Source : The Daily Star
Snippets: Boy killed in wall collapse
A nine-year-old boy was killed and two others were injured as a boundary wall of Shailkupa Upazila Health Complex collapsed on them yesterday.The deceased was identified as Nahid Hossain, son of Mohir Hossain of Kobirpur village of the upazila. Office-in-Charge Sagir Mia of Shailkupa Police Station said a boundary wall of the upazila health complex collapsed at around 12:00noon, leaving a boy dead on the spot and two others injured. The incident occurred when the boys were playing near the wall, the OC added. The injured boys were admitted to Sadar Hospital, but their identity could not be known as of filing of this report at 5:00pm.
Snippets: Two extortionists held
Police arrested two extortionists at Housepur Bazar in Alamdanga upazila on Monday. The arrestees are Momin, 30, son of Amin Uddin, and Dinaj, 28, son of Golam Rahman of Majhila village in Kushtia. Police and local people said Momin and Dinaj, identifying themselves as activists of an extremist group, demanded Tk 7 lakh as toll from trader Sirajul Islam of the bazar over cellphone. Sirajul told the extortionists to come to the market on Sunday to take Tk 5 lakh. When the two came to the market at around 1:00pm, locals caught them red handed and beat them up. They later handed over the extortionists to the police.
Source : The Daily Star
Snippets: 13 shops gutted in Bakerganj
At least 13 shops were gutted in a fire at Kakarda Bazar under Faridpur Union of Bakerganj upazila early yesterday.The fire originated from an electric short circuit at the grocery shop of Zakir Khan at around 2:45am and soon engulfed the adjacent shops. Local people extinguished the fire at around 5:00am. The damaged shops include readymade garments, stationary, grocery, medicine, computer and mobile servicing and confectionary shops. There is no fire service station in this area.
Source : The Daily Star
Snippets: Attack on AL leader, 16 sued
A case was filed with Dashmina Upazila Judicial Magistrate's Court yesterday, accusing 16 people including upazila Jubo league General Secretary Zakir Hossain Bhutto of attacking upazila AL Vice-President advocate Abdul Khaleq and his brother near Arojbegee Bazar on Friday. The court issued arrest warrants against all the accused. Md Jamal Hossain, brother of advocate Abdul Khaleq, filed the case. In the case statement Jamal alleged that a gang led by Zakir Hossain Bhutto swooped on him and his brother advocate Abdul Khaleque while they were going to Arojbegee Bazar from their Dashmina upazila town residence at around 11:00am on Friday.
Source : The Daily Star
Snippets: 35 illegal shops demolished
A team of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authorities (BIWTA) yesterday demolished around 35 illegal shops in Chandpur launch terminal area. Led by Executive Magistrate Mohammad Bazlur Rashid, the team conducted the drive for two hours from 11:00am. BIWTA official Abul Bashar said at least 35 illegal shops were demolished in the terminal area. The evicted traders alleged that their shops were demolished without giving any prior notice.
Source : The Daily Star
Int'l Day of Indigenous People Observed: Ethnic communities demand identity as indigenous people
Ethnic communities yesterday observed International Day of the World's Indigenous People with demand for their constitutional recognition as indigenous people and government steps for ensuring their rights, especially on land.
Leaders of different ethnic communities in Rangamati yesterday urged the government to ensure political, economic and social rights of indigenous people, reports our Rangamati correspondent.
They criticised the foreign minister for her statement that there are no indigenous people in Bangladesh and blamed the government for failure to solve land dispute in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
Many indigenous families were evicted from their ancestral land and homesteads as the outsider Bangali settlers grabbed their lands, and the trend is still going on in the hills, indigenous leaders said at a discussion on the premises of Rangamati Municipality office.
Renowned civil society leader Binoy Kumar Dewan addressed as chief guest at the meeting presided over by Prakriti Ranjan Chakma, president of CHT unit of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum.
Our Khagrachhari correspondent reports: Marking International Day of the World's Indigenous People, Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) yesterday formed a human chain in front of Khagrachhari Press Club with the banner "We want to get constitutional recognition as indigenous people, not ethnic minority".
Later, at a rally organised by the party at Khagrapur Community Centre in the district town, speakers demanded annulment of the 15th amendment to the constitution and full implementation of the CHT Peace Accord.
Bangladesh Adivasi Forum Khagrachhari district unit brought out a procession in the district town and arranged a rally at Khagrachhari Mukta Mancha.
Democratic Youth Forum, a front organisation of United Peoples Democratic Front, an anti-CHT Peace Treaty organisation, brought out a procession in Khagrachhari town and held a rally held at Shanirbar Bazar area marking the day.
Our Thakurgaon Correspondent adds: Thakurgaon unit of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad yesterday organised several programmes with the assistance of Eco-Social Development Organisation, RDRS Bangladesh, Sharp and Karitas in observance of International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
After a colourful procession that paraded different streets of the town, they formed a human chain in front of DC office.
Later at a discussion, the speakers demanded realisation of their nine-point demand including establishing constitutional rights of indigenous people and formation of a separate land commission to protect land rights of the indigenous people living on plan lands.
Our RU Correspondent adds: Ethnic minority students of Rajshahi University (RU) yesterday arranged a day-long photo exhibition on the campus marking International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
Prof Golam Sabbir Sattar, student adviser of the university, inaugurated the photo exhibition arranged by the students under the banner of Adivasi Students Association of Rajshahi University, an organisation of ethnic minority students of plain land, on the premises of the central library of the university.
A total of 150 rare photographs on the life and tradition of the ethnic minority people were put on display at the exhibition.
Source : The Daily Star
Matiur Rahman
Today is the fourth death anniversary of Syed Matiur Rahman, a freedom fighter and journalist, says a press release.
On the occasion, a special prayer will be offered today.
All have been requested to pray for salvation of his departed soul.
Source : The Daily Star
Clarification
The authorities of Delta Composite Knitting Industries Ltd in a clarification to a report of The Daily Star published on July 14, said that they have made the factory's effluent treatment plant (ETP) trouble-free to ensure its regular operation.
Officials of the environment department penalised the factory on July 13 for releasing untreated chemical wastes in the river keeping the treatment plant shut and this newspaper carried the news the following day.
The company said that it was just a "coincidence" as the treatment plant remained closed for 50 minutes due to power failure while the enforcement officials was visiting the factory at 8:15am on July 13.
Delta was fined along with five other dying factories during an anti-pollution drive in Kashimpur, West Shailadubi, Surabari, Nayapara and Jarun in Gazipur.
In a letter to the environment department on August 4, the factory authorities said that they had fixed all the problems identified by the environment officials.
Source : The Daily Star
Whereabouts of Mamun still in dark
Five years have elapsed since Enamul Haque Md Al Mamun, a government official, went missing from the city, but his family members are still in dark about his whereabouts.
Mamun, head assistant of BTTB (now BTCL) at Mohakhali wireless transmission region, had walked out of his Indira Road residence at Farmgate on this day in 2006 for a morning walk and did not return home.
Eldest son of late Lt AM Ataul Haque, a freedom fighter and acting chief of Bangladesh Navy after independence, Mamun was 52 years at the time of his missing.
After his mysterious disappearance, his family members had filed general diaries with Tejgaon Police Station more than once, but they did not get desired cooperation from the police, alleged the family.
In a press release yesterday the family members said they desperately searched for Mamun since he went missing. They also sought for police help, but seemingly police were reluctant to extend expected cooperation, they alleged.
Rather, the remarks and attitudes of police gave birth to many mysterious questions about the missing of the government official, they added.
