Rival pirates lock in gunfight

A fisherman was injured as two rival pirate groups locked in a fierce gunfight at Bacha Rajakhali point of the river Mamundo in the Sundarbans on Sunday.

Injured Nuruzzaman Barkandaz, 30, son of Ahmad Barkandaz of Kalinchi village in Shyamnagar upazila, was admitted to Khulna 250-bed Hospital in critical condition.

Quoting local people police said nine fishermen including Nuruzzaman and Nur Ali of Kaikhali village went to the Sundarbans in three trawlers to catch fish taking pass from the Kaikhali forest office on July 10 morning.

They were besieged by Galkata Masud Bahini as soon as they reached Bacha Rajakhali area.

The pirates demanded Tk 10,000 per boat from the fishermen. In the meantime, the rival pirate gang belonging to Pakhi Bahini, numbering about 30 opened fire on the members of Masud Bahini.

Masud Bahini retaliated and the gunfight continued for 40 minutes since 10:45 am.

Nuruzzaman received bullet injuries while the members of Masud Bahini fled into deep forest.

Later pirates belonging to Pakhi Bahini reached there and caught the fishermen with three trawlers.

Meanwhile, three other fishermen, who went to the Sundarbans last week, have been abducted by pirates from the Kateshwar and Bayarsingh canals.

The three are now held hostage in the deep forest for a ransom of Tk 20,000 each, police quoting the victims' relatives said.

Seven days have been set as the deadline for payment of the ransom failing which the fishermen will face 'dire consequences', fishermen who fled the scene said.

The abducted fishermen are Ruhul Kabir, 35, son of Daud Ali and Sabud Ali Sardar, 28, son of Abdur Rahim Sardar of Patakhali village and Mozammel Sardar, 25 son of Mandar Sardar of Jyotindra Nagar village in Shyamnagar upazila.

Source : The Daily Star

5 BNP activists held in mango trader killing case remanded

Five of the six accused held in mango trader Mosharraf Hossain murder case were remanded yesterday.

Chief judicial magistrate Liakat Ali granted three days remand for BNP activists Rafiqul Islam, Alam Hossain, Masud Rana and two days for Mamunur Rashid and Mamun Hossain, sub-inspector Jalal Uddin of Natore PS, also investigation officer of the case, said.

Police on Monday noon arrested another BNP activist from Tebaria Paulpara area in connection with the case. Arrestee Amir Hossain Don, 22, is son of late Dulal Pramanik of the same area.

Sub-inspector Jalal Uddin said the case has already been turned into a murder case.

Police sought five days' remand for Don in the same court yesterday, said the additional superintendent of police.

Earlier, the aforesaid five remanded BNP activists were arrested on Thursday for their alleged involvement in killing of Mosharraf.

Mango trader Mosharraf and two others were injured when a gang of 6-7 set fire to a mango-laden truck on Natore-Dhaka highway at the district headquarters around 11:30pm Wednesday, the first day of the 48-hour shutdown called by BNP and its allies.

Mosharraf succumbed to burnt injury the next day at burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital at about 1:30am.

Mosharraf, son of Ayub Ali of Goshal Shikdarkandi village under Jajira upazila in Shariatpur, used to do business in Natore and lived in Hazaribagh area with his family members.

Source : The Daily Star

Ulema League leader stabbed

Local drug peddlers and junkies allegedly stabbed an Ulema League leader and ransacked his residence in the city's Jatrabari yesterday.

The injured, Amzad Hossain, 40, was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He is the joint general secretary of Jatrabari Thana unit Ulema League.

Amzad told journalists at the hospital that some 10-12 addicts stabbed him on the head and hands and beat up with sticks in front of his house in Momenbagh about 1:30pm.

The victim said he attended a local arbitration over several addicts who took drugs on the roof of a nearby house around 11:00am.

Source : The Daily Star

Obituary

Mohammad Ashrafuddin, the chairman of Kadirpara union parishad of Sreepur upazila, passed away at his residence at Radhanagar village of Magura on Monday due to cardiac arrest at the age of 69.

He left behind his wife, two sons and two daughters.

He was elected chairman of the union for four times.

He was buried at his family graveyard after namaz-e-janaza.

Source : The Daily Star

Immediate action against Porimol demanded

Speakers at a rally yesterday called upon the prime minister to take immediate action against the accused teacher of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College who sexually assaulted a class-X female student.

Expressing hatred and resentment, they demanded withdrawal of the school principal.

The speakers also demanded to implement the High Court order to follow the anti-sexual harassment policy at the educational institutions to stop occurrence of such incident in the future.

Nirjaton Birodhi Chhatra Brindo organised the rally at Central Shaheed Minar participated by hundreds of female students of different educational institutions in the city.

The speakers emphasised to detect teacher like Porimol from all educational institutions and bring them under law.

Former and current students of Viqarunnisa, DU teachers, and Bangladesh Chhatra Union participated the programme.

Porimol Joydhor, the sacked Bangla teacher of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, was arrested on July 6 from Keraniganj on allegation of sexually assaulting the girl at his Badda coaching centre on May 28.

Source : The Daily Star

Misarai Tragedy: Deaths condoled

Different organisations and personalities, including Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, yesterday expressed deep shock at the death of 43 school and college students.

A truck packed with about 70 students crashed and flipped over into a ditch in Mirsarai upazila Monday afternoon, killing 43 of them and injuring another 12.

In a condolence message, Nobel winner Prof Yunus expressed his deep shock at the death of so many schoolchildren, saying nothing can console the bereaved families. "All I can say is that I and my family share your grief and stand by your side," he said.

State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mohammad Ahad Ali in a message prayed for salvation of the departed souls.

Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Afsarul Ameen, State Minister Motahar Hossain and Secretary AKM Abdul Awal Majumder also condoled the deaths.

Different non-government organisations including Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) and Manusher Jonno Foundation also expressed condolence. The rights bodies demanded immediate arrest of the truck driver and the owner.

