Monday.

Suranjit, who took over the newly-craved ministry barely five months back, made the announcement at a press briefing at the capital's Rail Bhaban after days of drama and suspense.

He met prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban Sunday night, first time since the scandal surfaced.

"Even though I was not linked to the incident, I am resigning to strengthen democracy," he told the press conference.

The resignation letter will be sent to the prime minister later, the ruling Awami League's advisory council member told reporters.

He came under pressure after his assistant personal secretary (APS) Omar Faruq Talukder was detained by the Border Guard Bangladesh personnel in the early hours of Apr 10 with unaccounted-for Tk 7 million in the car carrying Faruq and two top railway officials.

The officials are Railway Division (east zone) Yusuf Ali Mridha and Government Railway Police (GRP) (Dhaka zone) commandant Enamul Haque.

Mridha and Enamul were temporarily suspended and Faruq was fired on Sunday.

The ministry has asked the Bangladesh Bank to freeze Faruq and his wife Marzia Farhana's bank accounts and to investigate their banking transactions.

Opposition BNP has been claiming that the minister is also linked to the scandal and called for his resignation. But, Suranjit had rejected the demand saying, "The opposition hasn't given me the post ... I won't leave the post on their demand."

But after he met party president Hasina on Sunday night at Ganabhaban, rumours were rife that he was going to step down. The gossips grew when he was absent in the regular Cabinet meeting on Monday morning.

Though his briefing was supposed to begin at 12pm, Suranjit arrived at Rail Bhaban after 12:30pm and came to the conference room a 1:45pm with railway director general Abu Taher and railway secretary Fazle Kabir after spending some time at his chamber.

"I won't say much today. I won't take any questions and won't answer any either," he said at the beginning of the 20-minute briefing.

He said, "The incident is fully my responsibility, it is neither my party's nor the government's. I met the prime minister last Sunday for about an hour after she returned home. I expressed my desire to her to resign and she agreed."

Explaining the situation, he said, "A new debate has risen over the incident of Apr 10. People are saying many things. As my APS and two railway officials were linked to the incident, this is a responsibility of my ministry."

A very depressed Suranjit, who has been in politics for over 50 years, told the media call, "Everyone has been benefitted in many ways in 40 years of independence of Bangladesh. But I'm feeling sad to say this that no one made sacrifices in those years."

"I'm facing a difficult test at the end of my life," he added.

Protesting his innocence, he said, "Most of the people barring some intellectuals and a couple of people in my party have asked me whether the investigation would be free of influence if I am in office. I have to take responsibility for this incident to strengthen democracy. Though I'm not linked, I've decided to resign."

However, he put this resignation 'just a break' in his journey in Bangladesh's politics.

"I'll prove my innocence and will be back in politics in a transparent manner," Suranjit said.

After the press briefing, Suranjit held his last meeting with top railway officials at Rail Bhaban's conference room on the sixth floor. He urged the officials to keep up the good work achieved in the last several months.

Suranjit then left the Rail Bhaban around 3pm in a black jeep.

Suranjit, who has been MP in most parliaments formed since independence, took oath as the railway minister on Nov 28 last year. This is the first time Suranjit became a minister. During Awami League's last tenure, he was Hasina's parliament affairs advisor.

He joined Awami League in the early 1990s. He was a member of the country's first committee to constitute the charter and co-chairman of the special committee on the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.

Suranjit was also the head of the parliamentary standing committee on the law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry until recently.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today reiterated her government's tough stance against terrorism and militancy and vowed that it (government) would never

compromise on this question.

She also called for united global efforts to curb the menaces as the terrorists and militants have no boundary.

The Prime Minister expressed the resolve when Canada's Special Envoy on Commonwealth Membership Renewal Senator Hugh Segal paid a courtesy call on her at her

office here this morning.

After the meeting, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Abul Kalam Azad briefed reporters.

