The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has completed its probe into corruption charges against former prime ministers Shiekh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia in awarding contracts to NIKO for gas exploration from three gas fields in the country.

The enquiry report has already been submitted to the commission and it is now being verified thoroughly before filing any case against the two leaders, ACC Director General (admin) Col. Hanif Iqbal told a press briefing here on Thursday. He said the report is now under consideration of the commission and "we have to wait till completion of the process to take the next step."

Asked about press reports that the commission has already decided to sue the two former prime ministers, Col Hanif said, "I don't want to make any comment in advance." Replying to another question, he said the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on prevention of serious crimes and corruption deals with graft cases under the mandate given by the government. The ACC is responsible for filing graft cases, submitting charge sheets and contesting the case in the court of law. "We deal with the cases at our stage. However, the NCC has the mandate to deal with the matters," he said.

Col. Hanif said the commission is taking preparations to file an appeal against the High Court order in the case of barge- mounted power plants against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina at a convenient time.

The DG said the commission would take some more time to verify the enquiry reports closely against 11 corruption suspects, out of 35 in the fourth list, before serving notices on them to submit their wealth statements. He said the ACC has transferred 23 deputy directors and 30 assistant directors to its six divisional and 22 district offices as part of the plan to strengthen the activities of the commission outside Dhaka. The DG said the transferred officers were asked to join their new places by November 30 provided they have no incomplete tasks in their hands. An officer who has incomplete enquiry or investigation in hands may delay the joining with the permission of superior authorities.

Denying the allegation that the transfer was a wholesale one, he said it is a usual process of service. The officers who worked in Dhaka for long and have experience, were transferred outside Dhaka to activate the newly reorganized regional offices.

About the present position of the Gatco case, the DG said the commission has so far recorded the deposition of 80 persons in the case and confiscated about 60 files and made 14 seizure lists. He said the commission is analyzing the information and materials collected so far. "We have to be sure about the charges before implicating a person in a case," he said.

UNB, Chittagong

Communications Adviser Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin Thursday said dynamism that has been prevailing at the Chitttagong Port and Customs House following implementation of the reform programmes after January 11 changeover would have to be maintained.

"None of the officials concerned will be spared for anything contrary," he said addressing a review meeting with the top officials of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Chittagong Customs House at the Port Auditorium.

The Adviser hoped the under construction New Mooring Container Terminal would start functioning fully by next July. Construction work of the container terminal is scheduled to be complete by December in 2008.

During the meeting, CPA chairman Commodore M Faruque and Customs Commissioner Lutfar Rahman listed the progresses made by their respective organisations.

The Customs Commissioner informed the Adviser that Tk 193 crore more tax has been collected than the target in the last four months. In reply, Maj Gen (retd) Matin advised the officials to continue the trend of tax collection and work with caution so that businesspersons and importers are not harassed.

He also suggested them to complete the auction process at the Port after every 15 days instead of two months to avoid congestion at the port.

Earlier, the Communications Adviser went round the New Mooring Container Terminal and visited the construction site of the Third Karnaphuli Bridge.

Staff Reporter

Leaders of Democratic Left Alliance demanded lifting of state of emergency and trial of the war criminals by constituting special tribunal.

They also demanded of the government to abandon the idea of National Security Council and separate Secretariat for the Election Commission.

Leaders of the front demanded this yesterday at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity. In a written speech at the press conference convener of the front Khalequzzaman said the government should establish peoples' fundamental rights by lifting the state of emergency.

The leaders of the front also demanded of the government to form a constitutional council so that the judiciary could not be politicised.

It also demanded full independence of the Anti-Corruption commission.

Abdullah Sarkar, Bazlur Rashid Firoz, of Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, Tipu Biswas of Workers' party, Mosharefa Mishu of Biplabi Oikya Front and Advocate Abdus Salam of Ganotantrik Majdoor Party, among others, were present at the meeting.

AP, Washington

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that a host of economic problems, including the severe housing slump, will cause business growth to slow noticeably in coming months.

Bernanke told Congress' Joint Economic Committee that the central bank is watching developments closely, but gave no signal that it's prepared at the current time to cut interest rates even further.

Fed policymakers last week cut a key interest rate for the second time in two months, but disappointed Wall Street by discouraging expectations that it would follow with further rate cuts. Bernanke said he and his colleagues believe economic activity will "slow noticeably in the fourth quarter" compared to the 3.9 percent pace of the third quarter.