Citing the recent incidents of frequent death of general people in police tortures and dumping of the bodies later on, the family feared that Mamun might have faced such a tragic fate. They also suspected that he might fell victim to criminal acts.
The family, however, alleged that they could not know anything eventually, as law enforcers did not co-operate them properly.
Even, the family sought cooperation from Rapid Action Battalion but to no avail.
The authorities of T&T where Mamun was serving did not come up with help to find him out, they added.
The family members, who are still eagerly waiting for his return, have earnestly requested people to contact at 01711177609 if they know the whereabouts of Mamun.
Source : The Daily Star
Save Nazma
Nazma Islam, 39, a mother of two children, needs an immediate surgery to save her life as she has been suffering seriously from breast cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma-IDC).
"The cancer was first detected in her body in 2010 after a few months of my father's death," said Shourov, the only son of the widow.
Shourov said, "We have spent all our money after six chemotherapies and 25 radiotherapies for her treatment. But the situation is not ameliorated rather the cancer spreads to her shoulder. "
The poor mother needs immediate operation, which will cost Tk 5 lakh. But the helpless Nazma Islam's family has no ability to carry out the expenditure for surgery.
Her son and daughter have appealed to the well-off sections of the society for financial assistance to continue her mother's treatment.
Contributions can be sent to her son's account- Shourov, Account No 004512100053355, United Commercial Bank, Jhenaidah or daughter's account- Tamanna Islam, Account No 6957, Bangladesh Agriculture Bank, Jhenaidah. For further query contact- 01934-542753.
Source : The Daily Star
Azharul's Remark: HC asks govt to explain
The High Court yesterday asked the government to explain in a week why its inaction in taking steps against ATM Azharul Islam for his remark "undermining" the Supreme Court should not be declared illegal.
Azharul, acting secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, at a press conference at Jamaat office on July 19 said the government scrapped the caretaker government system by exploiting the Supreme Court.
The court gave the order following a supplementary petition filed by Dhaka University teacher Prof Wahiduzzaman Chan who had earlier filed a writ petition challenging the remark of the Jamaat leader.
An HC bench of Justice ATM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore issued a rule on July 25 asking Azharul to explain why he should not be punished for contempt of court by making the remark.
The court directed Azharul the same day to appear before it on August 8 to explain his remark.
Azharul appeared before the court as per its order and the court on that day (August 8) fixed August 9 for passing its order on the issue.
Source : The Daily Star
Why Jalil is so greedy?: Court poses question during hearing
"Abdul Jalil is a sick man, but why is he so greedy? Has he shortage of money?" Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik put questions during a hearing of a suomoto rule over occupation of temple's land after allegedly destroying it.
Abdul Jalil is a former general secretary of ruling Awami League, and chairman of Mercantile Bank Limited, which has allegedly destroyed 200-year-old Roghunath Temple at Dubol Hati Rajbari in Naogaon to construct a charitable hospital.
"We don't expect at all that Abdul Jalil, whose party believes in secularism, is involved in occupying the land of the temple," said Justice Manik, senior judge of an HC bench.
The judge came up with the observation when Nazmun Ara Khanam, the deputy commissioner of Naogaon, in her statement, told the court that she once talked to Abdul Jalil over phone and requested him to refrain from constructing the hospital on the temple's land.
The bench of Justice Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore heard statement from DC Nazmun Ara following a suomoto rule issued after a Bangla daily on July 27 published a report on the allegation of constructing a hospital destructing the temple.
The bench said this court has not yet summoned Abdul Jalil for explaining allegations against him to show him respect.
"But we will summon him before us in future if we feel necessary," said Justice Manik.
Jalil could not be reached despite attempt through cell phone, as he was undertaking treatment at a hospital in the capital last night.
Nazmun Ara appeared before the court and told it that Mercantile Bank has no legal documents on ownership of the land where it has started constructing a hospital destructing the temple.
She said her office has recently taken steps to stop construction of the hospital, and now the construction work remains stopped.
The court directed the DC to immediately arrest those persons who will continue construction on the land of temple, and submit a report on the status of the temple and ownership of its land to this court on August 11.
Source : The Daily Star
Double Murder: Arrest warrant against ex-SP Kohinoor
A court yesterday issued a warrant for arrest here against ex-superintendent of police Kohinoor Mia after charges were framed against him in a case filed against him for killing two people seven years ago.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Rozina Khanam passed the order in the afternoon after admitting charges against Kohinoor and another person following charge hearing.
Investigation Office (IO) ASP Ismail Hossain filed the charge sheet in the morning accusing Kohinoor and Abdus Sattar Ujjal for the double murder. The charge sheet also recommended to the court to acquit 18 others as allegation brought against them were not proved during investigation.
According to the case details, Abu Taher and Sujan were shot dead allegedly by Kohinoor at Achargaon School Polling Centre in Nandail upazila during the election on May 9 in 2004.
Kohinoor killed the duo allegedly at the behest of Nandail municipality chairman candidate Ujjal, the IO stated in his charge sheet.
Later, Khorshed Alam, former sub-inspector of Nandail police station, filed a case accusing 20 people.
Kohinoor is absconding for the last two-and-half years while Ujjal is on bail.
Source : The Daily Star
Place food security plan in next forum: FAO urges Dhaka
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) yesterday urged Bangladesh to place its food security plan in the next International Food Security Forum.
The FAO's newly appointed representative in Dhaka Dominique Burgeon made the call when he called on Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque at Secretariat.
Dominique Burgeon apprised the minister of FAO's plan to invest in food security, saying that the food security plan is an important document.
He assured that he would take initiative to place the food security plan to the world leaders.
Dr Razzaque said FAO has been playing a significant role in the country's food security through providing technical support to Bangladesh.
He said Bangladesh will work together with FAO in future to ensure the food security of the country.
Source : The Daily Star
Second rejoinder to Economist article
The foreign office yesterday issued a second rejoinder to The Economist article on Dhaka-New Delhi ties, demanding the London-based weekly carry it in its next print edition.
"We have asked the Economist to publish our (second) rejoinder in its next print edition as the weekly already carried our earlier protest in its online edition," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
He added that the rejoinder reminded the Economist of its comments highly appreciating the landmark December 2008 general elections that installed the ruling Awami League to power with three fourth majority as the weekly endorsed the polls to be the "fairest ever" elections in Bangladesh.
The spokesman said Economist management also promised the foreign office to carry the rejoinder, which actually was the shorter version of the previous rejoinder sent to The Economist for its online edition against its article titled "India and Bangladesh: Embraceable you" that it carried in its July 30 issue.
"The article is disappointing, and totally lacks decency and professional ethics. The accusation that the Awami League assumed power through 'bags of Indian cash and advice' is a blatant lie and a slur on the democracy-loving people of Bangladesh," the rejoinder said.
It said the presumption expressed the article that the transit arrangement is intended to create an "Indian security corridor" at the expense of Bangladesh's interests was ignorant of the relevant international laws while the "arrangement is widely considered a win-win for both countries and the region".
Referring to the Economist criticism of the trial for the 1971 war crimes, it said Bangladesh initiative to try the people involved in genocide and war crimes under national and international law stems from the norms of any civilised society and is not a vendetta against any political party and "it is meant to bring justice to victims and to end the culture of impunity".
"And three, Bangladesh honoured Indira Gandhi for her seminal role during Bangladesh's independence, an honour which you ridiculed," the rejoinder read.
The foreign office protest said the manner "in which you (Economist) raised the issues indicate that you are carrying out the agenda of a quarter out to wage a smear campaign against Bangladesh and its government".
"Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, has, through her extraordinary courage, personal sacrifice and inspiring visionary leadership, brought Bangladesh back on track to democratic governance, made it a model for women's empowerment, food security, disaster management and poverty alleviation and she is pursuing people-centric peace-building policies," it said.
It also said the people in the region are already enjoying the benefits of her government's strong stand against terrorism and extremism.
The rejoinder recalled and reminded the Economist of its analysis of the 2008 elections in an article titled "The tenacity of hope" published in its December 2008 issue.
"Against all the evidence of past experience, Bangladesh's voters enjoy a moment of optimism after a pretty clean election and a decisive result," the weekly wrote in the article just a day after the elections two and half years ago.
Source : The Daily Star
Tax return deadline Sept 30
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has fixed September 30 as the deadline for submitting tax return for the last fiscal year, a senior official of NBR said yesterday.
Aminur Rahman, member, income tax policy of NBR, told ABC Radio the NBR will organise tax fairs in divisional headquarters this year to encourage people to pay tax.
"The fair was limited to the capital till last year. We're now planning to hold such fairs in the divisional headquarters too," the NBR official said.
Dhaka's tax fair will be held from September 17 to 22 at the Officer's Club.
Besides, two additional stations will be set up to facilitate online tax payment, he said.
According to NBR officials, there are about 27-30 lakh registered tax payers but in reality only 7-8 lakh people actually pay taxes.
Dr Zayed Bakht, director of Bangladesh Development Research Centre, suggested there must be an increase in the number of actual tax payers to ensure the country's development.
Source : The Daily Star
12 Lawyers' Bail: HC defers its order once again
Yet again, the High Court yesterday shifted the date for passing order on the bail petitions of 12 pro-BNP-Jamaat lawyers accused of assaulting police and preventing them from carrying out their duties.
The order is now due today.
The court was originally expected to give the order on Monday. But it fixed yesterday for the order following a time prayer by the defence lawyers. The order was deferred again yesterday after Khandker Mahbub Hossain, a counsel for the accused, sought more time.
Mahbub, also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, appealed to the court for deferring the order till tomorrow, saying senior lawyers were trying to reach a compromise to settle the case outside the court.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam vehemently opposed the prayer. He said there is no scope for a compromise in criminal cases.
Shahbagh police filed two cases against the lawyers on charges of assaulting police and preventing them from carrying out their duties on August 2 and 4 on the Supreme Court premises.
The accused are Mohammad Ali, Golam Mohammad Chowdhury Alal, ABM Waliur Rahman Khan, Gazi Kamrul Islam Sajal, Shahiduzzaman, Mirza Al Mahmud, Sharif Uddin Ahmed, Abdullah Al Mahmud, MU Ahmed, Ashrafuzzaman Khan, Golam Nobi and Mahmudul Islam Swapan.
Meanwhile, Khandker Mahbub Hossain and SCBA Secretary Badruddoza Badal yesterday met Chief Justice Mozammel Hossain, and informed him about the cases, attorney general's stance and their failure to strike a deal.
The chief justice did not give the SCBA leaders any assurance of taking initiative to settle the matter, Khandker Mahbub told reporters.
The SCBA's initiative for a compromise failed on Monday, as the pro-Awami League lawyers did not attend its meeting.
Source : The Daily Star
Surreal city, unreal images
It is a gloom-filled evening here in London, a depressed city where the spectre of violence seems to be taking increasingly wider swathes of it in its grasp. After the unexpected and, of course, unprecedented rioting that left Tottenham devastated and its residents fearful over the weekend, it was hoped that order would swiftly return in a city where discipline has traditionally been a natural, permanent happening. That was not to be.
Over the weekend and spilling over into Monday, young men, a very large number of them hooded, have gone about setting shops on fire and then looting them. It is a London one does not usually imagine. And with the 2012 Olympics only a year away, this image of a burning London can only raise a number of questions, the most fundamental relating to why things have turned out this way.
It was the police shooting of a young man named Mark Duggan that set it off. The precise circumstances of Duggan's death, for all the explanations offered by the police, remain unclear. What is absolutely clear, though, is that mobs in such areas as Hackney, Lewisham, Peckham, Walthamstow, Brixton, Croydon, Clapham and other areas have seized upon the shooting as an excuse to try to push the city into spasms of disorder.
The disorder spilled over into places outside London. Read Birmingham here. Buses and cars and shops have been set alight. Bins have been burning and riotous youths have cheerfully hurled projectiles at policemen. Television images have continually been focused on smoke billowing out of burning buildings and gangs of young men seemingly holding streets in their control.
A stretched police force and a harried fire service are hardly a match, at this point, for those causing all the trouble. When reports of disturbances come in even from as unlikely a spot as Oxford Circus in the centre of London, not much of cheer can be spotted in homes and in hearts.
Home Secretary Theresa May, having cut short her holiday and returned to London, has held out the warning that those behind the disorder will face the consequences. Link that statement with the arrest of 215 people and of 25 of them being slapped with charges of criminality, and you comprehend the grave nature of the crisis the government has on its hands.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been visiting Tottenham, where all of this began on the weekend, to reassure people with promises of security. Accompanied by David Lammy, the local MP, Clegg has visited the sites of the rioting, has observed silhouettes which till last week were whole buildings. London Mayor Boris Johnson, who on Sunday telephonically vented his anger at the rioters in Tottenham, plans to be back in the city after cutting his holiday short.
And, as so often happens in a democracy, a looming question related to Prime Minister David Cameron's absence. He too was on holiday abroad with his family. Now comes news that he plans to fly back to London overnight, to preside over a security-related meeting early Tuesday morning. Nick Clegg has meanwhile tried fending off criticism of the prime minister, of his silence, even as London burns.
The Met, London's police force, has been urging people to get off the streets. That appeal has come with another, this one to parents who, it has said, should get in touch with their children. Obviously, the children, in the assessment of the police, are the youths out there happily looking for shops to put to the torch and goods to steal. And then comes this warning from the Met: CCTV pictures of those engaged in creating disorder will be published. You get a hint of desperation there.
As twilight descends over the city, Simon Hughes, the Lib-Dem parliamentarian, speaks sombrely on television of the chaos, asks those tempted to indulge in violence not to go for a blighting of conditions.
It is a surreal London tonight. It is the unreal flooding into homes as the day draws to a close.
Source : The Daily Star
Ant queens do work sometimes
Footage of ant queens working together has been captured by a BBC film crew.
As the sole reproducer in a colony, ant queens are traditionally considered lone figures.
However, in certain species unrelated queens will sometimes co-operate to kick-start a new colony.
The team filming for BBC Two series Natural World believe this is the first footage to show honeypot ant queens co-operating in the wild.
Filmmakers spent 150 days in the deserts of Arizona, US to capture the behaviour of the ants Myrmecocystus mimicus.
Filming the foundation of a new colony was a considerable challenge because the insects rarely ventured above ground.
The team's chance came following a mating swarm that happens only once a year.
The honeypot ants timed their mating so that the ground was soft enough for queens to dig a nest.
After weeks of checking the weather radar through the night, cameraman John Brown finally had the perfect opportunity to film the ants but had to do so before the sun baked them to death.
An early start paid off for the team who were able to capture in detail the greeting between two queens and their subsequent co-operation.
Prof Holldobler first documented the "slave-making" behaviour of M mimicus in 1976 and, since then, he has studied the ants' complex social behaviour.
In addition to filming the foundation of the colony, the film crew was able to film inside the nest to see what happened next.
Their cameras revealed that once the queens had raised an army of workers, a subtle but lethal "revolution" took place.
