BANGLADESH

The World Bank's external panel on Monday asked the Anti-Corruption Commission for some documents.

Commissioner M Shahabuddin told reporters the touring delegates of the global lending agency requisitioned for the papers in the second meeting with them.

"They have some requirements and we will supply them with the papers," M Shahabuddin said after a meeting with the panel at the ACC headquarters.

The three-strong panel led by former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo arrived in Dhaka early Sunday.

The two other panel members are Timothy Tong, former Commissioner of the Independent Commission against Corruption in Hong Kong, and the former director of the UK Serious Fraud Office, Richard Alderman.

The Commission will again meet with the panel in December or January, Shahabuddin said. The commissioner added the panel did not say when they would submit their report, nor did they hand any list to the ACC

"They also have some suggestions and we also have some. We will assist each other by exchanging those," he added.

ACC lawyer Anisul Haq said the panel was reviewing the information already given by the commission. "They inquired about anticorruption laws and which activities are considered as corruption," he added.

The lawyer categorically said the panel was yet to hand over any documents to the commission.

In the meeting, ACC chairman Ghulam Rahman and WB Country Director for Bangladesh Ellen Goldstein were present.

Earlier on Sunday after the first meeting, Chairman Rahman said the World Bank had agreed that Bangladesh's laws and rules will be followed in investigating alleged corruption in the Padma bridge project and handing down punishment to the guilty.

The fate of the $2.9 billion project now depends on the panel's findings, as the report will decide whether the largest financier in the project will return with its $1.2 billion promised fund.

The World Bank on June 29 had cancelled its pledged fund, claiming to have found 'credible evidence' of high-level corruption by government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives and private individuals for the project. But the government refuted the allegations.

Amid the government's persuasion, the Bank announced revival of the agreement on Sep 20 but said the final decision would be taken based on its enquiry supervision panel's report.

The Bank's graft probe panel is assigned to supervise the anti-graft watchdog's current investigation into the corruption allegations from outside as per the condition set by the bank.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Saturday expressed his hopes that the lender's review panel will ensure transparent investigation into the alleged corruption in the project.

Bangladesh had signed a loan agreement with Washington-based lender, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency last year to construct the six-kilometre long bridge, biggest ever infrastructure project in Bangladesh.

After the World Bank decided to cancel funding for the project, former Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain resigned and the Bridges Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was sent on leave, as part of an understanding with the global lending agency.

Besides these moves, the government also agreed to allow the ACC to supervise the investigation into the alleged corruption later.

শারদীয় দুর্গোৎসব, বিশ্বকর্মা পূজা, ঈদ-উল-আযহা ও সাপ্তাহিক ছুটির কারণে টানা ১১ দিন বাংলাদেশের সবচেয়ে বড় স্থলবন্দর বেনাপোল দিয়ে আমদানি-রপ্তানি বন্ধ থাকছে।

এতে সীমান্তের দুই পাশের ট্রাকজট আরও বাড়বে বলে মনে করছেন বন্দর সংশ্লিষ্টরা।

ভারতের পেট্রাপোল বন্দর সিঅ্যান্ডএফ স্ট্যাফ ওয়েলফেয়ার অ্যাসোসিয়েশনের সেক্রেটারি কার্ত্তিক চক্রবর্তী বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে জানান, শারদীয় দুর্গোৎসব, বিশ্বকর্মা পূজা ও ঈদ-উল-আযহা উপলক্ষে পশ্চিম বাংলায় ২০ অক্টোবর থেকে ২৯ অক্টোবর পর্যন্ত ছুটি ঘোষণা করেছে রাজ্য সরকার। ছুটির কারণে এ সময় পেট্রাপোল বন্দরের সব কাজকর্ম বন্ধ থাকবে।

তবে বন্দর, কাস্টমস ও দুই দেশের সিঅ্যান্ডএফ এজেন্টরা জানান, ১৮ অক্টোবর বিকেলের পর পেট্রাপোল ও বেনাপোল কাস্টমস ও বন্দর কার্যালয় বন্ধ হয়ে যাচ্ছে।

৩০ অক্টোবর মঙ্গলবার সকাল থেকে আবার আমদানি-রপ্তানি কার্যক্রম চলবে বলে জানান বেনাপোল কাষ্টমস ক্লিয়ারিং অ্যান্ড ফরোয়ার্ডিং এজেন্টস অ্যাসোসিয়েশনের সহ-সভাপতি সিরাজুল ইসলাম সিরাজ।

এদিকে সীমান্তের দুই পাশের ট্রাকজট টানা ছুটির কারণে আরও বাড়বে বলে আশঙ্কা করছেন সংশ্লিষ্টরা।

সিরাজুল ইসলাম জানান, প্রায় এক মাস ধরে নোম্যান্সল্যান্ড থেকে আমড়াখালী পর্যন্ত পাঁচ কিলোমিটার ট্রাকজট রয়েছে। বন্দর চালুর পর থেকে কখনও এত দীর্ঘ ট্রাক জট হয়নি।

“রপ্তানি পণ্য নিয়ে যে সংখ্যক ট্রাক প্রতিদিন পেট্রাপোল বন্দরে যাচ্ছে তার চেয়ে অনেক বেশি ট্রাক দেশের বিভিন্ন স্থান থেকে বেনাপোল বন্দরে আসছে। আর এ কারণে ট্রাকের জট কমছে না। দীর্ঘ ছুটির কারণে বেনাপোল থেকে পেট্রাপোল বন্দরে রপ্তানি বন্ধ হয়ে গেলে এ জট আরো বাড়বে।”

বেনাপোলের মতোই পেট্রাপোলেও ট্রাক জট রয়েছে বলে জানান পেট্রাপোলের কার্ত্তিক চক্রবর্তী।

তিনি বলেন, বন্দরে স্থান সংকুলান না হওয়ায় বন্দরের ট্রাক টার্মিনাল, পেট্রাপোল পার্কিং ও বনগাঁও টার্মিনালে কয়েকশ’ পণ্যবোঝাই ট্রাক অপেক্ষা করছে।

“দীর্ঘ ছুটির কারণে এসব পণ্য পেট্রাপোল থেকে বেনাপোল বন্দরে ঢুকবে ছুটি শেষে। এতে পেট্রাপোল বন্দর এলাকায় তীব্র যানজটের সৃষ্টি হবে।”