"Growth was seen as remaining sluggish during the first part of next year, then strengthening as the effects of tighter credit and the housing correction begin to wane," Bernanke said in his prepared remarks to the JEC.

Many economists believe the economy's maximum point of danger of falling into a recession will occur in the early part of next year. A variety of problems from the steepest housing downturn in more than two decades to a severe credit crunch, surging oil prices and a falling dollar have roiled Wall Street in recent days, triggering big plunges in stock prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 360.92 points on Wednesday, the second drop of that magnitude in the past week.

Much of that anxiety stems from a steady stream of bad company news as corporate giants such as General Motors, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup have reported huge losses.

Bernanke acknowledged the recent market turmoil, but he generally took a more upbeat view of things, saying the Fed believes the economy should rebound from the current problems by the second half of next year.

He also repeated worries the Fed expressed last week: recent increases in oil and other commodities could raise the threat of inflation.

The Fed last week said the threats from weak growth and higher inflation seemed roughly in balance. Such a view, which Bernanke repeated on Thursday, will likely mean that the central bank plans no further interest rate cuts.

"All told, it was the judgment of (Fed policymakers) that, after its action on Oct. 31, the stance of monetary policy roughly balanced the upside risks to inflation and the downside risk to growth," Bernanke said.

However, members of the congressional panel said they believed a much more aggressive response was needed.

"I think we are at a moment of economic crisis," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told Bernanke. "I am not surprised to hear experts such as your predecessor, Alan Greenspan, warn about the threat of a recession. I have begun to worry about it to."

BSS, Dhaka

Bangladesh Council for Scientific Industrial Research (BCSIR) is going to open a service center in the capital to help people detect existence of formalin in fish and milk.

Science and Information and Communication Technology Secretary SM Wahiduzzaman will formally inaugurate the center on November 11.

From the day of opening, the service centre will start selling formalin detection kits at a fair price, an official handout said here yesterday.

The government has taken the decision to launch centre in the wake of complaints that unscrupulous traders have been mixing formalin with fish, fruits and milk. According to the handout, foods adulterated with formalin reduces human immunity against diseases and smooth functioning of the nervous system, increases risk of cancer, liver cirrhosis kidney and heart ailment, allergy and asthma. Formalin prevents normal physical and mental growth of children, the handout added.

UNB, Dhaka

The 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) will be held in Beppu in Oita Prefecture of Japan on December 3 and 4 this year seeking to mobilize the political will and commitment to put water high up in the national agenda of the countries in the region.

Around 300 people, including top-level leaders from various sectors like industry, public, education, local organizations and media, from 49 countries are expected to attend the summit. The central theme of the summit is 'Water Security: Leadership and Commitment'. Besides, stakeholders involved in water and sanitation issues including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), The Wold Conservation Union (IUCN), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and UNESCO, are also expected to participate in the summit, said a press release.

The 1st APWS is being convened by the Steering Committee for the Asia-Pacific Water Summit and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), under the chairmanship of former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in collaboration with the APWF's governing council, chaired by Prof Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large of Singapore. Exchanging on the central theme of 'Water Security: Leadership and Commitment', top level dignitaries will make speeches in the plenary session, while a series of thematic panel sessions are scheduled to discuss in further depth.

Some of the issues of concern such as climate change, water financing, water-related disaster management, water for development and ecosystems, developing knowledge and lessons, increasing local capacity, monitoring investments and results, the private sector water mandate, will also feature in the deliberations.

In parallel to the 1st APES, an Open Event forum will be held in Beppu from December 1-5, with a broad participation from civil society stakeholders, multilateral organisations, and others. The conclusions from the summit will be conveyed to upcoming political events in Japan, namely TICAD and the G8 Summit in 2008. The 1st APWS is being sponsored by Coca-Cola Company Limited (Japan), Canon Inc., with support from the ADB and the government of Japan government, among others.

The Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) is working to increase the region' s access to improved water supplies and sanitation, protect and restore river basins, and reduce people's vulnerability to water disasters. The APWF champions efforts aimed at boosting investments, building capacity, increasing public outreach and enhancing cooperation in the water sector at the regional level. "The fact is that, at present, in Asia and the Pacific, 700 million of our citizens do not have access to safe drinking water, the region suffers disproportionately from water-related disasters and degraded land-water ecosystems significantly threaten water productivity," said former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori. "We can turn the situation around if we can agree to make water a high priority in our development plans, if we acknowledge that the access to safe drinking water is a basic human right of our people," he added.