Sheikh Hasina informed the envoy that her government contained terrorism and militancy with an iron hand in the last three years. In this connection, she mentioned the

massive terrorist activities including the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka and series bomb explosions at 500 places across the country

simultaneously during the rule of the previous BNP-Jamaat alliance government.

The Prime Minister said incumbent President Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman, former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria, MP, and Ahsan Ullah Master,MP, were brutally

killed in the terrorist attacks during the period.

She also said her government is working tirelessly to further
strengthen the democratic system including the Election Commission and ensure human rights of the people.

"No country could achieve its desired goal without continuation of democracy and ensuring the human rights of the people," she added.

She mentioned that all elections, including 12 Jatiya Sangsad by-polls, city corporation, upazila, municipality and union council, staged under the present government, were

held in a free, fair and neutral manner with the spontaneous participation of all.

"No single allegation was raised about the polls from any corner," she added.

About bringing back of the convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Maj (retd) Noor Chowdhury, who is residing in Canada, the Prime

Minister said Canada should return him (Noor Chowdhury) to Bangladesh to face justice.

In response, the envoy told the Prime Minister that he would convey her message on the issue to the appropriate authorities of the Canadian government.

Segal highly appreciated the dynamic and visionary leadership of Sheikh Hasina and the successes Bangladesh achieved in the last three years under her leadership. They

also held a detailed discussion on the preparation of the next Commonwealth Summit to be held in Sri Lanka.

Issues relating to the trial of war criminals, climate change, food security and poverty alleviation also came up prominently for discussion.

Ambassador-At-Large M Ziauddin, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Sheikh M Wahid Uz Zaman, PMO Secretary Molla Waheeduzzaman, Press Secretary Abul Kalam

Azad and Canadian High Commissioner in Dhaka Heather Cruden were present.

Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta today said he fired his assistant private secretary (APS) and ordered suspension of two railway officials and the

department's ongoing recruitment process as investigations were underway into the last week's midnight cash scandal.

Speaking at an unscheduled press briefing at his office, for the second time in three days, Sengupta also reiterated his earlier stance about the possible resignation saying, he would not hesitant to quit if investigations found his involvement in the scam.

"I told you earlier, it is not a big thing for a politician to earn a position and it is also to quit it," he said.

He said he fired his APS Omar Faruq as "I have the power to sack my APS" while the ministry suspended railway general manager Yusuf Ali Mridha and divisional commandant of its security force Enamul Huq on the basis of their statements before an investigation committee.

Sengupta said the trio would face departmental and judicial cases to be filed under the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1985 while officials familiar with the situation said Mridha and Haque were asked not leave Dhaka until further orders.

The development came hours after Mridha and Haque appeared before an investigation committee of the ministry as summoned for their statements while Faruq apparently preferred to ignore the summon as he did not appear for the committee headed by a joint secretary.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank officials said they were set to issue a directive asking all commercial banks to freeze Faruq's bank accounts and examine the accounts of the two others.

In a related development Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) today said it launched an investigation into the Monday night's scandal and the alleged "recruitment trade" in the railway ministry.

According to earlier reports Sengupta's official aide and the two railway officials were going to the minister's residence at around midnight Monday when their car driver suddenly pulled the vehicle over to the high security Border Guard Bangladesh's (BGB) Pilkhana headquarters where he told the border guards that there was stashes of bribe money inside the car.

An amount said to be as high as Taka 70 lakh with no known source of origin, was reportedly found in their possession but the border guards freed them along with the amount next morning after overnight grilling.

Meanwhile, approached by newsmen as he came out after giving statements before the committee, Mridha said the said amount did not belong to him and he was ready to face investigations of any kind about the allegations.

Sengupta, a veteran parliamentarian and senior leader of ruling Awami League, earlier said he had no link to the said stash of money and feared an organized gang

deliberately was orchestrating a campaign to dislodge him as he spearheads a campaign to uproot "40 years of accumulated anomalies and corruption in the railway".

