BANGLADESH

The cabinet, led by prime minister Sheikh Hasina, on Monday gave provisional approval to the amended draft of Bangladesh Workers' Welfare Foundation Act-2012.

Once implemented, the law will make it mandatory for companies to deposit 5 percent of profit to workers' welfare funds.

"The attendees of the meeting also decided to include penalties for those who violating this law," Cabinet Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said while giving details on the cabinet decision.

He said the legislative division of the law ministry has been asked to formulate the kind of penalties to be given on violation. "The law ministry will finalise a proposal on this matter and send it back for placing in the cabinet," he said.

The cabinet also endorsed the draft on Public Servants (Retirement) (Amendment) Act 2012 aimed at passing it into a law in parliament the ordinance promulgated by the president for extension of the retirement age of the civil servants, from 57 years to 59 years.

"The prime minister at the meeting directed the appropriate authorities to take quick steps to turn the ordinances promulgated during the last three years of the present government into laws," the Cabinet Division official added.

The cabinet meeting also accepted a proposal for exchange of land with Turkey for construction of own embassy buildings in the capitals of the two countries.

Though the draft of Bangladesh Pure Food (Amended) Act-2012 was scheduled to be placed before the cabinet for approval, the health ministry withdrew it at the last moment. The law will be placed in the next cabinet meeting after further modification and addition, he said.

89% DECISIONS IMPLEMENTED

Mosharraf said the cabinet was pleased with the rate of implementation of its decisions taken during the last three years.

The meeting was informed that the council of ministers had taken 901 decisions in 134 meetings in its first three years against 488 decisions in 131 meetings during the same period of the preceding government.

The execution rate is around 89.3 percent in comparison with 71 percent of the past government.

The number of laws passed by the present government during this time was 153 while it was 102 during the previous government, he added.

The Maldivian ambassador to Dhaka, Ahmed Sareer, on Monday confirmed that SAARC secretary-general Dhiyana Saeed has resigned.

"I can confirm that her resignation has been accepted. Ahmed Naseem, chairman of the SAARC council of ministers and foreign minister of Maldives, has already informed the SAARC countries about this development," he told .

Saeed was previously the Maldives' attorney general, and also served as the Maldivian government's envoy for South Asia.

The Maldives will also appoint a new secretary-general soon to complete the rest of the four-year tenure of the country.

She took over as the SAARC secretary-general in March last year and is the first to resign from the post before the end of her term.

The resignation comes over the recent controversy that arose with her participation in a lawyers' news conference condemning the recent arrests of the country's chief criminal court judge Abdulla Mohamed and senior opposition leaders.

The Maldivian president's spokesperson Mohammad Zuhair accused her of 'clearly contravening' with the SAARC Charter by stating her "personal and private position" on TV, the Male-based Haveeru newspaper reported.

"I did not interfere with any internal affairs of the Maldives and I will submit my resignation to Ahmed Naseem, Chairman of the SAARC council of ministers and foreign minister of Maldives today," she was quoted as saying.

She had also added that she had 'not' violated the SAARC charter.

Saima Hossain Putul, the prime minister's daughter who spearheads disability issues in Bangladesh, has said the country is making progress to ensure "equality" for such special people, and that state mechanism should take the issue forward.'

Talking to on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing Fifth Shafallah Forum at Qatar's capital, she affirmed that Bangladesh was working in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"We have not only signed the Convention but ratified it," Saima said. "How many countries will you find (that has) ratified the convention? We did it.

"We have a policy on disability, which is being updated. We hosted the global conference in Dhaka (and) you will not find many countries that could make this progress.

"We have also launched a South Asia Network on autism."

According to the UN, 153 countries, including Bangladesh, have signed the Convention that demands access to healthcare, education, employment and all other fundamental rights for persons with disabilities. But only 109 nations have ratified it thus far.

A US-licensed psychologist and a global advocate for the US-based research organisation 'Autism Speaks', Putul brought the disability issue to the forefront in Bangladesh in July last year when she organised first autism meet in South Asia. Among global leaders who took part in the event was Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress party.

'NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE'

While Bangladesh's political culture has made people sceptical whether the issue would see any progress if the Sheikh Hasina government does not return to power and archrival BNP comes in, Saima said, "It should not be hindered."

"It's not a political issue. The government mechanism will work (and) it's their responsibility to carry out the programmes," Putul said, referring to bureaucrats.

Having dismissed any possible foray into politics in a previous interview with , Putul said she can use her "political connections" for the welfare of persons with disability.

At the opening of the forum on Sunday, Shafallah Centre chairman Hassan Ali said many countries are not abiding by the UN Convention.

Putul said: "This year, we discussed what we should do in any crisis for people with disability. People forget them during disasters and crises. They cannot stand up in a queue for relief."

THE SHEER NUMBERS

She stressed that the conference discussed their plight in detail and said, "It is a very relevant conference, as we are a disaster-prone country and have (many) people with disabilities."

Preliminary results of the latest census suggest 16 million people live with disabilities in Bangladesh, which is 9.07 percent of the population.

Suggesting ways to ameliorate the life of this significant section of population, Putul said: "We should make policies to build wheelchair-friendly buildings so that they can move everywhere. We should consider their numbers and they can contribute (to society and the economy) if we can make them part of the mainstream."

She said the conference discussed how policies could help to that end.