বেনাপোল আন্তর্জাতিক চেকপোস্ট ইমিগ্রেশন পুলিশের পরিদর্শক কামরুজ্জামান জানান, ছুটিতে বেনাপোল আন্তর্জাতিক স্থলবন্দর দিয়ে আমদানি-রপ্তানি বন্ধ থাকলেও পাসপোর্টধারী যাত্রীদের যাতায়াত স্বাভাবিক থাকবে।

পাওনা টাকার খোঁজ করতে গিয়ে রাজধানীর বাড্ডায় দুর্বৃত্তদের গুলিতে আহত হয়েছেন এক প্রবাসী বাংলাদেশি ও তার স্ত্রী।

রোববার রাত সাড়ে ১১টার দিকে মধ্য বাড্ডার আদর্শনগর বড়টেক এলাকায় এ ঘটনা ঘটে।

আহত নিজামুল হক (৩০) ও তার স্ত্রী নাজমা বেগমকে (২৪) ঢাকা মেডিকেল কলেজ হাসপাতালে ভর্তি করা হয়েছে।

নিজামুল হাসপাতালে সাংবাদিকদের বলেন, তিনি যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে থাকেন। সেখানে পলিক নামে আরেক বাংলাদেশিকে তিনি কিছুদিন আগে কয়েক লাখ টাকা ধার দেন।

গত সেপ্টেম্বরে দেশে আসার পর টাকার প্রয়োজন হলে পলিকের সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ করেন নিজামুল। আলোচনার পর পলিক মধ্য বাড্ডার আদর্শনগর এলাকায় আজাদ নামে তার এক বন্ধুর কাছ থেকে টাকা নিতে বলেন।

সে অনুযায়ী আজাদের সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ করে রোববার রাতে আদর্শনগরে যান নিজামুল ও নাজমা। আজাদের দেয়া ঠিকানা অনুযায়ী একটি দোকনে যাওয়ার পর দুই যুবক তাদের ‘কিছু টাকা’ দেন বলেও নিজামুল জানান।

এরপর ওই দোকান থেকে বের হতেই কয়েকজন যুবক তাদের লক্ষ্য করে গুলি ছুড়ে পালিয়ে যায় বলে জানান নিজামুল।

ঢাকা মেডিকেল পুলিশ ফাঁড়ির উপপরিদর্শক মোজাম্মেল হক বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে বলেন, “নিজামুলের শরীরে তিনটি এবং নাজমার শরীরে দুটি গুলি লেগেছে।”

আহত নিজামুল পুলিশকে বলেছেন, তিনি পলিককে ৭ লাখ টাকা দিয়েছিলেন। তবে রোববার রাতের ঘটনার পর নিজামুলের কাছে ৫৩ হাজার টাকা পাওয়া গেছে বলে এসআই মোজাম্মেল জানান।

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Monday detained a doctor for allegedly threatening Meher Afroz Shaon, wife of late celebrated writer Humayun Ahmed, on Facebook on her birthday.

RAB Legal and Media Wing chief M Sohail told bdnews24.com Ehsanuzzaman was caught from Dhaka's New Eskaton area.

"Ehsanuzzaman and his associates created a Facebook group of 12 people and threatened Shaon in the social networking site. They ran negative propaganda against her," he said.

He (the doctor) was detained based on Shaon's complaint, Sohail added.

The RAB officer said they will hold a press conference on the issue later.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Monday seized around 67,000 yaba pills from Cox's Bazar district's Teknaf upazila.

BGB personnel seized the banned but popular club drug at around 12:30am from Sabrang area near the Myanmar border from the banks of the Naf River, BGB's 42nd Battalion's Commanding Officer Lt Col Zahid Hasan told.

No one was detained during the seizure, he said.

The pills, which were smuggled from Myanmar, have an approximate value of around Tk 20.14 million, he added.

The newly appointed four judges of the High Court Division took oath on Monday.

Chief Justice Mohammad Muzammel Hossain administered the oath while Supreme Court Registrar A K M Shamsul Islam moderated the programme. Justices from both the divisions of the Supreme Court were present at the programme.

The four judges are – Justice Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, Justice Mohammad Khasruzzaman, Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Mohammad Nazrul Islam Talukder.

They were appointed as additional judges of the High Court on Nov 4, 2010. There services have been regularised on Sunday in line with Article 95 (1) of the Constitution.

With the new appointments, there are 98 judges in the High Court now bringing down the number of additional judges to 20. The Appellate Division has seven judges.

Ferry service through Mawa in Padma river came to almost standstill as the only terminal in operation there were under threat due to river-erosion and strong current.

According to BIWTA Mawa terminal officials, the number 1 ferry terminal suddenly perished in the Padma River around 7pm on Sunday. Fifteen shops that were there on the river-bank also lost in the river. Several people standing on the pontoon and the river-bank also fell in the river. Five of them were missing till Monday morning, they said.

Under the circumstances, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority on Sunday night requested all vehicles to use Paturia to cross the river.

Meanwhile, cracks were seen on the new number 4 terminal, which was ready to put in operation. Terminal officials said land from under the terminal 3, which is in operation, has started eroding.

"On Oct 9 the number 2 terminal were closed down due to erosion. Just after five days number 1 terminal faced the similar fate. Work to prepare the number 4 terminal as alternative was underway, but cracks were seen on it at night," Assistant General Manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Ashikuzzaman said.

"Tension is running high in Mawa," he added.

He said the fire service divers could not conduct rescue operations at night due to strong current. "They will resume rescue operation in the morning to look for the missing shopkeepers," the BIWTC officer said.

Officer-in-charge of Mawa Police station Khandaker Khalid said four of the five missing have been identified as Byron Mia, 45, Abul Kashem, 60, Janu Mia, 50 and Abul Kalam, 55. All of them are shopkeepers at Mawa and hail from Kandipara village under Medini Mandal union.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Azizul Alam said the BIWTA Chairman has been informed of the overall situation and added that efforts were underway to maintain ferry services.

Munshiganj-2 ruling party MP Sagufta Yasmin, also Parliament Whip, has asked authorities to take immediate steps to look for the missing persons. She also urged the Water Development Board officials to take steps to stop erosion.

bdnews24.com Munshiganj correspondent said that vehicles only in case of emergency were using the number 3 terminal to cross the river. Fewer vehicles were seen at the terminal in the morning.

The government has announced to provide food support for the victims of a storm that rolled through the southern districts on Wednesday.

Disaster Management Minister A H Mahmud Ali on Sunday told a conference at the Press Information Department that each victimised family will get 20 kilograms food grains a month for three months.

The government also allotted Tk 200,000 to build houses urgently in Bhola and Noakhali, he said.

More help will be provided to rehabilitate the victims of the storm, if they need, he added.

