BANGLADESH

The remaining six judges of the Supreme Court bench that declared the 13th constitutional amendment illegal signed the full verdict on Sunday night, almost a year and a half after the historic judgment rescinded the caretaker government provision.

The full copy of the verdict, reached by a majority decision, was signed around 10pm following a series of meetings among the judges throughout the day.

Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Supreme Court Registrar AKM Shamsul Islam confirmed bdnews24.com about the signing of the full verdict.

Justice Haque had signed the 342-page judgement in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

He was the top judge who headed the seven-strong bench that delivered the verdict on May 10, 2011. Justices Mahmud Hossain, Sinha and Mozammel Hossain agreed with him. Justices Wahab Miah and Sultana differed while Justice Iman Ali left the matter for Parliament to decide.

The judgement declared illegal the 15-year-old constitutional provision that mandated an elected government to transfer power to an unelected non-partisan caretaker administration to oversee a new parliamentary election on completion of its term.

In its short verdict, the apex court also observed that the rescinded system may be practised for another two parliamentary terms.

On June 30 last year, the Awami League-led Grand Alliance finally abolished the caretaker government system allowing general elections under elected partisan governments.

The court also asked Parliament to amend the Constitution to make sure that former Chief Justices or any other Supreme Court judges are not chosen as head of caretaker governments in case the system is kept for another two parliamentary elections.

This is the first time a verdict has been written in mixed languages – Bengali and English. Usually the court writes verdict in English. Justice Khairul Haque wrote the main part of the verdict in Bengali. Justice Ali wrote 150 pages of the verdict.

The main opposition BNP has been opposing the constitutional amendment claiming that the government partly implemented the verdict, but overlooked the other part on two elections under the caretakers.

The opposition insists that no election will be allowed under any partisan government. Though the caretaker government was introduced first in 1996, the elections taken place in 1990 were held under an interim government.

The BNP was forced by Awami League to introduce the caretaker government system through constitutional amendment for the first time. But the system came under scrutiny as the last military-backed caretaker government, which had a three-month mandate to hold elections, managed to linger on power for two years since 2007.

The High Court announced the caretaker government system legal after several people including Advocate M Salim Ullah challenged the 13th Amendment in 2004. They challenged the decision at the Appellate Division, drawing out the order.

Sonali Bank had transferred the General Manager the day before the audit team he had constituted began looking into the papers in the Hallmark scam.

Two other officials were also transferred for the same reason.

The bank's former General Manager (International Trade and Commerce) ANM Masroor-ul-Huda Seraji told reporters about the punishment after he was quizzed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday.

"I got a report on this financial transaction on January 1 last after I was appointed GM for International Trade and Commerce Department of the bank. Later I constituted the audit team on my own, which invited pressures on me from all around," said Siraji.

Siraji, who is currently acting as GM for the bank's Rangpur Division, was transferred to Sylhet, a day before the audit team began its probe. He was transferred twice later, to Comilla and Rangpur.

Asked if he faced difficulties in constituting the audit team, Siraji said, "I cannot divulge any information regarding this matter in the interest of a fair investigation. However, two other people other than me were also transferred in connection with the same matter."

Besides Siraji, ACC also questioned five other senior Sonali Bank officials over the scandal that involves misappropriation of over Tk 36 billion disbursed from the bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch.

The other quizzed are General Managers Nowsher Ali, Md Abu Musa and Mohammad Mahbubul Haque, and Deputy General Managers Sheikh Altaf Hossain and Shafiuddin Ahmed.

Haq told reporters, "I had gone on LPR when the incident happened. I am in no way involved with the incident."

Musa termed the scam "unusual" and "undesirable' and demanded a proper investigation.

The ACC earlier questioned 23 other officials of the bank over the scandal. It has also decided to question Prime Minister's Health and Family Affairs Advisor Syed Modasser Ali over the scandal.

Four other officials of the banks are expected to be interrogated on Monday.

The central bank recently revealed that more than Tk 36 billion were disbursed by the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel Branch of Sonali Bank, without notable collateral. Of the amount, Hallmark Group embezzled over Tk 26 billion alone.

Sonali Bank has suspended 20 officials while two Deputy Managing Directors have been made Officer on Special Duty.

After the scam broke out, the Bangladesh Bank proposed sacking the current Board of Directors of the largest commercial bank. Finance Minister AMA Muhith rebuked the central bank and the government reappointed the bank's Chairman Kazi Baharul Islam.

The BNP has been alleging involvement of government high-ups in the rip-off.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines cancelled three scheduled flights on Sunday and is facing a schedule disaster.

Travel plans of thousands of passengers who were scheduled to leave for Middle Eastern destinations were thrown into chaos.

Thousands of passengers were seen in the terminal at the Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday morning. Most of them were bound for Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh, Dubai and Jeddah.

The disarray was caused after a Boeing 747, which can carry 500 passengers and was hired from Portuguese charter company Air Atlanta, left on Sept 12 before time agreed in a deal between Biman and the company.

The agreement stipulated the plane fly 3,000 hours in total, 250 hours a month. The deal was supposed to expire on Sept 20, but the plane left for Portugal from Muscat airport in Oman on Sept 12 leaving 225 passengers there.

The Boeing 747 was operating between Bangladesh and Middle Eastern cities including Riyadh, Dubai, Jeddah and Oman.

Biman says eight more flights with over 450 passengers on board each time were remaining in the deal. Biman's regular flight plans were upset as it started flying the passengers stuck at the airport on smaller planes to their destinations.

According to the Biman Control Room, the international flights – Dhaka- London (BG-005), Dhaka-Abu Dhabi (BG-027) and domestic flight Dhaka-Sylhet (BG-061) were cancelled to maintain the schedule for Middle Eastern countries.

In the midst of all these, thousands of passengers stranded at the airport have alleged that Biman authorities were not providing required assistance even after their flights were cancelled.

Malaysia-bound Anisur Rahman, waiting at the airport's Terminal 2, told bdnews24.com: "My flight was at 11am on Saturday. But I came to know the flight has been cancelled after I got in here. I was told to contact again at 8am today (Sunday)."

He alleged he did not get any of the privileges from the Biman authorities even though they are supposed to provide food and accommodation for passengers of the cancelled flights.

Like Anisur, Malaysia-bound passenger Mohammad Masum of Bhairab and Dubai-bound passenger Sajib Mia have been waiting at the airport since Saturday.

