The New Nation - Internet Edition

CG will hand over power to elected govt by Dec, hopes Indian HC

UNB, Chittagong

Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravorty yesterday hoped the caretaker government would hand over power to an elected government holding the national election by December according to their declared roadmap.

"The Indian government strongly believes Bangladesh will soon return to the path of democracy and the elected government takes power," he said while exchanging views with reporters after inaugurating a two-week exhibition on contemporary fine arts at the Indian Assistant High Commission's Gallery at Khulshi.

Asked about protecting human rights of the detained political leaders in Bangladesh during trial process, the Indian envoy said the caretaker government should be respectful to human rights as per the constitution.

5 bombs found in JN Hall

UNB, Dhaka

Police recovered four cocktails and a petrol bomb from near the graveyard in Jagannath Hall at Dhaka University Friday morning.

Police said a sweeper of the hall first saw the bombs behind the graveyard at about 8am and informed the hall authority. Later on information, police from Shahbagh thana rushed to the scene and recovered the bombs.

Three of a family electrocuted in Barisal

BSS, Barisal

Three persons, including a woman of a family, were electrocuted in Ujirpur Upazila of this district on Thursday evening.

Police sources said one Khalil of Satla village set uncovered live electric wires for trapping rats in his paddy fields.

On Thursday-evening, Khalil (55), Alamgir (32) and his mother Mongali Begum (70) were electrocuted as they went to the spot and came in contact of the live wires.

Besides, another Joynal was injured critically in the incident. He was admitted to Upazila Health Complex immediately. Bodies of the victims were sent to hospital for autopsy. Separate UD cases were filed with Ujirpur Thana in this connection.

Slum fire in Ctg

UNB, Chittagong

A devastating fire burned down some 278 dwelling houses at a slum behind Railway Hospital Clinic in city's Batalipahar area yesterday midnight.

Fire Brigade sources said the fire originated from a woven at a house in the slum at 12 midnight and soon engulfed the other dwelling houses.

On information, the fire fighting units alongwith eight vehicles rushed to the scene and doused the flame at about 3am.

The extent of damage was estimated by the Fire Brigade at Tk 25 lakh.

Citizens condolence meeting on Manik today

BSS, Dhaka

A citizens condolence meeting will be held today at 3pm at the Central Shaheed Minar on veteran politician and general secretary of Gonoforum Saifuddin Ahmed Manik.

Politicians, intellectuals, academics, cultural personalities, labour leaders, sportsmen and different professional groups have been requested to attend the meeting, a press release said here yesterday.

McCain prevails as Romney withdraws

BBC Online

McCain was booed when he discussed illegal immigration John McCain has called on conservatives within the US Republican Party to rally behind him after Mitt Romney suspended his campaign for the presidency.

The Arizona senator, who analysts say has effectively been handed the party's nomination, paid tribute to Romney and invited his supporters to join him. Romney did not endorse McCain, but spoke of the need for Republicans to unite around a single candidate.

The decision came after he fell well behind in the race on Super Tuesday. Romney said it had not been an easy choice for him or his family, but that he had decided that fighting on until the party's national convention in the summer would forestall the launch of a national campaign and help the Democrats. In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror

"I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country," he said.

Romney said that while he disagreed with McCain on a number of issues, they both agreed that the US needed to do whatever it took to be successful in Iraq and defeat terrorism. The BBC's James Coomarasamy in Washington says that by acknowledging he had little chance of victory, Romney will be hoping to emerge from a campaign which has cost him millions of dollars with kudos and a degree of leverage to win concessions from the eventual nominee.

Officially, former Baptist minister Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul are still in the campaign, but they stand no realistic chance of victory and may now come under pressure to step aside for the sake of party unity, our correspondent says.

The Democratic Party nomination contest is still being closely fought by senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. 'Proud to be a conservative' In a speech to a gathering of conservative activists in Washington DC, McCain appealed to Republicans to support him and focus on November's election while the Democratic hopefuls contested the remaining primaries.

We have had a few disagreements, and none of us will pretend that we won't continue to have a few "I am proud to be a conservative," he told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). "I am proud, very proud, to have come to public office as a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution.

