BANGLADESH

The government has given its nod for three agreements with Orion Group to add 1,088 Megawatt (MW) electricity to the national grid from three privately run coal-based power plants.

The move is part of the government's plan to boost power production amid increasing demand.

Representing either side, managing director of Orion Group Salman Obaidul Karim and power secretary of Power Development Board (PDB) Mohammad Azizul Islam signed agreement papers to set up three coal-fired power plants, at the Bidyut Bhaban here on Tuesday.

This is the first initiative to generate substantial power using energy. At present the 250-MW coal-fired power plant near Barapukuria coalmine is the country's lone coal-fired power plant.

The new coal-based power plants will be set up at Mawa in Munshiganj (capacity 522 MW), Anwara in Chittagong (283 MW), and at Labanchora in Khulna (283 MW).

The government also signed another deal with Solarium Power Ltd to produce a further 18 MW solar power.

Solarium Power Ltd managing director Nazmul Abedin and PDB secretary Azizul Islam also gave their written consent.

Energy adviser to the prime minister Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, power division secretary Abul Kalam Azad, state minister for power Mohammad Enamul Haque, and PDB chairman A S M Alamgir Kabir were present on the occasion.

The four deals will formally be signed soon, the gathering was informed.

The government has already said the thermal solar system will be set up at Phulpur in Mymensingh district (capacity 18 MW), the country's first renewable energy-based power plant with a capacity over 1 MW, to become the largest renewable energy-based power plant in the subcontinent.

MORE POWER SOON

Of the three deals inked with Orion, the power plant to be set up at Mawa will start generating electricity within 45 months, while those at Labanchora and Anwara would start operation within 36 months.

The government would purchase power per unit from Mawa plant at Tk 4, and for Tk 3.80 per unit from the two others, it was informed.

Solarium, meanwhile, plans to start commercial operation in two years and will sell power to the government at Tk 5.50 per unit. The plant will cost Tk 2.35 billion, Nazmul Abedin, managing director of Solarium, said at the signing ceremony.

Orion Group chairman Obaidul Karim said, "We will invest US$ 1.4 billion to set up the three coal-based plants."

The prime minister's energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said the deals were part of the government's efforts to augment power generation to meet the rapidly increasing demand.

Calling the deals a step towards fulfilling the government's commitment to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to people, he said power supply across the country has significantly improved in the three years since this government came to office.


SUPPLY NOT ENOUGH NOW
The nation's power demand of 7,000 MW every day exceeds daily production by nearly 2,000 MW at present.

At present, natural gas fuels 82 percent of power generated in the country, furnace oil fuels 5 percent, diesel another 7 percent, while water and coal make up for a total of 6 percent power generated.

Generating power by using gas, many experts say, is a luxury for a nation like Bangladesh.

The Sheikh Hasina government has set a target to raise power generation up to 15,000 MW by 2016.

Deals have already been struck to set up 48 power plants to meet the target, of which 17 are quick rental plants, three are rental, 10 are independent power producers, and 18 are state-run power plants.

As a result, officials said, around 2,500 MW have been added to the national grid over the last three years. Of this, 1,581 MW is generated by 20 plants set up during this government's tenure and 825 MW comes from power plants agreed on during the caretaker government's regime.

The results of Masters final examinations of 22 disciplines held in 2008 under the National University (NU) have been published.

An official release said the results were published on Monday.

The disciplines include Sanskrit, Bangla, English, History, Islamic Studies, Arabic, Islamic History and Culture, Philosophy, Political Science, Social Science, Social Work, Physics, Biochemistry, Zoology, Statistics, Psychology, Soil Science, Home Economics, Management, Finance and Banking, Marketing and Pali.

The results will be sent to the colleges concerned. It will also be available on the website - www.nu.edu.bd and www.nu-results.net

A total of 73,196 students sat for the Masters final examinations in 30 subjects.

The results of other departments will be published soon.

Results of Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations will be published on Dec 28.

"The results are being published within 37 days after the exam ended," education secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told  on Wednesday.

The education ministry earlier announced that it would publish the results within Dec 31.

JSC and JDC examinations started from Nov 1 and ended on Nov 21.

A total of 18,61,113 students took part in the exams --15,37,422 students for JSC and the rest 3,23,691 students sat for JDC.

The examination is being held since 2010 for the Grade-VIII students. This year, the exams were held at 2009 centres simultaneously.

All the papers saw creative questions except for Bengali second paper, English first and second paper and Mathematics.

Like the previous year, students failing in three subjects would be allowed to get themselves admitted to Grade-IX but they would have to take part and pass in the next examination, according to the education ministry.

This year, the physically challenged students were given extra 20 minutes. Moreover, those who cannot see or write were allowed to have a writer.

Chief election commissioner (CEC) A T M Shamsul Huda has mixed feelings about president Zillur Rahman's initiative to hold talks with parties represented in parliament on the new Election Commission's (EC) formation.

Though the outgoing CEC is confused about success of the idea, he reckons it as "optimistic". "But I don't think they will reach a solution with this," he told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the idea.

"(However) even if they find no solution, the dialogue will create a framework and an idea of what kind of EC the political parties want," he added.