Sajib said, "My flight was at 7pm Saturday. After I came here, I found out that it will be delayed. I have been told to contact officials at 10pm tonight, but I can't trust them."

No-one body was able to console a weeping Mohammad Shafiullah who was supposed to leave for Abu Dhabi on Friday.

He told bdnews24.com: "Four of us came here on Sept 14 to catch our flight to Abu Dhabi. And now we are being told to contact the authorities at 2pm tomorrow (Monday). We don't have any money left. I don't know what to do now, I only have Tk 100 in my pocket."

Kuwait-bound passengers demonstrated and took out rallies on the airport premises demanding flights to take them to their destination. Biman staff took them inside the terminal after the journalists arrived at the scene. No reporters were allowed to enter the terminal.

When contacted, Biman's Acting Managing Director Mosaddek Ahmed declined comment on the matter.

Astronomers have discovered planets orbiting sun-like stars in a crowded stars cluster, offering the best evidence yet that planets can sprout up in dense stellar environments.

"The starry-skied planets are two so-called hot Jupiters, which are massive, gaseous orbs that are boiling hot because they orbit tightly around their parent stars," a Nasa release said on Friday.

"Each hot Jupiter circles a different sun-like star in the Beehive Cluster, also called the Praesepe, a collection of roughly 1,000 stars that appear to be swarming around a common center."

Such clusters, or a grouping of stars born at the same time and out of the same giant cloud of material, share similar chemical composition. And opposing the common trait of spreading out shortly after birth, these stars remain loosely bounded together by their mutual gravitational attraction.

"We are detecting more and more planets that can thrive in diverse and extreme environments like these nearby clusters," said Mario R. Perez, the NASA astrophysics program scientist in the Origins of Solar Systems Program. "Our galaxy contains more than 1,000 of these open clusters, which potentially can present the physical conditions for harboring many more of these giant planets."

The new planets are called Pr0201b and Pr0211b. The star's name followed by a "b" is the standard naming convention for planets.

"These are the first 'b's' in the Beehive," said Sam Quinn, a graduate student in astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta and the lead author of the paper describing the results, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Quinn and his team, in collaboration with David Latham at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, discovered the planets by using the 1.5-meter Tillinghast telescope at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona to measure the slight gravitational wobble the orbiting planets induce upon their host stars.

Previous searches of clusters had turned up two planets around massive stars but none had been found around stars like our sun until now.

"This has been a big puzzle for planet hunters," Quinn said. "We know that most stars form in clustered environments like the Orion nebula, so unless this dense environment inhibits planet formation, at least some sun-like stars in open clusters should have planets. Now, we finally know they are indeed there."

The results also are of interest to theorists who are trying to understand how hot Jupiters wind up so close to their stars. Most theories contend these blistering worlds start out much cooler and farther from their stars before migrating inward.

"The relatively young age of the Beehive cluster makes these planets among the youngest known," said Russel White, the principal investigator on the NASA Origins of Solar Systems grant that funded this study. "And that's important because it sets a constraint on how quickly giant planets migrate inward. And knowing how quickly they migrate is the first step to figuring out how they migrate."

The research team suspects planets were turned up in the Beehive cluster because it is rich in metals. Stars in the Beehive have more heavy elements such as iron than the sun has.

According to White, "Searches for planets around nearby stars suggest that these metals act like a 'planet fertilizer,' leading to an abundant crop of gas-giant planets. Our results suggest this may be true in clusters as well."

The newly appointed Disaster Management and Relief Minster A H Mahmud Ali has called for everyone's support to maintain the government's 'success' in the sector.

Ali went to his new office around 10:25am on Sunday and was greeted by the ministry's Secretary M Aslam Alam and officials.

The minister then exchanged views with the officials.

The former diplomat said that Bangladesh's disaster management has earned kudos abroad and urged for everyone's support to keep up the good work and further develop their activities.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on Saturday, assigned portfolios to the five new ministers and two new state ministers, who were sworn in on Thursday.

In the fourth round of Cabinet shake-up, the Food and Disaster Management Ministry was split into two.

A H Mahmud Ali has been given the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry leaving Abdur Razzaque with the Ministry of Food only.

Bangladesh has condemned the release of a film which allegedly denigrates Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

Parts of 'Innocence of Muslims' have been widely circulated on the internet in both English and Arabic inciting protests from Muslims across the world.

"The video is not only offensive, but also reprehensible," a media statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Saturday said.

It said Dhaka was aware of the fact that some people have tried to defend such "offensive material" on the pretext of "freedom of expression".

"Inciting hatred cannot be justified as freedom of expression," it argued.

The statement said, "Such disregard for the religious sensitivity of Muslims, or of any faith for that matter, cannot constitute civilised behaviour and must not be condoned."

The government has split the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management into two with the latest reshuffle in the cabinet.

The newly formed ministries are the Ministry of Food and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, a government circular issued on Saturday said.

The Food Division and Disaster Management and Relief Division were formed in 2010. The two divisions functioned as separate ministries during the BNP-Jamaat-led coalition government.

When Sheikh Hasina's cabinet took office in 2009, the two ministries were combined and Abdur Razzaque was made its minister.

A H Mahmud Ali, a new face in the cabinet, has been given the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry leaving Abdur Razzaque with the Ministry of Food only.

n a major reshuffle in the cabinet, the Prime Minister has replaced the Home Minister and given the task of maintaining law and order to Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir, a former bureaucrat and one of the ruling party's policymakers.

In the face of severe criticism from the media, she also replaced the Information Minister and given the charge to JSD President Hasanul Haq Inu, who never served in any cabinet.

However, Hasina relied on elderly Abul Maal Abdul Muhith to run the finance despite scathing criticism from a section of media over different issues.

Offices of several serving ministers were also changed in the latest reshuffle, Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com Saturday.

The Prime Minster has apparently removed the ministers from their responsibilities who came under fire from various quarters on different issues.

The Awami League-led coalition government that came to office with an agenda to build a 'Digital Bangladesh' entrusted former diplomat Mostafa Faruque Mohammed with the charge of the Information and Communication Technology Ministry.

New face Mazibul Hoque, a trusted Treasury Bench MP, has been given the charge of the Railways Ministry which came under spotlight due to the cash scandal involving one of the personal aides of then Railways Minister Suranjit Sengupta and later due to 'hyper-activities' of acting minister Obaidul Quader.

Another former diplomat A H Mahmud Ali has been given the task to handle the newly formed Disaster Management and Relief Ministry. His expertise and experience would be tested of 'utilising' government allocations for the social safety net.