At least 27 people died in the storm. Many went missing and are yet to be found.

The government has launched an investigation to find out as to why the weathermen failed to forecast the storm.

The first war crimes tribunal ordered the prosecution to submit a progress report or the full investigation report against Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general A T M Azharul Islam on Dec 2.

The prosecution submitted a progress report of investigations into the Jamaat leader's alleged war crimes.

The prosecution said in its report that it had already collected some material but needs more time to collect more materials and consult witnesses regarding some new allegations that have come up.

The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, said it was 'also of the view that some more time is required to complete the investigation'.

Azharul Islam has also been ordered to be present at the court on Dec 2 and the court ordered that an appropriate production warrant be at hand.

In another war crimes case against Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, the tribunal ordered the prosecution to bring its first witness Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury on Oct 21 for the remainder of his cross-examination.

The prosecution witness, according to prosecutor Mir Iqbal Hossain, had taken ill and was not in a position to testify. The prosecution had brought Zahiruddin Jalal for deposition but the tribunal chairman, Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq, said the tribunal was not inclined to introduce another witness without completing another cross-examination in progress.

Jamaat guru and former chief, Ghulam Azam's war crimes investigator Matiur Rahman took the stand for being cross-examined for the rest of the day till lunch.

In over nine months since its formation, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission's anti-cyber crime cell has received over a thousand complaints, most of which centre around the popular social networking site Facebook and are lodged by female students.

Bangladesh Computer Security Incident Response Team (BD-CSIRT), which has been working since Jan 25, has also received complaints including uploading of objectionable videos on YouTube, e-mail threats and websites being hacked.

"We are letting the Facebook authorities know after we get the complaint. The objectionable contents are then being removed from the Facebook pages," the regulatory body's acting chief Gaisuddin Ahmed, also the cell's convenor, told bdnews24.com.

Various complaints are also being lodged against posts on YouTube and other video sharing sites. The sites are urged to remove the posts after complaints are received, one of the cell's cybercrime specialist told bdnews24.com. "Or else we block those sites."

YouTube is currently blocked in Bangladesh after its mother company, Google Inc, refused to pull-down a video, which sparked worldwide protests from muslims for derogatorily representing Prophet Muhammad.

The cell, headed by three cybercrime specialists (given Assistant Director status), has been working since its inception against contents on various websites that spreads national, social, political and religious hatred.

It has been receiving complaints and suggestions from Apr 22 through its e-mail address contact@cirsrt.gov.bd, and have been taking immediate steps on a priority-basis.

Facebook

One of BTRC's cybercrime specialist told bdnews24.com that most of the complaints are being lodged about fake Facebook profiles.

Many have complained that their identities are being used to harass them by opening fake accounts in their name or using their pictures.

To address such allegations, the CSIRT takes a two steps. First it identifies the complainant, if they have Facebook ID, through a copy of photo-IDs sent over mail and then informs the Facebook authorities, who removes the fake accounts within 2-3 weeks.

In case, the complainant does not have Facebook ID, then they have to file a general ID with their local police and send a copy to the cell. The cell then informs the Facebook authority, the BTRC specialist added.

He added that most of the complainants are girls studying in schools and colleges and that most of it is about fake profiles and objectionable pictures.

According to checkfacebook.com, the amount of Facebook users in Bangladesh stand around 1.6 million.

Immediate action

BTRC takes immediate steps to takedown Facebook profiles which spread political and religious hatred. The cybercrime specialist added that the Facebook authorities also takes such matter seriously and reacts immediately.

There are allegations that the recent communal violence in Cox's Bazaar Ramu was sparked by a Facebook post allegedly defaming the Quran. The picture was downloaded and circulated spreading the communal hate.

Police have already arrested an youth for circulation the picture and it was immediately taken off the social networking site due to initiative by the BTRC.

Facebook was first blocked by the Bangladesh government on May 29, 2010. It was reopened after a number of days.

State-run mobile phone operator Teletalk is set to introduce the much-awaited third generation (3G) mobile technology, for the first time in the country, on Sunday that provides video calling, mobile TV, high-speed download.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the service on an experimental basis, Mujibur Rahman, Managing Director of the state-owned cell phone operator, told bdnews24.com.

The official said that they have completed all the preparations in this regard and that the government's aim is to provide 3G technology to Teletalk subscribers very soon.

3G is a term used to represent the third generation of mobile telecommunications technology. It is fully a wireless broadband which is technically called high-speed packet access (HSPA), and it can be enjoyed through 3G- enabled handsets, smartphones and modems. 3G technologies enables faster data-transmission, greater network capacity and more advanced network services.

After installing the 3G technology, the mobile user would enjoy the Real-Time Video Calling, Live Mobile TV, High-Speed Download, HD gaming, e-education, public health, tele-medicine and e-shopping.

A senior official of the Teletalk said that Teletalk Bangladesh Limited would publish advertisements in the newspapers about 3G service this month.

Initial price for a 3G-enabled SIM ((Subscriber Identification Module) will be Tk 1,000 while existing users will get preference. Preparations are over to provide the services to over 300,000 subscribers in the capital initially after the inauguration.

According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, untill August, Teletalk had nearly 1.4 million subscribers of which only 25,000 subscribers are using its internet connection while the six mobile-phone operators had a combined 99.5 million subscribers.

Being the state-run operator, Teletalk was given the opportunity to launch 3G experimentally before other operators. It was supposed to launch the service in March for six months but deferred the launch for 'technical reasons.'

The recently approved 3G licence draft says the spectrum would be auctioned by this year. Teletalk will have to take the 3G spectrum spending the same amount of money like others even if it does not take part in the auction.

Apart from Bangladesh's private operators Grameenphone, Banglalink, Citycell, Airtel and Robi, foreign companies will also be able to take part in the auction.

A Dhaka court on Sunday allowed law enforcers to grill in custody for five days four other suspects of the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

The four – Kamrul Hassan Arun, 'Rafique', 'Bakul' and 'Syed' – are also accused for the murder of BMA leader Dr Narayan Chandra Nitai. Arun was Nitai's driver while the rest were dubbed as 'professional robbers' by the police.

Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Keshab Roy Chowdhury approved the remand following Oct 10 petition by RAB's Investigation and Forensic Wing officer Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mohammad Zafar Ullah.

He asked for 10 days to grill them after they were shown arrested for the journalist couple's murder.

On Oct 9, Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir claimed at a press conference to have identified eight persons associated with the killing.

He said one of them, Tanvir, was a family friend of the slain couple. The security guard of the building in which the journalist duo lived, Rudra alias Palash, had also been arrested, he added.