President Zillur Rahman is scheduled to hold dialogues with political parties from Dec 22. The parties represented in Parliament have already been invited to join the talks with a 10-person delegation each.

Jatiya Party (H M Ershad) and Jatiya Shamajtantrik Dal (JSD Inu) have been invited to the first day's dialogue.

There are 38 political parties registered with the EC, of which only eight are represented in Parliament.

The president's decision came on Sunday amid the main opposition BNP's demand for consultation with the opposition to form the new poll panel.

Distinguished people from various fields joined bdnews24.com in celebrating its fifth anniversary of setting new trends of journalism.

Curtain was raised on programme began by cutting a cake at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in the evening on Tuesday.

Editor-in-chief of Bangladesh's first internet newspaper, Toufique Imrose Khalidi, is presenting a brief glimpse of bdnews24.com's operations. Photos and videos are also shown.

A beta version of bdnews24.com was launched by legendary woman freedom fighter Khurshid Jahan Begum.

Khurshid Jahan was one of the thousands who joined the war of independence in 1971 with a five-month infant in her arms, and 40 years on, she hit the headlines when bdnews24.com ran a report on her on the 40th Victory Day.

Launching its journey with news, the bilingual online newspaper diversified its contents through innovations. It has contents for children, technology news seekers, as well as news of sports.

Readers hit nearly 40 million times on several pages of the website every month. The site is hit from 300,000 IP addresses daily; sometimes the figure goes as high as 500,000.

Former chief justice and chief adviser to the caretaker government Muhammad Habibur Rahman, former chief election commissioner Justice Abdur Rauf, justice A T M Afzal, chief election commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda, former advisor to the caretaker government Gitiara Safia Chowdhury, Navy chief Vice Admiral Zahir Uddin Ahmed, ambassador of Myanmar in Bangladesh U Min Lwin and former diplomat Wali-ur Rahman, among others, attended the programme.

The politicians who attended the programme include health and family welfare affairs adviser to the prime minister Dr Syed Modasser Hossain, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Enamul Huq, Awami League MP Akhtaruzzaman Babu, BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Communist Party of Bangladesh president Manzurul Ahsan Khan, former commerce minister and BNP chairperson's adviser Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and BNP MP Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie.

Veteran journalists former Jai Jai Din editor Shafik Rehman, The Independent editor Mahbubul Alam, The News Today editor Reazuddin Ahmed, Maasranga TV chief executive officer Syed Fahim Munaim and head of news Shah Alamgir were also in attendence.

Power Development Board chairman Asif Mahmud, Dhaka Stock Exchange president Shakil Rizvi and Merchant Bankers' Association president Mohammad A Hafiz joined the celebrations.

Media personality Ali Zaker, renowned magician Jewel Aich and Bidisha, among others, attended the function.

India on Tuesday regretted the recent deaths of three Bangladesh nationals in the incidents of firing by the BSF along the border.

New Delhi, however, maintained that the BSF personnel had opened fire in self-defence after being attacked by the miscreants on the Indian side of the border at Govindpur in Malda district and at Narayanganj in Coochbehar district of West Bengal.

In the wake of the latest deaths along the Kurigram-Dinajpur border, the Ministry of External Affairs of the Indian government issued a statement.

The Indian government said that its policy of restraint along its border with Bangladesh 'emboldened' the criminal elements, who of late stepped up attacks on the personnel of its Border Security Force.

New Delhi also called upon Dhaka to do its bit in curbing illegal activities and restrict movement of people along the border, especially during night hours.

The BSF too issued a statement alleging that its soldiers were coming under increasing attacks by cattle smugglers and other border criminals after they started exercising self restraint in use of lethal weapons.

"The BSF has issued instructions to continue this restraint but not to hesitate in use of appropriate force in life threatening situations, in exercising their legal right of self defence," read the statement issued by the paramilitary force of India.

The external affairs ministry in its statement said: "The Government of India regrets all incidents of deaths on the border, of Indian and Bangladesh nationals. To prevent loss of lives along the border areas, the BSF has exercised the utmost restraint and has resorted to firing in self defence only in rare cases.

The Government of India has taken various steps, including strict control on firing, introduction of non-lethal weapons, round-the-clock domination and intensive patrolling. It has also imposed night time restrictions on the movement of people in the border areas."

"Unfortunately," it added, "this policy of restraint has emboldened criminal elements who have stepped up their attacks on BSF personnel deployed along the border in order to facilitate their illegal activities. A number of attacks have been recorded on BSF personnel and posts along the India-Bangladesh border over the last few months.

A spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs narrated New Delhi's version of the two separate incidents along border in Kurigram and Dinajpur (Malda and Coochbehar in India) in the night/early hours of Dec 16 and 17.

He said that a group of around 50-60 miscreants involved in illegal activity along the border in Malda not only pelted stones when challenged by the BSF soldier, who was on duty at his post, but also tried to drag him towards the Bangladesh side of the border.


"Sensing imminent danger to his life, his two colleagues fired four rounds in all resulting in the miscreants fleeing the scene, leaving the BSF soldier behind."


According to the Indian government's spokesman, in the other incident at Coochbehar, around 30-40 miscreants involved in illegal activity attacked a BSF soldier with bamboo sticks and sharp-edged weapons, when he challenged them.


