The New Nation - Internet Edition

Day-Lewis, Cotillard best actor, actress: No country for old Men wins 4 Oscar

Daniel Day-Lewis wins best actor award for 'There
Will Be Blood' and Marion Cotillard wins best actress award
for 'La Vie En Rose'

AP, Los Angeles

They ground up Steve Buscemi in a wood-chipper. They made baby-snatchers out of Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter. They turned mythic Greek wanderer Odysseus into a Depression-era roots-music minstrel with George Clooney's face.

Two of the most imaginatively twisted minds in modern film, Joel and Ethan Coen, completed their journey from the fringes to Hollywood's mainstream on Sunday as their crime saga "No Country for Old Men" won a leading four Academy Awards, including best picture.

In a year when the quirky, offbeat and just plain weird storytelling of the Coens triumphed at the biggest ceremony in show business, the oddball brothers found a lot to like in their fellow nominees. "It sounds like a cliche, but all the movies that were nominated were really interesting to me personally, and that isn't always the case," Joel Coen said. "All of them to me personally I thought were fantastically good movies."

The Coens' brooding, bloody tale of violence in a desolate corner of west Texas was the American standard-bearer for an Oscar show that otherwise had an international flair.

All four acting prizes went to Europeans: Frenchwoman Marion Cotillard, the best-actress winner for "La Vie En Rose"; Spaniard Javier Bardem, who took supporting actor for "No Country"; and Brits Daniel Day-Lewis and Tilda Swinton, he claiming his second best-actor honor for "There Will Be Blood," she winning supporting actress for "Michael Clayton." Talking to reporters backstage, Swinton still was in disbelief, saying she initially thought "I heard someone else's name and suddenly, slowly heard my own" when she was announced as the winner for her role as a ruthless attorney.

"I'm still recovering from that moment, and I have absolutely no idea what happened after that," Swinton said. "So, you know, you can tell me my dress fell off and I'd believe you, so don't be cruel."

Day-Lewis, a previous best-actor winner for "My Left Foot," was gratified that a line he utters in "There Will Be Blood" - "I drink your milkshake," a reference to draining oil that's not yours - has found a life in the broader vernacular.

"I think it's fantastic," Day-Lewis said. "If people absorb something that you've done - for whatever your reasons are, it's not relevant - but if that gets absorbed into the culture in such a way that people make something else, somebody can make something else out of it, that's delightful to me."

By winning three Oscars - best picture as producers on the film, director and adapted screenplay - the Coens matched a feat achieved by only an elite list of filmmakers who also received three awards for a single film, including Francis Ford Coppola ("The Godfather Part II"), James Cameron ("Titanic") and Billy Wilder ("The Apartment").

They did miss out on a chance to become the only people to win four Oscars with one film, losing the editing prize, for which they had been nominated under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes.

Stringent security measures at SC

Staff Reporter

Stringent security measures were taken at the Supreme Court area from the morning deploying police, BDR and Armed Police Battalion personnel. None, except the lawyers, Supreme Court officials and employees and the persons associated with the case was not allowed to enter the court premises. In the name of security checks, police searched the lawyers' bags and tiffin carriers.

It is learnt that stringent security measures were taken to avert any untoward incident during the hearing of the government's leave to appeal against the High Court judgement dismissing the extortion case against Sheikh Hasina which was filed by businessman Ajam J Chowdhury.

The security forces took position at the strategic points of the Supreme Court including the main gate from 8:00am. None was allowed to enter without the identity cards. Later, Barrister Shafique Ahmed drew attention of the Chief Justice to the matter.

After the hearing, Barrister Shafique Ahmed later told the Appellate Division bench that the lawyers, plaintiffs and defendants of different cases were obstructed by the security forces at the main gate of the Supreme Court, which was absolutely undesirable.

In reply, Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin said he did not know anything else about outside the courtroom. However, I can see the lawyers inside the courtroom. At least four gates have to be crossed to enter the Supreme Courts in many countries of the world. Compared to those it is easier to enter the Supreme Court in our country," he said.

Latif Hall of Polytechnic Institute: Safe haven of militants

Mamunur Rashid

The closure of Latif Hall of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute in Tejgaon helped RAB personnel to nab Mufti Mainuddin Sheikh alias Abu Zandal and recover 41 powerful Arges hand-grenades from their possession from Satkhira.

Intelligence sources said Abu Zandal recently confessed during interrogation that he and many other militant leaders used to live incognito at the Latif Hall.