The two new state ministers – Abdul Hyee got Fisheries and Livestock and Omor Faruk Chowdhury Industries.

Narsinghdi-5 lawmaker Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju has been removed from the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and placed in the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The family of murdered Narsinghdi municipal mayor Lokman Hossain has been alleging that Raju was an 'instigator' of the killing.

Former Home Minister Shahara Khatun had been under fire from within the ruling party and outside for the law and order situation and her remarks to the media. Journalists have been staging various programmes against her as the law enforcers are yet to crack the mystery of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi's murder despite her 48-hour deadline to nab the killers.

Abul Kalam Azad has lost the Information Ministry to JSD chief Hasanul Haq Inu and will now be in charge of Culture only.

Losing Labour and Employment Ministry Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, the father-in-law of PM's daughter, has retained only Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry.

On Thursday, six leaders of the ruling Awami League and one from coalition partner JSD took oath as ministers and state ministers, taking the number of Hasina-led cabinet members to 50. This was the fourth cabinet shake-up since the Awami League-led coalition swept the 2008 national polls.

Senior ruling party politicians Suranjit Sengupta and Obaidul Quader were included in the cabinet in November last year. Sengupta stepped down barely four months later as his personal aide was caught in a cash scandal. He was later made a minister without portfolio.

Tofail Ahmed, the Industries Minister in Hasina's 1996-2001 cabinet, came under fire from within the party like Suranjit for their 'role as reformists' during the military-backed emergency administration.

Both Tofail and Bangladesh Workers Party Chief Rashed Khan Menon had turned down the offer to join the cabinet in the recent reshuffle.

The refusals stirred up the country's politics. Opposition and a section of media have termed the refusal as 'failure of the government', but Suranjit has said it hint at a 'new equation'.

Newly appointed Home Minister Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir had worked as a state minister at the Planning Ministry as a technocrat during Sheikh Hasina's 1996-2001 term. The former bureaucrat was also imprisoned during the past caretaker government.

Comilla-11 lawmaker Mazibul Hoque, who has got the Railways Ministry, had been working as a Parliament Whip.

Commerce Minister Ghulam Muhammed Quader of the Jatiya Party and Industries Minister Dilip Barua of the Samyabadi Dal, two alliance partners, got place in the cabinet when it was formed in January 2009.

Syed Abul Hossain had taken oath as a minister and Tanjim Ahmed (Sohel Taj) as a state minister when the cabinet was formed. But both eventually stepped down from their posts.

Newly assigned Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu has said that he would 'sincerely' try to perform his responsibilities given by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) chief told this to bdnews24.com in an instant reaction on Saturday night over phone while he was returning to Dhaka after paying respect at the grave of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in Gopalganj.

"I've been informed over phone that I've been given the the charge of the Information Ministry. It's a great responsibility. I'll sincerely try to do the job that the honourable Prime Minister has given me. This shows her trust and faith on me,"

Inu also said that he would take necessary steps to implement the 8th Wage Board for journalists and staff of news media.

"I will take necessary steps to implement the Wage Board after discussing with the journalists, journalist leaders, owners and others concerned," he added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday reshuffled the cabinet swapping portfolios of some ministers and distributing ministries among the newly inducted ministers and state ministers.

Of the new ministers, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir has been made the Home Minister, Mazibul Hoque has been given the responsibility of the Railway Ministry, Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali entrusted with the responsibility of Relief and Disaster Management Ministry while Mostofa Faruq Mohammad with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry.

Two new state ministers -- Omar Faruk Chowdhury got industries and Abdul Hyee got Fisheries and Livestock.

Afsar Uddin Ahmed Khan, an independent candidate for the Gazipur-4 by-election, on Saturday alleged that the ruling Awami League activists have obstructed his election campaign and mass contact programme.

At a street rally at Chandpur Bazaar in the afternoon Afsar Uddin alleged that that the supporters of Awami League-backed candidate Simeen Hussain Rimi, also his nephew, snatched the microphone and loudspeaker during his election campaign in Baldha Bazaar and Dardaria areas at noon.

He filed a complaint with the returning officer. Earlier in the morning, Afsar accused Rimi of violating the electoral code of conduct.

Afsar's campaign coordinator Advocate Sarwar E Kainaat told reporters that they started their mass contact campaign from Kapasia bus terminal at 11am. They campaigned in Nalgaon Bazaar, Balkela Bazaar, Bhakuadi Bazaar and Chandpur Bazaar areas on the first day.

Meanwhile, Rimi campaigned in Kushdi, Beltali, Barjapur, Lohadi, Barabo and Singua areas from the morning. She joined a rally at Tok Narandra High School playground in the afternoon.

Awami League Advisory Council member Tofail Ahmed, also the coordinator of the AL candidate for the by-polls, was the chief guest.

The Gazipur-4 (Kapasia) constituency fell vacant after AL lawmaker Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, also son of the country's first Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad, resigned on July 7.

The Election Commission announced the election schedule on August 23. The by-election is scheduled for Sep 30. The other candidate is Asadullah Badal of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB).

The district returning officer distributed electoral symbols to the three candidates on Friday. Rimi was allocated with "boat" as the election symbol, her uncle Afsar Uddin Ahmed Khan with "rooster" and Asadullah Badal with "sickle".

Inclusion of five new ministers and two state ministers in the cabinet will help boost activities of the Grand Alliance government the way "Coramine injection helps patients get back in action", Industries Minister Dilip Barua said on Friday.

In his reaction to the main opposition BNP's remarks that the Cabinet expansion was the "government's final effort to pull on", Barua said, "I would like to tell the opposition that Coramine helps the patients come round and get back in action fast."

He was addressing a discussion at the Shawkat Osman Memorial auditorium of the Central Public Library in the city marking the 32nd founding anniversary of the Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote, the cultural front of the ruling Awami League.

After the five ministers and two state ministers were sworn in on Thursday afternoon with only a year left to the incumbent government's term, BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had said that the government was trying to live on by taking Coramine and antibiotics of the Cabinet expansion and that it would not work as the government had lost its popularity and trust.

Dilip Barua on Friday asked the leaders of the Grand Alliance to establish close contacts with the people to stay in power for another term. "We'll have to do the activities that make people pleased."

Also the General Secretary of Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (ML), Dilip Barua said that the BNP would not be able to go to power by joining hands with the Jamaat-e-Islami.

