BANGLADESH

The police on Wednesday recovered bodies of four newborn babies from a roadside dustbin at Jatrabari in the city.

Sub-inspector of Jatrabari Police Station Emran Hossain told  that they recovered the bodies at noon on getting information from local people.

Police suspect that the babies might have been given birth through abortions at one of the nearby clinics and later thrown into the dustbin.

"Recovering bodies of four infants from one place is a very rare incident. We're looking into the matter," the police officer added.

Number of coercive abortions has risen over the years in the country.

Former commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) S M Sabbir Ali has said then State Minister for Home Lutfuzzaman Babar had asked him not to speak out about the involvement of the members of National Security Intelligence (NSI) in the 10-truck arms haul.

Sabbir made this statement in his deposition before the judge of Special Tribunal-1 SM Mujibur Rahman, also the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions judge, on Wednesday in connection with the much-talked-about arms haul case.

The former CMP chief said Babar, then Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shahudul Haque, chief of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Sadique Hasan Rumi and then chief of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Anwarul Iqbal had sat in a meeting at Dampara Police Line the next day of the arms seizure.

Sabbir said he himself and then CMP Deputy Commissioner (Chittagong Seaport Zone) Abdullah Hel Baki were present at the meeting.

"At the meeting, we informed the minister and the DIG about the involvement of the NSI officials in the arms haul. Then the state minister for home had asked us not to do or speak out anything on the issue," he added.

Sabbir said the minister informed them (Ali and Baki) that a committee had been formed to investigate the incident.

The former CMP official claimed that they got no help from the high officials of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) during the investigation.

"During the investigation, we're confirmed that Akbar Hossain, one of the NSI field officers, had hired the trucks and cranes to unload the arms from fishing trawlers and to transport those. He could not be interrogated as we could not find him."

The day's proceedings resumed with the deposition of the former CMP commissioner, who is now on retirement. He also gave his deposition on Tuesday. The proceedings continued until 5.10pm with one hour intermission at 2.15pm. The hearing will resume in the same court on Thursday.

Sabbir told the court on Wednesday that then Home Secretary Omar Faruk, also chief of the five-member probe committee, least bothered even to record his (Sabbir) statement during visits of the investigation committee.

"When I told (Faruk) him about the involvement of high officials of NSI including its chief Abdur Rahim, he sidestepped the issue without making any remark", he added.

After his deposition, the counsels of the accused cross-examined Sabbir.

The background

On Nov 15, the court had framed formal charges against 11 accused, all named in the supplementary chargesheet, in connection with the biggest-ever arms seizure in Bangladesh to date.

Police had seized 10 trucks of arms and ammunition from the CUFL jetty in the port city on April 2, 2004. Around 1,500 wooden boxes containing submachine guns, AK-47 assault rifles, submachine carbines, Chinese pistols, rocket shells and launchers, hand grenades and bullets were seized.

The cache was believed to be meant for Indian separatist outfit United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

Two cases were filed the next day with Karnaphuli police -- one under the Special Powers Act and the other under the Arms Act.

In 2004, investigators submitted the first chargesheet against 45 persons in the smuggling case, and 43 people in the arms case. Four persons, accused in both cases, have since died.

Fifty-two accused were charged in the case filed for smuggling firearms and 50 in the arms case in the supplementary chargesheet submitted on June 26 this year.

Two accused – ULFA leader Paresh Barua and former additional secretary of industries Nurul Amin – are yet to be arrested.

Nearly 1.5 million residents of Keraniganj, Dohar and Nababganj areas around the capital have been out of electricity since Tuesday night when a fire broke out at Hasnabad Power House in Narayanganj.

"There is no way to restore power supply until Thursday noon," Rural Electrification Board Chairman Moin Uddin said.

The fire that broke out at 7:45pm raged for over half-an-hour before it could be brought under control, cutting off electricity supply to the three upazilas and some areas of Mushiganj's Shirajdikhan.

Irrigation pumps and small factories in the areas have remained inoperative.

"The food products we had in the fridges are all rotting. We've to throw them out," Arifur Rahman Mintu, a resident of Keraniganj's Ati Bazaar, told .

Medical services at local hospitals are being maintained with the help of generators. Kolatia Modern Hospital officials said that they are being forced to spend Tk 8,000 to keep two generators running round the clock.

"No one is ready to say when power supply will be restored," Sayedul Haque Khan Dablu, a resident of Nababganj's Algichar area told .

"The fire caused extensive damage. We're trying to fix it fast," Moin Uddin told . "We're hoping to restore the supply on Thursday."

Keraniganj Model Police Station's Assistant Sub-Inspector Shoheb Ali Khandoker told : "The residents are in dark since Tuesday. But law and order is good."

However, Nababganj Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Masud Karim admitted that they are having problems maintaining law and order because of the outage.

Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, the largest private sector employer in India, Subrata Roy Sahara arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday on his first-ever official trip.

Sahara is being accompanied by his wife Swapna Roy and around 20 officials in the visit that is expected to see finalisation of an 800 billion rupee investment by the group in Bangladesh.

The delegation touched down at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 3:30pm, the group's local public relations agent said in a media release. It added that they drove to Hotel Ruposhi Bangla from the airport.