Five of the arrested seven people are also accused in a case filed over the killing of Dr Narayan Chandra Datta Nitai.

The Minister said another person, Humayun alias Enamul, who worked as a security guard in the building Sagar-Runi lived, was also found to be tied to their killing. A Tk 1-million reward for his arrest has been declared.

Maasranga Television News Editor Sagar Sarowar and ATN Bangla's Senior Reporter Meherun Runi were killed at their rented West Rajabazar flat on Feb 11.

The World Bank's three-strong panel to review the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation into alleged corruption in the Padma Bridge project has arrived in Dhaka Sunday morning.

The fate of the $2.9 billion project now depends on the panel's findings, as its report will decide whether the largest financier in the project will return with its $1.2 billion promised fund.

A Bank official in Dhaka, asking not to be named, told bdnews24.com: "The three members of the panel arrived early this morning (Sunday). They will stay until Oct 16."

The panel is led by former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno Ocampo. The two other members are Timothy Tong, former Commissioner of the Independent Commission against Corruption in Hong Kong, and the former director of the UK Serious Fraud Office, Richard Alderman.

The team is expected to have a meeting with the ACC Chairman Ghulam Hossain and other top officials of the graft watchdog Sunday.

When contacted, Ghulam Hossain on Saturday also confirmed bdnews24.com about the meeting over phone. "We will have a meeting with them at the ACC headquarters after lunch."

Officials from both the ACC and the global lender's Dhaka office said the three-member panel will hold several meetings with the anti-corruption body officials.

The WB official in Dhaka said the panel will also meet Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, who is currently in Tokyo, if the minister can make it to Dhaka in time before the delegation's departure.

The Finance Minister is supposed to return to the country at around noon on Oct 16.

The Washington-based multi-national lender on Oct 5 had constituted the panel to review the ACC investigation on the alleged corruptions on the Padma Bridge project.

The government and the ACC have already assured the panel led by former ICC Chief Prosecutor Ocampo of providing all necessary assistance in carrying out the enquiry.
The World Bank on June 29 had cancelled its pledged fund, claiming to have found 'credible evidence' of high-level corruption by government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives and private individuals for the project. But the government has been refuting the allegations.

Amid the government's persuasion, the Bank announced revival of the agreement on Sept 20 but said the final decision would be taken based on its enquiry supervision panel's report.

The Bank's graft probe panel is assigned to supervise the anti-graft watchdog's current investigation into the corruption allegations from outside as per the condition set by the bank.

Ocampo , the 61-year old Argentine criminal law specialist, was vocal against the 'corruption' and 'violation of human rights' by the autocratic government in his own country.

A former member of the advisory board of Transparency International, Ocampo was also an associate professor of Criminal Law at the University of Buenos Aires and a visiting professor at Stanford University and Harvard Law School.

He was appointed as the first prosecutor of the ICC following its formation in 2003.

WB President Jim Yong Kim on Saturday expressed his hopes that the lender's review panel will ensure transparent investigation into the alleged corruption in the project, which is currently being investigated by the ACC.

Bangladesh signed a loan agreement with WB, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development and Japan International Cooperation Agency last year to construct the six-kilometre long bridge, biggest ever infrastructure project in Bangladesh.

However, the implementation of the project was clouded in uncertainty after the World Bank announced that it was pulling out from it.
The global lender earlier suspended its promised fund soon after graft allegations surfaced in the project in September last year. They said they had to scrap the loan agreement as the government did not meet all of their conditions.

After the World Bank decided to cancel funding for the project, former Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain resigned and the Bridges Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was sent on leave, as part of an understanding with the global lending agency.

Besides these moves, the government also agreed to allow the ACC to supervise the investigation into the alleged corruption later.

A slum caught fire in Dhaka on Sunday evening.

According to Fire Service Control Room, the fire broke out at around 7:30pm at Sattala slum in the city's Mohakhali.

They could not immediately say about the origin of the fire.

A correspondent has seen smokes billowing in the air.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange's benchmark index ended Tuesday's trade 1.81 percent higher.

The DSE General Index gained 81.64 points to close at 4578.71 points on the week's third business day.

Shares and mutual funds worth around Tk 6.28 billion changed hands with prices of 244 issues advancing, 26 declining and six remaining unchanged.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet nodded a proposed law, The Exchanges Demutualisation Act 2012, and approved changes to the existing SEC laws to give more teeth to the capital market regulator.

The Cabinet Secretary said the changes would pave way for setting up special tribunals for stock market-related cases and punishing SEC top brass if they failed to protect confidential information.

The changes will also make tenure of SEC Chairman and Members longer, making it four years from the existing three.

On Monday, the General Index shed 45.56 points to close at 4497.08 points with Tk 5.26-billion turnover.

In the week's first trading session on Sunday, the DGEN closed in the red slipping 103.43 points. The turnover was also lower than the previous week's daily average, standing at Tk 5.24 billion.

Overall trade in the previous week saw a 36-point fall in the DGEN and the average daily turnover was Tk 8.51 billion.

A faction of a road transport owners and workers' platform has enforced an indefinite strike in seven south-western districts to press for an 11-point charter of demands, though another faction refrained from the strike after talks with the Communications Minister.

The South-Western Road Transportation Owners-Workers Unity Council-enforced strike came into effect since Tuesday morning.

No long-route buses were seen leaving Kushtia, Jhenidah, Meherpur, Rajbari and Faridpur since morning affecting road communication in 21 districts and leaving thousands of commuters and goods for transport stuck.

General Secretary of the Kushtia District Motor Workers' Union, Abjal Hossain said, "We had to enforce the pre-announced strike as no effective solution to our demands came out of the meetings with the government."

The platform of transport owners and workers had announced strike in 21 south-western districts on Oct 1 to press for their 11-point charter of demands which included bringing an end to smashing and torching of vehicles after accidents and providing adequate compensation to the owners of the damaged vehicles.

The other demands include stopping human haulers plying on the roads, returning vehicles damaged in accidents to owners within 48 hours and stopping police extortion.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader had a meeting with the platform's leaders on Monday in Dhaka following announcement to enforce the strike.

On the other hand, General Secretary of the Paribahan Malik Sramik Oikkya Parishad Abdur Rahim Baks Dudu told journalists that they decided to withdraw their strike following the minister's assurance on their demands.

Quader had said the road transportation advisory council meeting on Sunday had had a 'fruitful' discussion on nine of the demands. Those would be implemented gradually, he had said.