Source : The Daily Star

Executive Magistrates' Powers: Govt yet to reply to HC rule

The government is yet to place any reply to the High Court rule over empowerment of executive magistrates for performing judicial functions in the last 20 months.

In response to a writ petition, the HC on November 15, 2009 issued the rule upon the government to explain why the amended rules of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) giving judicial powers to executive magistrates should not be declared illegal. The rule was made returnable within three weeks.

Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain, who represents the government in this case, told The Daily Star that they will submit a reply to the rule before the HC during its hearing.

He said the HC bench led by Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik may hold hearing on the rule any day, as the matter has been enlisted in the cause-list of this bench for hearing.

"We will make a reply to the rule after getting instructions from the authorities concerned of the government," said the deputy attorney general.

Petitioner's counsel Manzill Musrhid said the government can place its arguments before the HC without submitting any written reply to its rule.

"We will place our arguments before the High Court during hearing on the rule that the amended rules of CrPC giving judicial powers to executive magistrates are illegal and unconstitutional," he said.

The parliament passed the CrPC (Amendment) Act, 2009 on April 7, 2009, incorporating the rules that allowed the government discretion to empower executive magistrates to take cognisance of offences, and the government issued a gazette notification on the act on April 8 the same year.

Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh on November 15, 2009, filed the writ petition as a public interest litigation seeking a directive from the HC upon the government to cancel the amended CrPC rules.

The HC on the same day issued the rule, making secretaries to cabinet division, president's secretariat, prime minister's office secretariat, Jatiya Sangsad secretariat and law ministry as its respondents.

Manzill Murshid said that as per sections 145 to 147 of the amended CrPC, the executive magistrate decides issues of possession, grants ad-interim injunction, appoints receiver, restores possessions and grants permanent injunction in the cases until the cases are settled by the courts of the judicial magistrate, which are judicial powers.

The amended CrPC rules, which empowered the executive magistrates to discharge judicial functions, are against the provisions of the constitution and the principles of the Supreme Court judgement in Masdar Hossain case, popularly known as Judiciary Separation Case, he said.

The executive magistrates were empowered to pass orders in the cases through the amendment of the CrPC, which only the judicial magistrates are entitled to do as per the provisions of the constitution and the SC directives in the judgment of Masdar Hossain case, he added.

Source : The Daily Star

College closed after BCL clash, 25 hurt

At least 25 students were injured in a clash between two groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at Gobindaganj College in Chhatak upazila yesterday noon.

Principal of the ollege shut the college for two days, July 13 and 14, following the clash.

Witnesses said tension was prevailing for the last several days between BCL Gobinda College unit president Sayadur Rahman Sayad group and the district unit Chatra League leader Masud Kamal Sufi group over establishing dominance on the campus.

The clash ensued as Zamir Ali of Sayad group and Khasru of Sufi group engaged in a brawl in the morning.

In sequel to the brawl, the two groups, equipped with firearms and sharp weapons, chased each others on the college campus leaving at least 25 injured on both sides at noon.

During the clash Sylhet-Sunamganj road was blocked and vehicular movement came to halt for about a half hour.

On information, police rushed in and quelled the situation. As tension prevailed, police was patrolling the campus and adjacent areas.

Source : The Daily Star

Violence sparks as man dies in road crash

A man was killed and another suffered injuries after a bus hit them in front of Bahadur Shah Park of the capital's Sutrapur yesterday.

Imran, 40, hailed from Chandpur, died instantly while injured Delwar Hossain, 30, a carpenter at Karwanbazar, was rushed to a local hospital.

The OC said the bus from Gulistan hit them while they were crossing the road in front of the park around 2:30pm.

However, locals locked into a clash with the law enforcers as the latter rescued the driver and helper from mob beating before detaining them and seizing the bus.

Earlier, the locals stopped the bus and also vandalised it protesting the incident. Police charged baton to disperse the mob and to bring the situation under control. Police also detained five persons from the spot.

The driver said that he lost control over the bus and it hit them.

Source : The Daily Star

Case against Sahara, Tuku dismissed

A Dhaka court yesterday dismissed an attempted murder case against 400 people, including Home Minister Sahara Khatun and her deputy Shamsul Haque Tuku, a couple of hours after it was filed.

Metropolitan Magistrate Harun-Or-Rashid passed the order finding "no elements" to take into cognisance the charges against the accused.

Advocate ANM Abed Raja, executive committee member of BNP Kulaura unit of Moulvibazar, filed the case yesterday morning.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun, State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku, Inspector General of Police Hasan Mahmud Khandker and DMP Commissioner Benazir Ahmed were among the accused.

In his complaint, Abed Raja alleged that police assaulted him while he was holding a peaceful rally in front of BNP central office at Naya Paltan on July 4 and during the June 13 hartal.

Source : The Daily Star

15th amendment goes against minorities: CHT Commission

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission expressed serious concerns yesterday about the fifteenth amendment to the constitution and urged the prime minister to take immediate steps to respond to demands of Jumma people.

In a letter sent yesterday to the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the commission said the constitution of Bangladesh should not include any religion as a state religion.

The CHT Commission had been hopeful that the four founding values -- democracy, socialism, nationalism and secularism -- upon which the original 1972 constitution was founded would be upheld in full, said the letter.

"We are instead disturbed to note that many of the provisions now inserted in the constitution are antithetical to principles of equality, marginalised minorities", it read.

The letter was signed by three co-chairs of the CHT Commission -- Lord Eric Avebury, Sultana Kamal, and Elsa Stamatopoulou.

Source : The Daily Star

Road crashes kill 5

Five people, including a five-month-old baby, were killed and two others injured in separate road accidents in Munshiganj, Chittagong and Faridpur yesterday.

Our Munshiganj correspondent reports: One man was killed in a road accident in Goalbari area under Sirajdikhan upazila yesterday.

The deceased is Abdul Based, 38, of Chokdarpara of Sirajdikhan.