Celebrated British journalists Sir William Mark Tully and Simon Dring will reminisce on their experiences during Bangladesh's War of Independence at a programme on Monday.

One of the organisers, business leader Annisul Huq told bdnews24.com: "The two foreign journalists will start telling us about their war-time experiences from 7:30pm at Hotel Sonargaon."

Sir Mark Tully was BBC's India correspondent in 1971 and is still one of Britain's favourite broadcasters. During the war, the news media controlled by the then Pakistani junta used to carry out coverage for the military and their affiliates. Mark Tully's coverage of the war on BBC radio was the people's chief source of authentic information.

Covering the Liberation War of Bangladesh was a high point in Sir Mark's career; that he did extensively for the BBC and had the fortune to watch founding father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from close quarters.

London-based Daily Telegraph's war correspondent Simon Dring was the first person who flashed out to the world the genocide carried out by the Pakistani forces on the Bengalis when Operation Searchlight was launched on the night of Mar 25, 1971.

All foreign correspondents and journalists had already been expelled from Dhaka by the military authorities and Dring was one of three correspondents who at the risk of their lives managed to stay in hiding – the other two being Arnold Zeitlin and Michael Laurent.

On Mar 31, Telegraph published Dring's eyewitness account of Operation Searchlight. Datelined Dhaka it was called "How Dhaka paid for a united Pakistan" and Dring's account of the army's attack on Dhaka University was horrifying and shocking but vivid and factual.

Business groups Mohammadi Group and Ha-Meem Group of current FBCCI president A K Azad, are sponsoring the programme titled 'Smriti 71'.

Sector commander and former army chief retired Maj Gen K M Shafiullah would be joining the two journalists in reflecting on the tumultuous days.

"We have invited all MPs, cabinet members, journalists and businessmen," Annisul Huq of Mohammadi Group said.

None without invite will be allowed, added the former FBCCI chief.

The programme, however, will be broadcast live on Desh Television and can be watched also on bdnews24.com.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of the Bangladesh's first Internet newspaper, will moderate the programme.

Anyone can send their queries to the guests to this email address – smriti71@bdnews24.com

A previous attempt to bring the duo together to hear their stories was cancelled due to Sir Mark's illness.

Sir Mark, who reported the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the Bhopal gas tragedy and the destruction of the Babri Mosque by Hindu fanatics at Ayodhya, was awarded one of India's highest honours, the Padma Bhushan.

He will meet prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban before the programme.

Apart from the Bengali-speaking people across the country, foreigners also celebrated Pahela Baishakh, marking the advent of Bengali New Year, amid fanfare, festivity and gaiety.

They rushed to Ramna Batamul, the main venue of the celebrations, Suhrawardy Udyan, Shahbagh, Dhaka University campus and other programme venues in the city and elsewhere in the country to hail the New Year 1419.

Talking to bdnews24.com on the celebrations of the Bengali New Year, Eric Woods, an education expert of the Commonwealth International, said, "Festivity is all around which is very fascinating."

"Though I'm not a Bangladeshi national, the festival has touched my heart."

Jehoma Gerson, a Dutch tourist who has come to Bangladesh for the first time, said, "It appears that I'm in my own country. In our country, we celebrate Queen's Day in the second week of April. We wear colourful dresses and enjoy throughout the day."

Two Belgium nationals – Gym Ross and Pierre Martin – who have been in Dhaka for the last one year took part in the Mongol Shobha Jatra, one of the major attractions of the Baishakhi celebration in the city brought out by the students and teachers of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) of Dhaka University.

Asked about their reaction, they said, "Excellent, we've enjoyed the whole arrangement very much."

An Argentinean couple Diego Augustine and Ursula Augustine who have come to Bangladesh three weeks back said, "Today, everything is very colourful. We've are enjoying it very much."

British national Bob McIntosh who has been in Bangladesh as project advisor of a non-government organisation said he is overwhelmed by the fun and frolic around.

"It never thought there could be such beautiful art work here," he added.