Ant specialist and wrangler Ray Mendez facilitated the filming, having worked extensively with ants in the area.
Mendez pointed out that, rather than valuing a single sovereign, the worker ants were simply picking off the weakest queens to manage their resources better.
After digging the nest and raising the first brood, Mendez says, the weakest queens are abandoned by their colony.
"At that point, [the queen has] expended all of her energy stores," he explained.
But rather than select a single "monarch", honeypot ant colonies with sufficient space will occasionally support multiple queens.
"They don't necessarily sit next to each other like a bunch of chums," Mendez said.
But with underground nests extending to depths of up to 3m, Mendez has found as many as half a dozen queens in one colony.
Prof Holldobler's genetic research has also confirmed that, although it is not common, multiple queens can exist in a single colony.
Source : The Daily Star
Cameron recalls parliament to tackle riots
British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged yesterday to restore order, recalling Parliament on Thursday in response to the "sickening scenes", which prompted unrest in other cities.
Copycat riots broke out in other flashpoints areas on Sunday, and by Monday night they had spread across the city, from the wealthy districts of Notting Hill and Clapham, inner-city Peckham and Hackney, and suburban Croydon and Ealing.
Police across England are gearing up after trouble spread to Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham.
Some 16,000 police officers are policing London's streets in a bid to prevent a fourth night of rioting.
Cameron condemned the "sickening scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing".
"You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment," he said to rioters.
The Metropolitan force has released what it says will be the "first of many" CCTV images of rioting suspects, while 32 people who were among the first to be charged in connection to the violence have appeared in court.
So far 525 people have been arrested and more than 100 people being charged in connection with violence in the capital.
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said a 26-year-old man found shot in a car in Croydon, amid rioting in the south London town, had died in hospital.
The unrest is the worst in British history since the 1980s and has raised questions about security in London ahead of the Olympic Games which take place in the east of the capital in a year's time.
Source : The Daily Star
market Disclosures
National Life Insurance
Kazi Fahim Fayyaz, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 10,000 shares out of his total holdings of 20,262 shares (in the block market) of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
Union Capital
Enrilco Limited, one of the corporate sponsors/directors of the company, has reported its intention to sell 85,000 shares out of its total holdings of 44,42,433 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
Peoples Leasing and Financial Services
Capt M Moazzam Hossain, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 8,62,300 shares out of his total holdings of 43,62,463 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
NCC Bank
Aslam-ul-Karim, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 60,000 shares out of his total holdings of 17,07,971 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
Exim Bank
Md Fahim Zaman Pathan, one of the sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 7,00,000 shares out of his total holdings of 1,11,82,858 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
Square Pharmaceuticals
Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle with cum benefit from August 10 to 14. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date on August 16.
RN Spinning Mills
Kim Jung Suk, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 20,00,000 shares (bonus shares) out of his total holdings of 3,31,23,173 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
Pioneer Insurance
Md Shafiat Sobhan, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 14,000 shares out of his total holdings of 39,062 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
Source: DSE
Source : New Age
InterContinental Hotels profits rise in first half
InterContinental Hotels Group said on Tuesday that its net profits climbed 11 per cent to $156 million (109 million euros) in the first six months of 2011 on sales growth in China and the United States.
The company, which owns the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn chains of hotels, said its profit after tax for the six months to June compared with net earnings of $141 million in the first half of 2010.
Overall revenue jumped 10 per cent to $850 million at IHG, the world's largest hotels operator by number of rooms.
'In the first half, we delivered a strong performance across each of our regions, driven both by increased occupancy from business and leisure travellers as well as progressive rate improvement,' chief executive Richard Solomons said in a statement.
He added that global revenue per available room — a key industry measure —grew 12.7 per cent in China and 8.2 per cent in the United States.
Source : New Age
HSBC in talks to sell US credit card business
HSBC said Tuesday it is in talks to sell its United States credit card and retail services business as the global banking giant shifts focus to fast-growing markets, particularly in Asia.
The Britain-based lender has unveiled massive cost-cutting measures in recent months, including plans to save up to $3.5 billion by 2013 and to axe 30,000 jobs across the globe over the next two years.
But the bank has also said it will hire up to 15,000 people in emerging markets by 2014 as it looks to Asia's booming financial sector to power future growth.
'HSBC confirms that it is in discussions regarding a possible sale of the business,' the bank said in a statement issued through its Hong Kong office.
'These discussions are ongoing and no decision has yet been made to proceed with any transaction. HSBC will make a further statement if or when appropriate.'
The banking giant said in May that it would conduct an assessment of its US branch network and cards business. Chief executive Stuart Gulliver said at the time that it could be sold but only for a 'sensible' price.
Tuesday's statement came amid fresh media speculation on the sale.
US lender Capital One Financial Corp is in advanced talks to buy HSBC's US credit card portfolio, according to Dow Jones Newswires which quoted unnamed people familiar with the deal.
The deal, which will also include about $30 billion of credit card loans, is expected to be announced soon, although the two parties are still negotiating, the sources told Dow Jones.
HSBC — which unlike many of its rivals survived the 2008 crisis without state aid — said earlier this month it would sell 195 retail branches, primarily in upstate New York, to First Niagara Bank for an estimated $1 billion.
HSBC was founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865, although it remains headquartered in London.
Source : New Age
Tk 9,000cr new currency notes to be introduced before Eid
Bangladesh Bank will introduce new currency notes worth about Tk 9,000 crore of different denominations before Eid-Ul-Fitr.
All the new notes will bear the portrait of the founding president of the country, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said a senior official of Currency Management department of the central bank on Tuesday.
'Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will launch the new notes on August 11,' BB officials said.
Currency management senior official Saifur Rahman Khan said that primarily the new notes will be available at the Motijheel counter of Bangladesh Bank.
'We have 1,000, 500, 100, 5 and 2 Taka notes at this moment while other notes will be introduced within a few days,' he said.
'The 10, 20 and 50 Taka notes are in the process of printing and would be available step by step,' he added.
The central bank officials said that in the coming days, BB will issue new notes of different value carrying the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Every year, BB issues new notes before Eid.
Bangladesh Bank in a release on Tuesday said that the new Tk 2 notes will be unveiled by the prime minister on August 11. The new notes will be available everywhere alongside the old notes.
Besides, 60 crore pieces Tk 5 coins are coming from Finland which would be available before December this year.
Source : New Age
SEC okays AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved a Tk 150-crore AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund with a redemption period of 10 years.
'The fund will raise Tk 77 crore through an initial public offering and Tk 75 crore from sponsors and pre-IPO placement holders,' an SEC official told reporters.
The face value of each unit of the fund is
Tk 10 and the market lot consists of 500 units, he said.
Race Asset Management is the asset manager of the fund while its trusty is Bangladesh General Insurance Company. BRAC Bank is the custodian.
Source : New Age
Rain reigns over RU campus
The non-stop rain over the past few days has brought life on the Rajshahi University campus almost to a standstill.
The main points of the university have gone under water because of the intermittent rain, interrupting academic activities and causing sufferings to the teachers and students.
Campus sources said the rain has caused water-stagnation at the bus stand, second administrative building, TSCC Chattar, 2nd science building, fine arts department and agriculture faculty, central stadium and the main points of the university.
The teachers and students have to attend classes crossing knee-high water every day.
Most of the departments of the university were running their activities with the lowest number of students and teachers.
Nahiduzzaman Nahid, a second year student of law and justice department of the university, said he had to come to attend to the class but the class was not held as the presence of students was very poor.
'I come to attend class from a very distant area and waded through water on the campus to reach my department but no classes were held,' he added.