Abu Zandal fled to Memberbari Jame Mosque in Baniarchala in Gazipur from where he was arrested on February 14. He also confessed to interrogator that the August 21, Arges hand-grenade attack on the Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue was planned at the Latif Hall in 2004. Intelligence officers are now trying to uncover the elements (Students and Teacher's) that use to provide shelter to the militants, and if any student or teacher's group or organisation collaborated with them.

Hostel source said that top-ranking leaders of Islamic militants outfit Harkatul Jihad (Huji) and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), including JMB Chief Shaiek Abdur Rahman, Huji chief Mufti Hannan, Siddikur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai, Ataur Rahman Sani and Abdul Awal used the Hall as safe haven.

All but Mufti Hannan and Abu Zandal were executed for their crime's including killing of judges in Barisal.

Most of the militant groups had alleged links to an influential political party. Therefore the activities of the militants remained out of touch of the law enforcing agencies, informed sources said.

The law enforcing agencies failed to trace the godfathers, who have provided funds and shelter to the militants.

The Principal of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute Shamsul Alam said, more than nine hundred students have been allotted seats in the hostel. This hostel may have been used for different militant activities. The hostel was vacated on February 10 amid student violence.

He also said that the law enforcing agencies recently arrested one of the top student leaders. He declined to divulge the name of the student for the sake of investigation.

The central mosque of the hostel was used by the militants to communicate with their network all over the country, said one of the students.

Recently the authority of this institute banned all political activities including that of Tablig Jamaat.

Director General of RAB Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, however, said, "We are trying to nab all militant cadres so that they cannot function in future."

He also sought help from the society in this regard.

Musharraf denies exit plan: Blast kills top army official, 7 others

Agencies, Islamabad

A suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani military vehicle in the city of Rawalpindi on Monday, killing the army's top medical officer and two of his staff and five passers-by, officials said.

The blast happened a week after Pakistan held largely peaceful parliamentary elections and was the first bomb attack outside the violence-plagued northwest since the vote.

"Surgeon general Lieutenant-General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, his driver and a guard were killed in the attack," said a military official who declined to be identified.

Five civilians were also killed and 25 people were wounded, he said.

The Pakistani military's headquarters is in Rawalpindi and several major attacks on the military and security agencies have taken place in the city since the middle of last year. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and more than 20 of her supporters were killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack as she left a rally in Rawalpindi on Dec. 27.

Monday's blast was outside an office of the government's national data registration agency, on a main road crowded with mid-afternoon traffic.

"The bomber was apparently on foot and as the car stopped on the main mall road, he hit it," senior city government officer, Irfan Ellahi, told Reuters.

"I can see pieces of flesh littering the road and four damaged vehicles," a witness said. Police and troops cordoned off the site of the attack, the witness said.

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of suicide bomb attacks since troops stormed a radical mosque complex in the capital, Islamabad, last July.

The government has blamed the attacks on al Qaeda-linked militants based in remote mountains on the Afghan border and says they are intent on destabilising the country.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman Monday dismissed a suggestion by a team of US senators that he should be allowed to make a "graceful exit" after his allies lost key elections.

Major General Rashid Qureshi said the president had been elected for a five-year period in 2007 and that his position should not be determined by the results of the parliamentary elections a week ago.

"The president has been elected for a period of five years by the assemblies of Pakistan, which have been elected by the Pakistani people and not by senators from the US," Qureshi told Dawn News television.

"So I don't think he needs to respond to anything that is said by these people in their capacity."

The spokesman's comments came after Joe Biden, one of three senators who observed the elections along with former White House hopeful John Kerry and Senator Chuck Hagel, discussed Musharraf's options in a television interview.

Asked on ABC television if he thought it would be a good for Musharraf to prepare an exit strategy to resign or retire to avoid being forced out by a hostile parliament, Biden said:

"Probably".

Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper cited an anonymous aide as saying that Musharraf was readying such a strategy after slain Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and former premier Nawaz Sharif's groups won the elections.

Former premier Nawaz Sharif called Monday for Pakistan's ousted judiciary to rule on the legality of President Pervez Musharraf's position before any parliamentary move to impeach him.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N formed a coalition with the Pakistan People's Party of slain ex-PM Benazir Bhutto last week, after their groupings trounced Musharraf's backers in parliamentary elections.

They are seeking further allies to get them the two-thirds majority they need to impeach the president, who has repeatedly dismissed calls by Sharif and other opposition leaders to quit.