"Sensing imminent danger to his life, the BSF jawan first hurled a non-lethal stun grenade and then as a last resort opened fire at the armed miscreants in self-defence."

New Delhi claimed that both incidents had taken place 200 to 250 metres from the international boundary inside Indian territory. "A BSF soldier was injured in the incident and is currently in hospital undergoing treatment. The BSF has ordered an enquiry into these incidents," read the statement.

New Delhi stressed that the Coordinated Border Management Plan, signed by India and Bangladesh in July 2011, envisaged joint responsibility of both the BSF and Border Guard Bangladesh to synergise their efforts to ensure effective control over cross-border illegal activities and crimes as well as for the maintenance of peace and harmony along the border.

"It is the view of the Government of India that illegal activities, which sometimes lead to regrettable loss of lives on both sides along the border, need to be addressed through joint collaborative efforts and mechanisms. The Government of Bangladesh has been urged to take measures to restrict the movement of people along the border, especially during night hours," it said.

"The Government of India proposes to continue to work closely with the Government of Bangladesh to maintain peace and harmony along the border," it added.

The BSF too in its statement requested the BGB for more co-operation in preventing movement of miscreants particularly cattle smugglers across the Bangladesh during night hours.

A parliamentary watchdog has held former caretaker chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, army chief Moeen U Ahmed, the then police chief and officers of army's intelligence agency responsible for the violence at Dhaka University in 2007.

In its report submitted to the parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry on Tuesday, the sub-committee formed to investigate the atrocities recommended punishment for them, panel head Rashed Khan Menon told reporters on Tuesday.

Violence broke out in DU after army men camped on the campus beat up some students on Aug 20, 2007 following an altercation with a few students on the university playground during a football match.

The students had also assaulted some senior army officers, rampaged through the capital, burning and damaging dozens of vehicles as they clashed with the police. The army men then launched a ruthless assault on the students that went on for several days.

The violence spilled on to Dhaka's streets and spread across the country, shaking the caretaker government backed by the influential army.

After taking charge, the Sheikh Hasina government constituted a sub-committee to run an investigation into the incidents.

The sub-committee heard statements of army officials, teachers and students. The students, however, blamed Fakhruddin and Moeen for the violence.

The then army chief, in a statement through teleconference from the US, declined his involvement with the violence. For his part, Fakhruddin sent an email, which the committee termed "incomplete".

Menon, also head of the parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry, had on Dec 8 said that the sub-committee finalised its report with recommendation to take legal steps against "those who had been in charge" then.

WHAT REPORT SAYS

The report makes 11 observations and 13 recommendations.

This s the first time a parliamentary committee had made such detailed investigation into a matter, Menon said.

Outlining the committee's observations, he said Fakhruddin and Moeen cannot avoid responsibility of the incidents.

Former police chief Nur Mohammad was also blamed for negligence of duty.

Menon said the direct involvement of DGFI, the army's intelligence wing, delayed release of the students and teachers who were arrested.

The report has recommended making the offenders compensate those injured and pay for their treatment, as also compensate the family of rickshaw-puller Anwar, who was murdered in Rajshahi.

It also recommended amending the university ordinance of 1973 to create more effective proctorial bodies.

Menon said the committee had suggested that sentences some of the students were facing be withdrawn.

Twelve cases have been filed in six city police stations and 120 people arrested over Sunday's unrest, bomb explosions, arson, vandalism and clashes with police in the capital.

A Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) press release on Monday said that police filed 11 of the cases.

Of the cases, four were filed under the Speedy Trial Act.

Three cases each were filed with Paltan and Motijheel police, two each at Shahbagh and Ramna police stations, and two each with Tejgaon and Badda police.

Of the 120 arrestees, 119 of them have been charged in the Speedy Trial Act cases.

Police said 13 vehicles were torched in the capital on Sunday.

Several crude bombs were exploded in different parts of the city including in front of the BNP headquarters on Sunday following the day's earlier incident at Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) where police swooped down, dispersed a gathering of main opposition BNP and arrested several activists as they allegedly created anarchy there.

One person was injured in the explosions, while another, an alleged carrier of bombs, died in Motijheel.

The police had detained more than 100 party supporters following the incident with BNP claiming the number is 300.

On Monday, six more bombs exploded in front of the BNP's Naya Paltan office in two phases, while two more went off at the capital's Bijaynagar area.

Law enforcers claim that the opposition activists are carrying out these pre-planned disruptive activities, but BNP refuted the allegations and said the government-backed violent incidents took place just to thwart the opposition's programme.

Ferry services on the two major routes of the country have faced trouble overnight due to dense fog, creating gridlocks on the piers.


In this reason many people faced problen to goto their destination.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Kewrakandi pier manager M A Baten said ferry operation on the Mawa-Kewrakandi route stopped around 11pm on Sunday.

Five ferries anchored in the mid-river that time while five others remained stuck in the pier overnight.

The ferries resumed services around 8:30am on Monday, he added.

BIWTC Paturia pier manager Ashraf Ullah Khan said a ferry got stuck on the pier while five at Daulatdia around 11:30pm on Sunday.

Four other ferries also got stuck in the middle of the river until the fog eased around 8am on Monday, he added.