Police said the accident took place when Based was sandwiched between two buses while he was getting down from the roof of a running bus.

Our staff correspondent from Chittagong says: A baby of five-month-old was killed in a road accident at Shikalbaha of Patiya upazila in the port city yesterday.

The deceased is Rima, baby of Lucky Akther and Mohammad Musa, of Modhyom Shikalbaha of Patiya.

Police said the accident occurred when a taxi carrying the baby and its mother turned over on the way to their home at Shikalbaha around 10:10am.

Our Faridpur correspondent adds: Three people were killed and two others injured as a passenger bus of AK Paribahan and an auto-rickshaw collided head-on on Dhaka-Khulna highway in Bahirdia bridge area of Sadar upazila yesterday afternoon.

The deceased are Khalil Fakir, 70, his son Luku Fakir, 50, and auto-rickshaw driver Dudu Pramanik, 50.

Source : The Daily Star 

China warehouse fire kills 12

A fierce blaze ripped through a warehouse in central China yesterday killing 12 people -- including three children -- who were trapped inside, state media and the local fire brigade said.

Scores of people managed to flee the building after the fire broke out at an industrial park in Hubei province's Wuhan city, but some remained stuck inside, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Source : The Daily Star

Manmohan keeps key ministers: His cautious cabinet reshuffle draws criticism

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh retained key allies in a cabinet reshuffle yesterday, shunning big changes in a bid to hold onto power amid charges of graft and policy paralysis.

In his second cabinet revamp this year, the beleaguered prime minister shied away from his pledge of a major shakeup, choosing instead to focus on gaining rural support ahead of 2012 state elections.

He retained his influential but often troublesome finance and interior ministers, a sign that stalled economic and political reforms were unlikely to be fast-tracked soon, reports Reuters.

Manmohan Singh came under renewed fire following the reshuffle that the opposition branded an "aimless rotation".

Tweaks to the government were seen as an attempt to remove some underperforming ministers and prepare the ruling Congress party for a key election in Uttar Pradesh next year, India's largest state with some 200 million people, a vote seen as setting the stage for the general election in 2014.

"I don't think it is a big-ticket change. I mean there have been some changes at the margin. It could be that part of this exercise is with an eye on the UP elections," said Sonal Verma, a Mumbai-based economist at Nomura, who still expected some economic reforms in the near-term.

Halfway through its second term, the administration led by Singh's Congress party has suffered from months of negatives headlines over corruption scandals, stubbornly high inflation and slowing economic growth.

Also, defence and foreign affairs ministers all kept their jobs in a limited shake-up of Singh's top team that had been aimed at combating accusations that the government has lost momentum.

Parsa Venkateshwar Rao, an independent political analyst in New Delhi, said the move was a missed opportunity for Singh to fulfil his vow to revive the government.

"This does not come through as an attempt to clean up the government's image. They are practically routine changes," he told AFP. "The prime minister promised a major reshuffle, but that hasn't happened."

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was the most high-profile mover as he was promoted to the cabinet and transferred to the rural development portfolio.

Ramesh, who was seen as a pro-active minister but often courted controversies by his handling of environmental issues, adds The Times of India.

He is believed to be close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the power behind the government, but has had differences with the prime minister.

Last month, Singh, 78, rejected criticism that he had become a "lame duck" leader who had turned a blind eye to a spate of corruption allegations, including a multi-billion-dollar telecom scandal.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dismissed the reshuffle as an "aimless rotation" that fell far short of public expectations.

"It clearly shows that the government does not care about popular sentiment. People expected significant changes this time," BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told AFP.

The reshuffle followed the resignation of textile minister Dayanidhi Maran last week over the 2006 allocation of second-generation (2G) mobile phone licences when he was telecoms minister.

The 2G issue has been the biggest corruption scandal to hit Singh, with allegations that the treasury missed out on up to $40 billion of revenue due to ministers selling the licences at bargain prices to selected firms.

Maran's successor at the telecoms ministry, A Raja, also resigned last year over the 2G scandal. Raja is now in custody awaiting trial along with several top government officials and business executives.

Both Maran and Raja were from the regional DMK party that is part of the ruling alliance, but the new telecoms minister named was young Congress politician Milind Deora.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, a political analyst, was critical that Deora was taken into the government just as his father Murali Deora stepped down as minister of corporate affairs.

"You really can't get crasser than this. It's almost a mechanical exercise," he told AFP.

In other appointments, Dinesh Trivedi, from the Trinamool Congress regional party, took the railways post that had been held by the party's boss Mamata Banerjee until she became chief minister of West Bengal state in May.

The railways ministry has been in the spotlight after a series of disasters. On Sunday, nearly a dozen carriages of a packed express jumped the rails in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, killing 69 people.

HOSTILE MONSOON?
Singh is likely to face a hostile monsoon session in parliament from August 1 when opposition parties are expected to press the government on corruption and inflation, currently the highest in any major Asian economy.

Left-of-centre Congress has traditionally relied on the rural poor for votes and the tweaks in the cabinet suggest Gandhi wants to ensure the recent scandals, coupled with soaring inflation will not lead to a loss of support in coming years.

Source : The Daily Star 

Blasts kill 12 at Cyprus Navy base

Huge blasts in a seized Iranian arms cache at a Greek Cypriot naval base in southern Cyprus killed at least 12 people on Monday, triggering power and water outages likely to last months.

The commander of Cyprus's navy, Andreas Ioannides, was among the dead, as was the commander of the Evangelos Florakis base, Lambros Lambrou, police and the National Guard said in a joint statement.

Four other members of the armed forces and six firefighters also died.

Massive damage was caused to homes in the nearby village of Mari, forcing the evacuation of its 150 residents, the village headman told AFP.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said 62 people were injured, two of them seriously, and announced three days of official mourning.

Source : The Daily Star

School reels from tragedy

In its 97 years of history, the school never experienced anything like this. On the second day of Mirsarai road crash that killed its 33 students, everywhere there was a deep sense of sadness.

