The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The government has finalised the draft law on separation of the Election Commission secretariat, Law Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein said Monday.

"The legal structure for an independent Election Commission secretariat has been prepared," Mainul Hosein told reporters at his Baridhara home.

"A few amendments are yet to be completed he said, speaking after he was enrolled as a voter along with family members.

"The EC has been given freedom and it has been working independently," Mainul added.

The EC secretariat is now under the Chief Adviser's Office. It will be separated from the Prime Minister's Office (currently the Chief Adviser's Office) after the draft law is introduced.

"The EC is working to hold the polls by the end of this year. They may take place before the scheduled timeframe," Mainul, also the Information Adviser, said.

Voter registration with photograph is scheduled to end by October and the elections are due by Dec in line with the EC's election timeline.

"The election is to be held with a proper voter roll for the first time. There is no chance that fake voters will be enrolled in the list."

Mainul lauded both the EC and the caretaker government for the achievement.

UNB, Rajshahi

Nine students, earlier sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment on charge of torching a vehicle of a intelligence agency in Rajshahi University (RU) campus, surrendered before a court here on Monday.

They are Bangladesh Chhatra League RU unit secretary Ayenuddin, Dipayan Sarker, Hafiz Uddin Kamal, Sakhawat Hossain, Kazi Abdul Latif, Shamim Ahmed, Fakhrul Islam, Sarker Ayaz and Mizanur Rahman Mithu. All the nine students surrendered to the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ruhul Amin this Monday morning.

On August 22 last year, a vehicle of the military intelligence DGFI was torched in front of the Vice Chancellor's residence amid violence on the RU campus following the student unrest in Dhaka University on August 20.

DGFI assistant director Shawkat Ali filed the case against 14 persons with Motihar police station on August 23.

On September 1, investigation officer (IO) of the case sub-inspector Mukhtar Hossain submitted charge sheets against the 14 accused.

A local court on December 12 last year acquitted three people, Dr Sarwar Jahan Sajal and Dr Golam Sabbir Sattar Tapu, both teachers of Geology and Mining Department, and Deputy Chief Information Officer of RU Public Relations Office Sadikul Islam and sentenced 11 others, including 10 students, to three years' RI in the case.

The court also fined Tk 5,000 each and in default to serve three months more in jail.

One of the convicts, VC's driver Ataur Rahman Ata was on the dock during the verdict.

Another accused, RU student Abu Sayem surrendered to the court on Sunday.

BSS, Chittagong

Police in a pre-dawn swoop rescued a Bangladeshi expatriate academic living in Japan from the captivity of kidnappers in the city yesterday and captured three abductors.

The expatriate academic, Prof M Imam Uddin Bhuiyan, was rescued from hilly Hajighona area near Feroj Shah Colony in the city Monday morning, within 12 hours of his abduction.

Police said a team of Khulshi thana police carried out the raid and arrested three kidnappers-Tofajjal Hossain (38), Mohammad Salauddin alias Sallu (24), and Banu Begum (42)-- of Hajighona area under Khulshi thana.

Prof Imam Uddin Bhuiya , a researcher and coordinator of United Nations University in Japan, was kidnapped by a group of people from Garibullah Shah Housing Society area on his way to friend's residence on Sunday night.

Giving reaction after his rescue Prof Imam Uddin said "I was surrounded by a group of unknown people inside a thatched house when I regained my sense around midnight".

The kidnappers demanded Taka 10 lakh as ransom to set him free. Prof Imam Uddin was beaten mercilessly during his captivity after he declined to pay the ransom.

He then made a call to his friend Prof Younus Meah and requested him to get him free from Hajighona area by giving the ransom.

Prof Younus informed the matter to police and that followed a rescue operation by a team of plainclothes police of Khulshi thana to the area.

At first the members of the police pretended themselves to be relatives of the victim.

Police caught red-handed Sallu- one of the kidnappers, soon after he received the money from plainclothes police.

Taking the advantage of the situation, Prof Imam Uddin managed to escape from the captivity and joined the police team at a nearby place.

After getting information from Prof Imam Uddin , police raided the house and arrested rest of the kidnappers.

A case has been filed with Khulshi police in this connection.

UNB, Dhaka

The Police Week 2008 begins today (Tuesday) at the city's Rajarbagh Police Lines with distribution of awards among police and RAB members.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed will inaugurate the three-day police week where 30 police and RAB members will be awarded Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM), BPM (Service), President Police Medal (PPM) and PPM (Service) on the occasion.