Pier officials said about 2.5 kilometres of gridlock had been created on the Dhaka-Paturia highway due to the disruption of the ferry services.

A conductor and his associate have been injured after their bus has caught fire at Badda.

The fire originated from a mosquito coil on Sunday night when they were asleep, police said on Monday.

"Their quilts caught fire from a mosquito coil and they suffered burn injuries while trying to douse the fire," Badda Police Station sub-inspector Jahangir Alam told .

The RM Paribahan bus, standing near Hossain Market on Swadhinata Sarani, caught fire around 11:30 pm, the official said.

Locals rescued the victims and informed police, he said.

They were immediately taken to the General Hospital with burn injuries and then sent to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where they were given first aid.

Firemen doused the fire immediately, he said

SO BE CAREFUL

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) will begin hearing on framing charges against BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury on Jan 15.

The tribunal, which is dealing with crimes against humanity involving the Liberation War, rejected six pleas of Salahuddin on Monday and set the date.

The BNP leader's six petitions, filed on Dec 5, included appeals that the tribunal abide by the international covenants where Bangladesh is a state party, recognition of Evidence Act 1872 and Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, and allowing 11 months to prepare his defence as the prosecution has had that much time.

Tribunal chairman Nizamul Huq said in his order that the tribunal had given Chowdhury’s petition for allowing the Evidence Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure in the procedure, but noted that the tribunal was established with a specific purpose and goal.

He said the war crimes tribunal was established for the detention, prosecution and punishment for crimes against humanity, genocide and other such international crimes.

The International Crimes Tribunal Act of 1973 clearly states that those laws will not be applicable in the proceedings of this case and as such the petition merits no consideration. It was rejected.

Huq said that the matter of allowing foreign counsel at the tribunal rested entirely upon the Bangladesh Bar Council, which prohibited them from appearing in front of any court of the country.

If the bar council allows foreign council, the tribunal ‘may allow’ foreign lawyers, said Huq stressing on the ‘may’.

However, there was no bar on foreign consultants as advisors outside the court ‘not within the premises of this court’, said Huq. He dismissed the petition.

Regarding live telecast of the proceedings and allowing electronic media in the court room, the tribunal chief said there were no such instances in the world although ‘[live telecast] sounds very nice’.

Sometimes court proceedings are telecast but they are recorded versions, said Huq. He also said that the tribunal may consider broadcast of certain parts of the trial later on, but at this point of time, the application ‘having no merit stands rejected’.

Salauddin Quader had asked for 11 months to prepare his defence since the prosecution had also been given that much time in another petition.

The tribunal responded saying that it firmly that both parties should have enough time to prepare for their cases. But it was absurd for one party to demand the same amount of time simply because the other side has taken that much.

Besides, Huq said, “The onus of proof lies with the prosecution. And it is natural for them to take a longer time than the defence.”

He said that considering individual cases and the tribunal was competent to deal with petitions for more time beyond the minimum time of 21 days for defence.

“In one case that is currently ongoing the defence has been allowed about three months for the preparation.”

Huq rejected the petition.

As regards the petition to define crimes against humanity, Huq said the crimes were in fact defined in the act. Besides, he noted, there was also the possibility of taking assistance from other judgements from abroad. This petition was also rejected.

As for the petition to abide by the international covenants that Bangladesh is a party to, the tribunal said it was a matter relevant for the government and not the tribunal. He said the tribunal would only follow its laws and nothing more. And the petition was rejected.

On Oct 4, the prosecution submitted its investigation report against Salahuddin for his alleged crimes against humanity during the 1971 war.

A case was filed against the BNP MP on July 26, 2010.

The investigation agency had appealed to the Tribunal on Dec 15 last year to detain him. Within a day of filing the appeal, he had been arrested on the charge of killing one during a general strike when a car was torched.

He was subsequently shown arrested for crimes against humanity on Dec 19 last year.

Apart from Salahuddin, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, assistant secretaries-general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla, executive council member Delwar Hossian Sayedee and former member of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's cabinet Abdul Alim were arrested on charges of crimes against humanity.

However, Alim was later freed on conditional bail.

 Eight bombs have exploded near BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters -- four immediately after a police-cordoned rally ended, and as many in the evening.

While a man had died in Sunday's explosion of a homemade bomb at Motijheel and another person was injured, no one was yet reported injured in Monday's series of explosions.

Paltan police chief Shahidul Haque told  that all eight appears to have been homemade bombs. He said two blasts were reported in front of Jonaki cinema hall, two in front of Hotel Ekattur -- both around 5pm -- and four other blasts took place in front of the BNP office around 6.45pm.

The police charged batons and dispersed BNP supporters who had gathered near the party headquarters after the explosions in the immediate aftermath of Monday afternoon's protest rally there.

The law enforcers suspect BNP supporters, on their way back from the rally, exploded the bombs.

On Sunday, several homemade bombs were exploded in front of the BNP office. An RTV driver was injured in an explosion in the area, while another person had died in Motijheel in separate incidents.

With over 100 party leaders and activists arrested in the aftermath of Sunday's blasts, the BNP had announced protest demonstrations on Monday afternoon. The police, though, barred them from holding a rally.