Almost all the students and teachers of Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School in Mayani union under Mirsarai upazila were present at the school yesterday. But all sorts of academic activities were suspended.

Its small playground has been filled with hundreds of people including government high ups and journalists since Monday.

Many students were walking like zombies along the school verandas. Some were blankly staring at strangers.

A small group of class-VIII students were found weeping in the corner of their classroom. They lost 11 classmates including the first boy, Dhruba Nath Sujan, in the road wreck.

Nusrat Jahan Shetu, one of the mourners, said all of the 11 were bright and meritorious.

"Especially, Sujan, who won Talentpool scholarship in class-V, was the best and we expected he would successfully pass the junior scholarship exam scheduled for the end of this year," said Shetu as she choked back tears.

In the adjacent room, gathered class-IX students. Ten of their classmates were among the 44 who died on Monday when a truck carrying schoolboys back from watching a football match fell into a water-filled ditch.

Lovely Sultana, Khaleda Akhter, Rahela Akhter, Bipasha Das and a few others cried out when asked about their dead friends.

Moments later, Rahela, controlling her emotion, said Monday around 9:00am she saw all the ten boys get in a running truck.

They were heading for Mirsarai Stadium to watch a football match between Abu Torab Govt Primary School and Moghadia Anjumanunnesa Government Primary School, she said.

Also, at the corridors, parents of some victims were crying, often embracing the teachers.

Students of nearby schools also joined the mourning. Amjad, a student of Moghadia Nurul Absar High School, said many of the victims had been their friends.

It was also difficult for Gopal Chandra Das, a fourth class employee who has been working here since 1988, to bear the pain.

But he had to carry out his duties at a stress for the sake of a mourning rally scheduled on the school premises yesterday.

Teachers, too, got little time to mourn as they were busy with activities centring the rally.

Talking to The Daily Star, Headmaster Jafar Sadek could only say, "It is the saddest time of my life."

Mohammad Yunus, an assistant teacher, who taught for the last 25 years in the school, said, "As soon as we rushed to the accident site [on Monday], we saw bodies of my loved children lying in a row on the road.

"Neither I could sleep the whole night nor could I eat. I was just thinking about the innocent faces and trying to feel how they suffered.

"We taught them, sometimes rebuked; but now I miss my students very much."

Source : The Daily Star 

Tears in heaven

Rubber slippers float on water, reddish partly from oil leaked from the truck or from blood of 42 children and 2 others who perished when it plunged into the ditch.

People still come and stand silent to give a vacant look at the site. Only ravaging anger and a sense of nothingness prevail.

For the Mirsarai people, nothing and nobody can stop their mourning. Nothing and nobody can bring back their lost children who are now in heaven and whom they brought up so dearly. Only tears flow. Only the thought of heaven.

Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would you hold my hand if I saw you in heaven? The people think.

Beyond the door there will be peace, I am sure. And I know there will be no more tears in heaven. The mourners think. And yet mourning becomes only heavier. Tears turn to torrents.

"My brother, his blood made the water red," sobbed Saraswati Das, 35-year-old sister of Liton Das, a class VIII student, who perished in Monday's accident. She came to have a glimpse of the place where her brother's short life ended.

She was not alone as the accident took lives from many families in the nearby four unions, mainly from Mayani union which saw deaths of its 28 boys as the speeding truck fell into the ditch. The other three affected unions are Moghadia, Khoyachhora, and Shairkhali.

Forty two of the dead were students from five educational institutions, their grade levels started from primary school. Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School alone lost 33 of its students.

Hundreds of students, teachers and guardians marched in mourning processions wearing black ribbons yesterday, as the upazila administration announced three days of mourning. All processions ended at the playground of Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School.

Education and industries ministers joined the mourning rally.

Those who did not turn up at the playground were too burdened with pain of loss to walk. Most of the shops remained closed as each hoisted a black flag in front.

"You won't find a man who could hold his tears back," said Kailash, a rickshaw puller, who refused to charge this correspondent for a ride, because he was working to report on the bereaved families.

He was controlling the rickshaw with one hand on the muddy village road, and with the other hand he was pointing out the houses that lost their boys.

Some women were also volunteering as guides for visitors. They were giving details of the deceased boys and their families.

Inside the houses mothers were speechless and losing consciousness repeatedly. Fathers were also not being able to stay strong. Relatives from distant villages kept coming in groups, only to raise the pitch of wailing.

Seventy-year-old Halima was crying sitting on the bank of the ditch of death. She had no choice but to witness the horrific accident, as she lives just across the ditch.

"The truck was on high speed when it tried to make room for a bhotbhoti coming from the opposite direction. The bhotbhoti was overtaking a CNG run autorickshaw," she said.

She sighed as she remembered how the boys were shouting over the number of goals scored in the football match they were returning from.

The truck was carrying about 60 boys, mostly students of Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School. They were the audience of a football match in which Abu Torab Government Primary School lost the game to Moghadia Anjumannesa Primary School.

Source : The Daily Star 

One month in jail or Tk 500 fine: Soft law sees rise in mobile-talking-driving offences

Poor implementation of a law is allowing drivers to talk over mobile phones while driving, putting lives of many at risk.

The rules say that an offender has to pay a nominal fine of Tk 500 or serve one month in jail or both for talking on the phone and driving.

The government has no arrangement to enforce the law in rural areas, leaving majority of the population vulnerable to accident which has a mobile phone at the root.

Monday's tragedy at Mirsarai of Chittagong was caused by a driver who was talking over the phone while driving his truck packed with students. At least 42 students and two others died.

Emran, a survivor and a student of class-X of Abu Torab Bohumukhi High School, said the accident happened when the trucker lost focus on the road as he was talking on his phone.

The government in a gazette notification (SRO-293-2007) served on December 19, 2007, said, "No person shall wear earphones or use mobile phones while driving any motor vehicle."