Besides panel discussions, there was a closed-door meeting of the first ladies attending the forum. Though details of the meeting were yet to emerge, it is learnt that Putul spoke there.

Ali, the chairman of Shafallah Centre, a state-of-the-art facility for children with special needs, meanwhile, told that they could assist Bangladesh in "training people and also brining people for training".

Putul said she was also interacting with the global centre to train Bangladeshis.

As part of that, she said, three principals of special schools will be sent to the US for a one-month training. Talks are underway with a Saudi Arabian centre as well.

"We have to go and learn. We will work on every possibility," she said.

Putul had earlier told that "creative utilisation" of resources can bring smiles to the children with special needs in such resource-starved countries as Bangladesh.

Zingers flew in the second half of the proceedings at the International Crimes Tribunal on Monday once the prosecution began replying to the defence.

The war crimes tribunal, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, heard arguments of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's defence throughout the day.

Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum was then asked to counter the defence arguments.

At one point of his deliberation, Malum mentioned the accused as "Saka Chowdhury" as is commonly written in Bengali newspapers taking the initials of the BNP MP's first two names.

Justice Nizamul Huq, chairman of the tribunal, stopped him immediately and said, "Although newspapers often refer to him as such, do speak out his full name as Mr Chowdhury does not approve of it."

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's loud boom could be heard from the dock at the back of the courtroom, "Thank you sir, thank you!"

At this point the prosecutor, who has been faced with regular barbs of the feisty MP as he argues the case, complained to the court, "But Salauddin Quader Chowdhury calls me 'Halum', my lord."

There was the booming voice again from back, "What? Halum? No, no never. I never call him that."

The entire court cracked up at this exchange.

The obviously homonymous 'halum' elicited much laughter since it is the Bengali expression for what tigers or lions are supposed to say when they growl before jumping on a prey. The tiger's 'halum' is like the sheep's 'baa'.

But Malum was to face even more embarrassment when the tribunal came back with its queries regarding certain individuals mentioned in the charges against Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

Tribunal member, judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed, reminded him that the tribunal had only a few queries that the prosecutor could not satisfactorily answer.

Malum kept insisting that the prosecution still had the scope to fill in on the gaps there were in its cases, when asked whether certain individuals were alive or dead, especially relating to one Sobhan, a supposed aide to Salauddin Quader, as mentioned in the first charge.

At one point judge Zaheer Ahmed said, "It is a very simple query. Is this Sobhan alive or dead?"

According to the charge, Sobhan was Salauddin Quader's aide and had abducted individuals, apparently at his behest.

The judge asked why then there were no charges against this Sobhan who was actively involved in the abduction if he was still alive.

Malum then said the prosecution had dropped seven charges against Salauddin Quader because it did not consider them legally authentic enough. "But the 25 that we have brought are solid and we will be able to answer all your queries."

Zaheer Ahmed returned, "If this is the situation with your first charge, I wonder what those seven were like."

At this Malum reacted saying that such remarks would be widely reported in the media and the news outlets would be rife with news that he was unqualified as a prosecutor and so forth.

Malum then went on about how certain media outlets were carrying reports that reflected adversely upon the tribunal as well as the prosecution.

"Although a large portion of the media report correctly, there are a handful that have a rather negative tone."

Justice Nizamul Huq reassured him that the media was there only to cooperate and there was nothing to be scared of.

Judge Zaheer Ahmed said, "But the media is the mirror of the society. And what difference does it make if one or two houses report negatively?"

Dhaka University student Abdul Kadar has sued former officer-in-charge of Khilgaon Police Station Helal Uddin for torturing him in custody and framing him after his arrest last year.

Kadar, a student of biochemistry and molecular biology, filed the case on Monday afternoon, Khilgaon OC Sirajul Islam Sheikh told .

According to case details, plainclothes police personnel arrested him in the early hours of July 15 last year while he was returning to Fazlul Haque Hall of Dhaka University from one of his relatives' residence at Eskaton in the city.

Kadar in his case alleged that he was severely tortured in police custody.

KADAR CLEARED OF CARJACKING

Earlier in the day, Dhaka metropolitan magistrate M A Salam cleared Kadar in the carjacking case following an appeal submitted by the Detective Branch (DB) of police.

DB police inspector Abdur Noor, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the final probe report to the court on Jan 19 excluding Kadar's name.

The report says the charges brought against Kadar were found "false and fabricated".

Controversy and confusion swirled over the police version of Kadar's arrest as they said they held him at Khilgaon on July 15 when he was about to commit robbery.

Khilgaon police lodged two cases, accusing him of robbery and possessing sharp weapons.

The carjacking case in which Kadar was implicated was filed with Mohammadpur police on July 14, a day before his arrest.

Mirash Uddin, the duty police officer at Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, told reporters that though Kadar was shown arrested in the carjacking case his name was not mentioned in the case details.

Police faced massive criticism when the Dhaka University students launched protest movements demanding Kadar's release claiming that he was arrested on false charges.

The High Court on July 28 ordered suspension of three police officers – OC Helal Uddin, a sub-inspector and an assistant sub-inspector – as they reportedly tortured Kadar.

The court also issued order asking authorities concerned to launch an investigation into the allegation and the police chief to carry out a departmental enquiry and submit their findings in four weeks.

The Dhaka court on Monday fixed Jan 26 to pass its judgment on the probe report submitted by DB inspector Mohammad Shahjahan in connection with a robbery case.