Farjana Khatun Shyamali, a third student of fine arts department, said she could not attend classes as the premises of her department had gone under water.
Sydur Rahman, a student of agriculture faculty, said there was water all over the premises of the faculty since Thursday night.
'Academic activities on the campus are being hampered severely since then,' he added.
When contacted, Mohammad Abdur Rahim, chief engineer of the university, admitting the poor drainage system, told New Age that inadequate fund was the main cause behind the delay in the reconstruction of the university drains.
'The RU authorities have put forward a proposal to the Rajshahi City Corporation to reconstruct the main drains of the university,' he added.
Source : New Age
BCL men charged with extortion
A Jagannath University student filed a complained with the university proctor on Tuesday against JnU Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Kazi Rakibul Islam and his associates.
In the complaint, JnU economics 4th semester student Masud Kabir said that Chhatra League activists Rakibul of history 7th semester, Tanvir Ahmed of management 3rd batch and Tarikul Islam of physics 2nd batch tried to extort Tk 1 lakh from him on June 2, 2011.
When he refused to give that money, Rakibul snatched his laptop, two mobiles, a gold ring, a pen-drive, a watch, a modem and Tk 5,000.
As he tried to resist them, they beat him up, he said.
Masud Kabir said after the incident, he did not file any complaint as the Chhatra League activists threatened him with sharp weapons and, now, he showed the courage to complain as Rakibul and his associates were recently arrested by the police on robbery charges.
JnU acting proctor Asoke Kumar Saha admitted the filing of the complaint.
Source : New Age
JU BCL men beat student
The activists of Jahangirnagar University Bangladesh Chhatra League, the ruling Awami League's associate body for the students, beat a student on the campus on Monday.
The victim Pinak Pani Bhattacharya is an English student of batch 37 of the university.
Witnesses said about 10 Chhatra League activists, led by the unit's joint secretary Sarkar Azgar Ali, beat him at the transport office premises.
Pinak Pani was taken to the university medical centre and later shifted to Enam Medical College Hospital at Savar as his condition was critical.
The victim said, 'It was inhuman and the Chhatra League activists just abused their political power.' He also demanded punishment of the BCL men.
Sarkar Azgar Ali admitted the assault on Pinak Pani and he told New Age, 'Pinak Pani was punished as he misbehaved with me when I asked him of his identity.'
JU proctor Arzu Mia said that they would take necessary action if the complaints were proved.
Source : New Age
5 staff detained for questioning
The Sonadanga police in Khulna Tuesday morning detained five employees of the divisional museum for interrogation in connection with the missing of two idols from the museum.
Officer-in-charge of Sonadanga thana KM Sawkat Hossain told New Age that Khulna divisional director of the archeology department Shihab Uddin Mohammad Akbar had filed a case on Monday and they had been investigating the case.
The OC said the stealing was perpetrated from inside of the museum as the glasses of the windows were not broken but the grilles of the window were cut.
He said that the adjacent wall of the windows had spider nets and there was no spot of legs or hands there.
The idols of Banu Gopal were yet to be recovered till Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, the archeology department head office in Dhaka formed a three-member probe body and they were expected to visit the museum today, said the Khulna divisional director of the department Shihab Uddin Mohammad Akbar on Tuesday.
The department's Dhaka regional director Mohammad Abdul Khaleq is leading the team and the other two members are archeological engineer Khandakar Zahidul Karim and Chittagong regional director Mohammad Minazur Rahaman, he said.
An officials of Khulna divisional museum said that they missed two idols – one having right hand broken and the other with both legs broken.
Source : New Age
Chittagong choked with Ramadan traffic
The Chittagong city is faced with severe traffic jams since the beginning of this Ramadan with most of its roads clogged particularly during the iftar hours.
The traffic department of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police expressed its helplessness in tackling the problem, anticipating a far worsened situation in the days to come when crowds would increase for Eid shopping.
Sources in the CMP traffic department said the worst jams occur on seven roads — Station Road stretched from the BRTC bus stoppage to New Market Crossing, Sheikh Mujib Road stretched from the Barik Building to Dewanhat Crossing, Jubili Road stretched between Amtoli and Enayet Bazar Crossing, Sirajuddoula Road stretched between Chawak Bazar and Andarkillah Crossing, Pathantoli Road stretched from Chowmuhuni to Kadamtoli Crossing, Agrabad Access Road stretched between Badamtoli and Barapul Crossing and Port Connecting Road stretched from Alangkar to Nimtoli Crossing.
Traffic pressure is no less on most lanes, by-lanes and a number of crossings, namely Tiger-pass Crossing, WASA Crossing, GEC Crossing, Sholoshahar Crossing, Muradpur Crossing, Bahadderhat Crossing, Kazir Dewri Crossing, Bokshirbit Crossing, Kotwali Crossing and Oxygen Crossing.
In these places vehicles pressure begins to mount usually after noon and gets severe by about four in the afternoon.
'All the traffic comes to a standstill by the iftar hour,' said the source in the traffic control department.
Amin Ullah, a shopkeeper at Reazuddin Bazar, said it took him about one and a half hours to reach his home at Halishahar on Monday evening.
'It usually takes me no more than 30 minutes to reach my home from Reazuddin Bazar by an auto-rickshaw. But on Monday I started about 5:30pm by an auto-rickshaw and went home at about 7:00pm,' he said.
As he was still on the road when the iftar hour came he had to take unhygienic food from the roadside shop to break his fast, Amin Ullah said.
Taslim Uddin, a banker, said he left New Market for his residence at Chawk Bazar at 6:00pm on rickshaw to reach there about 7:00pm on Monday.
'Usually it's a 15 to 20 minutes journey,' he said, observing that the traffic police had little to do the way vehicles were glued to each other during that period.
Faruque Ahmed, deputy commissioner of CMP traffic, said the severe afternoon traffic was caused by the commuters who desperately tried to reach home to have iftar with their families.
'It's a time when thousands of extra vehicles hit the roads simultaneously, paralysing the whole traffic system,' he said.
He also mentioned several reasons contributing to the increasing traffic jams of the city that included lack of expansion of city roads with a growing number of vehicles, inadequately trained drivers who lacked knowledge in traffic rules, frequent violation of traffic rules and insufficient manpower at the city traffic department.
'In all probability the situation will become worse on the road in the coming days of Ramadan when Eid shopping starts in full swing' he added.
Source : New Age
Household gas supply thru pipeline should be snapped: Muhith
The finance minister, Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, has said gas supply to households through pipeline should be snapped permanently as the service is already stopped in other parts of the world.
'Gas is the prime source of energy and we do not have enough gas. We need to fix our priority in using gas and we should not use gas irrationally for domestic purpose,' he said at a seminar on 'Energy Security in Bangladesh: Farsightedness of Bangabandhu' at Petrobangla office in Dhaka Tuesday.
Muhith said use of energy could neither be stopped nor be reduced, but together everybody of the country could ensure the best use of limited natural resources. 'We must stop misuse of natural gas as we don't have enough reserve.'
'Despite Petrobangla's success in last two-and-half-years, it remained a big challenge to cope with the high demand against a limited gas production,' he added.
The seminar was organised by Petrobangla to mark 'Energy Security Day'.
State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Enamul Haque, adviser to the prime minister Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, chairman Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Yusuf Hossain, secretary of the energy ministry M Mijbhauddin, Petrobangla chairman Hossain Monsur, BPC chairman Muktadir Ali and top officials of the energy ministry were present.
Petrobangla director Mollah Mofidul Hossain presented the keynote paper.