News reports based on the statements of Quader and Dudu said that the transport strike had been put off, but the transporters of seven districts dissented and enforced strike in their districts.

Deputy Commissioner of Kushtia Banamali Bhoumik and Superintendent of Police Mafiz Ahmmed, however, could not be reached for their comments.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) on Sunday asked for help to spot people who leaked question papers of the 33rd Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination.

PSC sought the assistance, in the form of information, data and evidence, a day after the written tests of the compulsory subjects of the 33rd BCS examination, scheduled between Oct 7 and Oct 18, were postponed citing unavoidable reasons, a media statement said.

The examinations were cancelled following allegations that the written test question paper for the 33rd BCS had been leaked and were available at the Dhaka University campus at a price of Tk 500,000.

Allegations also had it that the question papers were available on sale at a number of other educational institutions.

PSC considered the allegations as rumours, but did not take any risk and cancelled the examinations finally a day before it began.

The media statement said its decision was taken at the last moment for relieving aspirants of any confusion during the tests.

Newspaper reports on the rumours of the leak and information from the government intelligence were verified before taking the decision, the statement added.

The PSC said it, however, encouraged all to supply information, data or any evidence for stopping the business of forging question papers.

The PSC on June 28 published the preliminary test results of the 33rd BCS Examination, with a total of 28,917 candidates qualifying for the written tests.

Around 193,000 jobseekers attended the first round at 142 centres on June 1.

The Commission on Feb 29 advertised the 33rd BCS exams to fill 4,206 government posts.

French scientist Serge Haroche and American David Wineland have won the 2012 Nobel Prize for physics for work in quantum physics, the prize committee said on Tuesday.

"The Nobel laureates have opened the door to a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual quantum particles without destroying them," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement on the award of the 8 million crown ($1.2 million) prize.

Physics is the second of this year's crop of awards. The prizes, which reward achievements in science, literature and peace, were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of Swedish dynamite millionaire Alfred Nobel.

($1 = 6.6125 Swedish crowns)

Mahela Jayawardene stepped down as Sri Lanka's 20-over captain after failing to lead his team to their maiden World Twenty20 title on Sunday.

Hosts Sri Lanka lost to West Indies by 36 runs for their fourth successive defeat in World Cup finals in front of a full house at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

"It's not a surprise... I have had a chat with the selectors before the tournament started. I was going to step down from T20 captaincy after this World Cup," Jayawardene told reporters.

"I personally feel that for Sri Lanka going forward, we need a younger leader. I think it's a great opportunity for somebody to start in the T20 format.

"So I have spoken to the selectors. They were quite happy with the choice I have made."

Jayawardene, who played in each of the team's two 50-over World Cup final losses in 2007 and 2011 and the T20 final loss to Pakistan in 2009, said he would continue to lead the team in the other two formats.

"I haven't stepped down from other formats. I took over (to lead) till the Australian tour (in December)," he said.

"I will assess what I want to do after that. But this I am going to step down, they will make a call on who is going to lead the national team in T20."

Jayawardene said Sri Lanka would have to figure out how to break the World Cup final jinx.

"It hurts a lot, because you want to do something special, not just personally, but for the public as well," the stylish right-handed batsman said.

"We've been playing really good cricket but we haven't been able to cross that hurdle. So it hurts as a player, as a cricketer, as an individual...

"But we just need to move on, try, and see how well we can get over this and get back on and keep fighting again."

It was a rare off-day for Lasith Malinga, considered one of the best bowlers in the shortest format with his unique slinging action and toe-crushing yorkers.

Marlon Samuels hit five sixes off Malinga to wrest back the momentum as the unorthodox paceman gave away 54 runs off his four overs.

"He (Malinga) went to areas where he is very comfortable with when somebody is going after him. That's why I brought him because they were going big and I backed my number one bowler to deliver.

"But Marlon batted really well, so hats off to him. He played some really good shots. So that's one of those days when the momentum shifted and it was pretty tough to get back in it again."

Marlon Samuels turned up with more than just his best form in Sunday's World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Jamaican, architect of West Indies' 36-run victory over the hosts, was seen wearing a yellow neckerchief, which he later described as his lucky charm.

"(It's for) good luck," Samuels, who hit a match-winning 78 runs off 56 balls and claimed one wicket for 15 runs to walk away with the man-of-the-match award, said in the presentation ceremony.

"I take it on tour and I decided I am going to wear it in the final. I batted with it underneath my shirt and I field with it outside. Thought it would bring some luck today."

Asked if he would keep it around his neck when he partied on Sunday night, Samuels said, "No definitely, I'm going to give it some rest until the test series starts in Bangladesh. That's what I'm looking for. I need to set my standard to get at least five centuries per year."

Sunday's victory meant a lot for Samuels, who was banned in 2008 for passing on team information to a bookmaker during a one-day series in India in January 2007.

"Everything what happened to me in my life is important, everything that happened to me in tough times. I know that I'm someone who never gives up," Samuels said.

"Never-say-die, I think that's the person I am, dominant inside. That is the reason I'm still here playing cricket and not giving up."

Samuels was particularly harsh on Sri Lankan pace bowler Lasith Malinga on Sunday, hitting him for five sixes, including three in the same over.

"The wicket was a bit slow. But today was a different mindset. I decided to attack their best bowler which is Malinga and it paid off for me," he said, revealing he a score to settle.

"Well, I was facing him one time in Mumbai when he got me out bowled and I was very upset. So it was my time today..."

West Indies defied the odds to claim their first World Cup in 33 years after upstaging Sri Lanka by 36 runs in the final of the World Twenty20 at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

The Caribbeans, always favourites with the game's romantics, bowled their opponents for 101 in 18.4 overs defending a modest 137-run total. This is their first major global title since 2004 when they won the Champions League.

The low-scoring final was turned on its head after Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene's dismissal for 33.

Concerned at being behind the Duckworth-Lewis score, an unsettled Jayawardene tried to reverse sweep but succeeded in top-edging to point.

And thereafter the Lankans lost three more wickets, two of them being run outs for nine runs.

Nuwan Kulasekara entertained the crowd with cameo 16-ball 26 that took them close to the 100-run mark.

Sunil Narine took 3 for 9 and Darren Sammy 2 for 6.

Sri Lanka's chase got off to a terrible start when Tillaratne Dilshan (0 ) was clean bowled by Ravi Rampaul with the score on six in the second over.

Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara however steadied the ship putting on 42 runs.

But Sangakkara (22) was taken out at deep midwicket trying to pull Samuel Badree.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews, having faced a couple of dot balls, tried to scoop over short fine leg but was bowled by Sammy.