"I know I have a responsibility, if I am, as I hope to be, the Republican nominee for president, to unite the party and prepare for the great contest in November," he added.

"I am acutely aware that I cannot succeed in that endeavour, nor can our party prevail over the challenge we will face from either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama without the support of dedicated conservatives."

John McCain

12 states, 707 delegates

Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, New Hampshire

Mitt Romney

11 states, 294 delegates

Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah

Mike Huckabee

6 states, 195 delegates

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, West Virginia

1,191 delegates needed for nomination. Source: AP (includes all kinds of delegates)

In an effort to assuage the fears of conservatives within his party, who have often attacked him for being too liberal, Mr McCain stressed his opposition to abortion, his support of the "surge" in Iraq, as well opposition to banning assault weapons.

He also called for making President George W Bush's tax cuts, which he strongly opposed in 2001 and 2003, permanent.

However, Mr McCain was booed by the crowd when he discussed the topic of illegal immigration, which has placed him at odds with many Republicans, especially conservative talk radio show hosts.

"We have had a few disagreements, and none of us will pretend that we won't continue to have a few," he said.

"But even in disagreement, especially in disagreement, I will seek the counsel of my fellow conservatives. If I am convinced my judgment is in error, I will correct it."

McCain also took the opportunity to apologise for skipping the CPAC conference last year, which angered many of its members.

Saturday: Louisiana and Washington state (multi-party); Nebraska (Democratic); Kansas (Republican)

Sunday: Maine (Democratic)

Tuesday: Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC (multi-party)

"I was merely preoccupied with the business of trying to escape the distinction of pre-season front-runner for the Republican nomination," he said.

McCain emerged as clear leader on Tuesday after enjoying wins the big states of California and New York, as well as Illinois, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Missouri, Connecticut, Delaware, and his home state of Arizona.

His new main challenger, Huckabee, who is popular with evangelical Christians, took five states on Tuesday, backing up the widely held view that McCain lacks support from conservatives.

Huckabee will speak to the CPAC gathering on Saturday.

Both men, as well as Paul, will be on ballots in the Republican Party primaries in Washington state, Kansas and Louisiana on Saturday.

Dhaka stock sees volatile week due to abrupt trade

UNB, Dhaka

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed a volatile week that ended Thursday owing to abrupt surges in trade volume of directly listed shares of Jamuna Oil and Meghna Petroleum. "The volatility was further fuelled with allowing the netting and margin (1:1) facilities," managing director and CEO of AIMS Bangladesh Yawer Sayeed told UNB on Friday.

During the week's trading at the DSE, Meghna Petroleum and Jamuna Oil occupied 26 percent of the total turnover while the netting and margin facilities pushed up the week's total turnover by almost double (94 percent) to Tk 14.25 billion from previous week's Tk 7.35 billion.

Daily average turnover of the week also increased by 94 percent to Tk 2.85 billion from Tk 1.47 billion in the previous week. Stockbrokers expect even higher turnover next week, as the margin facility comes into effect beginning of next week (Sunday). Brokers as well as the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), advised the investors particularly the small ones to cautiously use the loan facility.

"The borrowing proportion should not be higher than what an investor will invest from his pocket," said Yawer Sayeed. During the week, the DSE benchmark index (DGEN) rose 93 points or over 3 percent to close at 3,000 points mark, rising from 2,907 points on the opening day of the week (Sunday). The All Share Price Index (DSI) also increased by 74 points or 3 percent to close at 2,523 points.

Market capitalisation increased 2.5 percent to record highest Tk 802 billion from Tk 782 billion on the opening day of the week. All the top 10 gainers of the week except Wata Chemicals (Z category) were A-category shares.

They were BSC, Purabi General Insurance, Karnaphuli General Insurance, BGIC, Federal Insurance, Central Insurance, Pragati Insurance, Sonargaon Textile and BDCOM. All the top losers were from Z category.

They were M Hossain Garments, BCIL, BD Luggage, Alpha Tobacco, Maq Paper, Maq Enterprise, Samata Leather, BD Dying, Ctg Vegetable and Sajib Knitwear.