Bangladesh Power Development Board and National Thermal Power Corporation of India are set to float a joint venture for the 1320 MW power project in Khulna by the end of this month.

The NTPC chairman-cum-managing-director Arup Roy Chaudhary said that an agreement to set up the joint venture would be signed by Jan 29 next.

"It would be a 50:50 joint venture between NTPC and the Bangladesh government," Roy Chaudhary told journalists in New Delhi on Monday.

The NTPC and PDB on Aug 30 last year signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint venture project in Khulna.

The power plant is likely to be run on imported coal and operated by the NTPC that is also exploring cooperation with PDB for another power project in Chittagong.

New Delhi recently said that Bangladesh was welcome to take part in the power projects in north-eastern India.

"India has a liberal policy permitting 100% FDI in respect of projects relating to electricity generation, transmission and distribution. In this regard, the participation of Bangladesh in power projects in India, particularly in the north-eastern states of India adjoining Bangladesh, would be welcome," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement issued on Jan 11, around the same time prime minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Agartala – the capital of northeastern Indian state of Tripura – for a two-day visit.

New Delhi referred to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in Sep 2011 and said that India and Bangladesh had agreed to promote trans-border cooperation in the management of shared water resources and hydropower potential as well as eco-systems and in the area of connectivity.

"It was also agreed (during Singh's meeting with Hasina in September 2011) that arrangements for cooperation in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, including electricity from renewable or other sources, would be established," said the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

New Delhi said that such joint ventures in the power sector involving the two countries would also facilitate the evacuation of power from north-eastern India to Bangladesh and into other parts of India through Bangladesh.

"Details of such cooperation can be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Steering Committee on Power held at the level of secretaries between the two countries," it added.

According to the joint statement issued after the two prime ministers had met in Dhaka on Sept 7 last year, Hasina and Singh had called for expeditious conclusion of Power Purchase Agreement between Bangladesh Power Development Board and India's state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation for purchase of 250 MW power from India by
Bangladesh.
"It was agreed that Bangladesh would procure the additional 250 MW of power from the open market in India utilizing the full capacity of the power transmission line being established through inter-grid connectivity at Bheramara and Behrampur," read the joint statement.

Hasina and Singh had asked officials concerned to undertake necessary steps for conducting feasibility reports for the setting up of a similar 1320 MW coal based power plant at a suitable location in Chittagong.

A 400 KV high-voltage power transmission line is being constructed between Berhampur in India and Bheramara in Bangladesh and works could be completed by the end of this year or early next year.

Although India offered 250 MW power to Bangladesh according to the January 2010 MoU, the transmission line will have an initial transfer capacity of 500 MW. The transmission systems of India and Bangladesh, which are based on 400 KV Alternate Current (AC) and 230 KV AC respectively, are proposed to be synchronised by installing a back-to-back HVDC link.

Singh had thanked the Hasina government for allowing passage of over-dimensional cargo for the Palatana power project in Tripura through Bangladesh.

The High Court has declared illegal the dismissal of 29 police officers, including two deputy inspectors general (DIG).

The bench of justices Naima Haider and Farid Ahmed passed the order on Monday after a final hearing of some of its rules that had earlier been passed upon the government seeking explanation.

The counsel for the petitioners Salahuddin Dolan told that the police officials had been dismissed on different occasions between 2002 and 2003 when the BNP-led four-party alliance government was in power.

One petition was lodged in 2002, five in 2010 and four last year challenging the dismissal orders.

The High Court had passed rules upon all the petitions, asking the government why the dismissal orders would not be declared illegal.

Salahuddin said the court in its order asked the government to reinstate the police officers, aged below 59 years, to their jobs with all facilities.

"The government has also been asked to provide all facilities and outstanding payments to the police officers who are already more than 59-year old considering them in service from their compulsory retirement to usual retirement age limit," he added.

Of the 29 petitioners, two are DIGs and five are SPs. The DIGs are Ruhul Amin and Abdul Manna and the SPs Kazi Anwar Hossain, Mojibur Rahman, Ahmed Jalil, Shah Alam and Washiquzzaman Khan.

The remaining 22 others are inspectors and sub-inspectors.

Deputy attorney general Moklesur Rahman argued for the state during the hearing.

Forced disappearances increased sharply last year in Bangladesh as security agencies replaced one form of abuse with another, according to Human Rights Watch.

The New York-based human rights organisation in its World Report 2012 said the number of extrajudicial killings by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has dropped following criticisms at home and abroad.

Moreover, the government took no significant steps to investigate and prosecute torture in custody and extrajudicial killings in 2011 and showed an increasing intolerance for criticism, it said.

The organisation, in its 676-page World Report 2012 published at Cairo in Egypt on Monday, expressed its concern over 'the change of form to abuse by security agencies'.

The report said the government violated the rights to a fair trial of thousands of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutineers.

A bloodbath in the headquarters of the Border Guard Bangladesh, formerly known as Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), killed at least 74 people, including 57 army officers deputed to the paramilitary force, on Feb 25-26, 2009. The trial of the mutineers is on in several special courts across the country.

Human Rights Watch said it thinks human rights organisations, journalists, trade unions, and civil society activists remain at risk in the country, with some suffering attacks.

The World Report assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including popular uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined.