After seeing colour combinations used in the Mongol Shobha Jatra of the Fine Arts faculty of Dhaka University, he said the folk culture of the country is very rich.

Rebecca Parton and Loyen Hertz, two students of Vermont University and Chicago University of the USA, said in broken Bangla: "Shubho Nababarsha".

Rebecca said, "It's our first time in Bangladesh. We feel the people of the country are very friendly and cordial."

"I come to see Mongol Shobha Jatra every year during the celebrations of Pahela Boishakh. It feels good to come here," said Taiko Mitsuhashi, an official of Japanese embassy in Dhaka, who has been here for the last three years.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday gunned down a Bangladeshi cattle trader along Chapainawabganj border.

Lt Col Jahangir Hossain, commander of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) 39 Battalion in Chapainawabganj, said the shooting took place at Chowka border of Shibganj upazila early in the morning.

The deceased was identified as Faruk Hossain, 25, son of Jasim Uddin from Parchowka village in the upazila.

Faruk died on the spot when BSF members of 125 Battalion of Shabdelpur fired on Bangladeshi cattle traders who were returning to Bangladesh from India with cattle around 5:30am, the BGB battalion commander said.

"BSF took away Faruk's body. Others fled the scene," Jahangir added.

He said BGB has sent a letter asking the BSF to return the body.

On Apr 4, another Bangladeshi was killed by BSF along Shingnagar border in Chapainawabganj.

Bangladeshis are celebrating the Bengali New Year 1419 amid festivity, gaiety and fanfare on Saturday, the first day of Baishakh.

After Chhayanat's programme at Ramna Batamul at dawn and Fine Arts Institute's Mongol Shobha Jatra, the central attractions of the celebration, people spread to Shahbagh, Ramna and Dhaka University.

Those who failed to attend the programmes in the morning were seen thronging Shahbagh, the centre of celebrations, wearing colourful dresses. Most of the women seen on the city streets wore white sarees with red borders while men wore red and white fatua or panjabee.

Vendors were selling traditional food items, masks and toys. People were seen buying something or the other at the fair.

Dhaka University's Bengali Department organised a programme in front of the Arts Building, Music Department and Kendrio Khelaghar Asor at Bot-Tola and Philosophy Department at Amtola.

A concert started on Mall Square of DU around 12:30pm.

Two other concerts were held at Muhsin Hall ground and Kendrio Khelaghar ground in the afternoon.

Wrishij, a cultural group, held a musical programme in front of the Shishupark in the morning.

Programmes are also being held at Rabindra Sarobor in Dhanmondi.

People from a broad spectrum of society started to assemble at Ramna Park, the prime venue of the festival, since early in the morning.

Celebrations began with Pahela Baishakh's central attraction, Chhayanat's cultural programme, at 6:15am at Ramna Batamul in the capital, which is not only the heart of the celebration but also a symbol of protest against oppression.

The artists sang Raga Bhairab at the beginning and then Rabindra Sangeet – Purbo Gogon Bhage.

They presented other songs of Rabindranath Tagore, national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Atul Prasad Sen, Rajanikanta Sen, Shah Abdul Karim, Lalon Shah, Torab Ali Shah, Gyan Prokash Ghosh and others.

bdnews24.com broadcast live Chhayanat's programme from Ramna Batamul.

After the programme that ended at 9:15am with the national anthem Amar Sonar Bangla, another unique attraction of the celebration known as 'Mongol Shobha Jatra' started from in front of the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University.

In keeping with the past, the institute once again organised a procession on this year's theme – the maritime boundary dispute victory and demand to speed up the trials of the war criminals.

The rally commenced from the Fine Arts Institute's 'Bokultala' premises with masks and papier-mâché. It ended at the same place after parading through streets of Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Shahbagh intersection, TSC and the university campus.

A 40-feet boat with a peacock figurehead from the fairytale symbolised the 'victory of sea' in the rally.

Two monster-like structures symbolising the war criminals of the Liberation War of 1971 were carried seeking pace in the ongoing trial for war crimes.