Emergency hinders economic activities : It also discourages FDI: AmCham president

Staff Reporter

The state of emergency, now prevailing in the country, is a hindrance to the economic activities as it discourages foreign investors, according to AmCham president.

"State of emergency is an uncertain situation; no foreign investors will come in such situation with foreign direct investment (FDI)," said Syed Ershad Ahmed, president of American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Bangladesh, at a press conference yesterday.

The press conference was organised ahead of the there-day US Trade Show, scheduled for February 27-29 at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel. AmCham president alleged that at present, several government agencies do not respect the laws relating to foreign investment. This ultimately discourages the foreign investors to invest in Bangladesh, he said.

"After the state of emergency, the situation in Chittagong Port has improved significantly. But only this improvement does not help the FDI."

AmCham and the United States Embassy are cosponsoring the 17th annual US Trade Show to showcase the US products in Bangladesh.

Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for Industries and Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Jamil is expected to inaugurate the show as the chief guest.

US Charge d' Affaires Geeta Pasi and AmCham president Syed Ershad Ahmed, among others, will be present at the opening ceremony.

About 61 exhibitors occupying 91 booths will participate at the US Trade Show.

The show will remain open to public on all three days (Feb 27-29) from 10:00am to 8:00pm.

The entry fee is Tk 10 per person. But school students in uniform and other students with identity cards are exempted from the payment of entry fee.

First Secretary (Economic and Political Affairs) of US Embassy Heather Variava and Economic and Commercial Officer of the US Embassy John D Dunham were present at the press conference.

DU teachers’ appeal: Hearing against conviction Apr 2

Staff Reporter

A Dhaka court yesterday set April 2 to hold the hearing on the appeals filed by three Dhaka University (DU) teachers challenging their sentences by a lower court in the last month for violating the Emergency Power Rules.

Earlier in the morning, Prof Anwar Hossain, Prof Sadrul Amin and Prof Harun-or-Rashid filed the appeals at the court of metropolitan sessions judge Azizul Haque.

On January 22, the teachers were sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment each for violating Emergency Power Rules (EPR), centering last August's campus unrest, and on the very day they also released from prison following a presidential mercy. The teachers filed the appeal just after one month of their release.

Gen Hasan Mashhud says: ACC law doesn’t exempt anyone, not even defence personnel from corruption charges

UNB, Dhaka

Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury yesterday said there is no scope under the law of the Commission to exempt anyone, including defence personnel, from corruption charges.

"Nothing such is written in the Anti-Corruption Commission's law that you can exempt anyone," he told a press briefing while replying to a question about his remarks with a Danish Public Accounts Committee that "ACC is having a programme to find out corruption in the military".

Providing an explanation about his reported remarks, the ACC chairman said, "During the discussion, there was a question on behalf of them (Danish team) if we (ACC) can file any defence-related cases. The easy answer, as you can expect, was 'certainly if there is any corruption and if it's within our jurisdiction'."

Referring to a survey report by a national daily the next day of his remarks, he said, "In principle I believe…Most probably there has been a survey in Prothom Alo where it shows public opinion is in favour of us…About 91 percent."

"I think there is no scope to say anything else," the former army chief added.

Responding to a question about ACC's future planning if the cases face legal complications in the higher court, Mashhud said, "You can only plan to cross a bridge when it comes in front of you. The bridge has not yet come in front of you."

He, however, said, "Certainly, we must find a way to protect the existence of the Commission. Otherwise, everyone will know if a case is somehow taken to the higher court, the ACC doesn't exist. It can't be. If necessary, I think everyone will help, people will support and the government will support, (otherwise) we'll resign."

Replying to a question about using the Emergency Power Rules despite the High Court verdict on an extortion case against former Prime Minister Hasina, the ACC chairman said the Commission is still using the EPR because of its lawyers' advice.

He, however, said the Appellate Division's decision in this regard would help the Commission take a decision in this regard.

To a questioner, Mashhud admitted that the Commission is delaying to some extent in submitting the charge sheet in the Gatco case against former premier Khaleda Zia and others until the decision of the Appellate Division on the extortion case against Hasina.

About further lists of corrupt suspects, he said making lists and seeking wealth statements are not a big deal and the Commission's activities would not be hindered without lists.

"You know why there are no more lists. Instability is created due to this," Mashhud said adding that there is no need to consider making further lists until the tasks of the previous lists are not completed.

