BANGLADESH

Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has been armed with first ever surface-to-air missiles.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday inaugurated the low-range FM-90 anti-aircraft missile system at a function at the Kurmitola Air Base.

Air Force chief air marshal Shah M Ziaur Rahman received her.

She said that introduction of this Short Range Air Defence System (SRADS) is a big step forward towards modernisation of the air force.

"The government will continue with its efforts to modernise the armed forces," Hasina said.

She said this advanced all-weather surface to air missile system has been introduced with the assistance of China. This ground-based air defence weapon system is capable of hitting targets flying at a low or very high altitude.

While addressing the function, the prime minister mentioned steps her 1996-2001 government had taken to modernise the air force.

"We have already completed a fully fledged air base and maintenance unit in Cox's Bazar during this tenure while many other development projects are going on."

Hasina urged the members of the BAF to acquire professional skills to become efficient pilots, engineers and air force personnel.

Later, the prime minister inaugurated the Bangabandhu Aeronautical Centre built with help of China at the Kurmitola base in the city.

Air Force officials said the Centre would be able to repair damaged aircraft and helicopters while light tools and parts of aircraft would be manufactured there.

Several ministers of the cabinet, advisors to the prime minister, chiefs of the army and navy, Armed Forces Division principal staff officer and high military and government officials were also present at the programme.

Traders at the premier bourse are saying the sponsor/directors of listed companies are yet to start buying up to fill their quota that the Securities and Exchange Commission recently set.

They say the SEC rule on sponsor directors' having at least 30 percent share of their companies is in conflict with another one of its regulations.

SEC on Nov 22 made it mandatory for sponsors, promoters and directors to hold 30 percent stake in listed companies, two percent minimum for each director, and reach that level in six months. SEC spokesman Saifur Rahman said the condition has been imposed in line with the Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969.

But according to the Section 4 (2) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Rules 1995, no sponsor, director, officer, auditor, legal adviser or beneficiary owner will be able to sell, buy, give or receive shares of the company from two months before the year ending date of the company to the day the accounts are finalised by the board of directors, which is a total of six-month period. Companies get 14 days after the board finalises the accounts to submit them to the SEC.

Based on this restriction, if a company closes its year on Dec 31 its sponsor will not be able to buy a share from November to May 15.

There are 46 companies on the Dhaka Stock Exchange under the 30 percent requirement, of which 29 close their year on Dec 31. Eastern Bank Limited director Mir Nasir Hossain told  a clear explanation was necessary from the market regulator.

"One of the rules will have to be changed," former SEC chairman A B Mirza Azizul Islam said commenting on the conflict.

SEC's former chairman Faruk Ahmed Siddiqui said the older guideline should stay as it was introduced to prevent schemes. "I think the deadline for buying up 30 percent can be extended to nine months instead of six."

Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, a retail investors' leader, said the directors must buy shares for the sake of the market and urged the SEC to revise its regulations.

Similar recommendations came at a meeting of the FBCCI standing committee on share market on Nov 30. However, the SEC chairman and the member present were unwilling to speak to the press on the issue.

Sheikh Hasina's visit to Myanmar, starting Monday, comes on the heels of Hilary Clinton's high profile tour of the country, as the US-China tussle for this strategic Asian crossroads intensifies.

India has also been engaging the mineral-rich, but paradoxically poor, country for almost a decade now, to gain out of its substantial gas reserves. Besides natural gas, Myanmar has considerable deposits of coal and other precious metal and gems like gold and rubies.

The prime minister's Dec 5-7 visit — the first in eight years by a Bangladeshi leader to this neighbouring nation with whom Bangladesh shares a 193-km border in the southeast— is expected to see two agreements.

"One is on furthering bilateral relations and the other to enhance private sector business under government endorsement," said Golam Sarwar, director general of South East Asia at the foreign ministry.

Sarwar would not give any further details "until the deals are signed".

Although Bangladesh had engaged with its neighbour, isolated by western sanctions but leaned towards China, as early as the 1980's, the government's "faltering attitude" has been behind Bangladesh and Myanmar never really 'getting it on', says Syed Mahmudul Huq, head of the Bangladesh Myanmar Business Promotion Council.

"For instance," he says, "we never got around to building a road link but India has already operationalised a 160-km friendship road from its northeast. But interestingly Bangladesh had begun the groundwork much earlier than India."

A businessman, who ran the first Bangladesh-Myanmar joint venture company set up in the 1990s, Huq said he would recommended including India in a tri-nation gas pipeline as well as road or rail link.

"This should be high on the agenda besides resolution of the maritime boundary and a coastal shipping agreement," Huq said, in an interview with .

The country of 47 million has suddenly found itself in an advantageous position, with more active US engagement competing to dilute Myanmar's dependence on China and counter its foothold in the Bay of Bengal, not to mention Indian overtures.
Says Huq: "Given the situation, Bangladesh cannot just sit back. We can still catch the train. Besides we have a long tradition of trade and business relations with Myanmar."

He said the Bangladesh government had failed to take the initiative although it had signed economic cooperation agreement as early as the 1980s, which in fact led to his short-lived fisheries joint-venture.

Sarwar, the foreign ministry official, sought to defend the government. "The prime minister's visit at this time is only a reflection that we understand the importance of engagement."

Huq mentioned that Bangladesh could well offer transit for the gas pipeline connecting India with rights of gas usage too. "We need not merely act as the conduit. Bangladesh could talk about a jointly-owned pipeline from which it could also get gas supply."

He also mentioned a tri-nation rail and road link would enhance mutual connectivity and together with an operationalised coastal shipping agreement could vastly increase the $150 million worth of trade between the two countries.

"This could jump to $500 million easily," he says.

Although Myanmar is a net exporter to Bangladesh, the trade would add to the economy since most imports are raw materials needed for industrial production while Bangladesh exports a host of consumer items, including substantial amounts of medicine.

The prime minister's 90-strong delegation will meet the foreign minister upon arrival and have formal talks with all top leaders.

Hasina's entourage includes a 38-member business delegation led by AK Azad, head of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries.

Myanmar's general-turned civilian president, Thein Sein, who took office after 2010 elections — the first in 20 years — will meet Hasina on Tuesday morning and host a banquet in her honour the same evening.

Hasina is expected to inaugurate the new Bangladesh mission in the Myanmar capital and visit their parliament building. According to her official itinerary, Sheikh Hasina is not expected to be meeting Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during the trip although the new regime has relaxed restrictions on Suu Kyi after years of detention in her home.