Apart from these, artefacts like elephants, horses, tigers and a bird with the appearance of a leaf were also part of the rally.

The Shobha Jatra offered everything — fun, entertainment, beauty, grandeur, eye-soothing images and thought-provoking messages.

The origin of Pahela Baishakh can be traced back to the Mughal period when Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar to streamline tax collection. In the course of time, it became a part of Bengali culture and tradition.

The name 'Baishakh' is derived from the name of a star 'Bishakha'. On that day Akbar used to go to his subjects and distribute sweets among them.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have installed 40 close-circuit TV cameras and police 76 more to keep an eye on the trouble-makers. Police have also set up road blockades and check-posts at 20 points across the capital.

A statement from the RAB headquarters said on Friday some 4,500 members of the elite force would be deployed across the country, including 2,000 personnel at different points in and around the city to ensure security.

The government on Tuesday rolled out Tk 350 million worth of incentives in seeds and fertiliser for 355,000 small and marginal farmers of 56 districts to promote Aush production.

Under the package, each farmer will get 8 kg of seed of Nerica – the New Rice For Africa, a high yielding variety – or 5 kg of Ufsi homegrown hybrid seeds and 36 kg fertiliser –16 kg of urea, 10 kg of Diammonium Phosphate and 10 kg of muriate of potash (MoP) for one bigha of land.

Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury announced the incentives at a press briefing in Dhaka.

She said the government set a target to cultivate Aush paddy on nearly 48,966 hectares of land in 56 districts in the current financial year. The production target is at 2.5 million metric tonnes which was 2.33 metric tonnes last year.

The minister said the programme will also require around 1890 tonnes of seeds, 5685 tonnes urea and 7106 tonnes of non-urea fertilisers like DAP and MoP.

She was hopeful that the slew of incentives would help to raise additional Aush output by 120,000 tonnes.

The total area for Aush cultivation has been fixed at 1.15 million hectares during this year, which was 1.13 million hectares in 2011.

The government provided incentives worth Tk 349.3 million for the first time in 2011 which had helped an additional 100,000 tonnes of rice in the past year.

Agriculture secretary Manzur Hossain and high officials of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) were present at the briefing

Railway minister Suranjit Sengupta suspended his assistant personal secretary on Wednesday, a day after he was found moving in a car with unaccounted for Tk 7mn in cash.

Minister's personal secretary Akhtaruzzaman confirmed that a suspension order has already been issued to APS Omar Faruq.

Faruq has been put under suspension with effect from Wednesday morning.

Soon after recovery of money, the minister had blamed the driver for the whole incident. He had said that the driver tried to 'blackmail and hijack' Faruq while returning home with the cash.

Border Guards Bangladesh had found the money in the car carrying Faruq and general manager of Railway Division (East) Yusuf Ali Mridha at Zigatola in the wee hours of Tuesday. The only other person in the car was the driver.

However, they were released later and the law-enforcers remained tight-lipped on the incident.

Since the recovery, the minister, who took over the newly-created railways ministry barely five months back, has faced widespread criticism.

Newspapers reported that the money was taken as bribe for making appointment in the ministry.

Former vice president of Bangladesh Chhatra League's Janagirnagar University unit, Faruq hails from Sunamganj.

Telecom regulator BTRC has awarded three different types of licences to 78 companies to operate in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission chairman Zia Ahmed handed over the licences to the representatives of the firms at a programme at the commission's conference room on Thursday.

"The telecom operators have some call-sharing issues with the companies who just got the licences. We will sit with everyone and solve the issues," he said.

The operators, who are already in the business, have been opposing the government move to allow so many companies in the telecom sector saying 'this would upset the balance in the telecommunication market'.

BTRC sent letters to 82 firms on Mar 8 asking them to collect their licences after the post and telecommunications ministry finalised a list of 85 licence seekers. Of them, 78 companies paid the licence fees until Wednesday.