Earlier, Marlon Samuels launched an audacious counter-attack under pressure to smash a superb half-century and rally the West Indies to 137 for six after they won the toss.

The right-hander, Man of the Final, saved his best performance for the final with a 56-ball 76 that contained six sixes and three fours.

Towards the end, Sammy made a quick 15-ball 26 not out.

All of Sri Lanka's frontline bowlers subjected the West Indies to a torrid time at the crease. Ajantha Mendis led the show with four wickets for 12 runs.

The West Indians laboured to 32-2 after 10 overs.

Johnson Charles was out for a duck off the fifth ball of the opening over that was a maiden bowled by Angelo Mathews.

Much was expected of Chris Gayle; however, he was trapped lbw by Ajantha in the sixth over when he missed a straight delivery. He faced 16 balls to make three – a rare failure.

Such was the dominance of the Lankan bowlers that the West Indies had managed to score just one four at the halfway point of the innings.

Samuels and Dwayne Bravo added 59 runs for the third wicket after their side slumped to 14-2 after six overs.

But Mendis ended the stand getting Bravo lbw for 19 in the 14th over.

The spinner then put the Windies under more pressure with a double-wicket strike to remove Kieron Pollard (2) and Andre Russell (0), who tried to sweep the first ball he faced. It made the score read 87-5.

All the time though Samuels was dealing in boundaries until Akila Dananjaya had him caught at mid-wicket as he pulled one from outside off for another big hit.

West Indies qualified for the final after inflicting a crushing 74-run defeat on Australia. Sri Lanka sealed their place with a 16-run victory against Pakistan in their semi-final.

The West Indians, the original kings of one-day international cricket, last won a global title at the 2004 Champions Trophy held in England. Sri Lanka had been to three major finals - two World Cup 50 overs finals losses in 2007 and 2011 and the T20 final loss to Pakistan in 2009.

Meanwhile, Australia's Shane Watson has been named World Twenty20 player of the tournament after dominating the event with both bat and ball.

The opener topped the run-scoring list with 249 at an average of 49.80, including three half-centuries.

Watson also claimed 11 wickets at 16.00, second on the bowling list behind Mendis (15 victims at 9.80)

Rapid Action Battalion on Sunday night arrested Hallmark Group Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud in Mirpur on charge of taking loan from Sonali Bank against phony collateral.

RAB's Media and Legal Wing Director Commander M Sohail confirmed bdnews24.com the arrest of the first high-profile official in Bangladesh's biggest bank scandal.

Mahmud was detained around 9:30pm from the house of one 'Pavel' on road 2 of Mirpur-6. Mahmud's brother-in law Tusher Ahmed, the Hallmark General Manager and the third accused in the corruption case, was also arrested with him.

The MD was hiding in the two-room flat on the fourth floor of the five-storied apartment building.

RAB found five BlackBerry mobile-phone sets, a foreign pistol loaded with four rounds of bullets and over Tk 0.2 million in cash on him, said Sohail.

When asked about his relations with Pavel, Mahmud said he was taken there by one of his employees and that he did not know Pavel.

Sohail said they will hand over Mahmud to police after the formalities.

On Oct 11, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed 11 cases against 27 people, including Mahmud and a former Manager of Sonali Bank, after investigations pointed to their collaboration in misappropriating over Tk 15.68 billion taken as loan through forgery.

Seven of the accused are Hallmark officials while the rest are from the largest state-owned commercial bank.

Investigators are set to submit their reports before court on Nov 18, 19 and 20 in connection with the cases.

State-run news agency BSS said the elite force raided Mahmud's favourite retreat at Nandokhali in Hemayetpur of Savar in the early hours of Sunday, but did not find him there.

RAB-4 Camp Commander at Nabinagar in Savar Tahsin Salehin said they launched the raid tipped off that Tanvir was staying in his factory at Hemayetpur. The raid lasted until 5am from 2:30am.

The scam surfaced after Bangladesh Bank in May revealed branches of the state-owned commercial bank had given out over Tk 36 billion to little-known textile firm Hallmark Group and five other dubious organisations between 2010 and 2012. Hallmark Group alone took Tk 26.86 billion of the sum.

A six-strong special ACC investigation team headed by Deputy Director Mir Joynal Abedin Shibli investigated the scandal.

On Oct 2, Mahmud had admitted before a Parliamentary Sub-Committee on the Ministry of Finance that they took loans from Sonali Bank flouting rules.

Sonali Bank suspended a couple of General Managers and 18 other officials on Aug 30 for their alleged link with the scam. The bank has also asked the Group to return the credit money.

ACC also interrogated Prime Minister's Health and Family Affairs Advisor Syed Modasser Ali after newspapers reported that he had influenced the disbursement of the loan and frequented the branch.

The graft-busters on Sept 26 also quizzed several members of the bank's Board of Directors who also held the bank's management responsible.

They said the board on Jan 2, 2011 had issued an order banning issue of Inland Bill Purchase (IBP). But the Hallmark Group was given the loan violating that order as the board had based its decision on the information provided by the management.

Biman Bangladesh Airline Ltd has resumed flights on domestic routes through connecting flights.

The national carrier in a media statement made the announcement on Sunday.

The statement said a total of 30 flights are operating on Dhaka-Chittagong and Sylhet-Dhaka routes every week, with 11 flying on Dhaka-Chittagong, 14 on Chittagong-Dhaka and five to seven on Sylhet-Dhaka routes.

DC-10, Boeing-777 and 737 are the carriers being used for transporting passengers, said the statement.

Biman hoped it would help passengers travel at a lower cost.

It will cost Tk 3,500 and Tk 2,800 to travel to Chittagong and Sylhet per passenger.

Biman shut its flights on local routes until Nov 29 for avoiding schedule chaos and facilitating unhindered operation of flights for Hajj pilgrims.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday has arrived in Cox's Bazaar to visit the sites of Sep 29 communal violence in Ramu Upazila.

She left Dhaka for Cox's Bazaar around 8:45am on a special plane from Kurmitola Air Base and landed here around 10:15am. Then she straight headed to Ramu.

Hasina is expected to return to Cox's Bazar from Ramu around 1pm after visiting the affected areas.

The PM will meet with senior officials and political leaders at Cox's Bazaar Circuit House to discuss the overall situation in the area. She is expected to leave Cox's Bazaar around 4pm.

Religious fanatics, apparently stirred up by a Facebook post allegedly defaming the Quran, attacked Buddhist locality in Ramu on Sep 29. At least seven Buddhist monasteries, 30 houses and shops were vandalised, looted and torched during the overnight frenzy.