Of them, four will be awarded with BPM, four BPM (Service), seven PPM and 15 PPM (Service), said a handout.

The Chief Adviser will inspect the parade, take salute and then distribute the medals among the winners.

Other programmes of the Police Week include a meeting between police officers and the Advisory Committee on Law and Order Affairs, conference of special branch, conference on crime, discussion on contemporary challenges of police, the Chief Adviser's speech to the high-ranking police officials and annual sports competition.

The programmes also include the final shield parade competition, meeting of the IGP with high-ranking police officers, President's address to the police officers, annual meeting of Bangladesh Police Service Association and giving IGP batch to the police officers for their excellent performance.

Staff Reporter

The government should immediately introduce rationing system for rice in villages at a price of Tk 15 per Kg.

Bangladesh Khetmajur Samity, an organisation of farmers and farm-workers demanded this as well as government subsidy for the staple food of the nation yesterday at a press conference at the CPB building at Paltan in the city.

The organisation also demanded resignation of Food Adviser Tapan Chowdhury for his comments on rice price hike, which they called irresponsible.

It presented eight-point demand to the government. The farmers' platform urged the government to import rice through Trading Corporation of Bangladesh for smooth supply to the market.

It also urged the government to provide the farmers with all necessary agricultural inputs for ensuring a good harvest in the 'Boro' season and refrain the NGOs from demanding instalment money from the farmers by promulgating ordinance for the Sidr affected areas.

BSS, Dhaka

Geological experts at an international conference here yesterday underscored the need for carrying out more geological researches to study Delta and coastal hydrodynamics of Bay of Bengal for making early warning of natural calamities to help cut risks and damages.

With better understanding of the deltas in the Asia Pacific region specially the Bengal delta known as Ganges-Brahmaputra, forecast of cyclones and earthquake could be possible to make for taking proper disaster preparedness, they said.

The six-day international conference on deltas was jointly organised by Geological Survey of Bangladesh, Delta Map, one of the project under International Geosciences Correlation Programmes (IGCP).

More than 57 international geological experts from 17 countries are being shared their views with about 100 local experts from various geological and scientific organizations across the country during the conference.

A total of 73 papers on various geological issues including sedimentary process, stratigraphy and sequence development, indicators of monsoon circulation, deltaic geo-hazards like arsenic, cyclone, surges, earthquakes and tsunami are being presented.

Energy and Mineral Resources secretary Moihammad Mohsin inaugurated the conference while President of Bangladesh Geological Society Professor Monirul Hoque spoke as the special guest.

Convener of the conference Director General of Geological Survey of Bangladesh Afia Akhter and team leader of Delta Map project Dr Steven Goodbred of Vanderbilt University in the USA also spoke at the inaugural session.

Mohsin said, the country's deltaic environment are vulnerable to numerous and frequent natural hazards like tsunamis, cyclones monsoon floods, droughts, sea-level rise, arsenic and other related problems.

"I hoped that interaction among the scientists coming from various level of research will give a clear idea about the development of delta and its implication of the country, which helps us to take proper disaster preparedness in future" he said.

Afia Akhter said, the Bengal delta is the largest delta with one of the thickest sedimentary sequence in the world, which receives and discharge billions of tones of sediments annually in to the Bay of Bengal. "But limited information and data are available till now about this delta, specially, about the sub-aqueous part of it", she said.

Staff Reporter

A sedition case filed by a freedom fighter against three leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was dismissed by a court in the city yesterday on the ground that it did not get approval of the government.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Emran Hossain Chowdhury dismissed the sedition case against Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, assistant secretary general Kader Molla and former Inslami Bank chairman Shah Abdul Hannan.

Dismissing the case, the magistrate said the court had no jurisdiction to take the case into cognizance as it did not get approval of the government.

Fazlur Rahman, a freedom fighter from Keraniganj, filed the case on December 5 against the Jamaat leaders for making disparaging statements about the nation's War of Independence and freedom fighters.

The same court had accepted the case and asked the officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station to record the case. The OC later returned the case to the court, saying they did not get approval from the government to do so.

On December 11, the court set December 18 for a decision about the fate of the case. But the court did not do so and set December 22 for the decision. Again, it reset the date for January 7.