Muhith said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman bought five gas fields — Titas, Habiganj, Rashidpur, Koilashtila and Bakhrabad — from Shell Petroleum Company on August 9, 1975 at a nominal price of 4.5 million British pounds. Because of this farsightedness, he said, the people of the country enjoyed natural gas at cheap prices for household use.
The government has been considering energy issue as number two challenge after food, he said, adding 'to ensure our energy security we can do a lot through using energy savings equipment and take conservation measures.'
According to the keynote, the country has a proven reserve of 4.3 TCF gas reserve and 2.6 TCF probable gas reserves, amounting a present market value of about $12.26 billion.
'We might not face such a gas crisis if they (BNP) took minimum initiative for exploring gas and producing electricity during their tenures,' he added.
Source : New Age
Int’l Day of Indigenous Peoples observed
Leaders and activists of minority ethnic communities from across the country, defying the pouring rain, took to the streets in the capital on Monday to press home their demand for being officially recognised as 'indigenous peoples', not as 'small ethnic groups', in the Constitution.
They held discussions, brought out processions, formed human chains and arranged cultural programmes in different places of the country to observe the International Day of Indigenous Peoples.
They marched through the streets, chanting slogans in protest against the government's move to describe them as 'tribes', and demanded full implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tract peace accord.
The Bangladesh Adivasi Forum staged a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar, in which its president Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma,
better known as Santu Larma, warned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that if her party and government continue to be undemocratic and communal, only she and they would be responsible for the results.
Larma, also president of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti and the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council, said they would not accept the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.
'Each person has the right to retain his true identity, but the present government has foisted on all of us the Bengali identity. But we can't accept that. We want constitutional recognition of our true identity,' he said.
He also said that Sheikh Hasina had failed to fulfil her promise to implement the CHT accord. 'The government has not taken any positive initiative to implement the accord in spite of being in power for two and a half year.'
Larma also denounced foreign minister Dipu Moni's recent statements on the country's ethnic minorities. On July 26 she claimed that 'the CHT people are tribal and not indigenous'.
Larma urged the ethnic minority communities to launch a strong movement to realise their rights.
The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Mizanur Rahman, as chief guest of the rally said that recognition of ethnic minorities as 'indigenous' is inevitable and 'it should be done immediately'.
He also stressed the need for immediate implementation of the CHT accord to establish the rights of the hill people.
Sultana Kamal, former adviser to the caretaker government and co-chair of the International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, inaugurated the rally which was conducted by Sanjeeb Drong, the Adivasi Forum's general secretary.
Politicians, activists and academics also expressed solidarity with the cause of the ethnic minority communities, saying that the government has made them second-class citizens by not giving them due recognition in the Constitution. They also said that the government has repeated the mistake of 1972 when the ethnic minorities were not recognised as 'indigenous people' in the Constitution, which was a historical blunder.
Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Raja Devasish Roy, Communist Party of Bangladesh's president Manjurul Ahsan Khan, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal's president Hasanul Haque Inu, Workers Party of Bangladesh's presidium member Fazle Hossain Badshah, Gana Forum's presidium member
Pankaj Bhattacharya, Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad's general secretary Rana Dasgupta, Dhaka University teachers HKS Arefin, Mesbah Kamal and Robayet Ferdous were among those who addressed the rally.
Ethnic minority peoples joined the four-hour rally, wearing their traditional dress, in spite of the continuous downpour. A cultural programme, featuring the traditional culture of various ethnic groups, followed the rally.
The Jatisatta Mukti Sangram held a discussion on '15th Amendment to the Constitution and rights of different minorities' at the RC Majumdar Arts Auditorium of Dhaka University.
The Coalition of Local NGOs also held a discussion at the National Press Club.
New Age's Khagrachhari correspondent reported that the local chapter of PCJSS and Adivasi Forum, and the Ganatantrik Jubo Forum, the youth forum supported by the United Peoples Democratic Front, organised rallies, brought out processions and formed human chains in the town, demanding constitutional recognition of all ethnic minor groups as 'indigenous'.
The PCJSS formed a human chain on the road adjacent to the court and staged a rally at Khagrapur Community Centre. The Adivasi Forum staged a rally at Khagrachhari Mukta Mancha.
The Ganatantrik Jubo Forum staged a rally and brought out procession which paraded various roads of the town.
New Age's Rangamati correspondent reported that the Adivasi Forum organised a reception for elderly people of ethnic minorities and held a
discussion in the Rangamati Municipality Auditorium. Later they brought out a procession which paraded several roads of the town.
This year the indigenous people's day, amidst debate on recognition of ethnic minorities as 'indigenous', was observed with the slogan: 'Indigenous Designs: Celebrating Stories and Cultures, Crafting Our Own Future'. The day has been observed since 1995 to uphold the rights of indigenous people, now numbering about 370 million around the globe
The United Nations' secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, called upon everyone to recognise the unique identities of indigenous peoples around the world. He urged all to work for ensuring their rights.
Source : New Age
Probe finds police responsible
Investigators have held the local police responsible for the death of Shamsuddin Milon killed as a mob beat him at Companyganj in Noakhali on July 27.
The three-member committee set up on Saturday to investigate the killing submitted its report on Tuesday in which it accused the local police of failing to protect Milon, the superintendent of police in Noakhali police superintendent Harun-ur-Rashid Hazari told New Age on Tuesday.
'If the police had wished, they could have saved Milon from being killed by the mob. The committee has held the police responsible for the killing. Necessary action would be taken against the police personnel responsible,' Harun said.
Quoting the report, he said that the police had instigated the mob to kill the boy instead of saving his life.
The police, meanwhile on Monday night, registered a murder case accusing two people, including a union council member, in connection the killing.
Eleven days after the killing of 16-year-old boy, the local police recorded the case filed by victim's mother Kohinoor Begum after the police superintendent had asked the police to do so.
Milon was killed after the police let a mob beat him to death on suspicion of being a robber at Tekerhat of Companyganj in Noakhali.
Four police personnel, including the Companyganj police officer-in-charge, were suspended for negligence in duty that led to the killing of six people including the boy on July 27.
According to a video footage of the incident telecast by private television channel Somoy TV on Sunday night, the police let a mob beat Milon to death on suspicion of being a robber at Tekerhat.
The video footage showed that the mob beat Milon in the presence of the police after the police had forced the boy to get off the police van.
On August 3, the victim's mother filed the case with a Noakhali court in connection with the killing of her son.
Kohinoor in the case statement accused two local people, including the union council member, of killing her son in the presence of the police.
Source : New Age
Arrest warrant against ex-SP Kohinoor in murder case
Arrest warrant was issued against ex-superintendent of police Kohinoor Mia on Tuesday after charges were framed against him in a case filed against him for killing two people 7 years ago.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Rozina Khanam passed the order Tuesday afternoon after admitting charges against Kohinoor and another accused person following charge hearing.
Investigation office ASP Ismail Hossain filed the charge-sheet in the morning accusing Kohinoor and Abdus Sattar Ujjal for the double murder recommending the court to acquit 18 other accused as allegations against them were not proved during investigations.
According to the case details, Abu Taher and Sujan were shot to death allegedly by Kohinoor at Achargaon School Polling Centre in Nandail upazila during Nandail town polls on May 9, 2004.
Kohinoor killed the duo allegedly at the behest of Nandail municipality chairman candidate Abdus Sattar Ujjal, the IO stated in his charge-sheet.
Source : New Age
Snatching of Tk 36.8 lakh: none arrested yet
The Jatrabari police are yet to arrest any of the armed muggers who, wearing identical T-shirts and riding motorbikes, shot an executive of a garment factory in broad daylight in Matuail and snatched Tk 36.8 lakh from him after he emerged from a bank.