Cash-strapped Bangladesh will get about $1 billion in extended credit facility from IMF after swallowing a not-so-sweet reform prescription from the global lender.

The IMF executive board approved the three-year ECF of SDR 639.96 million (about $987 million) and it would immediately disburse $141 million, says a media statement of the IMF Thursday.

In an instant reaction the central bank governor Atiur Rahman described IMF's credit approval as a welcome development for Bangladesh.

"Other donors will now show positive attitude towards Bangladesh after IMF's credit approval. As a result, it will have a positive impact on foreign investment," Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman said.

"Using the loan, the balance of payment problem can be handled, which would advance Bangladesh in international credit rating, and promote country's image in the international arena."

Bangladesh has been negotiating with IMF for over a year to get the loan under the ECF arrangement to cope with the on-going balance of payments problem that stood at negative $978 million in Jul-Nov period of the current fiscal.

It was negative $584 million at the same period of the last fiscal.

Even after a series of power price hikes as prescribed by it, the IMF sounded far from happy over the pace of such action.

"Prolonged delays in adjusting fuel, electricity, and fertilizer prices and unanticipated increases in import-related costs could exert additional pressure on the fiscal and external positions," the IMF said.

The ECF arrangement is designed to helping efforts to "restore macroeconomic stability, strengthen the external position, and engender higher, more inclusive growth".

After the board's discussion of Bangladesh, Naoyuki Shinohara, Deputy Managing Director and acting Chair, said: "Macroeconomic pressures have intensified in Bangladesh since late 2010 due to a negative terms-of-trade shock, rising oil and infrastructure-related imports, and accommodative policies."

"During the programme period," the IMF statement said, "Bangladesh is committed to taking actions to create fiscal space, reinvigorate the financial sector, and catalyse additional resources, in order to boost social- and development-related spending, tackle power shortages and the infrastructure deficit, and stimulate export-oriented investment and job growth.

"Bangladesh will undertake reform programmes in four major areas to ensure macroeconomic stability, external viability, and sustained growth.

"The reform areas are fiscal policy, monetary and exchange rate policy, financial sector and trade and investment."

Bangladesh, according to the IMF, has been facing macroeconomic pressures over the past 18 months when balance of payments went into a deficit in the last fiscal and reserves declined significantly owing mainly to increased demand for oil imports.

The IMF projected that GDP growth is expected to slow to 5.5 percent in the current fiscal.

"Fiscal strains have emerged due to rising subsidy costs, mainly on account of higher fuel consumption while headline inflation, while moderating recently, remains at an elevated level, with nonfood inflation the main driver."

Growth rebound expected

The IMF projected that from the next fiscal, growth is likely to rebound, assuming stable domestic economic conditions; more effective resource usage, notably development partner support; and improved global economic conditions.

It, however, said the near- to medium-term outlook "hinges on timely progress on policy adjustments and structural reforms envisaged under the government's programme".

"Inflation is expected to decline to single digits by end 2012 through appropriately restrained fiscal and monetary policies and, over time, by a further easing of supply constraints."

"The overall BOP is projected to return to a surplus in FY13 through a combination of policy tightening measures, exchange rate flexibility, and more supportive global conditions.

"Reserves are programmed to rise, reaching nearly three months of import cover by FY15.

Risks

While the delays in "adjusting" the utility prices and "unanticipated increases in import costs" put pressure on the fiscal and external positions, the IMF sees better days ahead.

"Bangladesh's medium-term prospects are broadly favorable, but still subject to risks. Policy buffers are limited in the event of adverse real shocks, given heightened inflation and reserve losses," it said.

Adjustments and reforms also require strengthened implementation capacity, it added.

After the board's discussion of Bangladesh, Naoyuki Shinohara, Deputy Managing Director and acting Chair, said: "Macroeconomic pressures have intensified in Bangladesh since late 2010 due to a negative terms-of-trade shock, rising oil and infrastructure-related imports, and accommodative
policies."