BNP has alleged that the ruling Awami League 'cadres' have stabbed former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka in police custody.

Acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came up with the charge at a media call on Sunday afternoon at the party's head office at Naya Paltan.

"Awami League's 'hooligans' stabbed Khoka while he was being taken to detective police's office after arresting him from old Dhaka's Dholaikhal area. He was stabbed in the left leg," he said.

Alamgir also announced that BNP would hold fresh demonstration on Monday in the capital protesting against the incident that took place amidst the strike.

He said the demonstration would take place at 2:30pm in front of the party's head office and the next protest programme would be announced there against the government's decision to divide Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).

BNP enforced the dawn-to-dusk shutdown in the capital on Sunday to register its protest against DCC split which ended at 6pm.

Earlier in the day, Khoka was arrested from the court area in old Dhaka. However, police dropped Khoka, a BNP vice-chairman, off at his house in Gulshan within an hour of arrest saying he was taken into custody for his own safety.

BNP leaders had then said Khoka has taken admission at the United Hospital after he was hit and injured by stones hurled by pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League activists.

Professor of surgery Abu Sayeed M M Rahman, who is overseeing Khoka at the hospital, said Khoka bore injury marks in the lower left thigh.

"We are assessing the injury," he told  when asked whether the injury was because of stabbing as alleged by BNP.

"Even he (Khoka) cannot say how he received the injury," the doctor replied.

Alamgir at the briefing demanded immediate arrest and punishment to the attackers of the BNP metropolitan unit convenor Khoka and said, "This attack is an attack on democracy."

Claiming police admitted 'critically wounded Khoka at the United Hospital', he said, "We are condemning this inhuman disgusting incident."

The acting secretary general added that Khoka was under observation of Prof Sayeed at the private hospital in Gulshan.

He also condemned the attack on labour wing Jatiyatabdi Sramik Dal's metropolitan unit president Nurul Islam Khan Nasim by ruling party 'hoodlums'.

Alamgir claimed at least 250 party leaders-activists were arrested including Nasim, former MP Abul Kalam Azad Siddiqui and several presidents and general secretaries of the affiliated organisations.

He slated the government's 'repressive policy', saying, "Police have arrested our activists from different points of the city amid the peaceful hartal and filed false cases against them. We demand their immediate release and withdrawal of those cases."

'SELLING COUNTRY'

The BNP leader also criticised prime minister Sheikh Hasina for "condoning injustice and unlawful activities just to stay in power forever". [She is] implementing plans one by one against the people interest."

"She is not even hesitating before selling the country for this," Alamgir alleged and criticised the government's 'subservient' foreign policy.

SPLIT DCC ELECTIONS

The BNP spokesman the planned elections in the two parts of the newly divided Dhaka City Corporation as 'premeditated drama of the government'.

"I heard that the Local Government Division has sent a letter to Election Commission to hold the elections. But the Commission has said it's impossible to give the polls within 90 days.

"Which proves it's a drama planned by the government," Alamgir added.

DCC was divided into two separate administrative bodies — north and south, through a bill passed in parliament on Nov 29. The president on Thursday signed it into a law.

The government wrote to the EC asking it to hold mayoral elections within 90 days after Sunday's appointment of two administrators. According to the law, elections must be held within 90 days after the appointment. The interim administrators are to hold the fort until then.

However, two election commissioners have said it was impossible to hold elections by this time as the current commission has barely two and a half months to the end of its term.

Alamgir on Sunday claimed that the appointment of the administrators is 'against the constitution".

"The government hurried through the formalities of passing the bill and appointing the administrators overlooking public opinion. The government has violated the constitution's fundamentals by appointing unelected administrators to an electedl organisation."

The prime minister has put swirling rumours to some rest giving Obaidul Quader communications portfolio that was Syed Abul Hossain's.

Cabinet Division sources said Abul Hossain will be running the newly-carved Railways.

They said the necessary orders were being issued Sunday night following approval from Sheikh Hasina.

Quader got the portfolio five days after he had taken oath to office on Nov 29 when prime minister Hasina expanded her cabinet a third time.

The current Awami League cabinet was formed on Jan 6, 2009 with 32 members. Six others had joined the council of ministers after 18 days and on July 31 the same year, a new minister and five state ministers had taken oath. The cabinet now has 45 members.

In 3rd december motijheel ideal school and college held their admission test.many many little boys and girls attend their test.the test was class 1.and the written exam was held 1 hours.girls attends their test in morning that day and boys attends 3 P.m.That time that area is created very very noisy  area.

Dhaka city is divided into two areas in this case BNP call strike all dhaka city.in that case people faced many problem.on the other side Police have dropped former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka off at his house, who then started for hospital after clashes during the daylong shutdown in the capital.Police have charged batons to disperse a group of activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in front of the party headquarters in the city's Naya Paltan area amid a shutdown.The BNP called the strike to protest against the split of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC). The strike is enforced in the capital only.

Canada has told the government that it will not extradite Noor Chowdhury, a convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman now living in the north American country.

"Our government has clear policy that we cannot extradite people to that country where there is death sentence," Canadian high commissioner Heather Cruden told reporters after her meeting foreign minister Dipu Moni on Sunday.

"The foreign minister raised the issue and I will again raise the issue with my government," she said.

On Oct 5, the foreign minister wrote to the US and Canadian authorities to hand over the two Bangabandhu killers to Bangladesh residing in those countries.

Dipu Moni sent the letters to her counterparts - secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Canadian foreign affairs minister John Baird.

The Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family were brutally killed in Aug 1975 by some army officials and out of the 12 convicted, five were hanged in 2010, one died, six are absconding.

The death convicts Lt Col (retd) M Rashed Chowdhury is now in the US.

Col (retd) Khandkar Abdur Rashid, lt col (retd) Shariful Haque Dalim, Abdul Mazed and Moslehuddin are absconding while Abdul Aziz Pasha died in Zimbabwe.

Interpol has issued warrant to arrest them.

The five convicted – Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, Mohiuddin Ahmed and AKM Mohiuddin – were hanged to death on Jan 28 last year.

Police have charged with batons to disperse a group of activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in front of the party headquarters in the city's Naya Paltan area as the main opposition party has enforced a daylong general strike.

Schools and businesses remained shut in the capital as the dawn-to-dusk strike began on Sunday morning.

Tight security has been in place.

BNP claimed on Saturday that about 300 party activists were arrested on the eve of the strike. Two buses were set on fire on Saturday.

The BNP called the strike to protest against the split of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC). The strike is enforced in the capital only.