'We have identified three mugger gangs in the capital. The RAB, Detective Branch and the police are trying to nab them and recover the money,' said the investigation officer, Mazharul Islam, who is the operation officer of Jatrabari thana.
The commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Benazir Ahmed, requested the city dwellers to ask for police escort while transferring large amounts of cash.
Khairul Hossain Chowdhury, 40, chief accountant of Masters' Garments and Fashion in Demra, was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Tuesday with bullets in his legs.
Some six to eight muggers on motorbikes intercepted the car carrying Khairul and his two colleagues at Matuail Katherpool, said the police. They were returning to the factory at around 1:30pm after withdrawing the sum from Prime Bank's Motijheel branch.
Selim Reza, compliance officer of the company who was in the car, said, 'The muggers forced Humayun Kabir, our director, to get out of the car at gunpoint and held us hostage. When Khairul tried to resist the muggers, they shot his legs and grabbed the bag containing the money.'
None of the others, including the driver, were shot.
Humayun Kabir filed a case on Monday with Jatrabari thana against six unnamed muggers.
The DMP commissioner said in a press release on Tuesday that monetary transactions and transfers would increase in the Ramadan and on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, and the DMP will provide police escort if any individual, bank or financial institution asks the police to provide protective escort.
He asked the seekers of police escort to contact the nearest thana or police control room. The telephone numbers of the control rooms are 9665407, 8616553, 8614300, 01713398311, 01191001122 and 999 (DMP)
Those asking for police escort will have to use their own vehicles, he said.
Source : New Age
Libya blasts NATO village ‘massacre,’ rebels in crisis
Libyan authorities on Tuesday accused NATO of a 'massacre' of 85 villagers in air strikes in support of rebels, whose political leadership was in crisis after the sacking of its top officials.
The village of Majer, 10 kilometres south of Zliten in western Libya, was attacked late on Monday to try to help rebel fighters enter the government-held city from the south, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said.
'After the first three bombs dropped at around 11:00pm (2100 GMT) on Monday, many residents of the area ran to the bombed houses to try to save their loved ones. Three more bombs struck,' he told reporters on an organised visit.
Thirty-three children, 32 women and 20 men from 12 families were killed in the 'massacre,' Mussa said.
Journalists saw four destroyed buildings, as local officials said more casualties were still buried under the rubble. A single bulldozer at the scene, however, stood idle.
In the hospital morgue, 30 bodies — including two children and one woman — were shown along with other bodies which had been torn apart.
NATO, which launched its air campaign at the end of March under UN resolutions to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces, insisted the raids near Zliten were 'legitimate' and that it had no evidence of the civilian deaths.
'We do not have evidence of civilian casualties at this stage,' the NATO spokesman for the alliance's Libya campaign, Colonel Roland Lavoie, said from his Naples, Italy headquarters.
NATO raids south of Zliten were against two former farms used for military purposes by Gaddafi forces, he said. 'This was a military facility clearly ... NATO takes extreme precaution not to harm innocent civilians living or working nearby.'
Rebels fighting around Zliten, 120 kilometres to the east of Tripoli, said on Monday they were running low on ammunition as they struggled to hold off an assault by loyalists.
Abdul Wahab Melitan, a rebel spokesman in the nearby port city of Misrata, said forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had launched an assault on their positions around Zliten on Sunday.
The rebels, advancing from Misrata, a week ago punched into the centre of Zliten, sparking fierce clashes. But they later pulled back to the edge of the city of 200,000 inhabitants.
On another front, at least two rebels were killed in fighting on Tuesday around the oil town of Brega in eastern Libya, a rebel spokesman said.
And explosions rocked the Fernej district of southwest Tripoli between 1:00am (2300 GMT) and 2:00am, sending flames shooting into the night sky, an AFP correspondent in the capital said.
They were followed by a series of smaller blasts, suggesting an arms depot had been hit. Two other explosions followed at around 6:00am, he said.
Meanwhile, in the rebel capital of Benghazi in eastern Libya, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional Council, sacked the entire executive office of his government late on Monday.
NTC officials said he dismissed several top ministers — including those responsible for finance, defence and information — while calling for root and branch reform.
'Mr Mustafa Abdel Jalil has disbanded the executive office,' spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said, adding that prime minister Mahmud Jibril would be tasked with creating a reformed body.
It was the latest dramatic phase in the turmoil sparked by the assassination of rebel military commander General Abdel Fatah Yunis in late July.
The NTC has come under fire for its role in events leading up to Yunis's death, as well as its handling of the aftermath.
Although details are sketchy and still under investigation, it is known that an arrest warrant was signed by senior NTC executive member Ali Essawy, raising allegations that the NTC unknowingly helped facilitate his murder.
Essawy was one of the most visible members of the rebel government — the interlocutor for visiting foreign dignitaries.
The council has faced angry and sometimes violent protests from Yunis's tribe, as well as demands for reform from groups that were at the forefront of the uprising against Gaddafi that erupted in mid-February.
Jalil has vowed that an internal investigation into the NTC's management of the crisis would not flinch from apportioning blame. 'No one is above the law, starting from the top of the NTC,' he said.
Source : New Age
Indian team in town to check security
A six-member advance team of India arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday to discuss logistics and security matters for the forthcoming visit of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, to Bangladesh in September.
India's Special Protection Group chief Sudeep Lakhtakia is leading the team composed of senior officials from the Indian Prime Minister's Office, cabinet division and home and external affairs ministries.
The team recced the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel where Manmohan will stay during his two-day official visit beginning on September 6, according to government officials. They also held a meeting with the hotel officials.
The Indian team will also recce Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Bangabhaban, the Prime Minister's Office, the National Memorial at Savar and the Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi, where Manmohan will go during the visit and the city roads he would be using, officials said.
The team will hold separate meetings with the director general of the Special Security Force, Major General Mia Md Jainul Abedin, and the chief of protocol of the foreign ministry, Brigadier General MAS Sadeque, they said.
They will discuss the entire range of security matters, protocols for the VVIP entourage and all type of logistical matters including transport, accommodation and food.
Singh will arrive in Dhaka at an invitation of his counterpart Sheikh Hasina at noon on September 6 and leave the country the next afternoon.
India will send more teams and vehicles to be used by the Indian prime minister and armoured vehicles to ensure fool-proof security several days ahead of Manmohan's arrival in Dhaka.
The two governments are working on finalizing the programme schedules, agenda for discussion, and agreements to be signed during the visit.
Manmohan will hold a bilateral meeting with Hasina in her office in the evening on September 6.
After the official talks, they would witness the signing of several agreements, memorandums of understanding and protocols between the two counties on using Chittagong and Mongla sea ports and roads and railway facilities in Bangladesh by India under transit arrangements, sharing the water of the Teesta and Feni rivers, power purchase by Bangladesh from India, liberalisation of trade for Bangladesh by India and settlement of disputes on undemarcated border, adversely possessed lands and enclaves and exclaves, according to government officials.
Manmohan is likely to give a lecture in the University of Dhaka in the morning on September 7. He will call on the president, Zillur Rahman, at Bangabhaban the same day.
The leader of opposition in parliament, Khaleda Zia, also the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the Jatiya Party chairman, HM Ershad, will separately call on Singh in his hotel suit.
Singh is likely to address a joint press conference with Hasina on the outcomes of the visit and bilateral relations.
Source : New Age
BAU teachers boycott classes, exams
Teachers of Bangladesh Agricultural University have boycotted classes and examinations.