Besides Meghna Petroleum and Jamuna Oil, other turnover leaders during the week were Grameen Mutual One, AB Bank, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund, Summit Power, BRAC Bank, IFIC Bank, Lanka Bangla Finance and National Bank.

Steps taken to tackle bird flu in Chittagong

BSS, Chittagong

Health Secretary A K M Jafarullah Khan said the government has taken all necessary measures to tackle the bird flu situation.

Speaking at a meeting with journalists here Thursday night, the health secretary called for creating mass awareness to prevent further spread of the disease.

Director General of Health Department Prof. Abul Fayez was also present at the meeting held in the Chittagong Press Club conference room.

Jafarullah Khan called upon the journalists to project the correct picture of the bird flu situation so panic is not spread. He said the issue is very sensitive as the poultry sector is an important contributor to the economy. "None was found infected with bird flu after screening of 823 suspected patients throughout the country," he said and emphasized that one should strictly follow health guidelines to keep one safe from being affected.

He said the government was actively considering to set up a full-fledged lab in Chittagong to carry out test on avian influenza virus.

Prof. Abul Fayez said bird flu had been detected so far at 113 poultry farms under 37 districts and 4,79,593 fowls were culled in the meantime.

Health workers are working at the field level to prevent and control the disease, the DG Health said, adding that the government has adequate preparations including sufficient stock of medicines and other logistics to tackle the situation.

Probe: Benazir killed by blast not bullet

Associated Press

Scotland Yard said in a report released Friday that Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a suicide bomb blast, not a gunshot - findings that support the Pakistani government's version of the events.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party immediately rejected the British conclusion and repeated its demand for a U.N. investigation.

The party says Bhutto was shot and suspects a government cover-up because Bhutto had accused political allies of President Pervez Musharraf of plotting to kill her.

The British probe also found that a single attacker both fired the shots at Bhutto and detonated the blast by blowing himself up moments later.

The death of the former prime minister sparked violent unrest across the country and forced a six-week delay in parliamentary elections, now set for Feb. 18. The continuing dispute over exactly how she died will do little to ease Pakistan's political turmoil. Musharraf has rejected the call for a U.N. probe but invited Scotland Yard to help establish the cause of death. After a two-and-a-half week investigation, their findings were released Friday in a summarized report issued by the British High Commission in Islamabad.

British Home Office pathologist Dr. Nathaniel Cary was quoted in a report as saying that "the only tenable cause" for Bhutto's fatal head injury was the impact of the blast that went off as she waved to supporters from the hatch of her vehicle after an election rally.

"In my opinion Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto died as a result of a severe head injury sustained as a consequence of the bomb-blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle," Cary said in the report.

Pakistan's government announced a similar conclusion shortly after Bhutto's killing, which took place in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. It says the attack was orchestrated by a top Taliban militant commander with links to al-Qaida, Baitullah Mehsud.

Mehsud leads Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a coalition of Islamic extremist groups fighting Pakistani forces in the lawless tribal area along the border with Afghanistan. On Wednesday, Mehsud's coalition announced an indefinite cease-fire with the government forces.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas confirmed Friday that there had been a lull in the fighting in South Waziristan over the past 72 hours, although the military did not formally recognize any cease-fire.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Pakistan on Friday and was expected to discuss the security situation with senior Pakistani officials.

Many Pakistanis reacted to the government finding in Bhutto's death with skepticism since the bomb site was hosed down within hours of the attack and the conclusions were announced with haste.

"We disagree with the finding on the cause of the death," said Sherry Rehman, spokeswoman for the Pakistan Peoples Party, who escorted Bhutto to hospital after the Dec. 27 attack. "She died from a bullet injury. This was and is our position."

The Scotland Yard report said that despite the lack of a detailed search of the crime scene or autopsy of Bhutto's body "the evidence that is available is sufficient for reliable conclusions to be drawn." Investigators had relied considerably on X-rays and detailed examination of video footage of the attack, it said.

The report concluded that there had been a lone attacker, though earlier there had been suggestions that a separate bomber had lurked behind the gunman.

"In essence, all the evidence indicates that one suspect has fired the shots before detonating an improvised explosive device," the report said.

Before the findings were officially released, Rehman called into question Scotalnd Yard's ability to fully investigate the killing.