RAB HAVE NO EXPLANATION

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, "The government of Sheikh Hasina has made repeated promises to end abuses and ensure justice and accountability, yet the security forces remain above the law."

"In the past year the government has moved from saying it would take action against abusive forces to denying abuses or defending the actions of the same abusive security forces that it complained about when it was in opposition," he added.

"Despite clear and voluminous evidence of Rapid Action Battalion responsibility," Adams said, "the government has not held anyone in RAB accountable for the large numbers of extrajudicial killings."

EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS SPREADING

According to the report, Bangladeshi human rights groups have documented nearly 1,600 extrajudicial killings since 2004.

"Many were disguised by law enforcement institutions as 'crossfire killings'." The organisation thinks RAB is the unit mainly responsible for such killings.

"…same culture of violations and impunity is infecting other security forces as members rotate back to their parent units in the police or intelligence departments," the report said.

Quoting the Asian Human Rights Commission, the report said that its representative, William Gomez, was abducted by plainclothes security personnel in May and tortured and verbally abused during an interrogation.

A Dhaka special court will decide on Feb 14 whether it would take cognisance of the charges against BNP chief Khaleda Zia in Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

On Sunday, judge Zahurul Haque of Dhaka's Senior Special Judge's Court Mohammad fixed the hearing.

On Jan 16, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) deputy director Harunur Rashid, also the plaintiff and investigation officer of the case, pressed charges against former prime minister Khaleda and three others.

The other accused in the case are Khaleda's former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his assistant private secretary (APS) Ziaul Islam (Munna) and former Dhaka mayor's APS Monirul Islam Khan.

After the current government took charge, this is for the first time a chargesheet has been submitted against the opposition leader.

ACC commissioner Muhammad Sahabuddin Chuppu had told on Jan 16 that 36 people were made witness in the case.

According to case details, a 42-kantha piece of land in the capital's Kakrail had been bought from Suraiya Khanam in January 2005 for Tk 65.2 million. The Zia Charitable Trust did not have any known source of income for around Tk 12.5 million – a sum that made up part of the payment for the land purchased in Dhaka.

The ACC submitted chargesheet said information of transactions worth more than Tk 31.5 million was found, apart from an amount given to the owner of the land. The money allegedly came from illegal sources.

In the event of a guilty verdict, said lawyer Aminul Gani Titu, experienced in criminal cases, the accused in such case can be sentenced up to seven years in jail and fined. The money they embezzled may also be seized, he added.

The BNP chief is currently on bail in the case. She submitted a High Court order that had granted her bail in the case to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Jan 17.

The BNP on Sunday called for a proper enquiry into December's failed military coup and go public with the findings, warning that finger-pointing could worsen matters.

The largest party in opposition formally reacted to the prime minister's suggestion on Saturday that it may have a hand in the aborted attempt to topple her government.

"The government has made questionable the credibility of the issue under investigation before the civil society and international community by making politically motivated and incomplete statements," the party's spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

The army said on Thursday that it had foiled a coup attempt by retired and serving officers last month.

Reading out a written statement at a press briefing at the party chief's Gulshan office, the acting secretary-general added that the government is trying to gain an advantage by 'fishing in the troubled waters' before an investigation into the sensitive issue is complete.

"They have given instructions to point the finger at the opposition party in describing the incident, which is a part of their conspiracy to make the armed forces controversial."

Mirza Fakhrul added that BNP always believed in constitutional politics. "We have confidence in the policy of forming government with the mandate of the people and changing government through free and fair elections."

On Thursday, the army said in a rare media briefing said some hardline officers were planning to overthrow the democratically elected government with the assistance of non-resident Bangladeshis.

Even though various ruling party leaders hinted at the opposition party's involvement in the incident following the briefing, Mirza Fakhrul began the briefing by expressing relief that the coup attempt was foiled.

"We are as much worried as the people are after reports about the incident emerged," he said and added that the party was pleased that no 'bloodshed or violence' occurred and that non-military rule and the constitution have prevailed.

He urged the government to not use the armed forces for partisan purposes. "Coup attempt in the army is a warning sign. We hope that the army will not fall prey to any large blueprints or conspiracies."

Fakhrul said 'unity' and 'discipline' were essential in these times and added, "Pointing the finger and blame games will not bring success for any of us, and might worsen the situation further."

General indices of both the bourses have plummeted sharply, a day after closing high.

On Wednesday, the index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) lost 94 points and 155 on the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).

Asked, CSE president Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed told , "The index fell as the assured steps to keep the market stable have not been fulfilled."

He said, "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared taking various steps like increasing netting facilities, minimising transaction time, reducing CDBL charges and increasing time to adjust subsidiary loan. But as the implementation is yet to happen, the market has fallen again."

After a meeting with the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) on Tuesday, SEC spokesman Saifur Rahman said the central bank had decided to give merchant banks more time to adjust their single-party exposure limit in a bid to help the drooping capital market.

The measure triggered the indices at both the bourses, until Wednesday morning, after which it started falling.

Small investors in frustration staged demonstration in front of the DSE.

BMBA president Mohammad A Hafiz in the evening told that shares were being bought from different institutions including merchant banks.

He also urged the investors to have patience, anticipating that the market would rebound within a day or two.

"Assurance has been given to extend time for loan adjustment. Therefore, there's nothing to panic," he observed.

Capital Market Investors Council's Mizanur Rashid Khan said there was a rumour that the adjustment time would not be extended.