The police action came around 5 am on Sunday when the BNP activists tried to gather in front of the party head office. Police allowed the party joint secretary-general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi to enter the headquarters while others were driven away from the area.

In other parts of the city, there was no major presence of the opposition activists during the beginning hours of the strike.

Rickshaws ruled the city's usually-clogged streets. A few buses and three-wheeler auto-rickshaws were plying the streets.

With a large number of mentally ill patients remaining outside medication in resource-starved countries such as Bangladesh, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is now mulling 'cost-effective community based approach' to change the situation.

"It (mental health) needs a dual approach -- we have to reach out to the people and at the same time should have tertiary support," WHO South-East Asia regional adviser on mental health and substance abuse Dr Vijay Chandra said on Saturday.

"Bangladesh has tertiary support in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and National Institute of Mental Health. Now it needs to reach to the people.

"Community clinics can play a role in this regard," he told  after a three-day regional meeting of 11 countries wound up in the capital on Saturday.

According to Bangladesh Association of Psychiatrists, there is vast gap between the number of patients and mental health services in the country.

Available data suggest at least three in 10 Bangladeshis suffer from some form of mental illness.

A pilot project in Dhaka's Sonargoan upazila showed the gap is 92 percent when it comes to experts required for treatment only of children's epilepsy -- a brain condition that leads sudden unconsciousness and sometimes to have fits.

"The picture is almost the same for rest of the country," National Institute of Mental Health director Prof M Golam Rabbani, said. "There are only 190 psychiatrists for over 150 million people, so healthcare providers at community settings can help narrow down this gap."


GOVT WORKING ON THE BASICS

The Awami League government has appointed healthcare providers at its prioritised community clinics, one for every 6,000 families. So far, 10,320 clinics are ready to offer services while the health ministry hopes that a further 3,000 clinics will become 'fully functional' by next July.

The government is also creating awareness about the 'long-neglected' mental health problems and developmental disorders.

The first-ever autism conference in this region was held in Dhaka this July, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and India's Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on the dais.

Hasina also inaugurated the sixth International Conference on Psychiatry and World Mental Health Day on October 16 in the capital.

The government has kept special allocation in the five-year Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Developmental Plan (HPNSDP) while the process to finalise a Mental Health Act is on the cards.

Extolling Bangladesh government's pro-active role in mental health, WHO's Dr Vijay Chandra said, "It reflects the government's total commitment to develop mental health service. Now we need to support it."


SUPPORT AT COMMUNITY LEVEL

WHO supervised pilot projects are underway in four countries of Southeast Asia -- Bangladesh, Thailand, Bhutan and Timor Leste -- to narrow down the gap in treatment of mental illness at community level.

"Once scaled up (at national level), our role will be nominal," Dr Chandra said. He also said WHO will give technical support and offer new things that evolve anywhere in the world.

The WHO pilot projects are working on diagnosing epilepsy, psychosis, depression and developmental disorders such as autism at the grassroots level.

"Our evaluation showed they (community healthcare providers) can do it," National Institute of Mental Health's Prof Golam Rabbani. "They will identify patients only by interviewing (from a) set of questions.

"Then they will refer them to the upazila level, where trained physicians would be available. The physicians can also interact with the specialists over phone.

"The whole system will work together. There will no additional funding into it."

Dr Chandra said the process would drive away misconception and malpractices over mental health disorders. "They will not go to the traditional healers; instead, they (patients) will come to the hospitals with modern methods of treatment.

"You will not see anyone chained or locked up in the hospital -- they walk around free, and receive treatment."

He also urged people to get rid of the prevailing misconceptions against patients with mental illness. "People still think they (some mental ill patients) are violent. Many people still pelt stones when they see them on the streets.

"But when they (mentally ill) retaliate, people think they are violent. Everyone will retaliate if they are pelted with stones -- it's a natural reaction."

Experts blame more nuclear families, growing demand and soaring costs and drug abuse for increase in cases of mental disorder. But most people suffer in silence, fearing social stigma.

The three-day meeting recommended all member-countries to have mental health policy, plans, programme and legislation that include mental health promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, welfare and human rights protection.

It urged the countries to make mental healthcare services an integral part of the mainstream health system.

It also urged the WHO to help countries with training and research.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairman has asserted that International Crimes Tribunal set up to try suspected war criminals of 1971 does meet the international standards.

Mizanur Rahman also urged the government to speed up the trial on Saturday and said, "We should be ashamed of the fact that the war criminals have not been tried even such long time after the Liberation War."

The NHRC chief said, "We have evidence to prove that Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami has assigned lobbyists in the US, UK and European Union to delay the trial process."

"And they are propagating in the mass media against the tribunal saying it does not conform to international standards."

He also criticised several foreign countries for doubting the tribunal's standards while speaking at the National Convention of the Sector Commanders' Forum at the Dhaka University ground.

Rahman said, "We are going to celebrate the 40th anniversary of independence. As a nation, we should be ashamed that we could not put those on trial who violated our mothers and sisters during the war."

"The killers of our brothers are still leading a normal life even though trial of some of them has begun."

He mentioned that the tribunal provided privileges to the accused more than any other tribunal in the world. "Placing a seven-point charter of demands before this tribunal, one accused has also threatened not to cooperate if his demands are not met. Nuremberg, Tokyo, Cambodia, Yugoslavia—was anyone there allowed to place demands like this?"

"This accused also questioned the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act. I will ask [chief prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipu and prosecutor Zead Al Malum] to deal with them in the toughest manner."

He told the gathering that the accused are objecting to the tribunal only for political gains.

Rahman said that International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides for fair and public trial much as the Bangladesh law. "Even the law minister has said that trial will be broadcast publicly on big screens outside the courtroom."

"According to our law, the tribunal can conclude a case with other evidence and witnesses if an accused refuses to cooperate. We know silence indicates consent, but instead, this law mentions other evidence and witness," he added.

Mizanur, who is a professor, also said, "Though they say it's not independent, the tribunal has taken their petition to remove the tribunal chief, sat to hear it and gave a decision. But it did not refuse to take the complaint into cognisance."

"The High Court has also heard their plea questioning the tribunal. Which court in the world has given more rights to the war criminals than this one?" he asked.

Jamaat-e-Islami executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee, who has been indicted on 20 counts of crimes against humanity including murder, rape, arson, genocide and loot during the war, appealed on Oct 27 that the tribunal chief Justice Nizamul Huq removes himself from the proceedings.

He is the first man facing a formal trial among the five Jamaat leaders and two others from main opposition BNP facing similar charges.