In calling for the creation of the APWF at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico in 2006, the region's water ministers sought to establish an effective mechanism to encourage more collaborative efforts on water resources management and to accelerate the process of effective integration of water resources. The Asia-Pacific Water Ministerial Meeting also called upon the APWF to organise Asia-Pacific Water Summits, to be held, once every 2-3 years.

BSS, Rangpur

Agriculture experts at the concluding ceremony of a 12-day residential training course for the farmers' group leaders here on Wednesday said production high-valued crops could be increased through adopting the latest agro-technology.

They said the government's efforts for poverty alleviation would be accelerated further, with small and marginal farmers achieving self-reliance, if every inch of land all around could be brought under crop farming.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and Burirhat Agriculture Research Centre (BARC) jointly organised the course under the assistance of the ongoing Northwest Crop Diversification Project (NCDP) at the BARC training centre with a view to disseminating the latest agro-technology among the farmers of the region.

Chaired by plant protection and gardening expert of the DAE Harun Ar Rashid, the inaugural and concluding sessions were attended by Deputy Commissioner Khondker Atiar Rahman and Horticulturist Maududul Islam as the chief guest respectively.

Agriculturists of the DAE, BARC and NCDP conducted the training course participated by 240 farmers' group leaders including males and females from 16 upazilas of Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur districts.

The experts and trainers stressed the need for encouraging the small and marginal farmers and common people to produce more high-valued crops by providing them need-based training, latest available technology and necessary inputs to make the initiative successful.

The nation could save huge hard-earned foreign exchange through producing high valued crops including fruits, spices, cereals, oilseeds and pulses every year by using the modern agro- technology, they added.

They said an increased production of high-valued crops under the NCDP programme would definitely strengthen country's rural economy and accelerate the process of poverty alleviation if all of the small and marginal farmers and common people were involved with the campaign.

'Construction many of the NCDP Growers' Markets have been completed and the others are nearing completion 16 northern districts for facilitating the marketing process of the produce under the ADB assisted Taka 341.90 crore NCDP project," they said.

BSS, Dhaka

Taliban-linked militants ambu-shed a police patrol in the troubled southern Afghanistan Thursday, killing seven men, a police commander said.

The victims were killed in the troubled southern province of Zabul where a day earlier US-led troops and Afghan security forces killed "several" Taliban fighters, according to police and the US-led coalition.

"One of our highway police patrols was attacked by Taliban today (Thursday). We lost seven policemen," the Zabul highway police chief, Abdul Mohammad, told AFP. A police vehicle hit by a rocket was also destroyed, he added.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi, phoning AFP from an unknown location, claimed credit for the attack, saying dozens of Taliban fighters carried out the ambush in Zabul's Shahjoy district.

A day earlier, several Taliban fighters were killed and nearly a dozen others were detained in a joint US and Afghan operation in the same province, the coalition said in a statement.

The statement did not provide details or the number of rebel casualties.

Attacks such as Thursday's happen almost daily in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban, the key militant group behind a bloody insurgency, are most active.

The insurgency, launched months after the Taliban's 2001 ouster from power in a US-led invasion, has reached its highest level with the rebels often employing fairly sophisticated insurgent tactics such as suicide bombings.

A suicide blast this week killed more than 50 people, including six parliament deputies, outside the northern town of Pul-i-Khumri some 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of capital, Kabul.

It was the deadliest suicide attack of the Taliban-led insurgency.

Staff Reporter

Former Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdur Rouf suggested the Election Commissioners should not talk much for the sake of holding a credible and acceptable general election in the country as per their roadmap.

Referring to the constitutional responsibilities of the EC which include holding parliament election, making a voter list and fixing the areas of each constituency he said, EC must act with full neutrality.

He was speaking at a roundtable on ' Election Roadmap: People's View' organised by Chirantan Bangladesh Central Committee at the National Press Club yesterday.

Whatever is in their minds, they must work to prove their neutrality, he said adding '' If election is their goal, they must follow the electoral process.''

Mentioning his experience as CEC in 1991's general election Justice Abdur Rouf said, if making voter Identity Card is based on the bureaucratic concept, it might not be successful, as it is a field level job.

