The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

A four-day long "Dhaka International Education fair 2007" organised by Your Exhibitions and Event Solutions Ltd (YEES) was inaugurated at the Bashundhara City yesterday.

More than 55 educational institutions from home and abroad, student-counselling firms, immigration consultants, language learning institutions, commercial bank and IT institute were participating in the fair.

About 100 stalls offered various facilities to prospective students, including spot admission, 50 to 75 per cent discount on admission, course offers, application format and other related information for higher education in the country and in foreign lands.

The fair, sponsored by Eastern Bank Ltd, would remain open to visitors from 10:00am to 9:00pm. The entrance fee has been fixed at Tk 10 per person. The fair would conclude on November 12.

Speakers said at the inaugural ceremony that about 20 thousand students go for higher education abroad each year.

Sultana Kamal former chief adviser of Caretaker Government, Annisul Haque former president of BGMEA, Mahabbhat Hossain Chowdhury and Mamun Shah, head of strategy and business development and head of consumer banking of Eastern Bank Ltd, respectively. Rezaul Karim Managing Director of YEES, MK Bashar president of Admission and Career Development Consultant Association of Bangladesh, among others, were present. Education was all about reckoning of a real human being, who acts as skilled manpower for the country, said Sultana Kamal at the inaugural ceremony of the education fair.

"It was regrettable that the new generation wants to run away from the country in search of a bright future. Earning money was the basic need, but it should not be preferred over the quest for education," she added.

Annisul Haque said, "Our education cannot produce confidant and skilled manpower. Education fair helps students to prepare themselves for the world competitive market."

AP, Islamabad

Pakistani police placed opposition leader Benazir Bhutto under house arrest Friday, uncoiling barbed wire in front of her Islamabad villa, and reportedly rounded up 5,000 of her supporters to block a mass protest against emergency rule.

Benazir tried to leave by car but was blocked by police after a scuffle with her supporters who tried to remove a barricade. The former prime minister had planned to address a rally in nearby Rawalpindi, defying a ban on public gatherings. Kamal Shah, a top Interior Ministry official, said a district magistrate had served a "detention order" on Bhutto - who last month escaped assassination by suicide bombers - so she could not leave her home. However, speaking by phone from the scene, Benazir said that no arrest papers had been served on her.

"If I'm arrested the People's Party workers will continue to fight for democracy and the rule of law," she told reporters who heard the call via speakerphone. She said that 5,000 members of her party had already been detained. Afzal Khan, an Islamabad police official, said that officers blocking her way were following a government order under which she could not hold the rally.

The Rawalpindi mayor said there was a "credible report" that six or seven suicide bombers were preparing to attack it.

The crackdown showed that a week after suspending the constitution and assuming emergency powers, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf was not letting up on his political rivals despite saying Thursday that parliamentary elections would go ahead by mid-February, just a month later than originally planned. His announcement came after intense pressure from the United States, his chief international supporter.

Friday's moves will further sour relations with Bhutto and hurt the prospects of the two pro-Western leaders forming a postelection alliance against religious extremism.

Bhutto tried to leave for Rawalpindi inside a white Landcruiser with tinted windows, surrounded by about 50 supporters, including several lawmakers, an intelligence official at the scene said. Other Benazir supporters pulled at a barbed wire barricade on the street to make way for the vehicle, but were blocked by police, the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media. Benazir's vehicle only managed to travel about 40 meters (yards) before it was

"We are trying to pass through because we want to reach Rawalpindi. There was a baton charge. There was a barbed wire. People in Kashmir were also stopped from reaching here. Those who can reach Rawalpindi, they should try to reach there," Benazir later told private Geo TV.

"The government says that some suicide bombers have entered Islamabad. If they have any such information, then why can't they arrest them?" she said.

She also demanded that Musharraf step down as army chief by next week when his presidential term expires.

"He should be retired as the chief of army staff by Nov. 15," she told reporters.

Dozens of police, some in riot gear, were deployed at Benazir's residence by barbed wire and steel and concrete barriers. Other security personnel patrolled on motorcycles, horseback and in armored vehicles. At least 12 Benazir supporters were arrested, including a woman who showed up with flowers. In Rawalpindi, about 200 of Bhutto supporters were dispersed by police using tear and batons. Dozens were arrested, an Associated Press Television News cameraman saw.

In a second clash, about two dozen supporters burst out of an alley, shouting, "Long Live Benazir!" Police, some on horseback, others banging their shields, chased them away. Other supporters set a tire and garbage on fire. Police fired tear gas shells from an armored personnel carrier, and the protesters pelted the police with stones.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar, police used force to disperse about 300 Bhutto trying to reach Rawalpindi. About 25 were arrested.

