The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh bade farewell to the US troops yesterday, a day after authorities of both the countries announced the closure of the military part of the US assistance for the cyclone survivors in southwestern coastlines.

Formally bidding the farewell at a ceremony at the Armed Forces Division in Dhaka Cantonment, Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury said, "Good bye angels."

The military bands played national anthems of the two countries at the ceremonial farewell to the US troops, who took part in the two-week long relief operation dubbed as "Operation Sea Angel-II".

Addressing the ceremony, US Charge d' Affaires Geeta Pasi said the US Government and civilian agencies, including the USAID, would continue to help Bangladesh in mid-term and long-term rehabilitation after the end of the military part of the assistance.

"The departure of the US troops is just a transition of the US engagement in the campaign," she said.

"We were here before the cyclone, we were here during the initial emergency and we will be here to assist with recovery and rehabilitation," she said, adding, the US military currently assisting Bangladesh would now hand over their immediate relief mission to the US Mission in Dhaka.

The immediate response by the Bangladesh government and US civilian and military personnel was truly impressive, she said.

General Masud Uddin Chowdhury said, "Now with the operation Sea Angel II our relationship has further been cemented." He thanked the US troops for coming at a time when the people needed them.

"As a friend and as a partner" the existing relationship with Bangladesh will be stronger in the future, said Brig Gen Ronald L Bailey, who led the US military relief operations.

"Trauma changes you. It brings us together," Bailey told journalists at the farewell ceremony.

Helicopters from the USS Tarawa, which took over from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge on Monday, made the final sorties on Thursday, dropping food, water and medicine.

The Armed Forces Division and US officials said the second US amphibian battleship Tarawa would depart Bangladesh's territorial waters in next three days after the two aircraft carrier vessels carried out two weeks of succour campaign using wide bodied helicopters and transport planes.

Both the US Charge d' Affaires and the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division said they hope cooperation between the two nations would increase in the future.

The US ship-USS Tarawa also participated in relief operations in 1991 - dubbed Sea Angel I - when a powerful cyclone killed about 1,43,000 people in Bangladesh.

Commander of the US Expeditionary Strike Group Rear Admiral Carol M Pottenger also spoke at the ceremony.

Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury expressed gratitude to the US military personnel for the assets they mobilised and for their "warmth and compassion" in handling their relief operations dubbed as Operation Sea Angel II.

"You will be leaving Bangladesh but marks of your presence will remain in the sands of our southern coast and, of course, in the depth of hearts of millions of suffering humanity," he said.

Brig Gen Bailey referred to their "excellent experience" in working hand in hand with Bangladeshi troops, civilian officials and aid workers and expressed his "deep appreciation" for the Bangladeshi Armed Forces personnel. "Your military is really exceptional," he added.

Earlier, on Thursday Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed on board USS TARAWA in the Bay of Bengal announced the closure of the military part of the US relief campaign after two weeks of operation reaching life-saving succour.

"We had said none will die without food and treatment, they helped us to a great extent in this regard," General Moeen said.

The amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) having 20 helicopters on board is the similar type of USS Kearsarge (LHD 3).

During the past two weeks of operations, the US transport planes and wide-bodied helicopters reached over 2,58,925 pounds of relief materials, 15,309 gallons of water, making more than 120 sorties to the affected areas, while their doctors and paramedics on board treated some 2500 cyclone-affected people.

The US Government is providing over US$ 19 million in assistance as part of the Sea Angel II.

UNB, Dhaka

The Coal Policy Review Committee is likely to invite legal experts from Law Ministry to hear their opinions on coal royalty issue.

Despite holding its 17th meeting on Friday, the Coal Policy Review Committee could not settle the royalty issue as it is in dilemma with it.

The meeting, presided over by its Chairman Prof Abdul Matin Patwari, heard from a legal expert of Petrobangla about the present status and bindings of different agreements, particularly the ones signed about Barapukuria and Phulbari coal mines.

Barrister Abdullah Al Manum, a lawyer of Petrobangla, gave clarification of different agreements and their bindings.

He said though the Barapukuria coal mine project signed agreement on 20 percent royalty, it has been paying the government 5 percent royalty.

He said no violation of the government's rule took place in the case of Barapukuria because the agreement self-incorporated the government rules and the government reduced the royalty rate to 5 percent from earlier 20 percent.

After hearing the statement of the lawyer, the committee members said they should invite legal expert from Law Ministry to hear the ministry's view.