Presided over by veteran journalist Gias Kamal Chowdhury, The New Nation Editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder, former PIB Director General Dr Rezwan Siddiqi, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Assistant Secretary General Md Kamruzzaman, Jatiya Gonotantrik Dal President Shafiul Alam Prodhan, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish Secretary General Prof Ahmedul Kabir and Islamic Party General Secretary Adv Abdul Momen, among others, took part in the discussion.

Terming economy as a deciding factor in politics, New Nation Editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder cautioned about the danger of sidetracking the Constitution.

He suggested that the EC should remember its constitutional limitations and work for restoring the people's confidence in the EC.

Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Assistant Secretary General Md Kamruzzaman urged the EC to avoid any controversial activities.

He observed that because of making various constitutional controversies, we have fallen in the current crisis.

He said, '' We must learn from Pakistan and Myanmar and overcome the present crisis through election only.''

Differing with Kamruzzaman's opinion of having no influence of EC in election results, former PIB Director General Dr Rezwan Siddiqi said, sometimes they played some bad games for defeating any particular parties.

Protesting the interference of foreign ambassadors in country's internal affairs, Jatiya Gonotantrik Dal President Shafiul Alam Prodhan said, only a proper revolution by nationalist and pro-Islamic forces can stop this unwanted interference.

Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish Secretary General Prof Ahamedul Kabir said, some activities of the EC could not be treated as impartial in any way.

BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at the 3rd national convention of Kidney Foundation on Thursday called for creating proper infrastructure to start deceased organ transplantation in giving new life to the millions of kidney failure patients in the country.

They said the number of patients of heart, liver, lung and kidney have been increasing rapidly. The number of kidney patients reached about 20 million from eight million during the last one decade. Of them, 20 thousands die of end stage renal failure each year.

Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest Health and Family Welfare Adviser Major General (Retd) Dr ASM Matiur Rahman called upon the specialized institutes to come forward to face the challenges and open a new era in the development of medical science in the country.

He emphasized the need for highest level of wisdom, knowledge, sincerity and integrity of the physicians to serve the humanity.

"We have to give a lot of focus on providing all facilities of modern medical science for the patients by using wisdom, knowledge, sincerity and integrity considering it as the highest level of prayer rather than discharging simple obligations", he added.

Health and Family Welfare Secretary AKM Zafar Ullah Khan, National Professor MR Khan, Director of SIUT in Pakistan Professor Adibul Hasan Rizvi, President of Kidney Foundation of Bangladesh Professor Harun-Ur Rashid, Secretary of the Foundation Professor Muhibur Rahman, Vice-president Professor MA Wahab and Director Tania Fedous Rashid, among others, spoke on the occasion.

Three kidney patients expressed their experiences in undergoing treatment at different hospitals at the inaugural session of the convention on "Live and Deceased Organ Transplantation in Bangladesh: Present and Future Perspective" at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre here. Dr Matiur Rahman said many patients die of unavailability of organs including kidney, liver and lung.

He underscored the need for developing infrastructure of collecting the organs from the dead persons, particularly the victims of road accident and creating mass awareness among the people of donating organs.

He also assured of extending all-out cooperation from the government in expanding kidney transplantation facility in the country and asked the specialized health institutes in public sector to take measures towards organ procuring, preserving and transplantation.

Professor Dr Harun-Ur Rashid said the key-reasons for kidney- failure are nephritis, diabetes and high blood pressure.

"Some 40 percent of the 20 million patients have been suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) originated from nephritis, 24 percent from diabetes and 15 percent are from high- blood pressure, he said adding that the number of kidney patients have been increasing alarmingly.

He said only 10 percent of the 20 million kidney patients in the country have access to get proper treatment as it is costly.

He suggested transplantation of kidney rather than providing dialysis in kidney treatment, as the transplantation is cheaper, more curable and it ensures better life than taking dialysis in long term.

He said only live related transplantation of kidney is being performed in the country as lack of proper infrastructure, ICU facility and efficient organ procurement teams were the main reasons for failure in introducing deceased transplantation.

Professor Muhibur Rahman gave a brief description on Kidney Foundation Hospital, a non-profitable organization, established in 2003.

"The hospital has conducted 47 kidney transplantation surgeries successfully, 12,000 dialysis and 25,000 lab test during the last one year, a record of success for single organisation," he added.

UNB, Dhaka

Development activities under the Annual Development Programme could face setbacks this financial year as the import of black stone, limestone, river stone and black ash has halted for the last three months.