Cordoned off by police and RAB personnel in front of the Naya Paltan office, BNP leaders declared that they would take out a public procession on Wednesday to protest Sunday's arrests and Monday's police obstruction to what they called was a peaceful protest.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee's counsel virtually puts the war crimes tribunal to sleep with his tedious questioning when judge AKM Zaheer Ahmed asked him when he would come to the point.

Mizanul Islam began the cross examination of the 61-year-old freedom fighter Ruhul Alam Nabin on Sunday, after the prosecution brought charges of crimes against humanity against another Jamaat leader, Abdul Quader Mollah.

The International Crimes Tribunal ruled that it would consider taking those charges into cognisance on Dec 28. The tribunal fixed the same date for taking cognisance in the case of three other Jamaat leaders — party's chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, his number two and party secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, and assistant secretary general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.

Mizanul Islam started the cross examination and soon got into a list of dozens of people asking if the witness knew them, one by one. After the better part of an hour, he had managed to put to sleep a large section of the courtroom, including the bench officers sitting in front of the judges facing the court.

The first witness, sitting by the prosecution's side was awakened by an inspector of the investigation agency, some of the prosecutors, as a section of the defence team, some observers and a number of journalists had their heads bobbing up and down as they drifted in and out of sleep.

Accused, Jamaat-e-Islami's executive council member, Sayedee, facing 20 counts of crimes against humanity including murder, rape, loot and arson, sat in the dock with arms folded, leaning on an armrest of his chair, and was fast asleep.

Mizanul Islam replied to the judge's query saying there were just about 15 or 20 more names to go through and then he would come to the point.

Zaheer Ahmed told him, "The way you are going, you will have covered the entire Pirojpur district by the time you are done."

He also said, "And it is really difficult to follow because you are all over the place, senior." Zaheer addresses senior counsellors as just 'senior'.

The judge said the defence counsel did not follow any certain pattern in his listing the names since he was asking about a woman of a Hindu neighbourhood in Parerhat of Pirojpur, and move on to another man of the Pirojpur town and a few names down the line he would return to the same village and ask about that same woman's nephew.

After another 10 minutes, tribunal chairman justice Nizamul Huq addressed the counsellor and said, "At this point, there must be some limit to your cross examination."

Soon afterwards, the defence counsellor made his point that all those that the witness knew belonged to the Awami League and those he said he had not known to the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Shortly afterwards, Mizanul Islam handed over the questioning to his colleague Mohammed Kafil Uddin Chowdhury who was still cross examining Nabin when the court adjourned for the day.

Sayedee is the first to face prosecution for his alleged war crimes against humanity.

The prosecution on Sept 4 proposed framing of charges against Sayedee on 31 counts for crimes against humanity and genocide in ICT Case-1/2011. The tribunal indicted Sayedee on 20 counts on Oct 3.

BNP's standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, also a lawmaker, has also been detained, along with others, on charges of committing war crimes.

The tribunal, however, on March 31 granted conditional bail to former BNP MP and minister Abdul Alim.

Stakeholders believe the market has given signs of moving towards stability in the last two weeks.

In the nine working days from Dec 5 until Sunday, the index at the nation's premier bourse has fluctuated within a range of 216 points, in stark contrast to the massive ups and downs earlier.

The lowest point in the index in these nine days was 4,846 points and the peak 5,063 points. Highest trading in a single day went up to Tk 4.21 billion and hit a low of Tk 1.97 billion.

Dhaka Stock Exchange president Shakil Rizvi said stabilisation was the precondition for market improvement.

"If it stays at the same place for a couple of days, the market will improve," he remarked.

Taking decisions would be easier once the market steadies, said Yawer Sayeed, the Bangladesh Association of Mutual Funds convener.

Bangladesh Merchant Bankers' Association president Mohamad A Hafiz told  he was seeing more and more of buyers every day.

"It seems as though the market is standing on a base now."

When asked to comment on Sunday's market, Hafiz said, "There were investments from the banking sector and there were plenty of buyers, but the buyers weren't aggressive."

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina sat with stakeholders on Nov 16 after continuous price fall at the two bourses in the country and ordered them to take all steps required to stabilise the market and compensate retail investors. Following the meet, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov 23 announced a major package of incentives to boost the market.

Bank, foreign and institutional investments were made easier in the package and entrepreneurs and directors of listed companies were asked to buy a minimum 30 percent share.

—Police have arrested recording label Soundtek's owner Sultan Mahmud Babul in a case filed by popular singer Mahfuz Anam James involving ownership rights of his album 'Dukhini Dukkho Korona'.

Babul was arrested at his Shaheedbagh residence, just beside Razarbagh Police Lines in the city, in the early hours of Friday.

Incidentally, the arrest came minutes after conclusion of a Victory Day programme in the police lines, organised by Dhaka Metropolitan Police with a performance by James.

Bangshal Police Station's sub-inspector Abul Khayer told  that James filed the case on Wednesday, alleging that the label owner had cheated him.

According to the complaint, James had signed a deal with Soundtek when the album was released in 1997, which gave him ownership to the recording label, the police official said. The deal was being renewed every year, he said.

But James complained that Soundtek renewed the deal recently by duplicating his signature, which meant a loss of a whopping Tk 30 million for him, according to SI Khayer.