Sahara is expected to finalise with the government investment in five township schemes near the capital, Dhaka. The PR agent said that the group's founder will discuss potential investment opportunities with government officials, and political and business leaders during his visit.

There is high expectation that its multi-million dollar schemes in low-cost township, health and hospitality sectors would move the nation's competitiveness to a new height.

Details of his tour schedules remained sketchy but the delegation is expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, officials of the Board of Investment and Ministry of Public Works during his three-day visit.

The High Court on Tuesday called 'thieves' all those who got plots in Tejgaon commercial area through 'illegal' allocation of lands meant for construction of roads under the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project in Dhaka.

Journalist Shafiq Rehman, former BNP-led coalition government State Ministers Maj (Retd) Kamrul Islam and Ziaul Haque Zia were present when the bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Jahangir Hossain made the comment.

All three were summoned to explain how they were allotted the plots. The bench also ordered the Cabinet Secretary to launch high-powered investigation into the affair.

LGRD Secretary Abu Alam Shahid Khan, Law Secretary Ashish Ranjan Das, home ministry's Joint Secretary (Police) Nazim Uddin and External Resources Division Secretary Iqbal Mahmood are to be kept in the investigation committee.

The committee has been told to check whether the plots were given legally, what procedure was followed for allocation and whether environment ministry's clearance was taken and submit a detailed report on their findings.

The Anti-Corruption Commission Director General has also been instructed to check whether there was any corruption during the allocation.

Both the committee and the ACC were told to submit their findings by July 15.

Rehman, Islam and Zia were also ordered to submit a list of their moveable assets in the form of an affidavit to the court by that time.

The bench on May 9 issued a rule on its own volition after Assistant Attorney General Yadiya Zaman produced the two newspaper reports and an essay before the court. It also stayed constructions on the plot, which has never been in the plan of the Hateerjhil-Begunbari project.

The two former State Ministers appeared before the court on May 16 on receiving a summons. The court on that day also asked the former editor of Bengali-language daily Jaijaidin, Shafiq Rehman, to appear before it.

"Those who have grabbed the land are thieves, all are thieves. Those who have owned the land and those who distributed them are all thieves," Justice A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury said at one point of the hearing.

He continued that the correct method of allocating plots is the way capital development authority RAJUK does, which invites applications through advertisement.

"In this case, you will have to give advertisements too, whether it is in the newspapers or on televisions. Those who will take land without advertisements are all thieves. As this is the property of the people, you cannot take it without informing them."

"We will dig deep into this incident. No matter how powerful, we will not let anyone get away. If there is a single lie in the affidavit, then that will mean a five-year term in prison," the judge said, warning the trio.

A report titled 'Road becomes plot' published in the daily Kaler Kantha newspaper on Feb 27, 2010, another published in the daily Shamakal on Mar 27 the same year styled 'Road project becomes industrial plot overnight' and an essay published in the daily Shamakal by Abu Sayeed Khan led the court to issue the suo moto order.

The Kaler Kantha reported, after turning the 60-feet wide road of Tejgaon industrial area into an industrial plot, each katha of the land was sold for Tk 1.5 lakh as against the existing market value of at least Tk 1 crore.

The court also ordered Director General of Anti-Corruption Commission to explain why the court should not order it to act against those who sold the plots at lower prices only for the sake of completing the procedure.

RAJUK has been asked to explain in two weeks why allocation of land, meant for road, as plots should not be declared illegal and cancelled.

Report on Rehman's 'corruption'

The court also ordered the Bangladeshi High Commission in the UK to file a report on the fund-raising for the flood-affected in Bangladesh by London-based radio Spectrum and how the money was spent.

Shafiq Rehman co-owns the radio station.

It also asked the High Commissioner to include the current state of Scotland Yard's probe into the issue.

The order came after Deputy Attorney General A B M Altaf Hossain pointed out to the court at Tuesday's hearing that the journalist also ran a fund-raising campaign in London for the flood-affected, funds of which never reached Bangladesh.

Police have documented a case against nearly 100 lawyers, naming 29 of them including BNP leader Sanaullah Mia, under the Speedy Trial Act for unleashing vandalism and chaos in a Dhaka court.

Pro-BNP lawyers, under the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, had boycotted proceedings at four trial courts in Dhaka demanding release of senior leaders of the 18-Party opposition alliance detained in connection with the Apr 29 arson attack case.

Several lawyers of the forum, reportedly smashed windowpanes of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court and threw black flags into the courtroom of the Metropolitan Judge's Court. They also asked the court to suspend proceedings.

Kotwali Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Mokbul Hossain had filed the case earlier in the day over the vandalism and chaos.

SI Chittoranjan Roy of the same police station told  late on Tuesday night that the case had been documented under the Speedy Trial Act.

Twenty-nine people had been named in the case as accused including former Dhaka Ainjibi Forum president Sanaullah, along with 70 unnamed others, Roy said.

Officer-in-Charge (Investigation) of Kotwali police station Mahbub Hossain had told  in the afternoon that the case was filed accusing 200 unnamed lawyers.

Administrative Officer of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court Syed Shahabuddin had accused several members of the lawyers' forum of knocking violently at the courtroom's door and smashing windowpanes of the room.

On Apr 29, a vehicle was torched near the Prime Minister's Office allegedly by the pickets of the 18-Party alliance during the opposition-sponsored shutdown. Police had filed a case the same day under the Speedy Trial Act at the Tejgaon Police Station accusing leaders of the alliance.