"The opposition's movement is limited to the newspapers and TV channels only," he added.

Presided over by Sangskritik Jote Advisor Sheikh Mohammad Jahangir, the programme was addressed, among others, by Dhaka city unit Awami League Organising Secretary Shahe Alam Murad, Krisak League Vice-President M A Karim and Asian Group Director Harun-or-Rashid.

Veteran politician Suranjit Sengupta believes that the Tofail Ahmed and Rashed Khan Menon's turning down of the government offer of Cabinet berth is the hint of emergence of a 'new political equation'.

Referring to the surprise of Greek conqueror Alexander at the working of this subcontinent, Sengupta commented at a discussion on Saturday, "I will not say Seleucus, but will say truly Bengal's ... Bangladesh's politics is very strange."

"I think this is a new equation in a new state of strange politics. This is just the hint of a new political equation," he said. He continued without explaining his observation and added, "But there is nothing to be worried about. It will be ended through constitutional procedure and democratically."

Sengupta's comment comes amid claims of a 'third force' rising as the face-off between the two major political parties in the country over the caretaker government provision continues.

Both Tafail and Sengupta have voiced for 'reforms' in the Awami League during the past military-backed emergency time administration and were branded as 'reformists' by party members.

They were left in the cold when the Sheikh Hasina-led government took office in 2008. The veteran politicians had also lost their posts as party policymakers.

During the third shake-up in Hasina's Cabinet, Sengupta got the taste of ministership, for the first time in his long political career, when he was made the Railway Minister. He, however, bowed out barely four months following his aide's involvement in a cash scam.

He was later made a minister without portfolio.

The Cabinet beckoned Tofail, nearly 10 months after Sengupta, during the fourth shake-up but he turned down the berth saying he was not 'ready' to take up the responsibility.

Menon, on the other hand, declined the lucrative government offer saying it was a 'party decision'.

Sengupta, who has been close to both Tofail and Menon in his long political career, said, "I won't say anything on why they refused to join. It's their personal, political decisions."

The ruling party advisory committee member observed that the duo's refusal made Bangladesh's recent political scenario 'exciting' and left the media 'stirred-up'.

Suranjit Sengupta was speaking at a discussion organised by the ruling party's artists' front in Dhaka.

A group of agitated passengers who failed to catch a flight for Jeddah due to rescheduling vandalised the office of Biman Bangladesh Airlines in the port city of Chittagong on Saturday.

They vandalised glass on the main entrance and some furniture at the national flag carrier's office in the city's Sholashohor area around 12pm.

Sub-Inspector of the Pachlaish Police Station Mohammad Kamruzzaman told bdnews24.com that the agitated passengers took to vandalism as they failed to get onboard a scheduled flight for Jeddah. Later, the police brought the situation under control.

The Biman Bangladesh Airlines authorities and the victims said that a Boeing-747 flight was scheduled to ferry passengers from the Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport to Jeddah at 1:30am on Saturday, but it was rescheduled later.

One of the passengers of the flight, Ahmed Kabir of Kanchana area of Satkania upazila in Chittagong, told bdnews24.com that the Biman authorities changed the flight on Friday night and asked the passengers to start their journey from Dhaka which angered the passengers.

"The authorities didn't take us to any hotel for overnight stay," he added.

The Biman authorities, however, claimed that they managed rental accommodation for 57 passengers out of the 84, who had booked tickets for the flight.

Biman's Chittagong unit Manager Dilip Kumar Chowdhury said the flight of the victim passengers had been rescheduled for Sep 18.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday rejected the allegation of Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon that the due process was not followed in inviting him to join the cabinet.

Without naming Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed and Rashed Khan Menon, the Prime Minister said, "Two of our colleagues refused to join cabinet. One of them alleged he was not invited properly."

"This is nothing new. This is our second term in office. We invited people to join the cabinet the way we did during first time. So, there has been no deviation from the practice," Hasina, also the President of the ruling Awami League, said.

Refusing to join the cabinet Menon on Friday said that he was not invited through proper political process questioning whether invitation is sent such a way (through cabinet secretary) in any civilised county.

However, quoting the autobiography of former Indian Prime Minister IK Gujral, Hasina said, "I don't know if India is a civilised country? IK Gujral was made Prime Minister twice and he took oath getting phone calls from the cabinet division."

Without naming anyone the Awami League chief said, "Who would accept or refuse the offer is their decision. But there had been no deviation (in inviting them to join the cabinet)."

"We have many MPs, but we cannot make all ministers. We are following the normal process," she said while making the introductory speech at the Awami League Central Working Committee meeting at her official residence Ganabhaban.

On the issue Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said Cabinet Secretary was the top most official of the administration. "Cabinet Secretary is the right person to do this. This is the practice in all the democratic country. There is no alternative to this."

Students at BUET returned to classes on Saturday, after a break of more than two months when they, backed by many of their teachers, campaigned for the removal of the Vice-Chancellor and the Pro-Vice Chancellor.

The resumption was prompted by the removal of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Pro-Vice Chancellor Habibur Rahman, a clear sign that the government was paying heed to the demonstrators.

Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Sep 9 expressed hopes that the students would return to classes as they were keeping their promises.

The university authorities also withdrew two cases filed against the students during the protests as per the minister's assurance to the demonstrators.

Of the demonstrators, the teachers were the first to respond to the call with the BUET Teacher's Association, on Sep 10 afternoon, opting to resume classes from Saturday in line with a new academic calendar the Dean's Committee revealed earlier in the day.

The students also gave their green signal to the move pointing out that they would return to classes whenever called.

Vice Chancellor Professor S M Nazrul Islam nodded the calendar the next day, paving way for resumption of studies, ending the deadlock at Bangladesh's premier engineering university.

The movement

The teachers had been demonstrating since April demanding ouster of the VC and the Pro-VC on corruption charges. Later, students joined them.

The demonstrating teachers and students abstained from classes and tests, pushing the university into turmoil.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid met the teachers in an apparent bid to resolve the crisis roiling the institution. After the meeting, the teachers announced to return to class following Nahid's assurance to remove Pro-VC Prof Habibur Rahman and withdraw the cases.

The agitation at BUET gained pace as authorities filed two cases with the Shahbagh police on Sep 2 accusing around a hundred teachers and students of attacks on the offices of the VC and the Pro-VC, vandalism, ransacking records and looting Tk 0.3 million.

The BUET authorities filed application to withdraw the cases on Sep 5 following the VC's order.