Apart from him, Jamaat leaders including its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla have been arrested on war crimes charges.

Senior BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Abdul Alim have also been arrested on similar charges.

Of the seven Jamaat and BNP leaders facing the war crimes charges, Alim is on conditional bail while the remaining six are behind bars.

Firefighters have recovered bodies of two youths from the Sari River at Sylhet's Jaintapur after they went missing while swimming on Friday.

The bodies of the 27-year-old Tahrat Kabir and the 29-year-old Abdullah Faisal were recovered around 10am on Saturday, Jaintapur Police chief Abdul Jalil said.

They were the employees of Qubee, an internet service provider.

They were washed away by a torrent after a landslide around 2.30pm on Friday while swimming along with other friends in the river near Sahebmara area of Lalakhal tourist spot, the police official said.

Four of their friends, who accompanied them, swam ashore safely but they had failed, he said.

Local unit of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and firefighters jointly launched a rescue operation soon after the incident but could not trace them till Saturday.

Tahrat, son of Imran Kabir, lived in Dhaka's Malibagh and Faisal, son of Abdul Malek, hailed from Chittagong's Madarbari area.

A US university teacher, who is the son of Awami League MP Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, has drowned in sea while holidaying in Thailand.

Jalal Alamgir, a 40-year old associate professor of political science at Boston University, had been on a one-year sabbatical and based in Bangladesh. He was working on a book.

Jalal's cousin Dhaka University professor Muntasir Mamun told  that the Awami League presidium member's son went to Bangkok with his wife on Dec 2.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed grave sorrow at the news of Jalal's death.

Thirty foreign nationals, including 12 Bangladeshis, arrested by local police for illegal entry have been sent to jail upon a court order.

A police team of Mobile Task Force unit arrested the foreigners including 18 Mynamar citizens for illegally entering the northeastern Tripura state.

After Friday's court order, all the detainees have been jailed for 14 days, pending formalities to send them back to their own countries.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Tripura Police Nepal Das has said police have arrested them at the Agartala Railway Station.

The DIG added the group entered Tripura through Sonamura border point, which is located near Comilla in Bangladesh, and they were on their way to Assam for jobs.

Police also recovered illegally carried money from the detainees.

They were produced before a local court on Friday before the order of sending them to jail came. They face charges of illegal entry.

After completion of their jail term they would be sent back, authorities say.

In recent months more than 50 Myanmarese nationals were arrested in Tripura. They have been using Tripura as transit to mainland India in search of jobs.

The Myanmarese told police that they fled Myanmar due to atrocities by security officials.

Police officials say often the Myanmarese military unleashes atrocities on a section of its nationals, especially Rohingya Muslims, to force them to flee.

Over 50,000 Myanmarese have been living in different parts of neighbouring Mizoram, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, and working at various shops and factories after obtaining work permits.

Since the mid-1990s, over 225,000 Myanmar nationals have been sheltering at Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh.

Four northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam share 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar.

The mountainous terrain, dense forests and other hindrances make the unfenced borders porous and vulnerable, enabling illegal migrants and intruders to cross over without any hurdle.

Developing countries have raised concerns that they are taking climate change as a more serious global crisis than the rich countries.

The US, in particular, is seen to be dragging its foot on key issues. Delegates at the UN Climate Summit at Durban from Europe and the head of the African bloc have separately denounced the US position.

"Developed countries as a whole are not taking climate change seriously as a global issue," said Mali delegate Seyni Nafo. Pointing to the US leadership on democracy, human rights and market access, Nafo said, "We want to have the same leadership to tackle climate change."

The EU chief negotiator, Arthur Runge-Metzger, while expressing his concerns, however, acknowledged that the US delegation may be hampered by the present US domestic scene where climate change was perceived to be an unpopular issue. "It's very hard for the Obama administration to move forward with climate change because of the situation in Congress," he said.

The US is perceived as stalling, as it negotiates for conditions on the deal that would legally bind all countries to limit their greenhouse gas emissions - holding up discussions on how to raise US$100 billion earmarked for poor countries to develop low-carbon economies and deal with the effects of global warming.

Climate change is a result of greenhouse gases trapping the sun's heat in the earth's atmosphere raising global temperatures, which in turn trigger change weather conditions leading to stronger and more frequent cyclones and floods, rising seas, drought, erosion and increased salinity.

It is widely accepted that a rise of global temperatures over 2 degrees Celsius would cause irreversible climate change. Global studies, endorsed by the UN and the scientific community indicate that in order to arrest the temperature rise within 1.5 degrees, global emissions must reduced to 40 percent of what they were in 1990 by the year 2020 and to 95 percent of 1990-levels by 2050. Furthermore, emissions must not peak after 2015.

Instead of a binding target, the US has said that it favours voluntary pledges by countries to do as much as they can to control emissions. The US has promised to cut its emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020; a pledge that the US delegation chief Jonathan Pershing said this week that he did not believe would change in the near future.

Runge-Metzger, however, asserts that these voluntary pledges taken all together would still amount to about half of what scientists say is required to avert potential climate disaster.

On another front, Rene Orellana, head of the Bolivian delegation, in his nation's first statement, has categorically dismissed the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (Redd) initiative.

Redd is a set of steps designed to use financial initiatives to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation; and because forests produce carbon credits it is considered an emissions offsetting scheme.

"Bolivia is showing strongly against the mechanism of Redd," Orellana said, "the role of the forest is not for carbon stocks."

Almost half of Bolivia is blanketed by forests, "as a people who live in the forest, we are not carbon stocks," the Bolivian delegate asserted.

"Forests provide a role of food security, a water resource and biodiversity for our indigenous population. Redd reduces the function of the forest as just one, carbon stocks," he added.

Orellana also went on to criticise some of the aspects of the Green Climate Fund, particularly payments based on results of green initiatives.

While Bolivia has suffered political instability of late, the country has been firm on its environmental stand at the 17th instalment of the conference of parties to the UN climate change convention. For example, this year the South American nation has passed the world's first laws granting nature equal rights to humans.

Scientists predict that heat waves currently experienced once every 20 years will happen every year due to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Moreover coastal areas and islands were threatened with inundation by global warming and within a decade up to 250 million more people would face water scarcity.

Climate action proponents argue that carbon concentration stabilisation in the atmosphere would only slow economic growth by 0.12 percent per year but, more importantly, that the costs would be offset by improved health, greater energy security and more secure food supplies.

A fire has raced through a two-storied shoe market in the capital's Bangabandhu Avenue.