The government in an SRO on August 16 this year directed the importers to make import after inspection by the Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) company through all land-ports and land-stations. An international company, SGS, has been appointed PSI agent for import from India.

The government floated the SRO to remove the present anomalies concerning imports coming through land-stations and ports along the border.

But this SRO reportedly created roadblocks to the importers who import these stones, used for producing cement and construction of roads and bridges like other heavy constructions. Generally it is very much hard to do PSI of such items which are imported or exported in open mode. The stones and such other items are usually imported or exported on open-hood trucks. But the PSI firm has been appointed by the government to make sure that there be no scope for including or excluding anything after inspection from the loading station. For this purpose, the PSI men will seal the whole covered van or container. But, for an open-hood truck, it is not possible to seal.

According to the importers, the PSI company SGS (Kolkata) officials never inspect the loading of black stone, limestone, river stone and black ash on truck.

Also, the loading of these types of items is never done at one place. As such, the PSI officials never inspect consignments at the loading points.

Generally, the PSI officials sit at the export point and inspect the trucks. From there they contact the Kolkata office that used to give provisional and final certificate for export. The importers already complained to the NBR that due to the lower price of the materials and huge number of trucks waiting for clearance, the PSI-company officials pay less attention to their job. And, due to the neglect of duty, varied prices of black stones have been quoted in a single day, which is very much abnormal for an import item.

Talking to UNB, an importer said that if they comply with the new rules, they have to incur loss for every truck. "So we stopped importing black stones, limestone, river stones and black ash," he said.

Sona Masjid Importers and Exporters Group has already sent a letter to the NBR requesting exemption of these items from PSI obligations. Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) president Hossain Khaled recently in a meeting with NBR chairman Mohammad Abdul Majid pointed out the matter and requested the chairman to take steps regarding this.

The chamber delegation said that if the importers stopped the import of black stone, limestone, river stone and black ash, it would hamper the development activities.

When contacted, an NBR official told UNB that they would sit with the importers shortly to sort out the matter.

The previous government appointed four PSI companies-Cotecna Inspection SA, SGS (Bangladesh) Limited, Bureau Veritas BIVAC (Bangladesh) Limited and Intertek Testing Limited-in August 2005 for three years for certifying price, quality and quantity of imports.

UNB, Dhaka

Forty-seven former BNP lawmakers Thursday demanded immediate release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's adviser Brig. Gen. (retd) ASM Hannan Shah and others arrested under the Emergency Powers Rules (EPR).

Hannan Shah was arrested from his Mohakhali DOHS residence Wednesday midnight and taken on three-day police remand. In a joint statement, the former BNP MPs also demanded withdrawal of cases filed under the EPR against former MP Moazzem Hossain Alal and others.

They said the neutrality of the caretaker government would be harmed if cases and harassment were meted out against BNP leaders and workers. "Unnecessary harassment will also deepen the doubts about the next year's general elections." Former BNP MP Mohammad Shajahan read out the joint statement to the reporters at the BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain's NAM apartment. Former MPs Maj (retd) Akhtaruzzaman, Selim Reza Habib, Nurul Kabir Shaheen, Principal Sorhab Uddin, Abdul Momin Talukdar, Shirin Sultana, Rehana Akhtar Ranu, Helen Zerin Khan, Saimun Begeum, Fahima Hossain Jubilee, Bilkis Jahan Shirin, Jahan Panna, Sultana Ahmad, Noorjahan Yasmin, Newaz Halima Orly, Rasheda Begum Hira and Yasmin Ara Huq were present.

Meanwhile, BNP acting office secretary Rizvi Ahmed also demanded the release of BNP chairperson's adviser Hannan Shah and withdrawal of case against him.

Hannan Shah was arrested under a conspiracy, he alleged, saying that the case against him under the Emergency Powers Rules is "completely false and motivated."

Rizvi also demanded withdrawal of similar "false" cases and harassment against other party leaders including Jubo Dal general secretary ex-MP Moazzem Hossain Alal, JASAS general secretary Babul Ahmed and former JCD leader Asaduzzaman Ripon. He said the BNP leaders and workers were not involved with the assault on standing committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman near Zia's mazar on Wednesday. "The incident was unwarranted," he added.

Referring to the Election Commission's letter to Saifur-Hafiz faction of BNP for dialogue on electoral reforms, Rizvi said: "Saifur-Hafiz faction is out of the mainstream of BNP."