The string of violence continued the following day as similar attacks took place in Chittagong's Patia, and Cox's Bazaar's Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas.

Hasina, who was in US to attend the UN General Assembly at that time, strongly criticised the attacks and ordered strict measures against the people responsible for the hate attack.

আইন প্রতিমন্ত্রী কামরুল ইসলামের ভাগ্নে আহমেদ শওকত মাসুদ (৪৩) নিজের বাসায় পুড়ে মারা গেছেন।

পুলিশ ও পরিবার বলছে, ‘ল্যাপটপ বিস্ফোরিত’ হয়ে ঘরে আগুন লাগলে দগ্ধ হন মাসুদ।

শাহবাগ থানার ওসি সিরাজুল ইসলাম ঢাকা মেডিকেল কলেজ হাসপাতালে উপস্থিত সাংবাদিকদের বলেন, “মিরপুরের কাজীপাড়ার ওই বাসায় মাসুদ একাই থাকতেন। ল্যাপটপ বিস্ফোরিত হলে তিনি দগ্ধ হন।”

বেলা সোয়া ১১টার দিকে মাসুদকে ঢাকা মেডিকেল কলেজ হাসপাতালে নিয়ে যাওয়া হলে চিকিৎসকরা জানান, তার মৃত্যু হয়েছে।

ঘটনার পরপরই হাসপাতালে ছুটে যান আইন প্রতিমন্ত্রী কামরুল। সাংবাদিকদের প্রশ্নের জবাবে তিনি বলেন, মাসুদ পুড়ে মারা গেছে।

মাসুদের পাশের ফ্ল্যাটের বাসিন্দা ও তার ফুপাতো ভাই জিয়াউর রহমান জিয়া বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে জানান, সকালে মাসুদের ফ্ল্যাট থেকে ধোঁয়া বের হতে দেখে পাশের ভবনের নির্মাণ শ্রমিকরা হঠাৎ খবর দেয়।

“এরপর বাসার দড়জা ভেঙে ভেতরে ঢুকে দেখা যায়, মাসুদের দেহ অর্ধেক বিছানায় আর অর্ধেক মেঝেতে। সারা শরীর পুড়ে গেছে। তোষক, কাপড়-চোপড়েও আগুন জ্বলছে।”

মাসুদের ছিন্নভিন্ন ল্যাপটপ থেকেও ধোঁয়া বের হচ্ছিল জানিয়ে জিয়া বলেন, সেটি বিস্ফোরিত হয়েই ঘরে আগুন লাগে বলে তারা ধারণা।

জিয়া জানান, স্কুলপড়–য়া ছেলেকে নিয়ে মাসুদ একাই ওই বাসায় থাকতেন। স্ত্রীর সঙ্গে প্রায় এক বছর ধরে তার সম্পর্ক নেই।

আগে এবি ব্যাংকে চাকরি করলেও মাসুদ বেশ কিছুদিন আগে তা ছেড়ে দিয়ে পারিবারিক ব্যবসা দেখভাল করা শুরু করেন বলে তার ফুপাত ভাই জানান।

Sri Lanka, beaten in each of their last three World Cup one-day finals, need to counter the muscular power of Chris Gayle and his big-hitting West Indies' team mates if they are to win Sunday's world Twenty20 final.

Gayle struck six sixes during his 75 not out in West Indies' semi-final demolition of Australia on Friday while his partners hit a further eight in a total of 205 for four.

Explosive strength, as Sri Lanka have demonstrated throughout a consistently entertaining tournament, is only one element in the shortest form of the game.

But the ability of Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard to consistently clear the boundary even with mishits can, as it did against Australia, put West Indies out of sight.

Although Gayle, who intelligently tailors his approach to the pitch and to individual bowlers, is the most dangerous one-day batsman in the world, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene will concentrate on the West Indies' team as a unit and not on individuals.

"He is just another player in a very good West Indies team," Jayawardene told reporters on Saturday.

"We never went after individual players. That's why we controlled things the way we can control."

Jayawardene, who will open the batting with Tillakaratne Dilshan, played in each of Sri Lanka's two World Cup 50 overs finals losses in 2007 and 2011 and the T20 final loss to Pakistan in 2009.

"We were not good enough to win those finals but we believe that we have the capacity to win this one," he said. "We played good cricket to get to this place and we are looking forward to an exciting final tomorrow."

This time Sri Lanka will have home advantage at the R Premadasa Stadium before their ebullient fans plus the knowledge that they have players to cope with all conditions and opponents.

In common with the best T20 sides, Sri Lanka play their leading batsmen at the top of the order with the left-handed Kumar Sangakkara coming in at number three. They and their team-mates will not have the problems other teams have found with the West Indies' spinners Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine.

Lasith Malinga remains one of the most dangerous bowlers in limited-overs cricket and the burly left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, preferred to the unorthodox teenage spinner Akila Dananjaya, took three cheap wickets in the semi-final against Pakistan.

West Indies will hope, probably in vain, for a pitch on which they can play their strokes in order to post the sort of total they managed against Australia.

The West Indians were the original kings of one-day international cricket but they have not won a global title since the 2004 Champions Trophy.

"It would be massive," captain Darren Sammy said on Saturday.

"It's been over a decade and the fans are craving for bigger success. That is the goal we left the Caribbean with.

"When we do well people in the Caribbean are very happy, work stops for a few hours back home. It would mean everything to us as players, as coaching staff. It would give us a big boost."

Forty real estate companies from Bangladesh are taking part in the three-day REHAB Housing Fair-2012 in New York, starting on Saturday (Sunday Bangladesh Time).

The fair is being held in the NTV Auditorium at the Bangladeshi-inhabited Astoria area. The State Minister for Housing and Public Works, Abdul Mannan Khan, will inaugurate the fair.

REHAB president and government MP Nasrul Hamid told a press conference at Jackson Heights on Thursday that the prices of flats have increased exponentially because of the rise in prices of building materials.

Therefore, the overall sales of flats and plots have declined by 43 percent, he said.

The REHAB Fair has been held for the past nine years in New York and 15,000 flats and 5,000 plots are sold yearly through REHAB's 12,000 member institutions, Hamid said adding that 15 per cent of the buyers are non-resident Bangladeshis.

However, the number of real estate customers in America is decreasing because of depression, he said.

He further said, "Considering the pace at which the real estate sector is developing, the government support for it is not as extensive. That is why the rules and regulations of this sector are still not established."