The government on Sep 9 removed Prof Habibur Rahman from the office of Pro-Vice Chancellor.

The move met one of the assurances the Education Minister had made to them to pull the top engineering university out of the turmoil.

In the wake of the joint movement, the authorities had advanced the Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr vacation by a month to close it on July 10 until Aug 24. The decision, however, failed to deter the protesters from going ahead with the movement.

The university resumed on Aug 25 but classes and examinations did not take place as the teachers and students pressed on with their protest.

Members of the Awami League's Central Committee on Saturday suggested to remove Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith from the Cabinet. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the party chief, has reportedly defended Muhith.

Three central committee members, including two organising secretaries, who preferred not to be named, confirmed bdnews24.com correspondent Sumon Mahbub the issue.

When contacted, they separately told bdnews24.com that the Awami League General Secretary and also the LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam had indirectly proposed removing Muhith from the Cabinet. They said that Ashraf raised the issue saying Muhith made comments which put Awami League leaders in 'embarrassing situations'.

"This is due to his age," the Awami League General Secretary was quoted by the sources to have told the meeting.

They said almost all the members of the central committee agreed with Ashraf.

Defending the beleaguered Finance Minister, the sources quoted Hasina to have replied, "He (Muhith) does not want to leave us. Rather, he wants to work with us."

On many occasions the Finance Minister was criticised by senior members of the treasury bench in the Parliament for the share market debacle.

Recently, Muhith had come under fire from front bench MPs of the ruling party for his remarks over the Hallmark scam involving the state-run Sonali Bank. He was also advised by Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, cousin of the PM, and Tofail Ahmed to 'speak less'.

In the face of criticism from senior treasury bench MPs, Muhith regretted his remarks that the loan given to the Hallmark Group by Sonali Bank was 'nothing' and retracted it during his speech in Parliament on Sep 6.

On Saturday, at the Central Executive Committee meeting the LGRD Minister also reportedly proposed sending PM's Finance Advisor and party's advisory council member Mashiur Rahman on leave for three months to bring back the World Bank to Padma bridge project.

When Hasina reportedly asked whether the World Bank, which cancelled its promised loan of $1.2 billion for the $2.9 billion Padma bridge project, would come back if Mashiur sent to leave, Ashraf had replied in the positive.

Before suspending the fund in September 2011, the Washington-based lender had written to the government with the suggestion of removing government officials, including Mashiur as reported in the media, involved in the project raising graft allegations.

Rahman's, also the Integrity Adviser to the Padma Bridge project, resignation came into discussion after the former Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain resigned recently. The government also sent Bridges Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain on leave afterwards.

The sources said Ashraf on Saturday's meeting also came down hard on Tofail Ahmed for turning down the cabinet berth saying his decision was a 'black chapter' for the party.

"He would be praised for this for the time being. But he has neglected his duties and insulted his voters," the sources quoted Ashraf as saying.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, who was stripped of his railways portfolio, and Shahara Khatun, who was removed from the Home Ministry and given the charge of Post and Telecommunication Ministry, did not attend Saturday's meeting.

Meanwhile, Awami League's Deputy Office Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das told bdnews24.com that the meeting decided to hold the party's central conference between December 2012 and January 2013.

The district and upazila committees have been asked to hold their conferences by November.

The meeting also discussed to extend the central committee's tenure until Jan 31, 2013, he added.

Prime Minister's Public Administration Affairs Advisor H T Imam has asked the tax authorities to make the procedure 'easy enough' to file tax returns.

"The whole procedure, including the provision to file returns online, is not easy enough. It has to be made simpler," he said while inaugurating the third Income Tax Fair on Sunday at the Dhaka Officer's Club.

The National Income Tax Fair will be held in seven divisional headquarters and 18 district towns to encourage people to pay taxes.

The fair will run for seven days to Sep 22 in the divisional headquarters and from Sep 16 to 20 in the district towns.

According to NBR, the income tax collection in the 1972-1973FY was Tk 103.6 million, which increased to Tk 282.62 billion in the 2011-12FY. The country's current tax-GDP ratio is 10.49 percent and the government has the target to raise it to 13 percent of GDP by 2016.

Pointing out that the fair was organised to inspire people to give taxes, NBR Chief Nasir Uddin Ahmed said that they were hoping to organise fairs at all district towns from next year.

He continued that the board targeted to provide services to at least 0.1 million people through the fair.

People visiting the fair from 10am to 5pm will be able to file returns, get new Tax Identification Numbers (TIN), pay taxes and get advices on various issues.

The NBR has set a target of Tk 1,122.59 billion revenue collection in the current fiscal, of which Tk 353 billion is to come from income tax.

NBR's records show that even though there were around 3.5 million people with TINs, only 1.4 million pay income tax.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said that she would urge the US to ban screening or publicity of the film 'Innocence of Muslims', which 'mocks' the Prophet Mohammad and portrays him as a 'buffoon'.

"I came to know that a film has been made about Prophet Mohammad. We strongly criticise such act," she said while inaugurating this year's Hajj Camp

The crudely made 13-minute English-language movie, filmed in California and circulated on the Internet under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims", triggered protests by Muslims across the world.

"I will request the US government to ban its screening and ensure strong punishment to those responsible."

The film helped generate a violent protest at the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi during which the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday. US officials said they believed militants used the protest as cover to carry out an armed assault on the diplomatic compound and a building that was supposed to be a safe house.

Protests have spread to other countries across the Muslim world. In Bangladesh, a number of Islamist organisations hosted agitation programmes and burned the US flag.

The Bangladesh government on Saturday also officially condemned the film. The foreign ministry statement said that it was aware that some people have tried to defend such "offensive material" on the pretext of "freedom of expression" and argued that "Inciting hatred cannot be justified as freedom of expression."

For many Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is blasphemous. Caricatures deemed insulting in the past have provoked protests and drawn condemnations from officials, preachers, ordinary Muslims and many Christians.

An assistant librarian of Bangla Academy testified before the first war crimes tribunal as a seizure list witness against Jamaat-e-Islami guru Ghulam Azam.

The 39-year old man vouched for documents that investigation officer Matiur Rahman had seized from his custody which mostly consisted of newspaper and clippings from Jamaat mouthpiece Sangram and the daily Azad from 1971.

The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal–1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, also extended the bail of one Mohammad Mobarak Ali by a further two months.

The tribunal gave a two-month bail to one Mobarak on Jul 16, who was in custody for almost nine months till then. Mobarak's counsel will produce him in the court on Sep 16.