Most of the countries in the world have banned the use of mobile phones for motorists while driving. In western countries it is illegal to use mobile phones but the driver can use handsfree devices (Bluetooth devices or speakerphones) for talking on the phone. Bus drivers, however, are not allowed to use handsfree devices.

A superintendent of police preferring anonymity said though motor vehicle ordinance has a provision for fining or imprisoning a driver for using mobile phones while driving, the police department has no arrangement to enforce it.

He said at upazila and district headquarters, vehicular movement is controlled by traffic personnel but on other roads there is nobody to control traffic due to lack of manpower.

Police headquarters source said even though trucks are not meant for carrying passengers but nonetheless they are responsible for almost half the deaths in road crashes. The source said between January and May a total of 1,061 people were killed on roads across the country.

Among other vehicles, 332 trucks and 456 buses were behind the deaths.

BRTA sources said the number of total registered vehicles is 15 lakh including 81,561 trucks, 38,404 buses and 35,908 mini buses.

However, there are only 10 lakh drivers with licences which indicate that five lakh vehicles are driven by helpers or people without licences.

Lawmaker Tarana Halim said there is no law to describe who will be the helper of vehicles and what quality they should have to be a helper.

"Anyone looking for a job could become a helper and eventually that unskilled person is entrusted with driving which puts our lives at stake," she said.

Source : The Daily Star 

Mourning at schools today: Condolences pour in; case filed against helper-turned-driver

Educational institutions across the country will mourn today the loss of 44 lives in Monday's road crash in Mirsarai of Chittagong.

As condolence poured in from across the country, ministers and education officials yesterday rushed to Mirsarai to be with the bereaved families.

No words were soothing enough for the victims' families and friends who brought out mourning processions and gathered at the playground of Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School, which alone lost 33 students in the accident.

The 44 died when a truck bringing back over 70 students from a football match turned over into a roadside ditch. Around 30 survived the crash, and 12 of them are undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

On Monday night, Kabir Ahmed Nizam, chairman of Mayani union parishad, filed a case with the Mirsarai Police Station, accusing Mofiz, who was at the wheel of the truck.

Police are searching for Mofiz who fled soon after the plunge.

Eyewitnesses, survivors and locals told The Daily Star yesterday that reckless driving was indeed the cause of the crash.

Mofiz, a helper of the truck owned by Haji Rice Mill, was in a hurry as he was supposed to go to Feni to bring a rice consignment for the mill, head operator of the mill Habib told The Daily Star.

Of those dead, 42 were students (names on Page-2) and two local football fans. Identity of one of the locals could not be known till 8:00pm yesterday.

Thirty-three of those dead were from Abu Torab Bahumukhi High School; three from Abu Torab Government Primary School; two from Abu Torab Senior Madrasa and Govt Primary School; and two from Abu Torab Fazil Madrasa. Besides, there were two HSC students from Prof Kamal Uddin Chowdhury College.

Our correspondents report from Mirsarai: No class was held yesterday at the educational institutions in four unions of Mirsarai--Mayani, Moghadia, Khoyachhora and Shairkhali.

On the first day of a three-day mourning announced by the upazila administration, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and Industries Minister Dilip Barua joined a rally at Abu Torab High School.

Standing in front of a gathering still numb with grief, the education minister broke down in tears.

"We are taking many steps for the betterment of education as well as for the students. But will it be worth if the students lose their lives in such tragic accident?" asked a sobbing Nahid.

Nothing can compensate for this loss, he added. "We have come here only to share our sorrows with you. The whole nation is with you at this sad moment."

He pledged Tk 25,000 as financial help from his ministry for each of the dead students' families and Tk 5,000 for the injured.

Dilip Barua announced that a monument will be set up in the locality in memory of the students. He declared that his ministry will give Tk 10,000 to each of the (deceased) victims' families and Tk 5,000 to the injured.

Prof Noman Ur Rashid, director general of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, and Nurul Huda, chairman of Chittagong Educational Board, were present at the meeting that ended around noon.

The ministers later visited houses of 20 victims in three different unions.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sayed Kutub said 12 of the victims' families received financial aid from the relief and rehabilitation ministry yesterday.

Meanwhile, the education ministry yesterday asked students, teachers, officials and staff of the institutions to wear black badges and pray for eternal peace of the children.

In a release, the primary and mass education ministry directed primary schools across the country to hold milad and doa mahfil today for peace of the departed souls.

On January 31, 2003, a road accident in Baluchhara area in Bayezid Police Station in the port city killed 11 young cricketers. A three-wheeler auto tempo was carrying the cricketers from Firingi Bazar to Fatehabad High School ground when it collided with a human hauler, killing the 11.

Source : The Daily Star 

IDB mission due Sunday

A mission of the Islamic Development Bank will arrive in the capital on July 17 to review a number of projects under different ministries financed by the multilateral development financing institution.

The six-member mission will be led by Momodul Lamin Ceecay, the microfinance and rural development specialist of IDB, said an official at the Economic Relations Division.

During their stay, the mission will review a number of ongoing, completed and pipe-line projects that include solar housing project, greater Rangpur agricultural development project, marine fisheries capacity building project, enhancement of quality seeds project and water supply and sanitation project.

The ERD official said that the IDB mission would also hold discussion on possible financing of $ 10 million for a pipeline project titled agriculture support project for Sidr-affected areas.

Besides, an inception meeting with the IDB mission is scheduled to be held on July 19 at the ERD while a wrap-up meeting also at the same venue on July 27.

The mission is scheduled to depart the capital on July 28.

Source : New Age

SIA appoints Bangladesh office GM

Singapore Airlines has recently announced the appointment of Lionel Siau as its Bangladesh office general manager, with effect from July. He took over from Malcolm Leong, who had been serving since August 2009, said a news release.

Lionel, 37, is a graduate from Cambridge University and Imperial College, London. He has been with Singapore Airlines since October 1999 and has held various positions in information technology, internal audit, company planning and cabin crew.