The fire broke out at Bata Bazaar immediately after Friday midnight and gutted shoes in the showroom and a warehouse on the upper floor, said fire service control room official Farhad Hossain.. But there were no reports of any casualties.

The showroom is located beside the ruling Awami League headquarters.

Hossain said 10 fire service units laboured for three hours and brought the blaze under control around 4am in the morning.

All the goods in the building were burned, he said.

On Saturday morning, fire fighters were seen hosing water on the building's second floor from the rooftop after making a hole in the ceiling as they saw smoke coming out of the warehouse.

Fire brigade director (operations) Mohammad Mahbub told  around 11am that the fire was under control "but we are still unable to enter the warehouse".

Fire brigade director general Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah said they could not immediately determine the source of the fire but would launch an investigation to see if this was an act of arson.

The fire initially originated on the ground floor around 1am and spread to the two upper floors, Bata officials said.

Fire fighters said that even though they reached the spot quickly it took three hours to tame the blaze as the fumes from burning rubber, fabrics and leather made their access difficult.

The showroom's manager Mohammad Hafizur Rahman initially claimed that shoes worth Tk 40 million were destroyed and that the total loss could stand around Tk 70 million.

Bata human resource division manager Mohammad Kamal Hossain, however, said, "It will take time to determine exact losses."

Finance minister A M A Muhith has issued a strong rebuttal of charges made by the BNP chairperson that the economy was in tatters.

Soon after arriving in Dhaka after a week-long trip to Korea, the finance minister said Bangladesh's economy was doing quite well. "And it is not just in my eyes but in the eyes of the world."

Referring to the opposition leadership, he said they want to create a crisis. "That is why they are making such complaints to create instability."

Muhith said he would soon speak about the overall situation at a news conference.

"As I have said before, the major economic indicators except for just a couple are doing well." Muhith acknowledged that subsidies and balance of payments were some 'challenge'. "But we are trying to tackle them."

The finance minister said that he had mentioned a number of risks during his budget speech. "I had noted that this would be the riskiest year."

"I had mentioned each one of the points in my speech, which the opposition and the civil society are harping on now."

Muhith said, "There are some civil society people speaking in the same line as that of the opposition."

"The other day I watched a private bank's CEO say that there was no crisis in the economy, all the crisis was in the talk shows. People seem to speak whatever takes their fancy."

The minister said he was out of the country for about a week, during which time he had read reports of the BNP chief Khaleda Zia's comments saying that Bangladesh was going broke.

The opposition leader had said that economy is in a grave crisis on Thursday when speaking about the state of the economy for almost an hour citing up to date statistics.

"That allegation is not correct. They are trying to create the crisis and they are doing it out of their intention to gain political advantage off the situation."

Regarding the government's bank borrowing, finance minister said it was a continuous process. When pointed that the government had reached the domestic bank borrowing target in the first four and a half months of the fiscal, Muhith said the matter was not clear to many. "The first few months of the year do not yield much by way of revenues. So the government is forced to borrow from the banks to runs its expenses."

"The government will borrow and pay back. The point is whether the government is exceeding its projection by the year end."

The finance minister said he was confident that the bank borrowing would be within the limit.

The government's target for borrowing money was set at Tk 189.57 billion, and the total amount of borrowing stood at Tk 188.59 billion on Oct 15.

The government had borrowed Tk 204 billion in the last fiscal which exceeded the initial projection by Tk 50 billion.

When asked whether budget shortfall would remain within target, Muhith told , "It will remain within five percent of GDP."

Generally the five percent shortfall is considered to be a benchmark ceiling.

The BNP chief contended that GDP will not grow by seven percent as do a few economists. Muhith replied, "There were similar apprehensions last year too that growth won't reach six percent. But by the end of the year it had reached 6.7 percent."

"I believe that we will reach the target."

The government has initiated a programme to provide input assistance to some 50,000 small and marginal farmers for boosting maize cultivation.

Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury announced the assistance, which includes providing seeds and fertilisers worth Tk 65 million free of cost, at a press conference at the ministry's conference room on Wednesday.

Under the programme, the government will provide the seeds and fertilisers to the farmers for cultivating maize over 16,500 acres of land in 62 upazilas under 11 districts.

The programme starts from the current winter season.

A farmer will get 3 kilograms of hybrid maize seeds and 50 kgs of fertilisers, including 25kgs of diamonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MoP), as incentives for maize cultivation on each bigha [0.33 acre] of land, the minister said.

The programme will help increase maize production by 31,000 tonnes, said the minister, adding that the market price of the additional maize would be at least Tk 62 crore.

The programme will be implemented at Nilphamari, Kurigram, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Pirojpur, Barisal, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola and Jhalokhati districts.

Narrating objectives of the incentive programme, the agriculture minister said: "We're trying to motivate the farmers to grow maize because of its high demand and less irrigation and other cost for its cultivation than that of other crops like rice and wheat."

She mentioned that the overall production of wheat had already declined in the northern region due to climate changes.

The minister said maize cultivation is now generating interest among the farmers as there is huge demand for the produce both for human and poultry consumption.

The country's annual maize production is around 1.55 million tonnes and it needs to import another 422,000 tonnes a year.

Touted as the biggest gathering of ICT-related experts of Asia, 'E-Asia 2011' convention would kick off at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre in the capital on Thursday.

About 2,000 ICT experts from domestic and foreign organisations are taking part in the convention, state minister for information and communication technology Architect Yeafesh Osman said on Wednesday.

Addressing the media at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre, Yeafesh Osman said, "Exhibitions on ICT product and service, seminars and fair are also organised on the sidelines of the convention."

Indian research organisation Centre for Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) is the key organiser of the event. Bangladesh Computer Council and Ministry for Science and the information and communication technology are helping put up the event.

The slogan for this year's convention is 'Realising digital nation'.

Yeafesh Osman said 30 seminars and workshops would be held during the event. Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, and Holland's country pavilions would also be set up, besides Bangladeshi pavilions, at the venue as part of the exhibition.

The best IT contributions from Asia will be awarded on the second day of the event, it was announced.

Besides the convention, an IT fair will run till December 3 from 10 am to 8 pm every day. The entry fee is Tk 10 but students can get in for free, the organisers said.

The first E- Asia convention was held on Bangkok in 2006, followed twice in Malaysia once in Sri Lanka. The event was scheduled to be held last year in the Philippines but was postponed due to political uncertainty.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has told parliament that her government would have split the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) into four separate entities to ensure better services for the city dwellers had there been enough money.