A report from Peshwar adds: A suicide bombing at the home of a Pakistan government minister in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed at least four people on Friday, police said. The minister was unhurt.

The attack happened at the residence of the minister for political affairs, Amir Muqam, and also wounded three people, said Aslam Khan, a local police official.

Muqam said he saw two or three dead in the blast - members of his security staff - and one of his brothers was wounded. "I saw two, three bodies on my verandah," Muqam said on state-run Pakistan Television.

Muqam is the provincial chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party and a close ally of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Tahir Khan, the city's police chief, said it was a suicide attack.

"I can confirm that it was a suicide attack, but the minister is safe," he said.

He said the attacker, who was on foot, blew himself up just inside the gate of Muqam's house when security personnel tried to stop him.

Pakistan, particularly its northwest, has been wracked by Islamic militant violence, with bombings targeting the military or top officials, and clashes between security forces and pro-Taliban fighters.

In April, a suicide bomber blew himself up just a few feet from Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao, killing 28 other people, at a political rally in the northwestern town of Charsadda. Sherpao, Pakistan's top civilian security official, escaped with minor injuries.

Also Friday, a bomb exploded at a military checkpoint, killing at least two soldiers and wounding five in Kambal, a town about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Peshawar, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said. He said the victims were from the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Amid the deteriorating security, authorities evacuated to Islamabad about 300 Chinese, mostly engineers working on three hydropower projects in remote parts of North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan.

Ataullah Wazir, a senior police official, said the Chinese were shifted for "security reasons," but did not say if there were any specific threats against them.

In 2004, Taliban militants kidnapped two Chinese engineers in the lawless tribal region of South Waziristan. One of the Chinese was freed, but the other was killed in a rescue attempt by Pakistani commandos.

Three Chinese engineers were also killed last year by another group of insurgents in the neighboring province of Baluchistan, where a separatist rebellion is festering.

Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, has close and long-standing ties to China.

Staff Reporter

BNP Acting Secretary General Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed yesterday said the 'evil politics' pursued by his party and the Awami League in last 10 years pushed the country into the current crisis.

"Dishonest, corrupt and terrorist elements were patronised and even promoted to the state power during the last 10 years," he said, adding the AL initiated the process while BNP continued it, as it (BNP) became deviated from the ideals and teachings of the late President Ziaur Rahman.

Justifying his contention, Major Hafiz said, "Three of the four home ministers during the tenure of the last two (AL and BNP) governments are now in jail on charge of harboring corruption, terrorism and for their alleged link with the militant."

Neither any development will take place in the country, nor its law and order improve if the heads of law enforcers protect corruption, terrorists and militants, he added.

Contd on page 2 Col-4

Major Hafiz said this while speaking at regular press briefing at his Banani residence in the city.

Turning to the November 7 assault on BNP Standing Committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbbuur Rahman by activists of the rival faction of the party near Zia's mazar, the BNP leader regretted that all other political parties failed to condemn the incident, exposing 'political test'.

"The November 7 incident is a testimony of the culture of assaulting people of different opinions introduced by the Awami League and it was carried through by the BNP in last 10 years," he said.

Asked as to whether he would demand the release of member of the BNP Advisory Council Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, who was arrested in connection with the November 7 incident, Major Hafiz said, "The law will take its own course, as he was not arrested on political ground."

He, however, hastened to add, saying, "But I must say, he (Hannan Shah) should get justice."

He said the initiatives for keeping party unity in the party are being continued. Some of the party members have started deviating from the ideals of late President Ziaur Rahman again, he noted with concern.

"Acting chairperson Saifur Rahman and myself have talked with the senior party leaders and the National Executive Committee members on the way to unify the party and consolidate its organisation," he said, expressing the hope that the party would be united under its Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's leadership before the next general elections.

Replying to a question, the reformist BNP leader said, "I am the Acting Secretary General. I will quit the post if Begum Zia so want after her release."

"We all will accept if Begum Zia decides to bring about changes at the top echelon of the party since she is our leader," he asserted.

Major Hafiz claimed that BNP has taken strong initiative to free the detained Chairperson. "We will free her through legal process," he said.

Special Correspondent

Outstanding individuals fighting corruption internationally and in Bangladesh, Morocco, Haiti and Vietnam are the finalists for the 2007 Transparency International (TI) Integrity Awards, says a message received from Berlin.

"These finalists have taken on petty and grand corruption in different circumstances. The ordeals they faced exemplify the complexity of corruption and the many ways it should be tackled", said Sion Assidon, Chair of the Integrity Awards Committee and member of TI's Board of Directors.

"The finalists underscore that courageous and creative work can overcome embedded corruption in both developed and developing countries. Fighting corruption means challenging people and institutions that often wield enormous power and should be recognised", added Assidon.