On Monday, the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Speedy Trial Magistrate Mohammad Erfan Ullah took cognisance of charges against BNP Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 44 others in the arson attack case.

It also rejected bail extension plea of BNP Joint Secretary-General and MP Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon in the same case and ordered him into jail. He was on an anticipatory bail granted by the High Court until May 21.

Nishat Mazumder, the first Bangladeshi woman who conquered the fearsome and unforgiving Mount Everest, and her colleague MA Mohit have climbed down to the base camp of the world's tallest mountain.

Talking to  on Tuesday, they said they were hoping to return to Bangladesh on June 1.

Both said they were physically fine except for catching some cold because of the chilly weather and snow storms.

Nishat ascended the 8,850-meter (29,035 feet) Everest summit from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal around 9:30am on May 19, along with Mohit, who is the second Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest.

Mohit is the current president of renowned mountaineering organisation Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club (BMTC) situated in the capital's Kakoli area. Nishat is its member.

Expressing her feelings about the moment when she became the first Bangladeshi woman to conquer the Everest, Nishat told : "I could not believe myself ... I thought I was dreaming."

"It was a very tough. When we started our journey, we didn't think it would be so difficult and risky," she said reminiscing the historic climb.

On the difficulties she faced during the journey, she said, "An avalanche took place around 10am on Apr 27 at a peak beside Mount Everest when we were on our way to the Camp-2 from the base camp."

"This is kind of normal thing here, but it was a massive one," Nishat said adding she did receive a hit on her head because of the avalanche, "but it was not that serious".

"If we had been at the base camp at that time, all of us would have died. I saw death from this close. Our survival was a miracle.

"Moreover, the weather was too bad with stormy winds. We thought the wind would blow us away. Our road to the peak was extremely risky."

Nishat said, "I heard later that at least 22 mountaineers died on way to the peak due to accidents."

Asked whether she ever thought that she would become the first Bangladeshi woman to conquer the world's tallest mountain, the girl from Laxmipur district said, "Just like other mountaineers, I also had the dream to conquer the Everest."

"My dream is fulfilled, and I have no words to express my feelings."

"Usually one finishes one's mountaineering career after winning the Everest, but I started mine the other way round," Nishat said with a snigger.

Nishat, the second child of her parents, is also the first Bangladeshi woman to conquer three other Himalayan peaks higher than 6,000 metres. She conquered the Himalaya's Mera Peak (6,653.78 metres) in 2007, Singchuli Peak (6,501 metres) in 2008 and Makalu Peak (8,493.3 metres) in 2009.

Born in Laxmipur in 1981, she completed her secondary education at Bottomley Home Girls High School and higher secondary education at Shahid Anwar Girls College. She did her bachelors and masters in Accounting from Dhaka City College and currently works for Dhaka WASA.

She, however, did not forget to express her gratefulness to her family and her club BMTC and fellow club members.

"This wouldn't have been possible without my parents' support. Also, my club members gave me support and courage. But most of the credit goes to club's founder Inam Al Haque, who taught me everything."

"He taught me about the mountains and what mountaineering is all about," she added.

While Nishat was talking to  on Tuesday, she and Mohit were staying at the base camp, 5,305 metre high from the sea level.
To the young generation, Nishat Mazumder said, "I would like to tell the young generation that no matter wherever your interest is, just concentrate on it. The dream will come true."

Nishat's colleague and BMTC President MA Mohit told : "There are two ways leading to the peak of the Mount Everest. One is the Tibbet's border side North-East Ridge and the other one is in the opposite, the South-East Ridge."

Musa Ibrahim, founder of Bangladesh's North Alpine Club, was the first Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest on May 22, 2010, taking the North-East Ridge path. Then Mohit conquered the Everest on May 21, 2011, as the second Bangladeshi.

Mohit said, "Compared to the South-East one, North-East Ridge is much safer. Trekking on this path is also easier. Mountaineers generally take this path."

"South-East one is much more risky. There are 20 danger zones in the path from the base camp to camp-4. At least 20 mountaineers have died in these zones until now."

Asked why take the riskier one than taking the safer path, Mohit, a veteran climber who made it to the top of Everest, Manaslu and Cho-Oyu-3 summits over 8,000 metres high, said, "Simply because of more adventure."

"I took the North-East Ridge first time, that's why I took the South-East one this time."

Asked whether he felt any difference between his feelings after scaling the Everest the first and the second time, he said, "When I conquered the Everest for the first time, I felt like I was the king of the world. I felt the same this time, too."

"We wanted to prove that we, Bangladeshis, can do it. We will always get to the highest peak overcoming all the obstacles," Mohit said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday expressed her deep sorrow over the death of eminent economist and civil rights activist Prof Muzaffar Ahmed.

She also extended sympathy to the family of Prof Muzaffar, a former Dhaka University teacher, her Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said.

He died of old age complications late Tuesday on the way from his Dhanmondi residence to the capital's LabAid Hospital. He was 79.

Prof Muzaffar was the President of Sujon, or Sushashoner Jonno Nagarik. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

He was also chairman of the trustee board of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and a former director of Dhaka University's Institute of Business Administration.
The veteran economist was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2008.

He had long been suffering from various medical complications including a type of blood cancer.