Evaluating the performances of the reconstituted Commission, the ACC chairman, who along with two Commissioners were appointed on Feb 22, last year, said, "I think there are reasons to be hopeful, but there is no scope for complacence."

About its success achieved in the last one year, he said the first task of the reconstituted Commission was to change its image and there has been a positive response from people about its image.

Mashhud also said the Commission has tried its best to conduct the tasks of inquiry and investigations. The Commission has worked extensively for prevention of corruption, as prevention is the best way to tackle the present and future corruption, he added.

Asked about its failures, he said the standard of inquiry and investigation has not yet reached the highest level, and there were failures in bringing the smuggled money back home for various reasons.

The ACC chairman also mentioned lack of manpower for not getting the desired results. But, the Commission's decision to absorb quite a few former officials of the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption, who were left out by the previous Commission, would help overcome the manpower problem. Some 114 of the 263 left out former BAC employees are going to be retained by the Commission.

Bird flu update: Another dist affected, culling continues

Staff Reporter

The country is struggling to combat avian influenza as the Government yesterday confirmed that the H5N1 virus had spread to another district.

The new outbreak was found in Chandpur, but the Livestock officials said the spread of bird flu had slowed across the country in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, around 10,000 poultry birds were culled and 30,000 eggs destroyed at Jagtha village in Pirganj upazila in Thakurgaon from Saturday night to yesterday morning after detection of avian influenza virus.

The Project Director of the Livestock Department said, "At the advent of spring we are getting few reports about poultry dying. But the situation is now mostly under control."

Nearly 970,000 birds have been culled since the virus was first detected in March last year, threatening the impoverished the country's growing poultry industry.

At least, 0.5 crore of the country's more than 14 crore people are directly or indirectly involved in poultry farming, of whom officials estimate around 0.15 crore have now become jobless.

The disease has badly hit the country's annual around Tk 12,420 crore poultry industry. Bird flu has caused losses of about Tk 450 crore to the poultry sector, said the officials.

No human bird flu cases have been reported in the country till now.

Experts feared that the H5N1 strain could mutate or combine with the highly contagious seasonal influenza virus and spark a pandemic, especially in countries such as Bangladesh where people live in close proximity to backyard poultry. Humans usually contract the virus only after close contact with infected birds. The virus has killed more than 230 people worldwide since 2003.

Our Thakurgaon correspondent said 10,000 poultry birds were culled and 30,000 eggs destroyed at Jagtha village.

The local livestock officials said the fowls and the eggs of a farm owned by Rafiqul Islam were destroyed in presence of the officials of local administration and law enforcers.

The detection of H5N1 virus was confirmed in the sample collected from the farm on Friday. The officials imposed ban on buying and selling of domestic and poultry fowls and eggs in the area for next 90 days.

They also banned transportation of domestic and poultry birds and eggs within one-kilometer radius of the village to prevent the spread of the virus. The Livestock officials already started spraying germicide on the vehicles at six points of the district, according to the local sources.

Deal on new Japanese loan of $65m signed

UNB, Dhaka

Japan and Bangladesh signed an agreement in Tokyo yesterday concerning Japanese loan assistance of 6.96 million yen, equivalent to approximately Tk 44.2 billion or US$ 65 million, for 'Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation' project in the country.

Foreign Advisor Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, who is now visiting Japan, and Masahiko Koumura, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, signed the agreement after their bilateral meeting, said a release from the Japanese Embassy here.

The loan had been pledged last month by Japanese Ambassador Masayuki Inoue to Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, Advisor, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Planning.

The rehabilitation project under the loan will be started following the signed agreement. "The loan is provided as co-financing with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)," it said.

The objective of the oroject is to support "quick restoration of economic and social activity" in the areas damaged by the floods 2007 and Cyclone Sidr, through providing quick-disbursement type of import financing for essential agricultural commodities.

Rehabilitating and reconstructing damaged public infrastructure, thereby contributing to sustainable economic growth, are also among the objectives.

Japan has been assisting disaster mitigation and damage recovery of Bangladesh for long. For recovery from the damage caused by Cyclone Sidr, Japan already has provided emergency relief goods equivalent to about US$327,100 and Emergency Grant Aid through UN agencies equivalent to US$3.7million.

Based on the request from the Government of Bangladesh, Japan has already started the assessment procedure for construction of additional cyclone shelters in affected area.

In addition, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is planning to support for rehabilitation of rural infrastructures with Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and water supply facilities with the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) under technical cooperation projects.