Protesting at an attack on their colleagues by Bangladesh Chhatra League, associate organisation of the ruling Awami League, the university's teachers decided to refrain from classes and as declared on Monday, the teachers' association sat in a meeting around 11:00am.
'Fresh programmes will be announced later,' teachers' association president Nazrul Islam told the news agency.
At least 20 teachers were injured on Monday afternoon when BCL attacked them at the Teachers-Students Centre on the campus. One of the teachers was admitted to Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital with critical injuries.
Witnesses said, Chhatra League activists went on a rampage in some buildings on the campus during the attack and also set two motorcycles and two cars on fire.
Also, some teachers held four Chhatra Leaguers -Noor Alam, 'Habib', 'Rasel' and 'Tapu'- during the attack and took them to the proctor's office and later handed them over to the police. The four activists were, however, released in the evening.
The teachers came under attack on Monday following the proctor's handing over two Chhatra League activists, Noor Mohammad and 'Arif', to sadar police on Sunday.
They were caught by security guards around 3:00pm for allegedly trying to mug someone at the university's Botanical Garden. They were sent to jail after appearing before a court, Kotwali police officer Golam Sarwar said on Monday.
However, until Tuesday noon, no Chhatra League activities were seen on the campus after heavy policy deployment.
Activists of a Chhatra League faction vandalised proctor Abu Hadi Noor Ali's car at night following the handover and also hurled abuses at him from outside his residence at the teachers' quarters.
Protesting at this behaviour, the teachers' association held an emergency meeting around 12:30pm on Monday and brought out a silent procession.
On Monday afternoon, Chhatra League also held a protest rally demanding release of the duo, and threatened to boycott classes and examinations if the two were not freed within 72 hours.
Source : New Age
HC asks for report on soya bean oil import, price
The High Court once again on Tuesday asked the chief controller (export and import) and the chairman of Chittagong Port Authority to inform the court by August 16 of the quantity of soya bean oil imported in six months and its price.
The president and secretary of the Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers' Association were asked to inform the court of the price details of different brands of soya bean oil sold in six months.
The court also asked the authorities to explain their failure in replying to the rule that on November 28, 2010 asked them to explain in two weeks why their inaction to stop increase in soya bean oil prices would not be declared illegal.
The secretaries to the commerce and finance ministries, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh chairman, chief controller of exports and imports, Chittagong Port Authority chairman, inspector general of police, Rapid Action Battalion director general, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection director general and the president and secretary of the Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers' Association were also asked to reply to the rule.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain in November 2010 issued the rule and the directive after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by six Supreme Court lawyers on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, challenging the government's inaction and failure in checking the price increase of cooking oil.
The same court on July 24, 2011 summoned the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh chairman, chief controller of export and import, Chittagong Port Authority chairman and the director general of National Consumer Rights Protection to explain their failure in stopping hoarding and profiteering on cooking oil on August 9.
The respondents on Tuesday appeared in court and offered apologies for their failure to comply with the rule.
The court asked them to explain their statement in writing on August 16.
The petitioners contended that the authorities had failed in their responsibilities.
The petitioners' counsel Manzill Murshid said that the respondents had failed to comply with the order the court had issued in 2010.
He said, 'If the respondents had complied with the previous order, unscrupulous traders would not have been able to create an artificial crisis of supply now to increase cooking oil prices by exploiting its demand before Ramadan.
The lawyer told the court that the retailers were charging Tk 123 a litre for packed soya bean oil against the price of f Tk 109 as set by the government. He also showed a one-litre bottle of the Rupchanda brand soya bean oil to prove his point.
On July 20, the government set the maximum retail price of sugar at Tk 65 a kilogram and cooking oil at Tk 109 a litre. The government had the price of non-packed palm oil at Tk 99 a kilogram.
The prices were set on a decision the commerce ministry made at a meeting with sugar and cooking oil refiners.
The petitioners' lawyer said, 'It is the duty of the controller of imports and exports to protect consumers' rights.'
Source : New Age
Parts of London, other cities in flames
The prime minister, David Cameron, recalled parliament Tuesday and ordered thousands of extra police onto the streets after Britain's worst rioting in decades left parts of London and other cities in flames.
As the disorder claimed its first fatality with the death of a man found shot during looting in south London, Cameron vowed to do 'everything necessary to restore order to the streets' after three nights of violence.
The prime minister cut short his holiday in Italy to return to Britain for an emergency meeting on the riots, which he condemned as 'sickening scenes'.
Police have begun releasing CCTV pictures of the looters, many of them in their teens. Some 525 people have been arrested in London in the last three days, Scotland Yard said. Cameron warned: 'You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishments.'
He said that all police leave had been cancelled and there would be 16,000 officers on the streets of London on Tuesday night, compared to the 6,000 deployed on Monday evening.
Riots swept through London and in other English cities including Birmingham and Liverpool overnight Monday, the third consecutive night of violence which began in the north London district of Tottenham on Saturday following the shooting of local man by the police.
The family of the dead man, Mark Duggan, condemned the violence Tuesday, saying in a statement that they were 'deeply distressed' by the unrest, which they insisted 'has nothing to do with finding out what has happened to Mark'.
Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said the rampage by hundreds of hooded youths overnight was 'unprecedented' and said the police resources were stretched 'to an extent I have never seen before'.
He said that plastic bullets — used during sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland but never before in mainland Britain — have been considered as 'one of the tactics' to stem the tide of unrest.
The violence has raised questions about security ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games, and it prompted the Football Association to cancel Wednesday's friendly between England and the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium.
In some areas on Monday, rioters took control of the streets with little sign of a police presence. In Clapham, a mainly affluent area of southwest London, hundreds looted a department store for at least two hours, witnesses said.
Newspapers declared 'mob rule', and one police officer, Paul Deller, admitted on Tuesday: 'We simply ran out of units to send.'
The police have also urged parents to keep their children at home.
They said too many people had been arrested to hold in the city's police station jails, including three for attempted murder after a police officer was hit by a car in Brent, northwest London.
At least 44 police officers were injured overnight Monday, in addition to at least 35 who were hurt on the previous two evenings, the police said.
Despite the scenes of devastation, Acting Police Commissioner Tim Godwin said there were 'no plans' for the army to get involved.
The speaker of the House of Commons has agreed to recall parliament on Thursday so lawmakers could debate their response to the riots, Cameron said — a highly unusual move highlighting the seriousness of the crisis.
The violence began on Saturday in the ethnically-mixed north London district of Tottenham, following a protest against Duggan's shooting two days earlier.
An inquest into the 29-year-old's death opened on Tuesday, and heard that he died of a single gunshot wound to the chest after the taxi he was travelling in was stopped by the police investigating gun crime in the black community.
Copycat riots broke out in other flashpoint areas on Sunday, and by Monday night they had spread across the city, from the wealthy districts of Notting Hill and Clapham, to inner-city Peckham and Hackney, and suburban Croydon and Ealing.
Cameron visited some of the worst destruction in Croydon in south London, where an entire block of buildings — including a 100-year-old family furniture business — was burned down, sending flames leaping into the night sky.
A 26-year-old man was found with gunshot wounds in a car nearby, and the police said Tuesday he had died, becoming the first fatality of the riots. A murder investigation has been launched.
The violence also spread outside London on Monday night, including to the northwest city of Liverpool, where hundreds of rioters rampaged through the streets for several hours, setting cars and dustbins alight.
Police in Birmingham, in central England, said they had made 138 arrests as youths ran riot and looted shops in the city centre overnight, while police in the western city of Bristol battled to contain a mob of 150 youths.
Source : New Age
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