Tribunal chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq had noted in his initial order that the investigation agency had not begun any probe although it had received the case documents earlier.

Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum showed the court that the investigators had started probing the case on Jul 15. Justice Huq noted that the investigation had begun 'yesterday' while all this time Mobarak had been in custody.

The tribunal chief said, "A person should not suffer for the fault of others." He also noted that Mobarak "has been suffering for his belief in the courts and for following the court's order".

S M Shahjahan, the petitioner's counsel told the court that his client had initially been given bail by the High Court but later was told to surrender to the trial court on Oct 19, 2011 when a Brahmanbaria court took him in custody, having already transferred his case to the tribunal.

Justice Huq, noting that investigation had not begun in all this time, said, "We cannot say that this custody had been a proper one."

The court said in its order that it was thus inclined to enlarge Mobarak on bail for two months.

The court also noted that there were 645 cases that had been transferred to the tribunal from lower courts for investigation that remain pending with the investigation agency. The order also noted that according to the submissions of Prosecutor Malum, there were four such persons out of the 645, who were in custody.

Mohammad Mobarak's case was first lodged at Brahmanbaria by one Khodeja Begum, widow of Abdul Khaleque on May 3, 2009. Since then Mobarak had remained on bail which was extended from time to time but was eventually refused.

Promod Mankin, now at Culture Ministry, will be State Minister at Social Welfare, effectively running the crucial ministry in absence of the ailing 74-year-old Cabinet Minister Enamul Hoque Mostofa Shaheed.

Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com Sunday that Mankin would move immediately.

A government source said Shaheed had long been under treatment abroad and that Mankin would effectively be in charge of the ministry.

Mankin languished at the Culture Ministry with virtually no work as Cabinet Minister Abul Kalam Azad ran both Culture and Information until the latter was stripped of Information on Saturday.

JSD's Hasanul Huq Inu became the new Information Minister.

The BNP on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Advisor Moshiur Rahman stand down over corruption allegations raised by the World Bank in multibillion dollar Padma bridge project.

"He (Moshiur) should have quit as soon as the World Bank raised allegations against him," spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told a discussion meeting.

The BNP made the demand for the first time though Moshiur's resignation has been a buzzword in the media for quite some time.

Prime Minister's Integrity Advisor for Padma Bridge Project, however, has dismissed calls for resignation as he denies his involvement in the purported corruption. He said earlier: "I won't step down, until corruption is proved."

Mentioning that Moshiur was once his teacher, Fakhrul said: "We cry shame upon him for such statement."

The Acting Secretary-General claimed big fishes were involved with corruption in Padma bridge project. "The World Bank letter [sent to the government] is not being made public because of that."

Referring to newspaper reports, he said: "Some people are fleeing Canada to Bangladesh [to avoid arrest]. Two people have been arrested there. They are on trial in Canadian court."

Citing the incidents of government-backed Bangladesh Chhatra League's attacks on pro-BNP Jatiayatabadi Chhatra Dal activists in Dhaka and Rajshahi universities, he said the people were observing how JCD men are being beaten and stabbed.

Fakhrul said academic activities at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) remained suspended for its corrupt Vice-Chancellor. "A conspiracy is on to ruin higher education institutions."

He demanded resignation of Vice-Chancellor Prof SM Nazrul Islam.

Jatiyatabadi Shramik Dal, the labour wing of the BNP, organised the discussion on the fourth anniversary of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman's release from jail.

Tarique, also the son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, secured release on Sept 3, 2008 on bail enlarged by the Supreme Court and went to London for treatment. He is now living in the UK with his family.

Tarique was arrested during the army-installed caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed on charge of corruption.

The government is intent on building the Padma bridge even if it means to scale down the design and let only cars use it, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Parliament on Wednesday.

She said there were two options for the much-coveted 6.15km bridge over the Padma River — one for cars only and 'double decker' for cars and trains. "If needed, we will adopt the alternative plan," she said indicating that the government might go for the cheaper option responding to a supplementary question of Awami League MP Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Hasina hinted that the cheaper option would perhaps be taken up if foreign funds became unavailable.

The World Bank that agreed to contribute about $ 1.2 billion in $ 2.9 billion project announced that it was pulling out in end-June. But the government is still said to be working on getting the lending agency back on board.

As regards which option to go for, Hasina said, "The Bridges Division is working on this."

She, however, said the government is weighing different options to build the bridge and it would opt for the most viable, cost-effective and swift alternative.

"But we will build the bridge at any cost," she said reiterating her strong resolve regarding this project.

The government is scrutinising a Malaysian proposal while the process to construct the bridge with domestic funds is still on-going, she added.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia submitted its concessional offer on Padma bridge on Aug 27 and the government was still analysing it.

Hasina said it was not appropriate on the World Bank's part to cancel its loan pledge without discussing the issue at the lending agency's board.

"Due to the cancellation, project implementation has been delayed."

She said the government spent Tk 15 billion on land acquisition and rehabilitation and on different occasions, World Bank officials inspected the programme.

"But they did not find any corruption in the programme and yet they found corruption where no money was disbursed," she wondered.

The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JICA and Islamic Development Bank did not disburse a single penny for the project, the Prime Minister said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) pledged $610 million. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank is also to provide $140 million and Japan International Cooperation Agency said it would contribute $ 400 million to the project.

Integrity advisor

Her Economic Affairs Advisor Mashiur Rahman was appointed integrity advisor to the project to ensure transparency in line with World Bank recommendation, Hasina said.

The lending agency put forward four conditions but so far the government has fulfilled three of them. The government is, however, reluctant to give in to the last one – sacking Masiur Rahman.

A former World Bank official was also appointed as member of the evaluation committee as per recommendation from the lending agency, the Prime Minister said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is independently investigating a corruption allegation for appointing a consultant, she added.

Bangladesh signed an agreement with the World Bank on Wednesday under which the global lender will channel development partners' grants to the biggest-ever health sector programme.

According to the agreement, $ 280 million grants of four partners, Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States, will be pooled in the $ 7 billion Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP) begun in July 2011.

Arastoo Khan, Additional Secretary at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Ellen Goldstein, the World Bank's Country Director, signed the deal at the ERD auditorium in presence of Minister for Health and Family Welfare AFM Ruhal Haque.

With its goal to ensure quality and equitable health services, the 2011-2016 plan aims to streamline the access of maternal, neonatal and child health services, revitalise family planning interventions and mainstream nutrition with health services.