"More services could have been provided had there been more small areas," she said on Wednesday, the last day of the 11th session of parliament.

"Dhaka is a large area. It's difficult to tackle such a big area," she said.

Hasina argued that Dhaka was not being split but 'extended'.

She said the protest against the city spilt move is aimed at presenting the government's good works negatively to people.

Earlier in the day, the High Court heard a petition by Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who has been the mayor of Dhaka for nine years, and asked the government and the Election Commission why the bill to split the DCC should not be declared void.

The bill divided DCC into Dhaka North City Corporation with 36 wards and Dhaka South City Corporation having 56 wards, amidst protests by the opposition on the streets.

On Nov 26, Khoka held a press briefing calling upon the government to re-consider its decision. The following day saw a clash between the employees of DCC and the police leaving 25 people injured.

BNP's Dhaka city unit chief Sadeque Hossain Khoka has introduced himself as the 'former' mayor of the city on top of the petition he filed with the High Court challenging the bill to split the city corporation into two separate entities.

In Wednesday's hearing, Khoka's counsel Akhtar Imam said it was a 'mistake' when attorney general Mahbubey Alam drew the court's attention to the matter.

"Except for one place, it's 'current mayor' in the rest of the petition," Imam argued.

Dr Kamal Hossain, one of the authors of Bangladesh's constitution, also stood for Khoka.

Upon hearing the petition, the High Court asked the government why the bill to split the DCC should not be declared a bad law, inconsistent with the constitution, and therefore, void.

Protests by several quarters against the DCC split has turned 'legal' through the High Court rule, Khoka, who has led the DCC for nine years, told reporters.

The bifurcation bill was passed in parliament on Tuesday without following proper constitutional procedure, the 'outgoing' mayor told journalists before the hearing.

The bill divided DCC into Dhaka North City Corporation with 36 wards and Dhaka South City Corporation having 56 wards, amidst protests by the opposition on the streets.

The BNP has called a daylong general strike in the capital to protest the bifurcation of the Dhaka City Corporation.

The party will seek to enforce the hartal on Dec 4 as part of other programmes, acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters Wednesday evening.

Fakhrul emerged at 9:25pm from a meeting of the party's policymaking standing committee to announce the decision to waiting journalists at the Gulshan offices of the chairperson.

The other programmes include protest rally in front of the party headquarters at Naya Paltan on Friday and rallies in every Thana of the capital on Saturday.

Parliament passed a bill to split DCC on Tuesday even as BNP protested the move on the streets.

The government has 'struck people's heart' by taking the 'autocratic' and 'undemocratic' decision to split Dhaka, Fakrul said.

The party's Dhaka city unit chief Sadeque Hossain Khoka, who served as the mayor for nine years, attended the meeting on special invitation.

Standing committee members R A Gani, Moudud Ahmed, M K Anwar, Jamiruddin Sircar, A S M Hannan Shah, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Abdul Main Khan, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and Mirza Abbas were present at the meeting.

Following a petition filed by Khoka earlier in the day, the High Court asked the government why the bill should not be declared void.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) is going to expand its evening specialists' consultation services in the hospital with the addition of eye and gastroenterology departments in the service.

The university started evening services on Oct 1, first of its kind in the country, with professors and associate professors of seven departments – Medicine, Paediatricts, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Skin and Venereal Diseases, Ear, Nose and Throat, Cardiology, and Physical Medicine – attending patients everyday from 3pm to 6pm.

According to a media release, professors and associate professors of the eye and gastroenterology departments will see patients from Dec 1 as part of the ongoing evening specialists' consultation services.

The service offers specialists' prescription only for Tk 200, which is otherwise Tk 500 to Tk 700 in private chambers.

Vice-chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta opening the service on Oct 1 said, "It's an attempt to promote institutional practices in the country," a claim that drew medical analysts' flak.

They earlier told  that it is neither an evening outdoor, nor an institutional practice.

"In evening outdoors, you cannot charge more than the usual, and in institutional practices, doctors are not allowed to practice outside hospital," former president of Bangladesh Medical Association Prof Rashid-e-Mahbub earlier said.

The university charges Tk 30 for its morning outdoor services.

Once again, eating a diet based on fish, legumes, vegetables and moderate amounts of alcohol is linked to lower chances of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other vascular "events," according to a new study of New York City residents.

The mostly Hispanic and black study participants did not necessarily eat traditional foods from Mediterranean countries, but the closer their diets were to the spirit of Mediterranean eating -- with plenty of fish, healthy fats like olive oil, whole grains and vegetables -- the lower their risk of death from vascular problems including heart attacks.

"While it's not the Mediterranean diet, it is comparing a healthier diet to a less healthy diet, and there was some improvement," said Teresa Fung, a professor at Simmons College in Boston who was not involved in the study.

For nine years, Dr. Clinton Wright at the University of Miami and his colleagues followed more than 2,500 residents of northern Manhattan, a neighborhood with about 63 percent Hispanic residents, 20 percent African Americans and 15 percent whites. Information about the health benefits of a so-called Mediterranean diet in the black and Hispanic populations in the US is lacking, Wright's group notes in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Because both groups are burdened by high rates of heart disease, the team set out to study how much of a difference diet might make.

A little more than half of the study participants were Hispanic, while the other half was split roughly between non-Hispanic blacks and whites. All were over 40 years old when the study began.

At the outset, researchers asked participants about their health history, and ranked their eating habits along a nine-point scale: the higher the number, the closer the person's diet was to the Mediterranean ideal, with lots of fish, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and vegetable oils and very little meat or animal fats.

The group then tracked how many people later experienced a stroke, heart attack or death related to a vascular problem like pulmonary embolism and aneurysm. More than 300 people in the study died from a vascular issue.

Each point higher that a person scored on the nine-point Mediterranean diet scale reduced the risk of vascular death by nine percent.

The study did not find that the diet had any effect on the risk of having a stroke, however. Among the 171 people who suffered a stroke, those at the high end of the diet scale were just as likely to have had one as those at the low end of the scale.

The researchers did detect slight protection from heart attack among those whose diets ranked in the top-four on the Mediterranean scale, but the finding could have been due to chance.

The results back up previous research that also reported benefits to heart health from eating a Mediterranean diet (see Reuters Health stories from March 7, 2011 and January 27, 2010).

The current study does not prove that diet is responsible for the benefits the researchers saw. But the Mediterranean diet is rich in elements like fiber and omega-three fatty acids, which could influence heart health, Wright said.

The evidence isn't conclusive, he added, but overall, the Mediterranean diet appears to be good for people's heart health.