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Rapid Action Battalion seized around 3 lakh litres of furnace oil which was being hauled for black market in Chittagong Sunday night.

Rab also arrested 23 people for their alleged involvement with the illegal sale of the furnace oil of the state-run Padma Oil Company Ltd.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab-7 conducted a drive at the Karnaphuli river bank known as Anu Majhir Ghat under Double Mooring Police Station at around 11:30pm and captured the people when they were loading the stolen furnace oil in an oil-tanker.

The Rab personnel also seized an oil-tanker named OT Prianka and 11 fake vouchers of the oil.

“They collect oil from Padma Oil Company depot and sell it to various vessels in Karnaphuli River,” said Rab-7 Commanding Officer (acting) Major Ziaul Ahsan.

He said the law enforcers were trying to trace them for the last four days.

The arrestees, in primary interrogation, denied their involvement with the incident and said that they collect furnace oil from different shipyards at Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong.

“We are investigating that whether any official of the company is involved with hauling oil from the company,” said the Rab official.

CNG refilling stations revert to their previous 4-hour shutdown on Tuesday as the government order on 6-hour shutdown expired on Monday.

All the CNG stations in the city and elsewhere will remain closed from 5:00pm to 9:00pm everyday from Tuesday instead of the existing 3:00pm to 9:00pm.

“We’ll follow the 4-hour shutdown schedule from Tuesday,” Zakir Hossain Nayan, president of Bangladesh CNG Association, told journalists on Monday.

He said the association leaders had a meeting with Petrobangla officials on May 16 where the authorities concerned endorsed the new shutdown schedule of CNG refilling stations.

Petrobangla chairman Dr Hussain Monsur could not be reached for comments in this regard despite repeated attempts to contact him on Monday evening.

The Power and Energy Ministry in March at a high-level meeting decided that all CNG stations across the country will remain shut for six hours from 3:00pm to 9:00pm from March 21 to enhance gas supply to power plants to boost power generation.

The meeting also decided that the 6-hour shutdown will remain effective for two months only and after the expiry of the period, the 4-hour shutdown at CNG stations will be reintroduced.

The cabinet approved in principle the draft Bangladesh Water Act, 2012 on Monday with a provision of maximum five-year jail term or Tk 5 million in fine or both for wasting water.

The draft act, prepared in light with the National Water Policy to give the policy a legal framework for better management and use of water resources, was passed in a meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Cabinet Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuyian told reporters.

The draft would be presented to the cabinet again for final clearance after vetting by the law ministry, he said.

It stipulates that those violating the law would be sentenced up to five years in jail or fined Tk 5 million or both, depending on the level of violation, he said.

It also proposes fixing price for 'extra' water used from any source for meeting basic requirements like irrigation or personal use, the secretary said.

The cabinet had sent back the draft to the National Water Resource Council for correction when it had been placed in August last year.

The then government passed the water policy in 1999.

"It (the act) will prevent people from wasting water. After implementation of the law, it will be possible to supply pure water to the people," Bhuyian said.

"Underground and ground water levels are decreasing due to wastage of water. It happens as there is no law to check the wastage," the secretary said.

"This is a bad omen for us. The risk of quake increases when the level of water decreases," he added.

According to the draft act, the price of water would be fixed depending on the quantity of water used, the secretary said. "No one will have to pay for water used in household or farming."

In line with the policy, the draft proposes to keep the price of water 'logically less' for poor or underprivileged people, he said.

The price would be higher in case of commercial or industrial use, he added.

Former Director-General of the Water Resources Planning Orgnaisation Mohammad Shahjahan said the draft proposes to form a special tribunal to prevent water pollution and retention of water resources.

"The tribunal will take steps to assess damage caused by wasting water, try the violators of the act and collect fines," he added

He said the price of water would be fixed to ensure government's control over water.

Slapping fine on mobile phone operators has been proposed for the SIM cards used for illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

"We'll take a final decision on slapping fine for illegal VoIP action soon," Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Zia Ahmed told  on Monday after a meeting of the telecom regulator.

Bangladesh government currently does not offer VoIP licences. BTRC has sent a draft guideline to the telecom ministry for issuing licences to VoIP service providers.

VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the internet.

Asked about the amount of fine per SIM card used for illegal VoIP service, the commission chairman said they would sit later to fix the amount.

Why mobile phone operators

Ahmed said every SIM card has to be sold after registration in line with the law.

"But this law is not followed many a time," he said.

"It will be possible to prevent illegal VoIP service up to a certain extent if SIM cards are sold after proper registration," he added.

BTRC officials said around one million SIM cards were closed in drives against VoIP in the past three years. Of them, BTRC closed around 600,000 while the operators closed the rest.

"Illegal VoIP service will decrease if the operators strengthen monitoring. Besides, they will become more alert if we fine them," Ahmed said.

Bangladesh has six mobile phone operators - Grameenphone, Banglalink, Airtel, Robi, Citycell and state-owned Teletalk.

According to the BTRC, the average daily legal international calls were of around 35 million minutes in April. The amount had been over 50 million minutes previously, BTRC officials said. Every international call gets $0.3 for Bangladesh, according to them.

The foreign ministry has strongly protested opening fire by India's Border Security Force (BSF) and killing of two unarmed Bangladeshi nationals recently.