"We've heard that a circular was supposed to be published, but it did not happen at last," he added.

On Wednesday, turnover stood at Tk 3.79 billion, 225 share prices declined, 25 advanced and seven remained unchanged.

The DSE general index rose 134.32 points or 2.26 percent to 6055.17 on Tuesday.

Governments and influential people around the world have been urged at a summit at the Qatari capital to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to bring 'equality'.

Hassan Ali, chairman of the Shafallah Forum, made the call while opening its fifth conference that brought together nearly 300 participants including first ladies and policymakers.

The Convention, if signed and ratified by a state, demands access to healthcare, education, employment and all other fundamental rights for persons with disabilities.

At least 153 countries including Bangladesh have signed and 109 ratified the convention, but Ali said 'they (people with disabilities) are not getting benefits of the provisions.'

He said awareness of this convention is 'paramount' while the true implementation is 'also paramount'.

"If you were to walk down any main street in any major city in the world, including Doha, and asked people the question: Have you heard of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the legal rights it gives persons with disability?

"The response of the majority would be that they have never heard of it and even if they had, it would not be a priority for them given the many challenges of everyday life, particularly now we are in the midst of a world economic recession."

Qatar emir's consort Sheikha Mozah, who spearheads social reforms in Qatar and also patronises the Shafallah Centre, was present amongst the audience drawn from first ladies and dignitaries when the chairman made the opening remarks.

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina's sister Sheikh Rehana and daughter, a US-licensed psychologist, Saima Hossain Putul were also in the audience.

The chairman said 'true and meaningful' implementation of the Convention depends upon governments, and the people with the real influence to bring about changes.

He, however, noted that many of the signatory countries do not have the financial and human resources and expertise to properly implement the provisions of the Convention.

He suggested direct allocation of money, resources and required services to the persons with disability. "But it is not just a question of giving them money; it is much more than that. It is about ensuring equality. It is about ensuring access to resources and services that guarantee their rights are realised."

The chairman portrayed the 'despair and desperation' of the lives of persons with disabilities in refugee camps and said refugees with a disability are amongst the 'most disadvantaged and disenfranchised' of all people living in the world today.

"I firmly believe that if the world's governments and general public were made aware of the plight of persons with disability living in poverty, then they would respond in a positive way and provide help in any way they could, and within their capability."

"All of us can make real difference to the lives of one billion strong."

One Billion Strong is a campaign dedicated to disability awareness, rights and education. UN puts the number of people with disability across the globe at one billion.

The chairman also called upon media to make disability issues 'mainstream'. "A positive impact on their lives, in my view, cannot be addressed without the sustained help of local, national and international media."

With the theme 'Crisis, Conflicts and Disability: Ensuring Equality', the conference aims at helping people with special needs, while serving as a platform for dialogue and debate on issues and challenges facing different societies.

The forum has been seen as one of the world's foremost conferences on disability -related issues.

The focus of this year's forum is on the marginalisation of persons with special needs during recent natural disasters in Japan, Haiti, Pakistan and the US, as well as the ongoing crises and conditions in refugee camps in the Middle East and Africa.

Cherie Blair, wife of former British prime minister Tony Blair and also the co-chair of the Shafallah Centre, in her luncheon remark said no topic could be more timely and relevant for this gathering than disability, 'given the increasing rate and severity of natural disasters and the dire conditions in refugee camps.'

Chittagong has again come out on top of the districts that exported manpower last year, sending more than 73,000 workers abroad –nearly twice the figure of the previous year.

Officials have dubbed the trend 'a positive sign' amidst the ongoing global recession, as remittance sent in by non-resident Bangladeshis constitutes a large section of the country's total earnings.

Records of Chittagong's employment and manpower office show that 40,000 workers, including 29,000 who registered with the district office, went abroad in 2010.

In 2011, the number hiked to 73,433, including 122 women, of which 53,481 registered at the district office, while the rest enlisted with the central office of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) in Dhaka.

"Chittagong's contribution to the country's total manpower export is 568,000. Most of these workers come from Chittagong," the district office's assistant director Jahirul Alam Majumder told .

He added that the coastal district had also contributed the highest to the total of 390,000 last year.

A total of 388,496 workers went to different countries including those of the Middle East from the coastal district from January 2004 to December 2011.

Nearly 1.5 million from Chittagong are working abroad currently. Most of them are in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

According to the Bangladesh Bank website, the total remittance received from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, Kuwait and the USA was the highest during the first half of the current fiscal. The district office of BMET, however, failed to give information about Chittagong workers' contribution to the earning.

"The size of exported manpower was nearly 850,000 in 2007-2008. Though the export was decreasing for the global economic crisis, it started rising recently," Chittagong University professor Moinul Islam, also the former president of Bangladesh Economic Association, told .

"It's helpful for the national economy. Hopefully the upward trend will continue," he added.

According to the Bangladesh Bank, the total remittance inflow was approximately $ 6.07 billion during the first half of the current fiscal (July-December) while the amount was $5.5 billion during the same period last fiscal year.

Prof Islam said most of the workers going abroad now are unskilled and less skilled manpower. "If we can send half-trained, fully-trained and professional workers and encourage them to remit through legal process, the remittance will increase more."

"Maximum workers from Chittagong manage visa through personal contacts or relative-neighbours in stead of government channel," BMET assistant director Jahirul said, dubbing the coastal area as 'the district of expatriates'.