Source : New Age

Weak world economy likely to curb oil demand: OPEC

A fragile global economy is likely to suppress oil demand growth to 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012, lower than this year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its first forecast for next year.

Oil prices could draw some support from a lingering supply shortfall of more than a million bpd between the anticipated need for OPEC crude and the amount pumped by the 12-member group, although increased output from top producer Saudi Arabia has narrowed the gap.

In its monthly report on Tuesday, OPEC predicted world oil consumption would rise by 1.36 million bpd this year, slightly lower than the 1.38 million bpd expected in last month's report.

It said the demand outlook was subject to much uncertainty and would depend on factors such as the speed of Japan's recovery from this year's nuclear disaster and tsunami, as well as on the impact of oil prices on developed economies.

'Should higher international oil prices persist, or should further setbacks in the OECD economies occur, then it might impose a stronger reverse elasticity on oil demand, putting more weight on the downside risk,' OPEC said.

'This risk might be translated into a reduction of current growth by 200,000 bpd.'

The demand for OPEC's crude was estimated to rise to 30.3 million bpd next year, from 30 million bpd in 2011.

At a meeting in June, OPEC failed to reach agreement on a Saudi-led proposal to increase output even though the group's own economists forecast a supply gap in the second half of the year. Tuesday's report implied a shortfall of 1.25 mln bpd.

Source : New Age

Bangladesh-Italy JV to invest $4.5 million in Mongla EPZ

A Bangladesh-Italy joint venture company will set up a light engineering industry in Mongla Export Processing Zone.

TA and PA Engineering Products Limited will invest $4.5 million in setting up its unit to manufacture welded wire mesh, fibre glass mesh, RIB leth and angle band items.

The company will create employment opportunity for 279 Bangladeshi nationals.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and TA and PA Engineering Products Limited in BEPZA Complex in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Md Moyjuddin Ahmed, member (investment promotion) of BEPZA and Tapas Chandra Paul, managing director of the company, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

BEPZA executive chairman Major General ATM Shahidul Islam, secretary Md Shawkat Nabi and other officials of BEPZA were present at the signing ceremony.

Source : New Age

Reckless driving kills one, triggers protest

A poor man was killed and another injured when a mini-bus, driven by the driver's helper, knocked them down near Victoria Park in Sutrapur on Tuesday afternoon, triggering protests by outraged people.

The unidentified man, aged about 35, died soon being after hit by a bus belonging to Turag Paribahan at about 2:30pm. The injured man, Delwar Hossain, 30, was rushed to a local hospital, and the physicians later said that he was out of danger.

The deceased and injured were standing on the roadside near the park and the bus hit them when the helper, Ujjal, 24, of Khulna, was taking a turning, the police said.

Angry people caught the helper, who does not have a driving licence, when he was trying to escape, and damaged the bus and tried to set fire to it. The police prevented them from torching the bus and picked up five students of Jagannath University and Kabi Nazrul College who were leading them.

Traffic remained suspended for half an hour, giving rise to severe congestion in the working hours.

The police later released the students. Ujjal was kept under police custody.

The police failed to provide any details about the driver or owner of the bus.

No case was filed till 7:30pm.

Source : New Age

PDB seeks nod to purchase power from India

The Bangladesh Power Development Board has sought permission from the finance ministry to purchase power from India at a rate to be fixed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission of India.

'We submitted a power purchase proposal from India to the cabinet committee on economic affairs to import 250MW of electricity from India,' a top official of BPDB told the news agency Tuesday.

To meet the country's acute electricity crisis, Bangladesh signed a 35-year power transmission agreement with India on July 26 last year to import 250 megawatt electricity starting from late 2013.

As per the agreement, this amount will be imported from India through installing a station at Baharampur (India)-Bheramara(Bangladesh).

'We are set to sign a final deal with National Thermal Power Corporation of India either by the end of this month or in the first quarter of the next month. So we need to take the final nod from the finance ministry,' he added.

The Power Grid Company of Bangladesh in March last signed a deed agreement with Siemens Germany to construct a 27-kilometre grid interconnection between Bangladesh and India to import electricity.

This line would be constructed as per the  memorandum of understanding signed by Bangladesh and India on exchange of power during the Delhi visit of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in January 2010.

The two countries inked another MoU in September last year in New Delhi for a Joint Venture Agreement and later a joint steering committee was formed to oversee the exchange of power.

Source : New Age

BSF fires across Benapole border

The border security force of India Tuesday morning fired gunshots across the Baro Achra border.

No casualty was reported, but the BSF unprovoked fire has created tension among the villagers.

Confirming the incident BGB local commander Jamal Hossain said BSF of Pirojpur outpost fired four or five shots across the Baro Achra border.

Source : New Age

Gun attack, police obstruction mar hill people’s rally against amendment

Gun attacks on and police obstruction in three hill districts on Tuesday marred the hill people's demonstrations against the imposition of Bengali nationality on national and linguistic minorities in the 15th amendment to the constitution.

The United People's Democratic Front has called a blockade of road and waterway in three hill districts for July 20–21 denouncing the amendment.

The party's associate body of students Pahari Chhatra Parishad also called a student strike in all educational institutions in the hill districts for July 14 for the same cause.

UPDF supporters Shimul Chakma and Newton Bikash Chakma were wounded with bullet after unnamed people fired into the human chain at Shilachhari. Eight more sustained injuries.

The human chain also faced obstruction at Ghagra in Rangamati. Crude bombs were exploded.

The UPDF blamed the Santu Larma-led Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti for the attacks but the PCJSS brushed aside the allegation outright.

In Bandarban, the police did not allow human chains in front of the local press club. A human chain was later formed at Balaghata.

Thousands of hill people took to the streets in three hill districts with human chains on highway and roads in Khagrachari and Rangamati and at places in Bandarban at the call of UPDF.