Md Durul Islam (38) of Chapainawabganj received bullet wounds on May 16 as BSF personnel opened fire when he was inspecting his own maize field. He succumbed to the injuries the same day. Another Bangladeshi national, Faruk Ali, also died as a result of firing by the Indian border guards in the same area on April 14, according to a media statement of the ministry.

The ministry has requested India to conduct an inquiry into the incidents and take appropriate action against the BSF personnel responsible for such deplorable acts.

It has also called for immediate effective action to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.

While registering its protest over continuation of such killings by BSF, the ministry recalled the commitment of the Indian leadership to put an end to such acts of violence.

The ministry reminded that the Indian side had reiterated its assurance with respect to incidents of firing by BSF at various forums, the most recent one being at the Joint Consultative Commission meeting between Bangladesh foreign minister and external affairs minister of India on May 7-8.

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The Indian government has formed a $2 billion fund to assist member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to tackle balance of payments crisis.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said at a programme of Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) on Sunday that Bangladesh will be able to take loans worth above $400 million through swap arrangement.

India recently finalised the initiative at a meeting of SAARC Finance Governors' in Nepal. The Reserve Bank of India will fund the initiative.

Under the swap arrangement, each country will be given loans in three instalments according to their demand. The interest rates for the first two instalments would be two percent more than London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). The third instalment would cost two and a half percent more.

The initiative for loan within South Asian Countries came up for discussion in January this year due to the hike in dollar prices and liquidity crisis. Following the fifth conference of SAARC Finance Ministers in Dhaka, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said that India suggested a swap arrangement between SAARC countries and that it would soon be implemented.

India will offer swap arrangement of $2 billion both in foreign currency and Indian rupee.

RBI said the swap arrangement will be entirely funded by India and it will be offered in US dollar, euro and Indian rupee against the domestic currency or domestic currency denominated government securities of the requesting country.

The swap arrangement is intended to provide a back stop line of funding for the SAARC member countries to meet any balance of payments and liquidity crises, till longer term arrangements are made, RBI said.

It would also help if there is a need for short-term liquidity due to market turbulence, the Indian central bank added.

With the launch of this facility, member countries can now approach Reserve Bank of India for availing of the facility.

The swap amount available to various member central banks has been arrived based on two months import cover subject to a floor of $100 million and a maximum of $400 million per country, RBI said.

The requesting member countries will be able to make drawals of US dollar, euro or Indian rupee in multiple tranches. Each drawal of three months tenor and can be rolled over twice.

The first rollover will attract normal interest rate which is equal to LIBOR (for three months) plus 200 basis points. However, the second rollover will attract 50 basis points more than the normal interest rate.

SAARC countries will have to enter a bilateral swap agreement with India which will need final approval from the Indian government to avail themselves of the facility.

The opposition alliance can sit with the government if it agrees for a non-partisan poll-time government and if there is a clearly spelt out agenda, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has said.

"I want to tell the government that we want to discuss. But before that the government will have to make a clear and written announcement on non-partisan and impartial government," she said at the end of a mass hunger strike organised by the BNP-led alliance at Mahanagar Natya Mancha in Gulistan.

"We won't sit for any discussion without any agenda," she added.

The strike ended after Khaleda received sherbet from the daughter of missing party leader M Ilias Ali.

Khaleda's statement was aimed at clarifying her and her party's stance in response to various quarters calling the two parties across the table to settle their disputes.

The hunger strike programme was announced to demand release of BNP's missing leader M Ilias Ali, withdrawal of cases against BNP leaders and reinstatement of non-party caretaker government for overseeing the national election.

"No matter how many changes the government brings to the constitution, passes laws … no election will be held in this country under Awami League," Khaleda said.

"Now the government is luring the opposition saying that the president will oversee the election," she said.

"But we want to make it clear that this president is a partisan president. [No election] under his supervision will be accepted," she said.

"The government will have to either meet the demand of non-partisan government or step down," she added.

According to the latest constitutional amendment the ruling party brought last year, the next general election can be held under a partisan government as the non-party caretaker government provision has been scrapped.

BNP has been demanding cancellation of the amendment to reinstate the system of non-party caretaker government.

The European Union and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently urged the political leaders for sitting in a dialogue to settle the issues through discussion.

During her hour-long speech, Khaleda threatened to continue with movement if their demand of non-partisan government is not met by Jun 10. She also threatened of launching intensified agitation if arrested BNP leaders are not released from jail.

"We won't have any alternatives but to enforce countrywide general strike," Khaleda said. She also criticised police harassment of the family of Ilias Ali by setting up close circuit TV cameras at their house.

She once again blamed the government and the law enforcers for kidnapping Ilias Ali.

Regarding the killing of Sagar Sarwar and Meherun Runi, she said, "The journalists had learned a lot of information regarding corruption in the government. They would have disclosed those outside the country, had they survived."

"The government itself helped their killers escape. The law enforcing agencies are unable to capture the killers as they have already left the country," she added.

The opposition chief claimed that a relative of the prime minister and a member of the cabinet are directly involved in the alleged corruption in the Padma bridge project.

She claimed that many of the ruling party lawmakers are laundering money as they are preparing to flee the country in future.

Regarding the recent appointment of VC at JU, she said, "A partisan professor has been appointed from another university flouting rules."