The police official said Babul has admitted that the deal was not renewed.

The owner of Soundtek, one of the largest recording labels in Bangladesh, however, denied the allegation of duplicating James's signature, Khayer added.

—The Savar units of the ruling Awami League and opposition BNP clashed over paying tributes at the National Memorial on Friday, marring the Victory Day celebrations.

In another development, the opposition has alleged that the motorcade of former prime minister Khaleda Zia was barred for quite sometime.

"Like all previous years, the opposition leader arrived at the venue to pay her respects early in the morning. But police barred her convoy a long way before the Savan Cantonment," BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

He added that the government has 'failed' to maintain law and order at the venue. "Awami League cadres attacked our party activists when they went to lay floral wreaths at the memorial. We strongly criticise and protest such atrocity."

Locals said that the activists clashed at the Dhaka-Aricha Highway in the morning after ruling party activists tore down festoons put up by BNP marking the Victory Day in the stretch between Amin Bazar and the Memorial.

The groups chased and threw brickbats at each other. The situation was brought under control after around 15 minutes, Ashulia police's inspector Kamal Hossain said.

Around 7.16am, Khaleda along with BNP's top brass laid wreaths. She then stood there for some time in silence as a mark of respect for the martyrs.

The government's management failure led to Khaleda being unable to 'properly' pay respects to the 1971 Liberation War martyrs, Fakhrul added, "It is sad."

Khaleda also paid tribute at the grave of her husband, late president and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital around 8.30am. A prayer was also held there for the eternal peace of his soul. Associate organisations of the party followed suit laying wreaths at the grave.

Paying tribute to the memories of all freedom fighters including Ziaur Rahman, the party's spokesperson added, "We are celebrating the Victory Day today. Our pledge is to ensure that the spirit of the liberation war and democracy is established in the country, so that democracy is liberated from imprisonment."

The president will hold dialogues on forming the new Election Commission with parties represented in parliament from Dec 22.

His press secretary A K M Nesar Uddin Bhuiyan told  on Sunday evening that Jatiya Party (H M Ershad) and Jatiya Shamajtantrik Dal (JSD Inu) had been invited to the first day's dialogue.

Each party will be asked to bring 10 delegates, he said.

In reply to a question, he said among the parties who were not in parliament, 'important' ones would also be asked to join the dialogue.

There are 38 political parties registered with the Election Commission, of which only eight are represented in parliament.

They are ruling Awami League, opposition BNP, Jatiya Party, Jatiya Shamajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Workers' Party, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Bangladesh Jatiya Party and Liberal Democratic Party.

The Awami League-led ruling alliance has 239 seats, the BNP-led opposition alliance 32, Jatiya Party 25, Jamaat-e-Islami two and LDP one.

The foreign ministry has lodged strong protest with Indian authorities over killing of three Bangladeshis by Border Security Force of India.

The protest was conveyed through official channels of communication on Sunday, said Shamim Ahsan, director general of external wing of the ministry.

"The government has urged the Indian authorities to conduct an inquiry into the incident and take necessary steps to stop further killing," he said.

Condemning the incident, it also expressed disappointment that the killing took place despite a firm assurance at the highest level against recurrence of such incidents, he added.

BSF killed three Bangladeshis along Kurigram-Dinajpur border on Saturday despite the Indian government's pledge to stop border killings by BSF.

Today motijheel ideal school and college result held. Today the management selected 60 boys for the new session in the lottery system.In 17/12/2011  60 lucky girls are allowed to attend the nesw session.All boys parents are attended the lottery ceremony.

1 died in motijheel infront of dse.
A bomb has exploded in the city's busy Motijheel area, leaving one man dead and another wounded.

Meanwhile, at least four cars were torched in separate incidents in the capital on Sunday.

Police could not immediately confirm who were behind the explosion but it took place barely one hour after police dispersed a gathering of the main opposition BNP on Sunday.

Police used batons to disperse the gathering organised to honour freedom fighters in the city's Institution of Engineers.

The BNP supporters and freedom fighters from across the country gathered at the auditorium of the IEB around 8am on Sunday to attend the progrmme.

Police swooped on them and arrested some BNP supporters while they allegedly created chaos there, police said.

Officer in-charge of Shahbagh police station Rezaul Karim told  that police had to act as BNP supporters were trying to block the busy road in front of the IEB.

He said that they detained a few BNP supporters but refused to say how many.

Within an hour of the melee, unidentified people torched two cars including a police van at Shantinagar while a third one near Shilpa Bhaban in Motijheel.

Another car was torched in Farmgate.

Police could not immediately identify the responsible.

Flight operations at the city's Shah Amanat International Airport were disrupted on Saturday morning due to dense fog.

Some domestic flights landed at the airport long after their scheduled arrival.

According to the Chittagong airport control room, no domestic flights from Dhaka came to Chittagong due to heavy fog on Saturday morning. Flight operations in the port city resumed around 11am.

Airport manager squadron leader Anis Ahmed told  that three international flights landed in Chittagong instead of Dhaka due to dense fog in the capital as well.

"A flight each from Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok couldn't land in Dhaka due to heavy fog. They landed in Chittagong at late (Friday) night," he said. "The flights left for Dhaka after the fog gave way in the morning."