The BMET says new opportunities to export manpower in different countries including Malaysia, Iraq and Lebanon, through government channels will be created this year.

Police recovered an AK-47 assault rifle and bullets from frontier Painhata village at Nalitabari's Ramchandrakora Union in Sherpur on Monday.

"We recovered the rifle and 20 bullets from the kitchen of one Nibash Marak's residence around 5am," Mohammad Anisur Rahman, superintendent of Sherpur police, told .

Tipped-off, they raided the residence, the police official said.

He said the weapon and ammunition, wrapped with a piece of white cloth, was packed in a plastic bag and buried in the floor of the kitchen.

Nibash Marak, the owner of the residence, fled before the raid, he said, adding that details would be revealed in a press briefing later on.

The telecoms regulator has decided that starting February, it will not allow mobile phones that do not have Bangla keypads into Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission chairman Zia Ahmed told on Sunday the importers had been informed of the decision.

"Instructions have been issued so that these phones don't come through the airport or the sea ports either," Ahmed added.

Bangladesh Mobile Phone Business Association hailed the step but urged BTRC to be flexible about some 200,000 mobile sets that were pending import.

"The association will do its best to support the decision. But we have some 200,000 mobile phones import imminent. The BTRC should be flexible about that," Association president Nijamuddin Jitu said.

The association has 210 members who are involved in importing mobile handsets.

BTRC says the ban was pressed to push the usage of Bangla in mobile phones into trend and increase the ease of use.

When asked about instructions on touch screen mobiles, the BTRC chief said so far the directive was for phones with keypad which were more commonly used.

"Gradually we will order the usage of Bangla in the more enhanced mobiles," he added.

BTRC warned importers in November that a decision to ban phones without Bangla keypads was coming. At that time the regulator also banned mobile operators from importing mobile phones.

A bus carrying Ijtema devotees overturned after hitting a tree, leaving at least four people dead and 15 others injured in the district's Kaliganj Upazila on Monday.

Kaliganj police chief Syed Kamruzzaman said the accident occurred around 5am at Jamtola of Raghunathpur area when the bus was heading to Khulna from Tongi.
"Three of the passengers died at the scene while another died after he was taken to Jessore Sadar Hospital," Kamruzzaman told .

Three of the dead have been identified as 65-year old Mufti Abu Jafar of Mokampur village in Khulna's Terkhada upazila, 42-year old Imam of Dighlia Diara Mosque Mufti Alamgir Hossain, and 50-year old Maulana Abdul Kuddus, a teacher of Jakaria Darul Ulum Madrasah in Narail.

"We were on our way back from Tongi after the Ijtema. As the driver was speeding the bus hit a tree suddenly around dawn and overturned," said Ashraf Ali Morol, a resident of Kar Maijhkhana village of Terkhada as he survived.

"All the passengers have been injured up to an extent," he said.

Police and local people started a rescue drive soon after the accident.

The 15 injured have been sent to Jessore Sadar Hospital, Kamruzzaman added.

The Bangladeshi army said Thursday that it recently foiled a coup against the government of Prime Minister Sheik Hasina Wajed planned by religious extremists within the military.

Brig. Gen. Masud Razzaq told reporters the "whole-hearted efforts of army soldiers" had frustrated the attempt by those in active service to seize power.

"A band of fanatic officers had been trying to oust the politically established government," he added. "Their attempt has been foiled."

Razzaq declined to comment on the details of the plot other than to say that as many as 16 hard-line Islamist mid-level officers were involved, including two retired military personnel, and that at least two were detained while others remained under surveillance. A court of inquiry was reportedly convened Dec. 28.

It wasn’t immediately clear why news of the coup was delayed, when it was foiled nor exactly who was involved. Bangladesh is no stranger to military-led rule, having lived under army control for the 15 years that ended in 1990. Wajed assumed power from a military-backed caretaker government in 2009.

Golam Hossain, a professor of government at Jahangirnagar University in the capital, Dhaka, who lives less than a mile from the city’s main military base, said the streets were quiet late Thursday.

Citing sources close to the military, Hossain put the number of those arrested at between four and six, including a Bangladeshi who had lived abroad, with several others being watched carefully.

"Critics of the government say this is an attempt by the government to make a plan against its critics in the military, that it’s a government-made plot," he said. "It’s difficult to know the exact situation now."

Wajed has enacted a series of reforms since taking power that have made some Bangladeshis unhappy. She has cracked down on religious extremism, prosecuted alleged war criminals, improved relations with India and rewrote the constitution, introducing more secular policies.

"She’s done a decent job," said Anand Kumar, associate fellow at Delhi’s Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis. "For radicals, it’s not to their liking."

Others expressed doubt that religious extremism was the driving force behind the alleged coup, adding that the more likely problem was unhappiness within the military over a 2009 crackdown. Soon after Wajed assumed power that year, paramilitary forces staged a revolt that left more than 70 people dead, including 51 army officers, before it was crushed.

"Since then, some of the young military officers were not happy about the handling by the current regime," said Ataur Rahman, a political science professor at the University of Dhaka. "There are potential seeds of dissent."

Rumors have been circulating for about three weeks of some sort of problem within the military, Dhaka residents said. Wajed’s popularity has also taken a hit as economic growth has slowed - it’s forecast to come in around 6 percent this year compared with the government’s 7 percent target - in line with the global slowdown, even as inflation remains high. Politics in the country also remain deeply divided.