Some BNP activists who had not been seen in active politics for quite a long time for their controversial role during the last caretaker government also participated in the hunger strike programme.

Family members of the arrested BNP leaders also joined the strike.

Sanwara Group Director Mujibur Rahman has filed a Tk 2-billion defamation suit at a Chittagong court against private channel Ekushey Television Chairman Absus Salam and four others.

The others accused in the case filed on Sunday with the First Joint District Judge Mohammad Bahauddin Ahmed's court are ETV General Manager Maj (retd) Rezaul Karim, Senior Reporter Mahatheer Faruki, and Reporters Faruq Hossain and Mohammad Osman.

Mujibur, son of ruling party MP of Chittagong-8 constituency Nurul Islam BSC, filed the case following a report aired on ETV on Mar 2 and 3 over lands of Sanwara Holdings Limited, plaintiff's lawyer Syed Qudrat Ali told .

The report termed Mujibur as 'land grabber' and 'extortionist', he said.

"Mujibur Rahman has been defamed by the ETV report. So he has filed the case seeking Tk 2 billion in compensation," he added.

he government has appointed 2,262 of the finally selected candidates of the 30th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations conducted by Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC).

The appointees have been asked to join their designated ministries or departments by June 3.

The public administration ministry issued a circular in this regard on Thursday.

Of the total, the highest 560 were appointed in health cadre, 277 in administration, 187 in police, 55 in agriculture, 53 in customs and excise, 25 in economic cadre, 10 in food, 35 in taxation, 56 in fisheries, 20 in foreign affairs and 42 in Ansar cadre.

Besides, 15 were appointed in family planning cadre, seven in cooperatives, five in railways (transportation and commercial), two in commerce, six in postal, 15 in information (general and programme) and 39 in audit and accounting cadre.

Amid dispute with Bangladesh over funding the Padma bridge project, the World Bank says the annual total disbursement for the World Bank–supported projects in Bangladesh has seen an upward trend over the past four years.

The World Bank's current portfolio in Bangladesh consists of 34 active projects with a commitment of $5.8 billion, the highest-ever for the country, a media release of the bank said on Sunday, referring to a portfolio review completed jointly with the government.

The total disbursement for all World Bank-financed projects in the current fiscal until Apr 30 was worth $400 million while the disbursement for the same period in the last fiscal was $305 million, it said.

The portfolio review found satisfactory progress in many projects and noted the need to speed up implementation in others, it added.

The release, however, did not say anything about the $2.9-billion Padma bridge project, halted after the global lender suspended $1.2-billion fund alleging corruption.

"We are encouraged to see results in many areas such as increase in girl's enrolment in schools; schooling, reduction in under-five child mortality or better disaster preparedness that have made Bangladesh a role model for its neighbours," it quoted World Bank Bangladesh's Operations Advisor Christine E Kimes as saying.

"The Government of Bangladesh is fully committed to ensure that external financing is well utilised and for the purposes intended," it said quoting Economic Relations Division's Additional Secretary Arastoo Khan.

Denying the World Bank allegations, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader said earlier in the day, "Construction of Padma bridge will begin with our own funding if we cannot find alternative financier."

State-run oil-gas exploration company BAPEX has found fresh reserves of oil at Kailashtila and Haripur oil fields in Sylhet.

Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Mansur made the announcement at a press briefing at his office at Karwan Bazar on Sunday.

The reserves have a combined 137 million barrels of oil but according to primary estimates, about 55 billion barrels can be extracted a year, Chairman Mansur said.

The current market value of new oil has been put at Tk 420 billion to 450 billion.

BAPEX submitted its report on exploration of the fresh reserves to the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation or Petrobangla on Sunday. The oil reserves were found using 3-D seismic survey.

Kailashtila alone has a reserve of 109 million barrels, of which 44 million barrels can be lifted.

The Haripur oil field is believed to have a reserve of 28 million barrels of oil including 11 million barrels extractable in one of the two layers of the reservoir.

"It will take some more time to learn about the oil reserve in the other layer at the Haripur oil field," said Hossain Mansur.

Asked who may be given the job to lift the oil, he indicated that 'a local company' may get the job.

The latest discovery has brought new hopes for Bangladesh's energy-starved economy, added the Petrobangla Chairman.

According to Petrobangla officials, the reserve is enough to meet the country's oil demand for two years as the annual oil demand is around 25 million barrels.

Energy expert Prof Badrul Imam told . "Bangladesh requires oil from 22 million to 25 million barrels every year on average. According to the estimate, Bangladesh may fuel its operations for more than two years with the fresh oil reserves."

Earlier, about 650,000 barrels of oil were extracted from an oil field in Haripur after the field was discovered in 1986. But extraction from the field came to a halt on the grounds that it had not been done following proper procedures.