"There's very little evidence to suggest that it's harmful compared to some other diets that we consider harmful, such as diets rich in red meat," Wright said.

"So it seems like there isn't much harm in it and there's increasing evidence that it's beneficial."

In people with low blood levels of vitamin D, boosting them with supplements more than halved a person's risk of dying from any cause compared to someone who remained deficient, in a large new study.

Analyzing data on more than 10,000 patients, University of Kansas researchers found that 70 percent were deficient in vitamin D and they were at significantly higher risk for a variety of heart diseases.

D-deficiency also nearly doubled a person's likelihood of dying, whereas correcting the deficiency with supplements lowered their risk of death by 60 percent.

"We expected to see that there was a relationship between heart disease and vitamin D deficiency; we were surprised at how strong it was," Dr. James L. Vacek, a professor of cardiology at the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical Center, told Reuters Health.

"It was so much more profound than we expected."

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a range of illnesses, but few studies have demonstrated the reverse -- that supplements could prevent those outcomes.

Vacek and his team reviewed data from 10,899 adults whose vitamin D serum levels had been tested at the University of Kansas Hospital, and found that more than 70 percent of the patients were below 30 nanograms per milliliter, the level many experts consider sufficient for good health.

After taking into account the patients' medical history, medications and other factors, the cardiologists found that people with deficient levels of vitamin D were more than twice as likely to have diabetes, 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure and about 30 percent more likely to suffer from cardiomyopathy -- a diseased heart muscle -- as people without D deficiency.

Overall, those who were deficient in D had a three-fold higher likelihood of dying from any cause than those who weren't deficient, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Cardiology. Moreover, when the team looked at people who took vitamin D supplements, their risk of death from any cause was about 60 percent lower than the rest of the patients, although the effect was strongest among those who were vitamin D deficient at the time they were tested.

The study does not prove that vitamin D is the cause of the effects seen -- other factors, like disease, could be responsible both for the differences in health and the differences in vitamin D levels, for instance.

Previous research has indicated that many Americans don't have sufficient levels of vitamin D, however. The latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey estimated that 25 percent to 57 percent of adults have insufficient levels of D, and other studies have suggested the number is as high as 70 percent.

Vacek said he believes so many people are deficient because we should get about 90 percent of our Vitamin D from the sun and only about 10 percent from our food. The human body makes vitamin D in response to skin exposure to sunlight.

Certain foods, like oily fish, eggs and enriched milk products are also good sources of D. A sufficient amount of Vitamin D absorption from the sun would require at least 20 minutes of full-body exposure each day in warmer seasons, and most people aren't outside enough, Vacek said.

In the northern United States and throughout Canada, experts say the sun isn't strong enough during the winter months to make sufficient vitamin D, even if the weather was warm enough to expose the skin for a long time.

It means that adults should consider getting their Vitamin D levels checked through a simple blood test, Vacek said, and take vitamin D supplements. Generally, Vacek recommends that adults take between 1,000 to 2,000 international units (IU) of Vitamin D each day.

"If you're not deficient, Vitamin D is not a magic pill that will make you live longer," Vacek said.

"Its benefit is in people who are deficient. If you're low, it makes sense to be put on replacement therapy and have a follow-up a couple months later to make sure your levels come up."

A mosquito-borne viral disease similar to dengue fever, which was last reported in 2009 after its first appearance in 2008, has made a 'strong comeback in Bangladesh with 46 people down with the crippling joint pain fever, a top official of the health directorate has said.

"It seems like a public health threat," Prof Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of the disease control, told reporters on Wednesday.

But the people "need not to be worried, rather be aware of mosquito bite", he said.

The reappearance of Chikungunya has triggered concern among officials and doctors as the disease so far treated as mainly a rural scourge has been detected in the capital and its suburbs.

Experts attributed environmental factors for the spread of the vector from its origin Rajshahi district to Dhaka.

"It can attack a large number of people, but usually cause no mortality," Be-Nazir said, adding but the challenge is its diagnosis.

"It's very much similar to dengue fever. But treatment is not the same.

"If a dengue patient gets Chikunguya treatment, the condition might worsen," he said.

Chikungunya is an alpha virus of the family Togaviridae, carried by the aedes albopictus mosquito, in Bangladesh.

The name chikungunya derives from a root verb in the East African Makonde language, meaning "to become contorted" because of severe joint pains.

The first outbreak of the disease was in southern Tanzania in 1952 and it quickly spread to Asia, including India's rural belt.

In 2006, over 7,52,245 cases were detected in Karnataka and 2,59,958 in Maharastra.

In Bangladesh, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research has detected the first outbreak in Dec 2008 at Poba, Rajshahi, and Chapai Nawabganj when some patients showed dengue like symptoms but were tested negative.

Later they were detected as Chikungunya after laboratory tests.

The second outbreak in 2009 was reported at Sathia in Pabna district.

This year, the institute has traced the disease through its surveillance in Dohar under Dhaka.

So far 46 cases -31 at Dohar, 12 at Chapai Nawabganj and three in Dhaka city – were confirmed from laboratory tests at IEDCR and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

The university cannot confirm the addresses of the three Dhaka city patients detected positive in its laboratory as they did not keep their addresses.

"We have to be careful about mosquito bite," Be-Nazir said and that the Chikungunya mosquito breeds in dirty water while aedes aegypti breeds in clean water.

"This year's prolonged and incessant rains caused small collections of water at different places that may cause more mosquito breeding," he said.

As this a new disease for the doctors, the health directorate guidelines say dengue fever lower platelet counts and can trigger bleeding while in Chikungunya patients recover from fever and rashes after a few days.

But the 'crippling pain' in joints continues for more than a month and even years.

"Fever may be subsided in case of chikungunya, but the pain in the joints is severe. Then patients need to administer drugs to ease the pain," Be-Nazir said.

"But if they take the same drug in dengue fever, it might cause bleeding," he said, cautioning 'not to take medication without doctors' advice.'

He suggested community participation to wipe out mosquito breeding sites as the only way to combat the mosquito-borne diseases.

The government has started to prepare an action plan to combat the recurrence of chikungunya while a vector survey will be launched in different districts to see the presence of the mosquito.

A management guideline has been posted on the IEDCR website for doctors, according to Be-Nazir.

The parliamentary standing committee on defence ministry has recommended that the combined military hospitals provide treatment to the parliament's speaker, his deputy and the MPs.

The committee also said that the civilian employees be given treatment at the army hospital, and if needed their capacity be increased.