It has 32 operational plans to cover the three sectors. The government will provide around 75 percent of the resources required for the HPNSDP while development partners will provide the rest.

Speaking at the signing, the health minister said, despite delayed release of funds, the government could complete 90 percent of the targeted activities in the first year. "People started getting benefits," he said.

External funding for the HPNSDP includes the Multi Donor Trust Fund of $ 280 million, signed on Wednesday, and the World Bank's IDA credit of $ 359 million.

According to a World Bank's media release, the governments of Canada, Germany and Netherlands have also pledged to join the pool in near future.

"Success in reducing child mortality and implementing widespread immunisation campaigns are just two examples of the strides Bangladesh has made in improving the health of its citizens," the World Bank Country Director said at the signing ceremony.

She said: "With HPNSDP the country now has the opportunity to go further in ensuring a health care system that is effective, accountable and responsive to the needs of the people."

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implemented the first sector approach, Health and Population Sector Programme (HPSP), from July 1998 to June 2003.

The second plan, Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP), was implemented from 2003 to June 2011 while the latest plan commenced from July 1.

A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in Bangladesh to learn how the $140 million it had given as loan-without-interest was spent, ahead of releasing more fund under the same credit facility.

Five IMF delegates led by David Cowen, IMF Mission Chief for Bangladesh, Asia and Pacific Region, met the central bank's Governor at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters on Wednesday, a day after they arrived in Dhaka.

"We had talks with the IMF representatives. They will sit with many others. No more than this can be said at this moment," said Governor Atiur Rahman.

Bangladesh received $140 million in the first instalment of over $1 billion the international money lender has promised to provide interest-free. The first instalment was released on April 25.

It was learnt that the visit was to examine situation before releasing the second instalment of the pledged loan.

The IMF representatives will also meet regulatory bodies like the National Board of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance during the two-week visit ending on Sep 27.

Merchandise export earnings have increased by 3.63 percent in the first two months (July-August) of the current 2012-13 fiscal year over the same period of the previous fiscal.

Bangladesh exported goods worth around $ 4.89 billion in the first two months (Jul-Aug) of the current fiscal against a target of $ 4.76 billion.

The export in this period grew 3.63 percent and exceeded the target by 2.68 percent, according to latest data released by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Wednesday.

The growth in the same period of the 2011-12 fiscal, however, had been about 20 percent and amounted around $ 4.72 billion.

The export in August was worth $ 2.45 billion showing a rise of 3.02 percent compared to the corresponding month last year.

According to EPB data, the export of knitwear represented a 2.67 percent growth over the same period of last year while woven garments marked a 13.28 percent growth.

However, export earnings from frozen foods including frozen fish, shrimps and others decreased by 20 percent while those from raw jute and jute-made products by 3.9 percent in the same period.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange opened trading on the week's last business day on an upbeat note, with its turnover standing at Tk 1.68 billion-plus within the first half-an-hour.

The DSE benchmark index rose 0.79 percent higher over the previous day's close and reached 4459.58 points, gaining 35.16 points at 11:05am on Thursday.

Of the shares and mutual funds traded, prices of 167 had advanced, 22 declined and 10 remained unchanged until then.

Wednesday's trade was marked by an upward trend but the DGEN closed with a marginal gain of 10.51 points.

The day's trading had closed with a turnover of around Tk 8.7 billion, with prices of 145 issues advancing, 109 declining and 18 remaining unchanged.

On Tuesday, the country's premiere bourse had registered a turnover of around Tk 9.4 billion –- highest in the last over four-and-a-half months.

On Monday, the key index had shed 27.82 points or 0.63 percent, despite a flurry of activities marked by a Tk 7.6-billion turnover.

On the week's opening day, both DGEN and turnover had ended upbeat, with the General Index gaining 60 points and issues worth Tk 6.1 billion changing hands.

The DGEN had shed a total of 122 points through the past week, after a rise of 191 points in the previous one.

Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) new iPhone goes on sale on Friday with a bigger screen and 4G wireless technology, as the company seeks to safeguard its edge over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Google Inc (GOOG.O).

The iPhone 5 fulfilled many of the expectations laid out by gadget geeks and technology analysts ahead of its Wednesday unveiling but offered few surprises to give Apple shares -- already near record highs -- another major kick.

"There is not a wow factor because everything you saw today is evolutionary. I do think they did enough to satisfy," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of wealth management company Destination Wealth Management.

Other industry analysts speculated about what else was in Apple's product pipeline ahead of the crucial year-end holiday season, especially since the company stayed mum about an oft-rumored TV device or a smaller iPad.

The consumer electronics giant that in 2010 popularized tablet computing with the iPad has given no hints on whether it plans a smaller version to match cheaper tablets from the likes of Google or Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

"We would really like to see the iPad Mini in the product offering for the all-important holiday quarter. They still have time," said Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund. "As soon as we see that, we will have more conviction about the stock heading into the final quarter."

Apple shares ended the day up 1.4 percent at $669.79.

The latest iPhone comes as Apple faces competition beyond current key competitors Samsung and Google. Late entrant Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is now trying to push its Windows Phone 8 operating system as an alternative to Apple and Android, the most-used smartphone operating system in the world.

Analysts have forecast sales of 10 million to 12 million of the new iPhones in this month alone.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook kicked off the event in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center but it was marketing chief Phil Schiller who introduced the iPhone 5 and took the audience through the new phone's features.

The iPhone 5 sports a 4-inch "retina" display, can surf a high-speed 4G LTE wireless network, and is 20 percent lighter than the previous iPhone 4S.

Ceding a lead

It ships September 21 in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Britain. It will hit 100 countries by year's end in the fastest international rollout for an iPhone so far.

The stakes are high with the iPhone, Apple's marque product, accounting for nearly half its revenue. The California company has sold more than 243 million iPhones since 2007, when the device ushered in the current applications ecosystem model.

But Samsung now leads the smartphone market with a 32.6 percent share followed by Apple with 17 percent, according to market research firm IDC. Both saw shipments rise compared to a year ago, with Samsung riding its flagship Galaxy S III phone.

Available for pre-order on Friday starting from $199 with a data plan, the iPhone 5 comes with Apple's newest "A6" processor, which executives said runs twice as fast as the previous generation. It will pack three microphones -- enhancing built-in voice assistant Siri -- and an 8 megapixel camera that can take panoramic views.