Earlier last week, the committee heard the statement of Barapukuria Coal Mine's managing director Mohammad Aziz Khan who said the Barapukuria mine project would face a financial disaster if the royalty is set at more than 5 percent.

He urged the committee to keep Barapukuria coal mine project aside from any possible change in the royalty rate to avoid the future impact.

The meeting was attended by Prof Mustafizur Rahman of CPD, Prof Badrul Imam of Dhaka University, journalist Ataus Samad, Major General Ismail Faruque Chowdhury from the Army Headquarters and IIFC chief executive Nazrul Islam.

Mostafa Kamal Majumder

The number of people infected with the AIDS-virus marked a steep rise by 333 from 874 to 1207 in just one year ending on December 1, but people at the helm of the AIDS-STD Programme of the government still see an 'Window of opportunity' to keep spread of the pandemic under control.

Some knowledgeable experts have expressed their reservations about the complacency and have termed it a potentially dangerous optimism about a volcano which is showing dangers of eruption. 'What is the basis of this optimism?' asked one such expert pointing at the detection of more than one fourth of the total HIV-infected cases in one year.

According to information released on the December-1 World AIDS Day, of the total HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infected cases detected so far, 365 developed AIDS and 123 are dead. During the last one year alone 125 new full-blown AIDS cases were identified and 14 of them died, as per the official information.

Programme officials base their complacency on seven rounds of HIV surveillance carried out from 1998 to 2006 to assert that the HIV rate is below one percent, and that only among the intravenous drug users (IUDs) the rate is seven per cent - indicating a concentrated epidemic.

Other experts, however, point out that although the rate of spread of the disease from the HIV-positive IUDs to the general population has not been viewed as a serious threat - the brothels remain vulnerable to such rates of infection because safe-sex promotion there has not been a success. If any brothel is infected the disease will spread like wildfire.There are reports about HIV infection in one brothel, and experts await confirmation before admitting this.

Brothels in Bangladesh have Asia's highest client rate, and thus also pose the greatest risk of spreading HIV infections if programme activities in those continue to be unsuccessful.

Safe blood transfusion in 98 centres established by the government is good, and the programme is being expanded. But there are several hundred private blood transfusion centres where blood is not screened for HIV and four other diseases. Unless these centres are brought under control they may undo the benefits of the creation of the safe blood transfusion programme, experts fear.

Another great danger is posed by the absence of adequate education and counselling of the millions of workers who are engaged in jobs abroad and routinely visit the country almost every year. Fact remains that about 80 per cent of the cases detected so far contracted infections abroad when they were away from their families. Education and counselling among the members of the armed forces who went on peacekeeping missions abroad have proved successful, and following the detection of three HIV-positive cases years ago no new case has been found. The success is due to effective counselling. But millions of job workers go abroad almost without any counselling. Experts say foreign job seekers must be made to pass HIV/AIDS awareness tests before leaving the country.

The people have so far been lucky that those (detected ones) who contracted infections abroad have restrained themselves from risky behaviour back at home because of the shame that they are living with. But what if the undetected ones visit brothels?

Then again, while the number of detected cases continue to go up AIDS/STD Programme officials continue to lower the number of estimated HIV cases. This year the number of estimated HIV cases has been put at 7,500 - a 2004 figure. HIV/AIDS experts had worked out a compromise figure about the number of estimated cases in the early nineties. When World Bank experts suggested that the figure might be 39,000, Bangladesh experts mentioned some factors to reach a compromise figure of 20,000. That number was gradually brought down to 7,500 three years ago. Programme officials have no figure for this year as if it has gone further down now.

Staff Reporter

Awami League presidium member and Chairman of relief coordination committee of the party Abdur Razzak on Thursday urged the Government to provide the farmers with necessary agricultural inputs and farm loan immediately for the cultivation of winter crops.He also urged the NGOs to waive the farm loans and give fresh loans to the farmers, as they are helpless after the devastating Sidr.

He was speaking at a press briefing at the Party's head office at Bangabandhu Avenue after Awami Shilpi Goshty contributed in its relief fund by.

The cultural win of the party contributed with medicine, saline and dry food.

The Awami League leader reiterate their demand of releasing the detained party chief saying, "If our leader Sheikh Hasina were among us she would coordinate us efficiently as she did in the devastating flood of 1998."

Razzak said, the government should immediately rebuild the educational institutions, which were damaged by the cyclone and distribute books among the students, as December is the month of examination and January start of a new academic session.

He also urged the Government to distribute relief among the right people who needs it most in the right time.