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Saudi authorities Thursday beheaded a man for murdering one Bangladeshi and stabbing another during a bid to rob them, according to the Saudi interior ministry.
Sultan Al Sahli, a Saudi, was convicted of killing one of the Bangladeshis with a blow to the head, and stabbing and wounding the other, said the ministry, cited by state-run Saudi Press Agency news agency.
Sahli wanted to steal their mobile phones and money, the agency said.
His beheading brings to 26 the total number of executions in the kingdom so far this year.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday said the government plans to start construction work on the Padma Bridge project, the largest ever infrastructure project in the country, in the next fiscal year.
“We firmly believe, we’ll be able to start the construction work in the next fiscal year,” he told at a pre-budget discussion at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
The Finance Minister also said he does not think there is any reason to worry about the financing of the Padma Bridge.
On GDP (gross domestic product) growth projection for the next fiscal, he said the 7.2 percent GDP growth projection should not be considered as “too much ambitious.”
On black money, Muhith said: “We didn’t show too much dependence on the black money in the previous fiscals. Since, we’ve big reforms plan regarding the stock market in the next fiscal, we don’t want to touch it.”
He indicated that investments of black money in the capital market would continue through the next fiscal year, considering the sensitive nature of the stock market. Currently, black money is allowed to be invested in stocks by paying tax at 10 percent.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) jointly arranged the function titled ‘The 33rd Consultative Meeting of National Board of Revenue’ with AK Azad in the chair. The even was telecast live by private television channel NTV.
NBR chairman Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed, FBCCI first vice president M Jashim Uddin and vice president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, former FBCCI president Akram Hossain, BGMEA president M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, DCCI president Asif Ibrahim, Standard Bank chairman Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed, BARVIDA president Abdul Mannan Chowdhury, actor Elias Kanchan, and leaders of different district chambers, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Unveiling the government’s plan for the upcoming budget, Muhith said the neglected communications sector especially railways would get special allocation in the next budget to ensure smooth communication system in the country. “Railways sector remained neglected for long… we’ll look into it.”
He said the next budget will have specific directions for the next five years on the use of energy resources and electricity generation. He admitted that all the quick rental power plants could not come into generation timely.
The Finance Minister also said that the government will keep significant allocation for four areas –- skill development, maize production, poultry industry and beet sugar.
He assured the entrepreneurs that the government would consider a stimulus package for setting up Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in industrial areas.
About pre-shipment inspection (PSI), Muhith said: “We want to say bye to the system. Hope it will go soon.”
He said the key objective of the next budget will be to maintain the growth trend and the government will try to make a balance between demand and supply. “To maintain the balance, some may be benefited and some may be affected.”
The Finance Minister also assured the business leaders of accommodating their proposals in the next budget. “If not possible, we can bring changes after the budget placement.”
FBCCI president AK Azad sought a provision for imposing penalty with regular tax on whitening undisclosed income.
He also said the businesses do not favour the government decision allowing the investors to invest black money in stocks by merely paying tax at 10 percent.
“We’re urging the government to withdraw the proposal as it’ll surely discourage honest taxpayers and hurt them… it won’t be a good example for future either.”
The FBCCI chief said those who have undisclosed money can be brought under the income tax net through imposing appropriate penalty.
He also urged the Finance Minister to take initiatives and sit with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to find out a way to resolve the ongoing political conflict in the country.
“You’re a senior minister of the government… I request you to take steps to find out a solution,” he said, adding that confrontational political programmes hit the economy hard.
Azad alleged that some ‘top dogs’ shattered the country’s capital market and sought a legal provision in the next budget to bring back into the market the money they had taken out as hefty profit.
The FBCCI president also sought permission for investing abroad and urged the Finance Minister to give specific directives for that.
He said: “No Bangladeshi investor is now allowed to invest abroad…but there’s ample scope to invest in many countries, including neighboring Myanmar. We want an announcement in the next budget in this regard.”
Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu demanded special allocation for railways to cut pressure on roads and reduce road accidents.
Jashim Uddin said the government needs to generate additional 2000 to 3000 megawatt of electricity to achieve the projected 7.2 percent GDP growth for the next fiscal.

Nishat Mazumder has climbed to the fearsome and unforgiving peak of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain at more than five miles high, as the first Bangladeshi woman.

She ascended to Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035-foot-high) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal on Saturday morning with M A Mohit, the second Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest.

An accountant by profession, Mazumder was accompanied by Mohit, a veteran climber who made it to the top of Everest, Manaslu and Cho-Oyu-3 summits higher than 8,000 metres.

"We found out from her Sherpa that Nishat and M A Mohit have made it to the top around 9:30am," Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club founder Inam Al Haque told  on Saturday.

Both Mazumder and Mohit are members of the club.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated Mazumder on her success.

Mazumder, the second child of her parents, was also the first Bangladeshi woman to have conquered three Himalayan peaks higher than 6,000 metres. She conquered Himalaya's Mera Peak (6,653.78 metres) in 2007, Singchuli Peak (6,501 metres) in 2008 and Makalu Peak (8,493.3 metres) in 2009.

Born in Laxmipur, Mazumder completed her secondary education at Bottomley Home Girls High School and higher secondary education at Shahid Anwar Girls College. She did her bachelors and masters in accounting from Dhaka City College and currently works for Dhaka WASA.

Mazumder dedicated her ascent to Plan International's 'Because I am a Girl' campaign. NGO Plan Bangladesh co-sponsored her expedition that began on Apr 9.

Musa Ibrahim, member of Bangladesh's North Alpine Club, was the first Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest on May 22, 2010.

Weather conditions on the mountain have been challenging this year, prompting several expeditions to cancel their plans to try to reach the summit.

May is considered the best month to climb Everest, when climbers get about two windows of good weather for their bid for the summit.