Source : New Age

CHT commission urges govt to revise 15th amendment

Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission expressed reservations on Tuesday about some stipulations in the 15th Amendment to the constitution, particularly its use of the terms 'tribes', 'minor races' and 'ethnic sects and communities' to identify 'indigenous peoples.'

In a letter to the prime minister, the commission also said, 'The constitution should not have Bangali nationalism as its foundation as there is documentary evidence of the contributions by many non-Bangalees to the liberation war.

It called for immediate corrective steps to address the concerns of the ethnic minorities of CHT.

It called for a fresh amendment to the constitution to accord due recognition to Bangladesh's all the 50 or 60 'indigenous peoples' in line with the UN Charter.

It said that the amendment was brought ignoring opposition from several lawmakers and civil society groups.

It also expressed reservations about the retention of the provision of state religion and Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim in the constitution.

Source : New Age

Ali Toyob dies

Senior advocate Ali Toyob, also a language movement veteran during 1952, died of old age complications at Chuadanga Sadar Hospital on Monday at the age of ninety.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

He was buried at Chuadanga Jannatul Maula graveyard after janaza that was joined by people from all walks of life.

A condolence meeting was held at the court premises.

District and sessions judge KG Mostafa presided over the meeting that was also attended by local judicial officers and members of local bar.

Ali Toyob joined local bar in 1957 and took part in the language movement in 1952 when he was a Dhaka University law student.

Source : New Age

RU celebrates 58th founding anniversary

Rajshahi University with grand celebration observed its 58th founding anniversary on Tuesday.

RU vice-chancellor professor Abdus Sobhan inaugurated the programme by hoisting the national and university flags on the Senate Building premises at about 10:00am, amid the national anthem sung by the students and staff of the university.

After releasing pigeons and balloons they brought out a large and colourful procession that paraded through the campus streets to end in front of the Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium of the university.

At about 11:00am a discussion on the history and achievement of RU was held at the auditorium with the VC in chair.

Pro-vice-chancellor Mohammad Nurullah, economist Sanat Kumar Saha, also a former professor of the university, former RU central students' union vice-president Abdur Razzak and acting treasurer Mohammed Abdul Bari addressed the programme, among others.

Source : New Age

Govt not to allow missions’ neglect of citizens abroad

The government would not tolerate any negligence of officials at Bangladesh missions abroad in providing service to expatriate

Bangladeshis, foreign minister Dipu Moni said in Jeddah Tuesday.

'No negligence will be tolerated,' she told them.

Speaking at a function, hosted by Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah for launching issuance of machine readable

passports and visas, she said the officials at missions must provide

service to Bangladeshis abroad.

She said that they must provide 'quality service' even if they have limitations.

She said the government was taking action against officials at Bangladesh missions abroad on specific complaints of 'deliberate negligence' to the people.

She said, 'We will continue to take such action.' 

The foreign minister also urged Bangladeshis living abroad to be 'understanding' about 'the genuine limitations' at the missions and the officials working there.

She said that the foreign ministry as well as the country's missions abroad were working with limited manpower.

She said that in many situations 'we cannot provide the service as the foreign ministry has been working with an organogram prepared

in 1982 although the

work has increased

a lot in dimension and variation in last three decades.

The foreign minister urged all Bangladeshis abroad to abide by the laws of the host countries.

She also urged Bangladeshis abroad to remain alert so that they, their friends and relatives did not earn bad name for Bangladesh.

In an oblique reference to the opposition political parties, the foreign minister also urged them to remain alert so that no 'quarter' could make adverse campaign against the country abroad.

She also requested Bangladeshis living abroad to vote and encourage others to vote for the Sundarbans to make it the world's number one natural wonder.

State minister for home Shamsul Hoque Tuku, Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia KSA M. Shahidul Islam, the consul general in Jeddah M. Nazmul Islam and director general of Immegration and Passport M Abdul Mabud also spoke.

Mabud said the government would take steps to issue machine readable passports and visas from all the 66 Bangladesh missions abroad.

The government started issuing machine readable passports on May 13, 2010.

He said the authorities would gradually replace 13 million manual passports with MRPs.

He said that with the introduction of the latest the visa issuance system, all the immigration check posts of the country would be able to verify

the authenticity of Bangladeshi visas online to check any fraudulent practice.

Source : New Age

Submit probe report against Jamaat leaders by Aug 1: ICT

The International Crimes Tribunal on Tuesday ordered the prosecution to submit the report of the investigation of the war crimes allegedly committed by the four detained top leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami by the first of August.

The tribunal also cautioned the prosecution that one year of the detention of the four top Jamaat leaders — its amir Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad

Mojaheed and assistant secretaries general Mohammad Kamruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla — would be completed on August 1 and the tribunal would have to respond positively to their bail petitions, in accordance with its rules, unless the investigation report was submitted by that date.

The chief prosecutor, Golam Arif Tipu, replied that the investigation report, in the form of a formal charge, would be submitted by 1 August.

The tribunal, which was instituted on 25 March, 2010 for the trial of war crimes committed during the War of Independence in 1971, passed the order after the chief prosecutor sought more time for completing the investigation and submitting a report.

Opposing the prosecution's plea, defence counsel Tajul Islam argued that the Jamaat leaders should be granted bail as the prosecution had failed to submit charges against them within one year of their detention.

The tribunal of Justice Nizamul Huq, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and Judge AKM Zahir Ahmed posted for August 1 the hearing of the bail application filed by the Jamaat leaders.

It also ordered the prison authorities to allow the detained Jamaat leaders to sign the files of their income tax returns and to ensure proper medical treatment for them.

If the formal charge against the four top Jamaat leaders is submitted by August 1, it will be the second formal charge in the war crimes cases of this country.

The first-ever formal charge of war crimes was submitted to the tribunal last Monday against Delwar Hossain Sayedee, the detained nayeb-e-amir of the Jamaat.

In addition to the five Jamaat leaders, Bangladesh Nationalist Party's standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, also a lawmaker, has been detained on charge of committing war crimes.