The complainant Fazlur Rahman and his lawyers rejected the court decision yesterday and said they would appeal to the High Court to challenge the order.

They said the officer-in-charge of the Tejgaon Police Station could seek approval of the state in a proper manner, instead of returning the case to the court.

On the other hand, Jamaat leaders are considering the decision of the court as a "great victory" for them.

According to case details, Mojahid on October 25 said in an interview aired on different TV channels that there were no anti-liberation forces or war criminals in the country.

On October 26, Hannan cited the liberation war as a 'civil war' in an interview with a TV channel.

Kader Molla at a discussion on October 31 said the freedom fighters joined the war to protect the interest of India.

He also made other controversial statements about the freedom fighters.

BSS, Dhaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched preliminary investigations into allegations of corruption against eight political leaders, two former bureaucrats, one top NGO official and one businessman.

Director General of the ACC Col Hanif Iqbal yesterday said this during his regular briefing to the reporters at his office in the city. He said the ACC has started inquiry into the allegations of acquiring huge wealth beyond legal income sources by the 12 persons.

The political leaders are former state minister AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former adviser to the Prime Minister Prof Jahanara Begum, and former MPs Fazlul Haque Milon, Abul Khayer Bhuiyan, Dr Dewan Salauddin, Moshiur Rahman Ranga, Sardar Sakhawat Hossain Bakul and Eilius Ali.

Other persons against whom the ACC has launched inquiry are former managing director of the Essential Drug Company Ltd Harun- Al-Rashid, chairman of Proshika Kazi Farook, former managing director of state-run mobile company Tetetalk M Obaidullah and former deputy secretary Abdul Matin.

The ACC will serve notices seeking their wealth statements if it gets any evidence of illegal acquisition of wealth by the persons, he said.

UNB, Dhaka

British Conservative Party MP Margaret Anne Main held a closed door meeting with top Awami League leaders Monday evening discussing issues concerning election roadmap and release of detained ex-PM Sheikh Hasina.

"It was just a courtesy call and we had informal discussions with her," AL acting president Zillur Rahman told reporters after nearly two-hour meeting at his Gulshan house.

He said the British MP wanted to know their opinions on prevailing situation of the country.

Zillur said bilateral relationship also came up during the meeting. Anne Main didn't make any comment to the journalists.

AL leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofeal Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chawdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, Abul Mal Abdul Muhit and Saber Hossain Chowdhury were present in the meeting.

Staff Reporter

Journalists should work for public service to build tolerance and unity in society.

"Public service journalism will promote democracy, pluralism, recognise many voices and help society understand itself," said Sukumar Muralidharan, South Asian Programme Manager of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), at a roundtable in the city yesterday.

"Perspective of the public service journalism is distinctive in that it seeks to raise above commercial, partisan or political interests, to reflect what people think and what people want in terms of information," he said.

He was addressing the day-long roundtable on 'Building Tolerance and Unity through Media' jointly organised by IFJ and DrikNews, international news photo agency, in support with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) at Drik premises.

Nurul Kabir, Editor of New Age, Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Executive Editor of daily Sangbad, Munira Morshed Munni, Photo Editor of DrikNews, among other journalists, spoke on the occasion.

Muralidharan said, "In journalism, public service values seek to reflect the diversity of the social milieu where it is practised and allow a multiplicity of voices to be heard. It also seeks to create an awareness in the media audience about the richness of the environment they live in."

The speakers said among the South Asian countries, practising journalism most vibrant situation is prevailing in Bangladesh at present. Pakistan is in the second position in this regard, while Maldives and Bhutan are in the worst situation.

Journalists have to face a lot of critical situations while writing and publishing news especially in South Asia. Sometimes they have to follow the government's orders in this regard. But journalism as a profession could be a worthy candidate for the status of the standard professional practices in the society, they said.

If the public service values in journalism were established in society, journalists could overcome any crisis period, speakers said.

This was the first regional consultation in Bangladesh. Journalists from print and electronic media attended the roundtable.

UNB, Dhaka

Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Monday described the visit of Qatari Labour Minister Dr Sultan Bin Hasan Al Dhabit Al Dosari as most successful and hoped it will lead to enhanced cooperation.

The Adviser, also in-charge of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, stated that in his view the Protocol that was signed between the two countries on Sunday would lead to "greater flow" of Bangladeshi workers, both skilled and unskilled, into Qatar.