It will hitch a ride on the three largest U.S. carriers: Verizon Wireless (VZ.N), AT&T Inc (T.N), and Sprint (S.N).

One popular enhancement was improved battery endurance -- the iPhone 5 can support eight hours of 4G Web browsing, the company said.

While Apple played catch-up on many of the new phone's features -- Samsung and Google's Motorola already have larger and 4G-ready phones -- analysts say the device's attraction is the way its software and hardware work in tandem.

"Where they are pushing the envelope, and where they remain the one to beat, is on the experience those features bring to the consumer," said Carolina Milanesi, Gartner Research analyst. "While other vendors continue to focus just on the hardware -- delivering the speeds and feeds and bigger batteries -- Apple focuses on pulling the operating system, the hardware and what you can consume on the hardware."

Foo fighters rock

Cook began the event by giving updated metrics on the company's products and then quickly gave up the stage for Schiller to introduce the iPhone 5.

The team then moved on to a new lineup of iPods, a redesigned iTunes store and ended with a surprise performance by rock band Foo Fighters. Apple executives in the front row could be seen rocking their heads to "Times Like These" and other hits.

For the iPhone 5, Apple has done away with the connectors used on previous devices and replaced them with a smaller and more efficient "Lightning" connector.

With the iPhone, it is shipping new "EarPods" audiophones, designed after digitally scanning hundreds of ears. Shares in Skullcandy (SKUL.O), which specializes in stylized earphones, fell 4.5 percent on Wednesday.

Beyond hardware, Apple telegraphed many of the software changes to expect in iPhone 5 when it debuted iOS 6, its latest mobile operating system, in June.

Upgrades to the software include voice navigation for driving, a feature already available on many Android smartphones, as well as "Passbook" for storing electronic boarding passes, sports tickets and gift cards.

Siri has been improved. In an onstage demonstration, Siri was able to answer questions about the result of a recent pro football game and recite a list of movies playing around town, along with ratings.

Earlier, Cook told the audience that its apps store now has more than 700,000 on tap -- the industry's largest library.

"When you look at each of these, they are incredible industry-leading innovations by themselves. But what sets them apart, and what places Apple way out in front of the competition, is how they work so well together," Cook said toward the end of the two-hour presentation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is widening her Cabinet, throwing in four senior politicians as she attempts to reclaim the political initiative with a year before the government runs its term.

Tofail Ahmed, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Haq Inu and Mujibul Haque are set to take oath soon, a government source privy to the development told bdnews24.com on Wednesday night.

Omor Faruk Chowdhury and Abdul Hyee were also going to be sworn in as state minister in a move intended to inject new life into government functioning, the source added.

When Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was reached for confirmation, he said," The names are correct."

But a senior Bangabhaban official said at 11:20pm Wednesday that no swearing-in ceremony had been planned "as yet" for Thursday as widely reported in the media.

"We haven't received any such request as yet," President's Press Secretary AKM Nesar Uddin Bhuiyan said.

President M Zillur Rahman will swear the five in.

The media has spent months trying to shine a fitful light on a possible shake-up, intensely so in the past few days.

Relegated to ceremonial advisory role in Awami League, Tofail – the Industries and Commerce Minister in the 1996-2001 Hasina administration – is being brought back in from the cold. Former Secretary Alamgir, a former technocrat State Minister for Planning, spent time in prison during the 2007-8 emergency rule and it is now clear that the Presidium member's loyalty is not lost on the party.

Omor Faruk is the Awami League MP from Rajshahi-1 and Abdul Hyee is from Jhenaidah-1.

It will be baptism in government for Workers Party chief Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal head Inu, who are being finally rewarded for being on the side of Awami League on key policy issues, Mujibul Haque who is a ruling party whip in Parliament. Inu heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on telecommunications ministry and Menon is the Chairman of the one on education ministry.

Put to the test will be the governance skills of the left-leaning stalwarts, who along with Tofail, have, of late, been vocal about the government's handling of affairs such as Sonali Bank loan scam and lack of action over the 2007 August torture by troops at Dhaka University.

The fourth shake-up in the Cabinet since the Awami League and allies took office in 2009. The latest additions in the Cabinet were Suranjit Sengupta and Obaidul Quader who took oath last year. Suranjit forced his way in after three years but was caught up in scandal and resigned as Railway Minister after only four months in office.

After the coalition rode to power, Hasina formed her team with new faces, leaving the old ones in the cold.

In the first two shuffles, heavyweights like Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail, Abdur Razzaque, Abdul Jalil and Suranjit Sengupta were overlooked.


Tofail and Suranjit came under scathing criticism by party supporters – who branded them as 'reformists'– for siding with the military-backed caretaker government that detained Hasina in jail and tried to exile her.

From the Grand Alliance partners, Hasina brought two leaders in the Cabinet – Commerce Minister Ghulam Muhammad Quader of Jatiya Party and Industries Minister Dilip Barua of Samyabadi Dal.

A youth has been killed in a reported 'gunfight' with the Rapid Action Battalion in Ashulia's Khejurbagan area.

RAB-1 Commander Rashidul Islam told bdnews24.com that while patrolling the area around 11:30pm on Wednesday, a RAB team signalled a motorcycle to stop as it looked suspicious.

"But without stopping his bike, the rider shot at the RAB. He was killed when the fire was returned," he said.

Islam said the deceased was identified as Iqbal, 27, chief accused in Ashulia's Saiful murder case.

The RAB officer said they recovered a foreign-made pistol with seven bullets and the motorcycle from the spot.

Ashulia police has taken charge of the dead body, he added.

A group of aggrieved locals in Gazipur torched three buses on Thursday as rumour of a garment factory worker's death in a road accident spread.

Sub-Inspector of Naojor Police Station Iqbal Hossain told bdnews24.com that the locals sent garments worker Hazrat Ali, 20, to hospital after he was hit by a bus around 7:45am.

As rumour of his death spread, they took to the highway and set on fire three buses around 8:15am, he said.

The SI said Ali, who hails from Kishoreganj, works at Eva Sweater Factory and was on his way to work when he met with the accident.

"The locals sent him (Ali) to hospital immediately after the accident. We don't have any confirmation of his death," Hossain added.

Fire service members rushed to the spot and doused the flames soon after the incident, an officer at Gazipur Fire Service Station Abu Zafar Ahmed said.

Road communication was snapped for nearly half-an-hour due to the arson.

Traffic resumed around 8:45am when the police removed the torched vehicles from the highway, the officer said.