The Awami League presidium member urged all leaders and activists to work in the relief programme until the victims get rehabilitated.

He also urged them to coordinate with the foreign people who are working in the coastal districts in relief programmes.

Razzak said, "Awami League always stood beside the disaster victims in the country, which our leader Bangabandhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman gave us."

He said AL had already distributed Tk 50 Lakhs among the cyclone victim and would continue relief works until all victims were rehabilitated.

"The distinctive point of the relief work this time that we collected all the relief materials contribution of our leaders we did not go to the businessmen and every associate unit including the foreign units are engaged in relief programme," he said.

Earlier President of Awami Shilpi Goshty Salah Uddin Badal handed over the relief items to Abdur Razzak.

Leaders of the cultural wing of the party were present at the briefing.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Bank has convened a series of meetings with commercial banks and NGOs to devise appropriate mechanism for providing loans to the Sidr-hit people so they could restart their economic life.

"The meetings are to identify the problems of delivering financial intervention into the economic activities, particularly the unconventional ones," a senior central bank official told UNB.

He said the meetings would be a follow up of Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed's visit to Barisal and Khulna last week when he exchanged views with commercial bank executives of the areas.

During the exchanges, the bankers apprised the Governor of inadequate branch networking as well as lack of lending programmes suitable for unconventional activities and businesses like fishermen.

The Governor in a post-visit press briefing on Wednesday said Bangladesh Bank is contemplating various options to devise suitable lending programmes for the Sidr-hit people on as easy as possible terms, even at zero interest, to rejuvenate the battered economic activities.

The official said the central bank would start the series of meetings with NGOs on December 11 at Bangladesh Bank, followed by nationalised and specialised commercial banks on December 17 and private banks on the following day.

The meetings will discuss the possible options and the problems likely to emerge at the field level and decide appropriate strategy.

On December 19, the Bangladesh Bank Governor is scheduled to hold a press briefing to disclose the outcome of the series of meetings.

The central bank was preparing a proposal for submission at the appropriate places for necessary decision in this regard.

The policy options will take into account the financial involvement against waiver of interest and principal against the previous loans as well as subsidy for low interest or zero interest lending.

Bangladesh Bank, however, will ensure that the hard-earned financial discipline is not affected by the possible setbacks of aggressive lending.

The central bank governor, during his visit to Barisal and Khulna, advised the commercial banks operating in the southwestern districts to go for aggressive lending to help revive the economic activities.

He asked them to disburse 70-80 percent of their respective yearly targets for agriculture loan by December-January on easy terms.

Staff Reporter

Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission Lt Gen (Retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury termed corruption an enemy of the people and urged all to work together for curbing it from the society.

"We will neither commit nor tolerate corruption in the country" he said.

He said this as chief guest at the opening ceremony of the exhibition 'Cartoon Against Corruption' organised by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) at Drik Gallery in the city yesterday.

Duncan Norman, Deputy British High Commissioner, Prof Rafiqun Nabi, Professor of Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka

University, Sultana Kamal, former adviser to the Caretaker government, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of TIB, among others, were present on the occasion.

Hasan Mashhud said, "We fought for our independence in 1971, which was bigger than fighting against corruption. So why we could not fight against corruption?" he questioned and added we should all work for uprooting corruption from the society.

This exhibition will give message to all about fighting against corruption, he said.

Duncan Norman said TIB has been working against corruption for the last few years. This is a part of creating awareness among people. This cartoon exhibition will help to create awareness against corruption.

The subject of this year exhibition was 'Corruption and Common People.' Winners of the contestants were announced in the opening ceremony of the exhibition. A total of 747 cartoons in two categories - 'Ka' group age ranged from 13 to 18 years and 'Kha' group age ranged from 19 to 35 years- took part in the contest. Of them, 56 cartoons got opportunity for displaying in the exhibition. Shishir Bhattacharya, Ahsan Habib and Shahriar Khan were judges in the contest.

Maisha Maliha Ela, Syed Kamrul Hasan and Asim Chandra Roy secured first, second and third place respectively in 'Ka' group, while Sadatuddin Ahmed Emil, Swapan Charushi and Md Amirul Islam won top three places in 'Kha' group. All the winners will be awarded officially on December 9 on the International Anti-Corruption Day.

The five-day exhibition will end on December 11 and the gallery remains open for all from 3:00pm to 8:00pm everyday.

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh has offered to host a SAARC Ministerial Conference on Climate Change in Bangladesh.