Each year the Integrity Awards Committee receives a substantial number of nominations for candidates who have challenged corruption and taken serious risks in the name of justice, human rights, transparency and integrity. But only seldom does their work win the public acknowledgement that it deserves.

The 2007 finalists are: Claudy Gassant is chief prosecutor of corruption-ridden Haiti, Le Hien Duc, a Vietnamese school-teacher, has become a resourceful anti-corruption fighter by filing complaints and helping others to challenge petty bribing and large-scale graft, Abdelatif Kanjae, Lhibib Lhaji and Khalid Bouhail are Moroccan lawyers who denounced widespread corruption in the country's legal system, Mark Pieth, a criminal law and criminology professor at the University of Basel in his native Switzerland, who has provided outstanding leadership in fighting corruption on an international scale, and Prothom Alo, a leading daily newspaper in Bangladesh.

Since his return from a four-year exile, Claudy Gassant has taken up the determined fight against corruption in his country. Unimpressed by the power or wealth of the suspects, Gassant holds up the rule of law and the independence necessary for justice. Through his integrity and unremitting stance, he encourages public action against corruption and against those who support it.

Le Hien Duc's respect for authority ends where corruption begins. Ms. Duc has tracked down high and low-level officials through different means, at home or in the office, to ensure that they cannot ignore the victims of corruption claiming their rights. In spite of many threats, she provides hope and encouragement for stopping acceptance of corruption.

In an open letter published in the press, a group of lawyers demanded investigation of corrupt practices in one of Morocco's regional courts, known as the "case of Tetouan" and the legal system in general. Despite subsequent repression and being stripped of their professional credentials, these lawyers - Abdelatif Kanjae, Lhibib Lhaji and Khalid Bouhail - gained sympathisers and became a symbol of resistance to corruption. They helped to create public awareness about the importance of an independent and impartial justice system.

Prof. Mark Pieth has countered corruption not only as a co-founder of the Basel Institute on Governance but as chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions and as a member of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme of the United Nations. His willingness to publicly criticise governments that fail to implement the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and those that did not provide enough support to identify companies that paid kickbacks in the oil-for-food scandal.

Prothom Alo has consistently exposed major corruption at the highest levels of government during the last decade, the message says.

Now in its sixth year, the Integrity Awards have honoured individuals and organisations from Asia and Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. These have included journalists and public prosecutors, accountants and government officials along with leaders of civil society.

The 2007 Integrity Awards winners will be honoured at a ceremony to be held on 10 December 2007.

Chittagong Correspondent

A public move to set up an industrial park at city suburb 'Barabkund' mainly for promoting the emerging women entrepreneurs is learnt to have been finalized.

Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CWCC&I) entered in partnership with the Ministry of Industries in implementing the project with high hope for taping foreign exchange.

Informed sources hinted that the ground development work of the proposed park would commence within next couple of months and a year time has initially been estimated for the project to become ready for factual use.

Under the partnership charter, the women entrepreneurs will get priority for setting up small and medium scale industries apart from the half-a-decade tax holiday privilege.

The comprehensive industrial park will have helipad, market, buying house, and instant power backup apart from the regular utility coverage.

Knitting, Pharmaceuticals, Garment Accessories, food Beverage, Computer Accessories, Furniture, Textile, Confectionary, Agro products, Packaging Accessories, Pipe, Consumer Goods, Digital Printing Solution, Washing plants, Spices Processing, Poultry Feed and Processing unit will be welcomed.

Nearly 200 women entrepreneurs will get plots at the proposed park of nearly 10 acres. The industrial park may generate employments for 15000 people over the next eight to 15 years.

Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) and Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry after the feasibility study have selected the land for the project, which is currently under the possession of the BSCIC.

Sources attached to the project said, the investors at the park would also get facilities like working capital, soft loan as well as duty free import for capital machineries.

Besides, there will be a 17-storied building to be built at the site of now abandoned BSCIC building at Shagarika to better serve the entrepreneurs.

Welcoming the project Sitara Pervin, an entrepreneur of Frozen Fish, said they had become pleased to know about the project, which would certainly help women entrepreneurs much.

'We've first introduced the concept that the women would be industrialists and could have contribution in the national economy," said Monowara Hakim Ali, president of Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce.

Staff Reporter

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-3) members yesterday took alleged Yaaba Queen Jannatul Ferdous Akhi Nikita, her brother and parents on a 3-day remand in connection with dangerous drugs Yaaba peddling and the recovery of country's biggest ever haul of contraband Yaaba tablets.

Nikita, her brother Moinuddin, father Abdun Noor and mother Saleha Begum were produced before the CMM court from Dhaka Central Jail Friday afternoon by RAB-3. They sought for a five-day remand for interrogation, but the magistrate granted 3-day remand.