"Let’s see how things play out," Rahman said. "This may be the beginning of something. If the military can’t handle it properly, it may turn more difficult in coming days."

The Chittagong Development Authority on Friday blocked an entire road for about five hours to inaugurate an extension.

The primary and mass education minister Afsarul Amin inaugurated the Andarkilla to Laldighi Junction road extension and development project around 5pm.

A giant stage for the inauguration completely blocked the left lane of the extended road from 1pm. The procession of the minister's political followers also clogged up the right lane from 4pm.

Until 6pm, few cars were able to get through the intersection.

CDA chairman Abdus Salam haughtily remarked to that before their project, the road remained blocked at all times.

"Our extension makes it possible to travel on that road. What's the harm in a few more hours of block?" he added.

The extension has created two lanes on the road whereas for many years it had been a one-way.

Salam remarked that citizens did not face much trouble from their road block since businesses in that area of the port city are closed on Friday

During the inauguration traffic was diverted to Nazir Ahmed Chowdhury Road where commuters experienced a temporary gridlock from the added pressure.

CDA announced at the inauguration that the entire fund of Tk 50 million for the 800 by 60 feet extension came from its own funds.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a businessman, who recently returned home from Kuwait, at Mirpur in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Haider Ali, 50.

The police said a group of criminals stormed into his residence at Maddha Pirerbagh and shot him around 2:30pm.

Haider died around 3:30pm on way to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), the police said.

Sub-inspector of DMCH police outpost Mozammel Haque told that it is yet to be ascertained whether the incident was the upshot of robbery or there was some other motive.

Haider's wife Selina Begum told reporters that her husband had returned to the country from Kuwait a few months ago and started investing in the stock market.

The body has been sent to DMCH morgue for autopsy, the police said.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees flooded the sandy banks of the river Turag on Saturday to pray and listen to sermons in the second phase of the Biswa Ijtema.
Many more are still streaming into the ground on Saturday after the three-day gathering began on Friday.

The rush is expected to continue until Sunday when the second phase of the meet culminates through the Akheri Munajat or final prayer around noon.

The Biswa Ijtema, or the World Congregation of Muslims, is known as the second largest annual Islamic event after the Hajj.

The gathering will be hosting the ritualistic dowry-less weddings prior to the Asr prayers on Saturday. Indian scholar Zobayerul Hasan will conduct the marriage after the Asr prayers.

Couples, who have enlisted their names in the wedding register, would be married off through the traditional ceremony of the Tablig Jamaat, a non-political group that organises the gathering.

Muslims from 32 districts of Bangladesh and from foreign countries are taking part in the second phase of the congregation, which shuns politics and violence, but works for the revival of the Islamic tenets.
Dressed in traditional robes and prayer caps, huge columns of devotees from far-flung villages and towns in Bangladesh, as well as across the world, made way towards the gathering site on Friday, braving overcrowded buses and ferries, and enduring long delays and a dense fog.

Ijtema's appeal has grown largely over the years among those who cannot afford to go to Meccah for the Hajj.

The second phase began after a four-day gap on Jan 20. The first phase of the annual world gathering ended with Akheri Munajat on Jan 15.

Biswa Ijtema has been taking place in Bangladesh (then Bengal) since the 1960s when it used to take place at Dhaka's Kakrail mosque.
In 1948, it took place at the Haji Camp in Chittagong, and shifted to Narayanganj's Shiddhirganj in 1958. With a steady increase in the number of devotees attending, the Biswa Ijtema was shifted to the banks of Turag in Tongi in 1966 and has been taking place there since then.

DISTRICTS IN SECOND PHASE

Organisers have said that the Ijtema ground has been divided into 38 khitas or blocks marked for 32 districts for the second phase.

People from Narayanganj got blocks one and two, Dhaka – blocks three and four, Cox's Bazar – five, Manikganj – six, Jamalpur - seven Patuakhali – eight, Pirojpur – nine, Tangail – 10, Netrokona - 11, Barisal – 12, Jhenidah – 13, Meherpur – 14, Mymensingh – 15, 16 and 17, Comilla- 18, Laxmipur – 19, Brahmanbaria – 20, Kurigram – 21, Noakhali – 22, Nilphamari – 23, Thakurgaon – 24, Panchagarh – 25, Chapainawabganj – 26, Bogra – 27, Pabna – 28, Naogaon – 29, Munshiganj – 30 and 31, Madaripur-32, Gopalganj – 33, Satkhira – 34, Magura – 35, Khulna – 36, Sunamganj – 37 and Moulvibazar – 38.

SECURITY

Tongi has been covered with a multi-layer security blanket with the presence of police, elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Ansar and intelligence agencies. Law enforcers have divided the congregation venue and surrounding areas into five sectors.

RAB helicopters will hover over the venue and plain-clothed members of the elite force are also watching over each block.

River patrol teams started work on Thursday, patting down those entering the ground and watching from towers. Moreover, security personnel have mingled with the devotees in the blocks, dressed in white and wearing special caps.

RAB bomb squad members are also on the ground.

Gazipur police superintendent Abdul Baten earlier told that a total of 10,000 security personnel including RAB and police are working to ensure safety at the Ijtema ground. Overall security is being monitored with several RAB and police close circuit cameras.