At its 18th meeting, the parliamentary body recommended on Sunday, that the military train doctors to fill vacancies and thus, ensure treatment of the personnel.

The meeting recommended that the military should establish its own specialised institutes for cancer, kidney and heart treatment.

The standing committee observed that the defence services should train more doctors without bringing any from abroad.

The meeting also suggested that the military finish building the 500-bed general hospital at Kurmitola and begin operations as soon as possible.

Committee members Mohammad Mujibul Huq, Nurul Mazid Mahmud Humayun, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam were present with M A Mannan representing the prime minister, who is also the defence minister. Idris Ali chaired the meeting.

The state-run exploration agency has launched a three-dimensional seismic survey at Titas Gas Field to assess the possibility of digging new wells.

The survey, launched on Sunday, will cover a 335 square kilometer area, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) managing director Mortuza Amed Faruq told  on Tuesday.

The project, titled Appraisal of Gas Fields (3D Seismic Survey), has already surveyed Haripur, Koilashtila and Rashidpur gas fields, he said.

In Bakhrabad Gas Field in Comilla, the survey will cover 210 square kilometres and it is scheduled for April next year, he added.

The project, aimed at tackling gas crisis by spotting new points for wells, is covering a total of 705 square kilometre in the five fields with an estimated cost of Tk 1.64 billion, the Bapex MD said.

The country lifts 2 billion cubic feet gas every day against a demand of 2.5 billion cubic feet.

Sylhet Gas Fields Limited and Bangladesh Gas Fields Limited are the two entrepreneurs of the project.

Project manager Anwarur Rahman said the survey includes three steps — data collection, processing and analysis.

Spotting the short points to explode dynamites had started and geophones would soon be set up to record the sound of the explosions, he said. There will be 19,092 short points and 26,620 geophones in the field, he added.

The project workers are very cautious in spotting the short points as gas has been seeping over a 4 square kilometre area, apart from the well, the project manager said.

A 300 square metre periphery outside the 4 square kilometre area will not be surveyed following French consulting firm CGG Veritas' advice. Fire extinguishers would be there at the spots of explosion to tackle any accident.

Survey team head Meherul Hasan told  they would be setting up structures for the explosions starting Dec 10 and recording of the sound on Dec 24.

He expressed hope that the data collection would end by March next year.

In the end, it was much ado about nothing, as Pakistan bowlers almost sleepwalked over the Bangladesh batting line-up, dumping them by 50 runs in the one-off Twenty20 game here on Tuesday.

Nasir Hossain remained unbeaten on 35 off 38 deliveries, with Rubel Hossain giving him company – yet to open his account after playing five balls.

The story could have had a vastly different end had the Tigers batted with more composure, after the host bowlers, especially the much-vaunted spin attack, had restricted Pakistan to 135 for 7 in the full quota of 20 overs.

Having elected to bat, it was one of Pakistan's lowest scores ever in a T20 international game, but for the hosts wickets fell at regular intervals as the floodlights at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur gained more power and the frustration level in the stands hit a northward curve.

In the end, the hosts were 85 for 9.

With half the team back in the hut by early the ninth over, the fight was over long before Shafiul Islam fell the last prey for Pakistan, trapped leg before for a duck by Shoaib Malik in the 16th over.

Two balls earlier, Abdur Razzak had been caught by Shahid Afridi off Shoaib Malik for 9.

Farhad Reza took the long walk back to the pavilion before him -- trapped leg before by Shahid Afridi. Before him, Mushfiqur Rahim was run out for 7.

Skipper Mahmudullah (2) went for a cut off a short delivery from Aizaz Cheema but nicked it straight to the wicketkeeper, barely two overs after the huge dent came with the dismissal of his predecessor Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib -- bowled by Mohammed Hafeez for 7.

Opener Imrul Kayes (2) was the victim of a run out in the over before that.

Fellow opener Naeem Islam (3) was the first to be dismissed, when he failed to flick a quick Umar Gul delivery and the ball hit the pad and trapped him in front of the wickets.

Alok Kapali went back for a duck in the very next over when he turned Mohammad Hafeez's tossed-up delivery to Misbah at midwicket.


Pakistan restricted

Earlier, Pakistan finished their innings at 135 for 7, one of their lowest scores ever in a Twenty20 international.

Skipper Misbah-ul-Huq (11) remained unbeaten with Umar Gul (4).

Sohail Tanvir (6) was dismissed off a suicidal run out in the last over. Moments before, Shahid Afridi (8) was dismissed off Alok Kapali, caught by Nasir Hossain at long-off.

Before him, Shoaib Malik (2) returned to the hut in a soft dismissal with a return catch to Abdur Razzak in the 15th over.

Asad Shafiq (19) went back mistiming and sending the ball high up for a catch to Abdur Razzak at long-on off Nasir Hossain in the over before.

Umar Akmal (20) was dismissed when a quick leg-spinner from Alok Kapali deceived him up the track, with Mushfiqur Rahim making no mistake.

Opener Mohammed Hafeez, under pressure after playing five consecutive dot balls, gave way for a Shakib Al Hasan delivery to strike his off-stump.

Hafeez had lost his fellow opener Imran Farhat (16) in the fifth over, caught behind off Shakib.

The Tigers had left out opener Tamim Iqbal for the game, and drafted in all-rounder Farhad Reza in his place. The Pakistan team remained unchanged from the line-up of the last Twenty20 game they had played against Sri Lanka in the UAE recently.

The visitors have now won the fifth straight T20 international against Bangladesh.

Though the Tigers won the lone T20 they played at the Mirpur stadium against the West Indies last month, they haven't had a very good outing in this format of the game so far, winning only four of the 17 T20 games they have played.

Of them only two were against a top-flight side, the West Indies biting the dust on both occasions.

The teams:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Imran Farhat, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema.

Bangladesh: Imrul Kayes, Naeem Islam, Alok Kapali, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Farhad Reza, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam.

Germany is a trusted friend of Bangladesh and there is ample scope of cooperation between the two countries, German president Christian Wulff has said.

Speaking at a dinner party hosted by president Zillur Rahman in his honour at Bangabhaban on Tuesday, the German president underlined Bangladesh's valuable contribution to the peacekeeping force.

"Bangladesh has been one of the biggest contributors to the peacekeeping force to make the world a better place."

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, speaker Abdul Hamid, deputy speaker Shawkat Ali Khan, ministers and high officials attended the dinner.

Wulff said bilateral trade between the two countries is on the rise.

On climate change, he said Bangladesh should bring its case before the world more forcefully.