The biting chill and the fog also left life paralysed in the city on Saturday, with office-goers having to fend for themselves since few public transports were available in the morning.

Chittagong maritime port secretary Syed Farhad Uddin told  that loading and unloading at the jetties and outer anchorage of the country's premier port were as usual.

Meghnad Tonchonga, an official at Patenga meteorological office, said there could be moderate to heavy fog in the morning and night till Sunday.

The second edition of the International Congress of Bengal Studies will begin at Dhaka University (DU) from Sunday.

Finance minister A M A Muhith is scheduled to inaugurate the three-day conference, being organised jointly by the Bangla Academy and DU.

Addressing the media at the university's old senate building on Saturday, conference convenor Prof Rafikullah said the International Congress of Bengal Studies started in 2008 with an aim to unveil the achievements of Bengali language, literature, culture over the last thousand years and more.

The conference also focuses on showcasing the present reality, Prof Rafikullah said.

Researchers, teachers and students of various universities from home and abroad are expected to attend the international conference.

DU vice-chancellor A A M S Arefin Siddique, professor emeritus Dr Toshiyoshi Nara of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in Japan and professor emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman were present at the media conference.

Dr Anisuzzaman is the academic president of the conference.

The first International Congress of Bengal Studies was held at Delhi University in India in February last year.

The government will publish a special supplement on Bangladesh in the British daily The Times.

As many as 1.8 million copies of the 12-page supplement will be printed on Monday.

"This is part of an ongoing effort for image-building of the nation abroad," foreign ministry external publicity wing director general Shameem Ahsan told  on Saturday.

The government is paying Upper Reach, a UK-based media agency, $150,000 or Tk 12.5 million, for writing the supplement.

The publication will contain interviews of the finance, foreign, industries and tourism ministers and that of the central bank governor.

"The private sector has been highlighted in the supplement. There is an article on the NGO BRAC," Shameem said. Another major issue covered in the supplement is risk to Bangladesh from climate change.

Upper Reach and the external publicity wing have been working together on the supplement. A team from the agency has already visited Dhaka and returned, while another is currently here, Shameem said.

Upper Reach prepares tailor-made country reports and publishes those through its media partner, The Times.

Eleven people have died in the last two days in the first cold wave of the season across the country.

Two died in Rangpur, eight in Thakurgaon and one in Jessore.

The Rangpur Medical College Hospital authorities said 10 children had died there the last week from cold-related ailments.

In the north, life has virtually come to a standstill. People rarely leave their houses, and farmers covering their Boro seed-beds waiting for the sun to come out.

The Met department said the medium cold wave could continue through Sunday, with things looking brighter on Monday.

In Panchagarh, the district administration distributed 1,300 blankets and NGOs RDRS and BRAC distributed several hundred.

Deputy commissioner Tofazzal Hossain Miya said he had requested the relief ministry for another 7,000 blankets.

Farmers said they were covering their seed-beds with polythene, but the agriculture department said there were no reports yet of seeds getting spoiled.

Dinajpur Met office said the lowest recorded temperature on Saturday was 6.2 degrees Celsius. Deputy commissioner Jamal Uddin Ahmed said he had asked for 20,000 blankets, 30,000 sarees and 30,000 warm clothes for children.

In Rangpur, additional doctors were brought in to the medical college hospital to handle the large haul of pneumonia patients. RMCH director Toufiqul Islam told  that 10 children had died there from cold diarrhoea, asthma, viral fever and other cold-related ailments.

The district's assistant meteorologist Emdad Hosain said the lowest temperature recorded on Saturday was 10.4 degrees Celsius.

Thakurgaon civil surgeon Khairul Kabir told  eight people had died across the district from the cold wave in the last 72 hours.

At least 100 children are admitted to the Sadar Hospital, he added.

District relief officer Abdur Razzaque said 2,918 blankets had been dispatched to municipalities and upazila offices for distribution.

Bogra agriculture department officials say the 8,900-hectare Boro seed-beds in the district could be under risk if the cold wave continues a few more days.

Farmers are saying some of their saplings are getting red and shrivelling up. Officials have advised covering the beds with polythene at night.

The sun has not been seen in the last two days in Sirajganj. Deputy commissioner Aminul Islam told  the relief ministry had issued 6,000 blankets and they would soon be distributed.

The temperature in Jessore, 6 degrees Celsius, was the lowest in the country on Saturday. A beggar was found dead in the morning in front of the Circuit House.

Agriculture department officials said they had advised farmers to pump water to seed-beds at night and pump it out in the morning to protect saplings from the cold.

Launching a counter-attack on the main opposition, the prime minister has blamed the alliance of main opposition BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami for all the 'mystery killings' and other disruptive activities across the country.

"Not only to protect the war criminals, the BNP-Jamaat alliance is also carrying out these mystery killings, murders and other criminal activities to destabilise the country," Sheikh Hasina said criticising the opposition.

"They will first kill and start crying — this is their characteristic."

Her remarks came on Saturday at a discussion in the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, following concerns expressed by various rights organisations, including the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), over the recent incidents of alleged abduction and what the opposition party calls 'extrajudicial killings'.

The prime minister also warned those who want to protect the war criminals by saying that they would also be tried.