"Any company in Dhaka can get a real estate developer's license by paying Tk. 10,000. That is why there is no need for further qualifications. Land prices in Dhaka and its surrounding areas have sky-rocketed because the government does not have a specific policy to deal with them."

In reply to a question, Hamid expressed his dissatisfaction over the functioning of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) and said, "Currently RAJUK has turned into a real estate business, so their main job is being disrupted.

"REHAB members are also not getting the expected services from RAJUK. Where there needs to be around 100 RAJUK officials, there are only six officials present."

He also called for a 'detail area master plan' as necessary for Dhaka's development.

SSB Multiservice Inc is the organising the fair.

The written tests of the compulsory subjects of the 33rd Bangladesh Civil Service Examination, scheduled to begin from Oct 7, have been postponed due to unavoidable reasons, says a Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) official.

However, the written tests on the subjects for the professional cadres will be held between Oct 30 and Nov 14 as per the schedule. The examinations will be held in centres in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet simultaneously, the PSC official added.

Details information about seat allocation and exam schedules have already been published in newspapers and are also available in PSC's website.

PSC Public Relations Officer Mir Mosharraf Hossain told bdnews24.com the postponed written tests of the compulsory subjects for the 33rd BCS were slated to run from Oct 7 to 18.

He, however, did not detail the reasons behind the postponement of the written test.

Recently there were repoerts that the written test question paper for the 33rd BCS had been leaked and were available at Dhaka University Campus and each set of question was available at Tk 500,000.

However, PSC Exam Controller AEM Nesaruddin on Wendesday denied such reports and said that it was just rumor.

"There is no way of leaking question as there are several versions of it and they select the version to take the exam only 15 minutes before the exam start."

The PSC on June 28 published the preliminary test results of the 33rd BCS Examination, with a total of 28,917 candidates qualifying for the written tests.

Around 193,000 jobseekers attended the first round at 142 centres on June 1.

The Commission on Feb 29 advertised the 33rd BCS exams to fill 4,206 government posts.

The Appellate Division on Sunday rejected government's leave to appeal petition challenging a High Court verdict that declared 'ineffective' and 'without legal basis' Speaker Abdul Hamid's previous ruling that Justice A H M Shamsuddin Choudhury violated the Constitution by making 'derogatory comments' against Parliament.

However, the highest court made some observations, a government lawyer said.

"The permission to appeal hasn't been granted, but there are some observations," Akhtar Imam told bdnews24.com after the full bench led by Chief Justice Mohammad Muzammel Hossain issued the verdict.


He, however, said, "Detail can not be said before the full text of the verdict is available."

"But," he added, "My experience says the High Court observations on the issue will not see much change. Rather, most of them will be retained."

If there were much change in the High Court verdict, the permission to appeal would have been given, he argued.

The court heard the plea on Thursday. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam argued for the state while Barrister Rokonuddin Mahmud represented the petitioner.

The High Court bench of justices Hasan Foez Siddique and ABM Altaf Hossain had made the observation in its verdict on July 24 after a petition sought the court's intervention over the Speaker's June 18 ruling that Justice Choudhury violated Article 78 (1) of the Constitution.

The full order of the High Court was released on Aug 27, resurrecting the debate as to which one is superior - the legislature or the judiciary.

The court had in its order observed the Speaker's ruling was non-existent in the eye of law and 'has no legal effect'. That ruling was not consistent with the Article 96 (95) of the Constitution and was also inconsistent with the Parliamentary procedures and the Constitution, it had observed.

The government filed an appeal seeking stay on the High Court order and the Supreme Court Chamber judge Nazmun Ara Sultana on Sep 3 referred the petition to the full bench of the Appellate Division for hearing.

The row began after the Speaker on May 29 made a statement in Parliament that people might stand up against the judiciary if they were aggrieved by any verdict of the court. It involved an order of the High Court that had asked the Roads and Highways Department to return some land to the Supreme Court.

The High Court bench of Justice Choudhury on June 5 criticised the Speaker for making that comment and dubbed the statement 'seditious', drawing flak from MPs.

As the situation got worse with heated arguments exchanged over the authority of the court and the Parliament, the Speaker came up with his ruling. In the ruling, he expected that the Chief Justice would himself initiate measures on the issue of the judge's comment and that the Parliament would support the decision that he would take.

The first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh on Tuesday rejected a bail plea by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan.

The Jamaat leader was produced before the three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, in line with a previous order.

The ICT-1 on Sep 23 ordered to produce the Jamaat Vice President at the court.

The chief defence counsel of Jamaat, Abdur Razzaq, argued that the accused had been an elected representative in the provincial assembly when Bangladesh used to be East Pakistan. He later went on to become an MP in Bangladesh in 1991 and 2001.

The counsel's contention was that the prosecution had ill intentions behind implicating Subhan for war crimes. "He is the ninth Jamaat leader to have been arrested."

The defence counsel went a step ahead and said, "The tribunal is being used as a tool to suppress and oppress political opponents of the government."

Razzaq pointed out that the accused was not on the run, as had been suggested, but merely on his way home in Pabna from Dhaka when he was stopped at the toll plaza of the Jamuna Bridge.

The senior lawyer also countered the prosecution's claim that his client might disrupt national stability by instigating extremist elements and tamper with evidence and witness at home and abroad. He said such statements only showed prosecution's "mala fide intentions".

Prosecutor Hrishikesh Saha said that it was necessary to keep the accused in detention in order to ensure effective investigation against Subhan.

He said that the investigation agency had found mass graves around a number of spots in Pabna from where Subhan hails. However, the prosecutor was not able to clarify whether all those mass graves — he had mentioned at least 15 of them — were linked to Subhan's activities when the tribunal asked him.

The prosecutor said that the accused had been in the forefront actively collaborating with the Pakistani Army during the Liberation War, often identifying the pro-liberation forces.

Tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq asked the prosecutor whether he admitted that the accused was of 84 years. "May be," said Saha.

Justice Huq also asked whether he was an influential person and the prosecutor said he was.

The court then took up Ghulam Azam's case resuming cross-examination of the 13th prosecution witness who had been deposed on Monday. The proceedings continued in camera as had been requested by the prosecution.

The second war crimes tribunal fixed Awami League's deputy leader in parliament, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury's contempt hearing on Oct 18, after her lawyer Abdul Baset Majumdar, a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, submitted a written reply as ordered by the tribunal.

The tribunal had given the order in response to a defence petition pleading the court to begin contempt proceedings against the Awami League leader for her comments in public.

The defence counsel said that his reply had illustrated the context and manner of Sajeda Chowdhury's remarks.