Forwarding agents at Benapole fear export and import through the land port may take a hit with the introduction of the car pass system.

"We are in favour of the new system but if it is not introduced in other land ports as well, trade activities through Benapole are likely to decline," Serajul Islam Seraj, vice-president of Benaploe Customs Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association, told on Saturday.

"It takes time to get used to any new system, and initially it is bound to causes delays," Seraj said. "But if it is only introduced in Benapole, exporters and importers may prefer other land ports, as they will be more lucrative for them due to the time factor."

Between 300 and 350 trucks come from the Indian side and about 100 to 150 trucks enter India with export items through Benapole at present.

The car pass system was inaugurated by finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith and his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee at Petrapole in India earlier in the day.

PASS TO DRIVERS

As part of the system, a pass will be provided to drivers of vehicles that cross the border to unload products. The pass will contain detailed information on products and drivers, and helpers of the vehicles.

"Under the new system our trucks will enter Indian customs area, and Indian vehicles can enter Bangladesh on reciprocal basis," Muhith said at the inauguration programme.

Mukherjee said, "Trade between India and Bangladesh is growing and we are taking steps to reduce trade gap between the two countries."

On a daily average, 327 vehicles entered Bangladesh in 2004-05, which went up to 658 vehicles in 2009-10.

In contrast, 73 Bangladeshi trucks carrying export items entered Petrapole, India, in 2004-05 and rose to 147 in 2009-10.

PROBLEMS AT BENAPOLE

Benapole is convenient for traders since, at 81 kilometres, it is the nearest land port from Kolkata and has all the facilities. But now, Seraj said, it is losing the edge due to congestion, lack of unloading equipment and high charges.

"Traders have to pay Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 if a truck waits for a day," Seraj said. "In some cases it takes five to seven days to unload products at Benapole."

"Goods from nearly 70 to 75 per cent trucks can be unloaded within a day but other trucks have to wait for their chance."

Asked why all trucks cannot be unloaded in a single day, Seraj said, "Labour shortage and lack of space in warehouse are the main reasons for that."

Benapole, declared a full-fledged Customs House in 2000, has 31 godowns. Other land ports are only land customs stations.

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) man, who was allegedly abducted by Indian 'smugglers' early Friday morning, is recuperating in the capital.

India's Border Security Force (BSF) handed over habilder Lutfar Rahman at the Akhaura border around 3am on Saturday, BGB's public relations officer Mohsin Reza told .

"Habilder Lutfar is sick. He has been sent to Dhaka," BGB-12 battalion commander lieutenant colonel Mostafizur Rahman told on Saturday. "He is being treated at the BGB headquarters hospital at Peelkhana."

According to BGB sources, Indian smugglers kidnapped Lutfar Rahman following a clash with a BGB team at Dalkia village in Sadar Dakkhin upazila on Friday morning.

The sources said BGB personnel opened fire when some Indian smugglers attempted to enter Bangladesh through the porous Tripura border with a cache of the banned cough syrup Phensedyl. While one smuggler, identified as Shah Alam, 40, died in the firing, fellow smugglers took away the body and also abducted the BGB habilder.

They later handed over Lutfar to the BSF at the Indian paramilitary force's Dhanpur camp.

The BGB said Shah Alam was a drug peddler from Sonamura in western Tripura, about 80 kilometres west of the state capital Agartala.

Quoting BSF officials, the Indian media reported that Shah Alam was a civilian and he died in BGB firing after some of its members entered Indian territory.

On Friday, BGB Battalion-33 Lt Col Aktaruzzaman told reporters that they had a flag meeting with BSF at zero point along Tarapukur border for Lutfar's release.

The one-and-half-an-hour-long meeting, also attended by BSF Battalion-29 Gausava Dhanpur Camp commander A K Helbaram and his deputy Anil Kumar, ended without a decision, Aktaruzzaman said.

Habilder Lutfar's 'abduction' comes close on the heels of some BSF members allegedly stripping and assaulting a Bangladeshi villager earlier this week along the West Bengal border.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina again pointed the finger at the BNP on Saturday for conspiring the military coup and said that analysis of their statements and speeches make many things clear.

"If you have anything to say, come to parliament. There will be no more usurping power in Bangladesh by taking shortcuts, God willing," she said, addressing the opposition leader Khaleda Zia at a discussion in Ganabhaban.

On Thursday, Bangladesh army said in a media briefing that it foiled a plot by some hardline officers who were plotting to disrupt the democracy with the assistance of some non-resident Bangladeshis.

Thanking the military for frustrating the attempt to overthrow her elected government, Hasina said, "As a result, they and the country both have been saved."

Apparently referring to BNP chairperson Khaleda's remarks at a Chittagong rally on Jan 9 that 'even army personnel are being abducted', army spokesman, brigadier general Muhammad Masud Razzaq had said on Thursday, "Even a large political party sang along imaginary, misleading and propagandist news to bring allegations, which created unexpected and provocative debate among the army and conscious citizens."

"An analysis of their [opposition party] speeches and statements will make a lot of things to the people," Hasina pointed out, reiterating her stance that the main opposition is conspiring against the government.

The prime minister added that those who have come to power in the past using the military have harmed the armed forces through the coups and murders that they carried out.

The discussion organised to bring together Noakhali district Awami League and associate organisations was also attended by executive council members of the ruling party and leaders of all units in the district.