He informed that at present, about 70,000 Bangladeshi workers are working in Qatar.

In the past year, the number of workers who went there was about 15,000 - nearly double that of 2006 when the figure was about 8,000.

Speaking to the media, Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury said: "Qatar is a prosperous country, with huge gas resources and an expanding economy. Their need for skilled professionals is increasing."

He added: "In Bangladesh, we have a supply of such skills and we are also taking measures to upgrade them. So, I hope, it will be possible for us to meet Qatar's future needs and the purpose of the protocol was to facilitate that process."

Dr. Sultan Al Dosari said: "We are happy with our Bangladeshi brethren who are helping us in Qatar, and we hope to increase their numbers."

He added: "I have invited Dr. Chowdhury to visit Qatar and (we) discussed other aspects of mutual cooperation between our two brotherly countries."

The Qatari Minister, who led his country's delegation in formal talks with the Bangladesh delegation headed by Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury, left here for Colombo today at the end of a three-day visit.

He also met with other members of the Council of Advisers on Sunday over lunch and dinner.

A series of ministers from countries hosting Bangladeshi workers have been recently visiting Dhaka and many are signing agreements.

"This is very much in line with our policy that has led to our success in sending over 600,000 workers abroad and earning over 6.5 billion US dollars. These discussions also enhance the legal protection of our workers," the Foreign Adviser told the media.

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court Monday granted bail to Awami League presidium member Kazi Jafarullah in a case under the Emergency Powers Rules.

A division bench comprising Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice M Abdul Hye also issued a suo moto rule asking the government to explain why the proceedings of the case filed against Kazi Jafarullah should not be squashed.

On December 11 last year, Jafarullah was re-arrested minutes after he was released from the Dhaka central jail.

On April 18 last year, he was arrested under the Emergency Powers Rules and later shown arrested in connection with an extortion case filed with Gulshan thana by Gazi Golam Dastagir of Gazi Tank.

Thereafter, he was served with a detention order under the Special Powers Act.

He was granted bail by the High Court in connection with all the cases and the HC on November 20 ordered the government to release Jafarullah as his detention order was not extended by the advisory board.

Barrister Shafique Ahmed appeared for Kazi Jafarullah, also an ex-lawmaker.

Staff Reporter

The newborn baby who was found abandoned near Science Laboratory in the city on Sunday morning died at last at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday morning fighting for his life for long 24 hours.

The baby-boy was given the name Hasib after he was found in front of Rajaniganda Tower near Science Laboratory by Parul Begum on Sunday morning. Critically ill the newborn was rushed to the Paediatric Department where the child specialists tried as many as 24 hours to save the baby.

However, the baby boy succumbed to his injuries at about 5:45am yesterday on his bed. Later, his body was taken to the DMCH morgue for postmortem. In the afternoon, Hasib was buried at Azimpur Graveyard by his adopted mother Parul Begum. While waiting for the body of the newborn in front of the DMCH morgue yesterday morning, Parul said she had lost her only son Hasib in a road accident. That is why she had given the name Hasib to the newborn.

Parul, who has three daughters, said, "I dreamt of a son after the death of my only son Hasib in a road accident. I found this newborn in front of Sugandha Tower while walking along the road toward Science Laboratory yesterday morning. Later, I brought him to the DMCH and gave him the name Hasib. Unfortunately, his life could not be saved. Now, I'll bury him at Azimpur Graveyard after the postmortem," she said.

The DMCH sources said the doctors at Paediatric Department tried their best to save the newborn over the last 24 hours. Dr LE Fatmi, child specialist of the DMCH said when the newborn was brought here he was crying of pain. "There were marks of injury allover his body. Besides, the boy was dropped so forcefully on the ground that his bones were fractured. He also bled profusely as his naval was not tied," he said.

Dr Fatmi said the newborn was given blood twice, but he could not be saved for internal injuries.

He said those who are responsible for the delivery of such babies usually take various tactics to kill babies, which led to various problems.

The doctor said Parul at first introduced the baby as her son. She said the baby had received injuries as his delivery took place on the staircases. Later, she disclosed everything to the doctors when they interrogated her.

Parul said she took the newborn to the DMCH for his better treatment, but she could not imagine that the boy would subsequently die. Even the nurses and ayas at the child ward of the DMCH were weeping for the newborn.