He said more recently, a weakening in external demand and a surge in oil prices have further weakened Bangladesh's balance of payments and added to fiscal and inflationary pressures.

Bangladesh is focusing on policy adjustments and structural reforms aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability, strengthening the external position, and promoting higher, more inclusive growth.

"The authorities are committed to these objectives and stand ready to take additional measures, as appropriate, to ensure the success of the programme."

Bangladesh earlier took US$590 million under poverty reduction growth facility approved in 2003.

ইন্দোনেশিয়ার সুমাত্রায় ৮ দশমিক ৭ মাত্রার প্রবল ভূমিকম্পের পর বাংলাদেশসহ ভারত মহাসাগর সংলগ্ন দেশগুলোর জন্য সুনামি সতর্কতা জারি করা হয়েছে।

সুমাত্রার স্থানীয় সময় ৩টা ৩৮ মিনিটে এই ভূমিকম্পের পর বাংলাদেশের রাজধানী ঢাকাসহ বিভিন্ন স্থানে কয়েক দফা মৃদু ভূকম্পন অনুভূত হয়।

যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের ভূতাত্ত্বিক জরিপ দপ্তর- ইউএসজিএসের তথ্য অনুযায়ী, সুমাত্রার ভূমিকম্পনের কেন্দ্র ছিল বান্দা আচেহ থেকে ৪৩৪ কিলোমিটার দক্ষিণ-পশ্চিমে উত্তর সুমাত্রার পশ্চিম উপকূলে।

এর পরপরই প্যাসিফিক সুনামি ওয়ার্নিং সেন্টার থেকে ভারত মহাসাগর সংলগ্ন দেশগুলোর জন্য সুনামি সতর্কতা জারি করা হয়। বাংলাদেশসহ ইন্দোনেশিয়া, ভারত, শ্রীলংকা, অস্ট্রেলিয়া মিয়ানমার, থাইল্যান্ড, যুক্তরাজ্য, মালয়শিয়া, মরিশাস, মৌরতানিয়া, পাকিস্তান, সোমালিয়া, ওমান, মাদাগাস্কার, ইরান, আরব আমিরাত, ইয়েমেন, তানঞ্জানিয়া, মোজাম্বিক, কেনিয়া, সাউথ আফ্রিকা, সিঙ্গাপুরসহ আরো কয়েকটি দেশের জন্য এ সতর্কতা জারি করা হয়।

সুমাত্রার ভূমিকম্পের পর বাংলাদেশেও কয়েক দফা মৃদু ভুমিকম্প অনুভূত হয়েছে বলে জানান ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের আর্থ অবজারভেটরির তত্ত্বাবধায়ক অধ্যাপক হুমায়ুন আক্তার।

তিনি জানান, সুমাত্রার ভূমিকম্পের কম্পনই বাংলাদেশ থেকে অনুভূত হয়েছে। বাংলাদেশে এর মাত্রা ছিল রিখটার স্কেলে ৩ দশমিক ৮।

তাৎক্ষণিকভাবে ক্ষয়ক্ষতির কোনো খবর পওয়া যায়নি।

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre says a tsunami watch has been issued for the entire Indian Ocean, including Bangladesh after an earthquake on Wednesday.

The alert also affects Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, Maldives, Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore.

India has issued a tsunami watch for the Andaman Islands and its eastern coast.

Mild tremors shook parts of Bangladesh including Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet around 2:45pm following an 8.7-magnitude earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra.

Dhaka University's earth observatory's caretaker professor Humayun Akhter said, "The tremor in Bangladesh resulted from the earthquake in Sumatra. The tremor registered a 3.8 magnitude on the Richter scale."

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was detected about 33-km deep in the ocean, some 495 kilometres south-west of Banda Aceh, Sumatra.

USGS said earthquakes of this size "have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean Basin".

The quake was felt as far away as Singapore, Thailand, India and Bangladesh.

The region was devastated by a 2004 tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in 13 nations.