The offer was made, in line with the informal consultations during the last UN General Assembly session in New York, by Adviser for Foreign Affairs Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury while addressing the formal session of the meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers in the Indian capital yesterday.

According to official sources, the Adviser said, "Dhaka is ready to host a SAARC ministerial conference on climate change."

Stressing the importance of climate change issue, he urged the SAARC member countries to take a stronger stance on the issue, as the region with long and low-lying coast lines was likely to be the worst affected of this natural phenomenon.

Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury supported the nomination of a SAARC village in each member state where the best practices of SAARC would be implemented.

He also proposed that each year one day might be designated as 'SAARC Day of Good Governance'.

Emphasising the need for intensifying regional cooperation to meet the aspirations of peoples of SAARC region, the Foreign Adviser said Bangladesh sees the region as a zone of peace and development.

He thanked all the SAARC members for expressing their solidarity with the government and people of Bangladesh in the wake of the recent disastrous cyclone Sidr in the country's southern districts.

"Bangladesh will recover and the tragedy will be behind us; but as we move along the path of development, we will always warmly recall the support you all gave us at the time of our need," he said.

Before the commencement of the meeting, a two-minute silence was observed in memory of those who lost their lives in the Cyclone Sidr.

Officials said it was decided in an informal meeting earlier that Sri Lanka would host the next SAARC Summit in 2008, which would be followed by the Maldives in 2009.

The SAARC ministers are expected to call on Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who is also current Chairman of SAARC, today.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Adviser received Pakistani Foreign Minister Inam Ul Haque at his hotel suite in New Delhi on Thursday and discussed bilateral issues.

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Freedom fighter Mohammad Fazlur Rahman has said the recent remarks of chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed on war criminals inspired him to file the sedition case against Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.

"The chief adviser in a recent meeting with editors of national dailies and electronic media called on ordinary citizens of the country to come forward to try war criminals.

"After I heard of his comments, I felt guilty. I thought I might get justice this time and decided to file the case," Fazlur said in an exclusive interview with bdnews24.com Thursday.

He filed a sedition case against Jamaat-e-Islami general secretary Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Mollah and former chairman of the National Board of Revenue Shah Md Abdul Hannan with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court Wednesday.

The court then ordered Tejgaon Police Station to register it as a regular case.

Police, however, did not register the case on excuse of having no permission of the government and sent it back to the court.

Asked about his reaction to the police's refusal to take the case, Fazlur said: "I heard about it. Some of my friends informed me. I heard (law and information adviser) Mainul Hosein said no individual can file a sedition case.

"But I am not clear about the matter. As the chief adviser called upon the citizens to come forward, other advisers should have followed him."

He said he would go to higher court if necessary. "If it dies not produce any result, I will meet the chief adviser."

Recalling his days in battlefield, 50-year-old Fazlur said: "I had taken seven-day BLF training in March, 1971. There were 30 of us in the group under the leadership of present Gono Forum leader Mostafa Mohsin Montu.

"I fought in Syedpur area. In June, the Pakistani hyaenas brutally killed my grandfather Kiamuddin. They set ablaze the house of my grandfather keeping him locked inside."

Father of two sons and two daughters, Fazlur was only 16, a grade 10 student during the 1971 war.

In 1973, he passed Secondary School Certificate exams from Adamjee Sramik Kalyan School and later took admission in Government Tularam College.

Financial adversity, however, forced him to stop his studies and he started working at the Adamjee Jute Mills where he was later promoted to accountant.

He launched own business after retiring from the job in 1981.

Fazlur said he served four months in jail in 2001 after he was allegedly linked to firing on the motorcade of the then opposition leader Khaleda Zia in Keraniganj.

Tejgaon police chief Lutfor Rahman told bdnews24.com that the sedition case was returned to court as there was no government permission.

Sedition case requires government permission, he said.

On Thursday, adviser Mainul Hosein said no individual could file a sedition case.

"Ask them why they could not do it [try war criminals] in 36 years. We have not come to do politics. Let us do our work. Our goals have been set. We will do whatever is needed for democracy. It is not possible to solve all the problems of the country," Mainul said.

Bndews24.com, Dhaka

A Bangladesh delegation left Friday for Agartala, the capital of India's Tripura state, to bring back the mortal remains of Bir Shreshtha Hamidur Rahman.

A seven-member Bangladesh team led by joint secretary to the liberation affairs ministry Humayun Kabir Khan will enter Agartala through Bibir Bazar Bandar. The namaz-e-janaza of Bir Shreshtha Hamidur is scheduled to be held at National Parade Square in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka Tuesday. Other state rituals will also be held.