On November 5, a case was filed against them under Narcotics Prevention Act with Ramna thana as the elite forces RAB recovered 34 Yaaba tablets from the bedroom of Nikita at Karnaphuly Garden City at Shantinagar.

Nikita and her friend Mahbubur Rahman Joinal were arrested by RAB-3 members from the CMM court premises on November 4 when they went to surrender.

On November 7, the CMM court sent Nikita and her family members to jail rejecting their bail petitions.

Meanwhile, Mohammadpur police took Joinal, a suspected member of the international ring involved in smuggling precious diamond, gold and other rare metals, on a five-day remand.

A treasure-trove was unearthed from Joinal's Dhanmondi residence from where diamond, gold, white gold and other valuables worth about Tk one billion were recovered.

RAB sources said Nikita, who is a mistress of Joinal, is also a suspected member of the international smuggling ring.

Staff Reporter

Per capita debt obligation of Bangladesh has been increasing substantially day by day due to large trade deficit, saving-investment gap, slow growth of revenue and rapid growth of public expenditure.

The per capita liability increased to US$139.91 in last fiscal from $6.59 in fiscal 1974-75, according to figures provided by the External Relations Division (ERD) of the government.

The total public sector debt has increased from $973 million in fiscal 1974-75 to about $19.42 billion in fiscal 2005-06. Moreover, fresh foreign loan and grant marked a substantial decline in recent years.

According to an annual publication of the ERD, out of the total $44.83 billion foreign aid to Bangladesh, disbursed until June 2006, the project aid accounted for $27.653 billion (61.68 per cent) while the commodity aid was $10.907 billion (24.33 per cent) and the food aid was $6.269 billion (13.99 per cent).

About 34 bilateral and multilateral donors provide loans and grants to Bangladesh for financing different development programmes. Among the donors, World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan, UK's Department for International Development, USA, UN, European Commission, Islamic Development Bank are the major ones.

The ERD publication reported that among the bilateral donors, Japan is on the top of the list in terms of cumulative disbursement followed by USA and Canada. On the other hand, World Bank is on the top of the list among the multilateral donors followed by ADB.

The report further said: "Over the years, significant changes have taken place in the total aid package to Bangladesh. The share of grant is declining gradually. The bilateral aid, which was 75.4 per cent of total aid in fiscal 1974-75, has decreased to 43.8 per cent in 2004-05. Multilateral aid, has risen from 24.6 per cent to almost 56.2 per cent over the same period."

About the debt service payment to the donors, the ERD report stated that though the external debt obligation in the aid package of Bangladesh has increased over the years, it is still within manageable limit compared to many other developing countries.

"The external debt service payment on total public sector debt rose from $100.9 million in 1974-75 to about $1.458 billion in 2005-06," the report said.

Staff Reporter

Adviser for Religious Affairs Maj Gen (Retd) Dr ASM Matiur Rahman inaugurated the Haji Camp in the city yesterday amid uncertainty of the non-ballottee hajjis residential arrangement in Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The number of non-ballottee hajj passengers this year is 37,000 while ballottee is 5,583.

According to information available in the city last night, the residential arrangement for non-ballottee hajjis, who constitute over 75 per cent every year, has not yet been completed in Saudi Arabia due to negligence of some private hajj agencies.

The non-ballottee hajjis perform hajj through private sector's organisation the Hajj Association of Bangladesh (HAB) while the ballottee hajjis through the Government channel.

The Government made residential arrangement for the ballottee hajjis much earlier.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Biman yesterday announced a reduction of airfare for hajjis from US 40 dollar to US 70 dollar per passengers in phases. The first hajj flight of Biman will leave Dhaka for Mecca with 543 passengers on November 12 while the last one on November 26.

The National Flag career will fly at least one flight everyday to carry hajjis from till November 26.

Inaugurating the Hajj Camp, Adviser Dr ASM Matiur Rahman said the Government has taken all out measures to provide necessary support to hajj pilgrims so that they can perform hajj properly.

He urged the hajjis to be patient to overcome any difficulties as they might face problematic situations.

"We want to see Biman Bangladesh Airline as service providing organisation considering its profitable side so that hajj pilgrims can get necessary patronage from the organisation," the Adviser said.

Addressing the function, Managing Director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines DR MA Momen said his organisation has reduced airfare from US 40 dollar to US 70 dollar to help the hajj pilgrims by cutting down profit.

HAB President Mahammad Faruk said representatives of his organisation were in Saudi Arabia and the uncertainty about residential arrangement will be solved within a few days.

Director General of Islamic Foundation Fazlur Rahman and DMP Commissioner Naim Ahmed also addressed the ceremony, which was presided over by Religious Affairs Secretary Muhammad Ataur Rahman.