"Their terms of reference were limited," Rehman said of the British. "They were working under the Pakistani police. Their investigation was limited only to finding the cause of her death."

Police officer Chaudhry Abdul Majid, who is heading Pakistan's own investigation, said they agreed with British findings. He said that a gun was fired but the bullets did not hit Bhutto.

Pakistani police said they were also close to finalizing their investigation into who carried out the attack - a field of inquiry beyond the remit of the Scotland Yard team.

During a televised press conference, Majeed confirmed that police had arrested two "important" suspects in the killing based on information from a 15-year old boy apprehended last month in northwestern Pakistan. The boy told police he was among a five-man suicide squad charged with assassinating Bhutto.

The two suspects, identified only as Husnain Gul and Rafaqat, appeared in court Friday and were ordered held for 12 more days. Majeed said they appeared to have provided help to the bomber.

Delwar condemns arrest of Alal, Hannan

Staff Reporter

Khaleda Zia nominated BNP General Secretary Khandoker Delwar Hossain condemned the arrest of BNP leader Brigader (Retd) Hannan Shah and arrest of its former MP Moazzem Hossain Alal, said a press release signed by Ruhul Kabir Rizvee, acting office secretary of BNP.

Khandoker Delwar Hossain demanded unconditional release of the Hannan Shah and Moazzem Hossain Alal.

He said the arrest of Hannan Shah was a violation of human rights..

Dhaka to play a major role in climate change debate

BSS, Dhaka

Foreign Adviser Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has said the issue of Climate Change is a priority one for Bangladesh and the country will continue to play an active role in the global debate on the subject.

He said this while the visiting 9-member delegation representing the Committee on Climate Change of the European Union Parliament called on him Thursday evening at the State Guest House Padma here, an official handout said yesterday.

The Foreign Adviser said the countries like Bangladesh, now the current Chair of the Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), are least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Yet, he added, they suffer most from the consequences of climate change. Ms. Romana Jordan Cizeli of Slovenia, who led the delegation, appreciated the priority that Bangladesh had placed on the subject and expressed the confidence that the country's active participation in it would enrich the deliberations on the issue.

Dr. Chowdhury said the developed countries including those of the European Union (EU) have an obligation to help implement requisite preventive and adaptation projects of the LDCs to face the impacts of climate change. "Bangladesh's vibrant civil society would remain closely associated with the process," he added.

Bangladesh has made an active contribution to the Bali conference and will continue to play a major role in the debate during the lead-up to the planned Copenhagen Conference in 2009, he said adding, the United Nations is a major force in shaping any future agreements on climate change.

The Foreign Adviser said Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed co-chaired the UN debate on Climate Change during the last UN General Assembly session with the Dutch Prime Minister Belkenende.

He also apprised the delegation members of the current institutional reforms being undertaken by the government to ensure a stable and sustainable democracy in the country.

Poll contestant barred from taking father’s surname

Agency

An Indian politician has been stripped of his status as a tribesman and may be barred from contesting elections because he took his father's surname.

Leaders of the Khasi tribe in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya have told Waibha Kyndiah that he has "ceased" to be a Khasi.

The Khasis are a matrilineal society and their legal code does not recognise anyone who uses a paternal surname. Kyndiah was planning to contest an assembly seat reserved for tribes. The Khasis are one of the three leading tribes in Meghalaya. Kyndiah was going to contest state assembly elections on 3 March from Nongkrem constituency, which is reserved for tribal representatives. Kyndiah's father, PR Kyndiah, is India's federal minister for tribal affairs.

Women as inheritors

A Khasi administrative body, The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, told Kyndiah he was no longer a member of the tribe. "The junior Kyndiah shall cease to be a Khasi as he has adopted the title of his father and not his mother as mandatory," a council leader, HS Shylla said. Shylla and Kyndiah had both planned to stand for election in the Nongkrem constituency but the national Congress party preferred Kyndiah over Shylla. A local legal code says anyone who uses the surname of the father instead of the mother ceases to be a Khasi.

The code is designed to enshrine the tradition of matrilineal lineage among the Khasis. Women inherit family property in Meghalaya, with the largest share going to the youngest daughter.