The remains would again be interned with highest state honours near the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Mirpur.

Hamidur died in trying to overrun a post in a fierce battle with the Pakistani troops in Dhaali border area in Sylhet on Oct 28.

"We are going to Agartala to bring in the remains of Bir Shrestha Sepoy Hamidur Rahman. Hamidur will be buried in the country with full state honour. All preparations are complete," delegation chief Humayun Kabir told bdnews24.com over telephone after he started for Bibir Bazar land port from Comilla.

bdnews24.com understands that the remains will be brought under special arrangements from Ambasha to Katak Bazar in Bibir Bazar land port on Dec 10.

An army contingent led by Major Parvez will give a guard of honour to the valiant freedom fighter at the newly-built army complex, a source said.

The remains will then be brought to Comilla by road and to Dhaka the following day.

Students of schools and colleges and people from all walks of life will line both sides of the road through which the coffin will be carried, the source added.

Staff Reporter

Leaders of the rival factions of the BNP are holding backstage parleys in a move to reunify the party.

Insiders said leaders of both the reformist and anti-reform groups of BNP are discussing ways to bridge gap between them following last week's telephonic conversations between party Acting Chairman M Saifur Rahman and Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain. Saifur Rahman is now leading the reformist faction while Khandaker Delwar anti-reform group.

BNP, the immediate-past ruling party, became divided between the two groups following its Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's action expelling its Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan on September 3 immediately before her arrest. Begum Zia also appointed Khandaker Delwar Hossain as Secretary General on the same day.

Earlier, relations between Begum Zia and Mannan Bhuiyan became sour after the latter announced his reform proposal, suggesting an end of her era in the party in March.

At one stage in October, the BNP Standing Committee at a meeting appointed M Saifur Rahman as its Acting Chairman and Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed as Acting Secretary General. The meeting also disapproved Begum Zia's action against Mannan Bhuiyan and restored his membership in the Standing Committee.

Hence, both the reformist and anti-reform groups continued to function as separate entity, inimical to each other.

BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain first telephoned Saifur Rahman and requested the latter to initiate a rapprochement move.

After discussing among the leaders of the reformist faction, Saifur Rahman telephoned back to Khandaker Delwar. Then leaders of both the groups started backstage parleys with a view to reunify the party.

Party sources, however, could not confirm as to whether there is any development in the move.

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh has incurred a loss amounting to US$ 3 billion for devastation caused by Cyclone Sidr and developed countries are responsible for this huge loss due to their contributions to the global climate change.

"The developing countries are responsible for the losses of thousands of lives and damages of properties in the recent Cyclone Sidr affected areas, because the cyclone happened due to the rich countries' contributions to the world's climate change," said leaders of the Campaign for Good Governance, a local NGO at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium in the city yesterday.

"We urge the participating countries at the Bali climate conference to put pressure on developing nations to realize this compensation for the Sidr affected people of Bangladesh," Abdul Awal, chairperson of Campaign for Good Governance, said.

Bangladesh is still trying to cope with the after-effects of Cyclone Sidr, which tore through this deltaic country on November 15, killing more than 4,000 people and rendering several millions more homeless and starving.

It is feared that a sea-level rise of just 40 cm in the Bay of Bengal would submerge 15-17 per cent of the country's land area in the coastal zone, displacing 7 to 10 million people--who would then be forced into the interiors of the already densely populated country. Besides, Cox's Bazar and Sunderbans would disappear forever.

Experts said the frequency, extent, depth and duration of floods could increase because of more monsoon rains triggered by climate change. That would cause a significant decrease in crops and food security, making it difficult for the country to feed its vast population, they said.

The press conference was also attended by Chief Executive Officer of Campaign for Goof Governance Prodip Kumar Roy, Oxfam GB's Livelihood project's project coordinator Ziaul Huq Mukta, ActionAid Bangladesh's Asgar Ali Sabri, Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon's Mihir Biswas and executive director of Voice Ahmed Swapan Mahmud.

Meanwhile, BSS Reports: Bangladesh delegation is actively pushing forward the country's position as a least developed country (LDC) in the ongoing two-week UN climate change conference here to simplify the procedures for easily accessing funding from clean development mechanism (cdm) managed by global environment facility.

The Bangladesh team, now led by Environment Secretary AH Rezaul Kabir, called for simplification as well as enlargement of adaptation fund and LDC fund for facing climate change smoothly by the least developed countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives.

Environment Adviser Dr C S Karim will lead the delegation to the conference next week.