She urged everyone in favour of the trials to raise awareness on the matter.

"Everyone needs to be united, so that no Razakar or Al-Badr comes to power again and plays with the people's fate," she told the discussion.

Ruling party presidium member and parliament deputy leader Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury presided over the programme organised by Awami League as part of the 40th Victory Day celebrations.

Hasina said, "We have executed the trial and the verdict in the Bangabandhu assassination case. The trial of the war criminals will also be held in the same fashion."

Referring to opposition leader Khaleda Zia, she said, "The one carrying out movements, strikes, long marches to protect the war criminals even gave Bangladesh's flag in their hands … what more can be expected of such a person?"

BNP chief Khaleda has long been demanding the release of the seven BNP-Jamaat leaders, who were arrested on charges of committing war crimes. She has also written to the UN secretary-general about her reservations on the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) trying the war crimes.

Top five Jamaat leaders — party chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed, executive council leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, assistant secretaries general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla — who are charged with war crimes have been arrested and their trial is underway.

Senior BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was also arrested on similar charges, while another charged with war crimes Abdul Alim, a former minister in late president Ziaur Rahman's cabinet, is on conditional bail.

Saying Bangladesh is yet to reach the desired destination even after 40 years of independence, Hasina said, "The query 'why it did not happen?' must be answered by those — Zia (Ziaur Rahman), Ershad (A H M Ershad) and Khaleda Zia — who were in power for 28 years after the independence."

"The people want to know how they became rich overnight and what people got in those 28 years."

Talking about the killing of Jessore BNP leader Nazmul Islam, she said that BNP is behind the mystery killings, murders and conspiracies.

The latest victim of "mystery killings" is Jessore BNP leader Nazmul Islam, whose body was found in Gazipur on Dec 15 – a day after he was abducted from the capital's Mohammadpur area while returning home from a wedding.

In some recent cases, the victims were picked up by people in the guise of law enforcers, especially acting as Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel, and later their bodies were recovered from various areas.

Amid protests and criticisms, the law enforcement agencies have been denying the allegations.

According to NHRC, at least 27 people have gone missing during the recent part. Bodies of several victims were found later.

The uncanny part, says the opposition party, is that many victims were BNP local-level leaders or activists. Among them was Ismail Hossain, a leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the pro-BNP student body.

A former president of Chhatra Dal's ward-50 unit in Dhaka, Ismail went "missing" on Nov 28. His body was recovered, along with two others, from Dhalehswari river near Munshiganj on Dec 8.

Chhatra Dal members alleged that law enforcers had picked up the organisation's three leaders, including Ismail, from the capital's Hatirpul area. While Islamil's body surfaced 10 days later, the other two are still missing, the organisation claims.

At least seven bodies were recovered from Munshiganj's Dhalehswari river in as many days.

Police have arrested two people in connection with the killing of two students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).

The arrests came within hours of their bodies being found on Saturday.

Muggers reportedly kidnapped the victims, second-year students of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science departments Deepankar Ghosh Anik and Khairul Kabir when they, along with their six friends, went on a cruise in Changger Khal canal at Badaghat on Friday.

The six friends said they returned after up to 10 muggers took away their mobile phones and money, and kidnapped Anik and Kabir from the boat they were travelling in.

Jalalabad Police Station officer-in-charge Selim Hossain said they arrested 'Tarique' and 'Gulzar', the owner and the sailor of the boat.

Earlier, the students of the university blocked the Sunamganj-Sylhet road and lifted it after over three hours following an assurance by police to arrest the killers within a day.

the lottery result held in motijheel ideal school and college today in girl section.tomorrow the result published in boys section.in girl section 60 lucky girls are allow to attend the school.and another 60 lucky  boys  are show in tomorrow.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has demanded formation of a new Election Commission (EC) in consultation with the opposition.

"An election under a non-partisan caretaker government is the most important issue for us. The BNP would not take part in any election without such a government," party's acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a discussion on Saturday.

He also said the new poll panel will have to be formed "after consensus through discussion with the opposition".

Alamgir took the opportunity to also criticise the appointment of Awami League leaders as administrators to 61 district councils. He said the move has similarities with appointment of governors in 1975.

The government appointed the Zila Parishad administrators after getting the go-ahead from prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.

SMELLS OF EARLY '70S?

"It's like the BKSAL system," the BNP leader said. "The Awami League conducted rampant loot after the independence, and the one-party BKSAL system was launched to tackle the situation. They tried to conceal their failure."

Country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League—BKSAL in short -- in June 1975, banning all other parties, through the fourth amendment to the Constitution. It was seen as a desperate move to cleanse the then chaotic political system.

Alamgir reiterated that the government under Sheikh Hasina has taken up "secret killings" to stifle the opposition's voice -- another move that had reared its ugly head first in the initial years after independence, he alleged.

"Rakkhibahini and other agencies picked up people, killed them and dumped the bodies in water between 1972 and 1975," the BNP leader alleged. "Now miscreants who identify themselves as law enforcers are abducting people.

"The bodies are recovered from rivers or canals in Gazipur or Ashulia. The police, though, say they know nothing of it."

Alamgir urged supporters of the party to be united in making their way out of the present impasse.