'Because I am a girl'

When Plan Bangladesh launches its 'Because I am a Girl' campaign this October they plan to urge everyone to raise their hands, 'Hands Up!' they call it, in support of women's empowerment.

Nishat Mazumder, their champion, will have already raised her hand on top of the Everest. "Now that has got to be the highest raised hand in the world, right? You couldn't get any higher than the Everest," said Nova Shams, Plan's spokesperson in Dhaka.

Given her unprecedented feat as a Bangladeshi woman, Mazumder will naturally feature prominently in the campaign that will be launched on the global Girl Child Day on Oct 11 globally.

"And this ties in really well with our theme," Shams told  She has shown that woman too can overcome daunting odds with the family support and mental resolve.

Kill again,BSF don't stop their kill in bangladeshi.India's Border Security Force has killed another Bangladeshi citizen on Dinajpur border despite the Indian government's promise to stop killing along the border.

The incident occurred early on Friday morning at the district's Daudpur border in Birampur, Commander of the 40th Battalion of the Border Guard Bangladesh Lieutenant Colonel Tayebul Haque told .

The deceased has been identified as Saidur Rahman Chiku, 50 who is the son of Abdul Gafur of Birampur Upazila's Poli Mahmudpur village.

He used to rustle cattle from India, Haque said.

The BGB Commander said Saidur and his companions were on their way to India when members of BSF's Gobindapur camp threw grenade at them near pillar no. 289/25 (a).

Saidur received wounds from the grenade and fell to the ground. The BSF members then opened fire at him and killed him, he said.

The BSF has taken Saidur's body, Haque said.

The BGB Commander said they tried to communicate with their Indian counterparts to get the dead body back. "The BSF is yet to respond."

In 2011, the international human-right outfits Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International had severely criticised the Indian government for continuous killing of unarmed Bangladeshis along the border.

Human Rights Watch found numerous cases of indiscriminate use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and killings by the security force, without adequate investigation or punishment.

The BSF chief, Raman Shrivastava, after a four-day visit to Dhaka on Sep 30 last year said his forces had introduced non-lethal weapons in many places to bring border killings down to "zero level".

According to reports, over 900 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by the BSF over the last decade, many of them when they crossed into Indian territory for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities.

An overseas telephone call was made to the Rapid Action Battalion on Friday afternoon asking it to release the large shipment of the banned club-drug Yaba tablets seized from Asadganj in Chittagong.

Acting commander of RAB-7 Maj Ziaul Ahsan Sarwar told  that the call was made from an 'unknown' number on the mobile phone of Cox Bazar camp unit commander of RAB-7 Captain Rashid around 4pm.

"The person on the other side asked him to release the Yaba shipment that was seized in the morning. He then hung up the phone," he added.

Maj Sarwar said after they were informed of the matter, they tried to contact the phone number, but found it switched off.

"The (phone) number is not from any of the mobile phone operators of the country. We're looking into issue," the RAB official said.

RAB-1 and RAB-7 in a joint drive seized 270,000 banned Yaba tablets and arrested drug peddler Abdur Rashid along with his three accomplices at Asadganj in Chittagong.

RAB personnel claim that it is so far the largest Yaba seizure. The estimated value of the banned drugs is around Tk 90 million.

Police have set up close circuit TV cameras at the gate of missing BNP leader Ilias Ali's Banani house.

His friend Rafiqul Islam Hilali, who stays in the house, told  that the law enforcers did not even seek permission to install the cameras.

"They came and set up cameras hurriedly," he said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media and Community Service) Masudur Rahman said the cameras were set up outside the house and they were being monitored 'centrally'.

"We have given utmost importance to the security of the missing BNP leader's family," he added.

On Apr 18, police had found Ilias' car abandoned near his house. He and his driver Ansar Ali have been missing since then. The opposition and his family have been claiming that government henchmen had picked him up.

BNP has enforced several nationwide general strikes over the issue. Cases over violence during the shutdowns saw 33 top opposition leaders, including BNP Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, arrested.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will lead a mass hunger strike of the 18-party opposition alliance on Sunday at the capital's Mahanagar Natya Mancha in Gulistan.

BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan on Saturday confirmed the hunger strike at a rally held in front of the party's Naya Paltan headquarters.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Motijheel zone Deputy Commissioner Anwar Hossain told  that the opposition was given the approval to hold the protest programme at the Natya Mancha.

The main opposition had requested the government to allow them to use one of the three places – the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) premises, or any vacant place at Mahanagar Natya Mancha or Ramna Green – as the venue for protest programme.

Nazrul at the rally said, "We will protest the government's repression through this peaceful mass hunger strike. Our leader Khaleda Zia will be with us there."

The hunger strike would he held from 10am to 4pm. BNP last staged any similar programme on July 13 last year at the Institution of Engineers premises.

The decision to stage the hunger strike was taken at an 18-party opposition alliance meeting at Khaleda's Gulshan office on Thursday night following a countrywide dawn-to-dusk general strike that day demanding release of top opposition leaders held in cases over violence during a shutdown on May 29.

The programme has also been called demanding withdrawal of cases against top opposition leaders, election under a non-party and neutral government and return of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

Protesting a trial court verdict to jail 33 senior leaders of the opposition alliance on Wednesday in connection with an Apr 29 arson case, the opposition had enforced Thursday's general strike.