Each of them had to undergo one day of interrogation at the safe house in Dhanmondi.

The tribunal, however, on March 31 granted bail to former BNP lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim on certain conditions.

Source : New Age

ICT rules change insufficient for fair trial: HRW

The Human Rights Watch in a statement on Tuesday said that the new amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the International Crimes Tribunal did 'address some key problems' but 'fail[ed] to bring other areas of the law and rules into compliance with international standards.'

Brad Adams, the director of Human Rights Watch in Asia, said, 'While the

amendments are a significant improvement, key problems still need to be fixed to ensure fair trials and avoid unnecessarily lengthy appeals.'

The tribunal, set up under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 to prosecute Bangladeshi citizens alleged to have committed war crimes and other international crimes during the 1971 war of independence, made public in the past week the latest amendment to its rules.

In the statement, the Human Rights Watch went on to suggest six further changes that it considered 'necessary to ensure fair trials' — repeal of the first amendment to the constitution; allowing an accused to question the impartiality of the tribunal; amending the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act to ensure that the 'definitions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide conform with international standards'; ensuring that the defence is given adequate time to prepare, instead of the current three weeks; and giving the accused the right to make appeals during the trial (interlocutory appeals) instead of only at the end.

Abdur Razzaq, the head of the legal team, representing the five leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami detained for nearly a year by the tribunal on allegations of committing war crimes, on Tuesday claimed that unless further significant changes were made to the legal regime regulating the tribunal, any trial it held 'would be a show trial'.

At a press briefing held in the Supreme Court Bar Association's auditorium, Abdur Razzaq, sitting with four other members of the legal team of the accused, rejected the changes made to the rules as 'cosmetic' and criticised comments made earlier by the registrar that the tribunal was a 'national tribunal prosecuting international crimes.'

'If you say that it is a domestic tribunal then follow the domestic laws, allow the accused persons the protection of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, the procedural safeguards contained in the Criminal Procedure Code and the substantive law of evidence contained in the Evidence Act,' he said.

Razzaq outlined five key demands including the repeal of the first amendment to the constitution, which would then allow 'the accused persons to exercise their fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution'; creating a forum to hear appeals against the tribunal's decisions prior to conviction; and allowing foreign counsel to appear before the tribunal.

In response to a question about what would happen if these changes were not made, Razzaq said that his legal team may decide to stop participating in the tribunal proceedings.

Razzak said that without these changes the tribunal would not be 'acceptable to us, to the right-thinking people of Bangladesh [or] to the international community.'

In an impromptu press briefing following Razzaq's press conference, the chief prosecutor, Golam Arif Tipu, said that he thought it was inappropriate for the defence lawyers to hold a press conference commenting on the rules in this manner.

He also defended the 1973 act which he said was based on the international standards that existed at the time.

'So far as the rules are concerned, I have no grievance,' he told New Age later. 'The changes also provide advantages to the accused.'

Source : New Age

No probe initiated

A three-member committee, formed to probe the road accident at Mirsharai which killed 44 schoolboys on Monday, did not initiate

investigation till Tuesday afternoon.

The committee chief, Ibne Alam Hasan, also additional chief engineer of the Chittagong zone of Roads and Highways, said he came to know about the committee from media reports and did not receive any formal direction.

'I don't know yet the other members of the committee. I will initiate the probe after consulting the other members on receiving a formal direction,' he said.

He also said he had communicated with the higher authorities adding that he was advised to wait for a formal directive.

The communications ministry on Monday formed the three-member committee to probe the Mirsarai tragedy.

Kabir Ahmed Nizamee, chairman of Mayani union council, filed a case with the Mirsarai police accusing Mafiz Uddin, driver of the ill-fated truck, of causing the accident.

Iftekher Hasan, officer-in-charge of the Mirsharai police station, said the police launched a manhunt for the driver who had been on the run.

'We came to know from the survivors that he was driving recklessly and talking over mobile phone when the accident occurred,' he added.

The accident, which took place at Abu Torab-Bartakia road at about 1:00pm on Monday, killed 44 students, including 35 of Abu Torab High School, two of Abu Torab Fazil Madrassah, three of Abu Torab Primary School and two of Professor Kamal Uddin College.

Source : New Age

Arafat now in Malaysia: Thai envoy

Thailand's ambassador in Dhaka Tasanawadee Miancharoen on Tuesday confirmed that Arafat Rahman went to Malaysia from Thailand.

'Koko is no longer in Bangkok. He is in Malaysia. You ask Malaysian ambassador,' she said briefly in response to a question at a press briefing organised at the Thai embassy on the eve

of a Thai Fair in Dhaka.

Arafat earlier went to Bangkok on parole for treatment on July 19, 2008. On June 23 this year, he was sentenced in absentia in a money laundering case.

Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur is not aware of the whereabouts of Arafat Rahman in Malaysia, reports Bdnews24.com.

'I talked to (Bangladesh) high commissioner to Malaysia and he told me that he had no knowledge about whatever was published in the media,' said Shamim Ahsan, director general of external publicity wing of the foreign ministry, on Tuesday.

The Thai ambassador talked about Arafat's whereabouts at a time when rumours are rife about his leaving Thailand to avoid 'getting extradited' after being found guilty of laundering money to Singapore.

Arafat and Ismail Hossain Simon, son of former BNP shipping minister late Akbar Hossain, were convicted of money laundering and jailed for six years and fined Tk 190.41 million each recently.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case against Arafat and

Simon for laundering Singaporean dollar 2,884,000 and $ 932,000 to Singapore.

Arafat, arrested on September 3, 2007 in the GATCO corruption case, went to Bangkok on parole on July 19, 2008.

The government on August 19 last year cancelled his parole and asked him to return home by August 31 and surrender in court.

As Arafat did not follow the government instruction, he was convicted in the money-laundering case as a fugitive.

Source : New Age