The New Nation - Internet Edition

Certificate giving ceremony of Thai Food Training programme held

DU Correspondent

A certificate giving ceremony of Thai food Training programne held at a restaurant in the city yesterday.

Northern University Bangladesh (NUB) and Royal Thai Embassy in collaboration with Kasetsart University of Thailand organised the ceremony.

Chalermpol Thanchitt, the Ambassador of Royal Thai embassy to Dhaka addressed the ceremony as the chief guest while Prof Dr M Shamsul Haque, Vice-Chencellor of Northern University Bangladesh was special guest.

Mr. Chalermpol Thanchitt said that this ceremony help us to build up a good relationship to exchange of knowledge between Thailand and Northern University Bangladesh.

Prof. Dr. M. Shamsul Haque expressed the objective of the ceremony to face the global challenge by taking contemporary education.

Extortion cases: HC allows police to interrogate Tarique at jail gate

UNB, Dhaka

Disposing of two petitions, the High Court yesterday said detained BNP senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman may be interrogated at the jail gate in connection with two extortion cases.

Attorney General office sources said a division bench, headed by Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury, passed the orders.

The High Court orders came upon two petitions filed by Barrister Nawshad Zamir and Barrister Nasiruddin Ashim for Tarique against two orders of lower court.

On November 19 and 26 last year, the chief metropolitan magistrate court here granted police prayers for taking Tarique on remand for interrogation in the two extortion cases filed with Gulshan and Shahbag police stations.

Barrister Rafiqul Islam Mian appeared for the petitioners while Deputy Attorney General Abdur Rouf for the state.

The rising BNP leader was arrested on March 7 last year amid a crackdown on politicians as part of the current anti-graft drive. Since then, he has been implicated in over a dozen charges of extortion and corruption.

Stripping of writ power: SCBA President deplores CJ action

UNB, Dhaka

President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam yesterday termed immoral the Chief Justice's exercise of discretionary power in stripping of the High Court division bench, headed by Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman, of its writ jurisdiction.

"The action is aimed at demoralising the judges of the higher court… it has tarnished the image of the judiciary," Amir told his colleagues at an emergency meeting of the Bar Association.

The SCBA president said the Constitution does not provide any such provision for the Chief Justice to control the court in the name of reconstitution of the benches.

The emergency meeting was convened in the wake of dissolving Justice Nayeem's writ bench on March 17.

Barrister Amir said the Chief Justice has discretionary power under the constitution to reconstitute bench. The usual practice is that benches are reconstituted once a year or after a long vacation, he observed.

But, he said, it is immoral to break any bench in the middle of a week. He said the SCBA has long been pressing for setting rules how to constitute and reconstitute a bench instead of doing it by the Chief Justice unilaterally for the sake of proper dispensation of justice.

Barrister Amir deplored that the incumbent Chief Justice has just followed in the footprint of his predecessor. This unilateral action does not resolve the problems of the litigants and the justice seekers. Rather, efficient judges who have expertise in motion and writ jurisdiction were kept engaged in other benches.

Former SCBA president Barrister Shafique Ahmed said the breaking of bench in such way is tantamount to interference to the justice delivery system. Judges are not allowed to function independently, he said, adding that the practice of breaking bench at wish and caprice should be stopped if the bar is united.

The SCBA leaders who spoke at the meeting alleged that a move is on to thwart the Supreme Court Bar Association election scheduled for March 24-25. Earlier, the annual election could not be held last year for lack of government permission needed as the state of emergency is in force.

They said the SCBA is ready to face any such move at any cost.

Among others, Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, Humayun Hossain Khan, Abdul Mannan Khan, AK Mujibur Rahman, Syed Mamun Mahbub spoke at the protest meeting.

CA returns home

UNB, Dhaka

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed returned home late Wednesday night after attending the 11th OIC Summit in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

On his way back home from Dakar, the Chief Adviser had a three-day official visit to London from March 16-19.

A flight of British Airways that carried the Chief Adviser and his entourage landed at the Zia International Airport at about 2am. Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, Home Affairs Adviser Major Gen (retd) MA Matin, Dean of diplomatic corps and senior civil and military officials received the Chief Adviser at the VVIP terminal of the airport.

On March 11, the Chief Adviser left Dhaka for Dakar to attend the 11th Summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The Chief Adviser gave vote of thanks on behalf of the Asian group at the opening session of the OIC Summit at King Fahd Complex in Dakar on March 14.

He had also bilateral meetings with the Presidents of Turkey and Indonesia and the Sultan of Brunei on the sidelines of the OIC summit at the King Fahd Complex.

The CA arrived in London on March 16 from Dakar on a 3-day official visit.

He had a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street on March 18.

The Chief Adviser also had a meeting with the Bangladesh community in the UK.

Indian Dy Navy Chief calls on Navy Chief

UNB, Dhaka

Navy Chief Vice-Admiral Raman P Suthan Thursday paid a courtesy call on Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam at the Naval Headquarters at Banani in the city.

Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Mustafizur Rahman and Indian Defence Attaché were present during the meeting, said an ISPR press release.

"The Indian Deputy Chief spent some time with the Navy Chief and discussed different matters of professional interest," it said. Later, Admiral Suthan called on Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division Lt General Masud Uddin Chowdhury at his office. Suthan, who arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday on a four-day goodwill visit, visited Bangladesh Naval Academy, BN Dockyard, BNS Khalid Bin Walid and the three visiting Indian navy ships at Chittagong.

Tibet matters are internal affairs of China: Bangladesh

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh expressed solidarity with China over the Tibetan troubles, saying that matters pertaining to Tibet are China's internal affairs.

When his attention was drawn to reports of rioting in Tibet, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday further stated that "Bangladesh looks forward to the successful holding of 2008 Olympics in Beijing and believes that no quarter should seek to politicise the Games".

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury also telephoned the Chinese envoy in Dhaka, Ambassador Zheng Qingdian, to apprise him of Bangladesh's position in this regard.

Home ministry asks police to ensure judges' security

Bdnew24.com, Dhaka

The home ministry has asked the police to provide protection for judges' residences and their personal security outside their homes in line with a proposal from the law ministry, an official said yesterday.

The order came at a meeting of the special committee on law and order, chaired by home adviser MA Matin and attended by home adviser Hassan Ariff and local government adviser Anwarul Iqbal.

The committee decided not to provide any government illuminations for the March 26 Independence Day celebrations to ensure an uninterrupted power supply for the upcoming boro season.

The meeting also discussed a possible amendment to the Foreigners Act 1946. Officials have been directed to submit a final report regarding the entrance and exit of foreigners to and from the country.

The special committee decided to allow all first class government officials a licence for small arms on appeal.

The meeting also decided to extend the time limit to June 30 for depositing banned fire arm models used by security guards of banks.

Permission was given to hold the convention of the Sector Commanders Forum, while the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) was also given the go ahead to hold a convention.

A further order gave the go-ahead to evict slum dwellers living on government owned land throughout the country.

Regarding a recent spike in recorded crime, including a spate of murders in Dhaka and elsewhere, the home secretary said: "Officials from the police informed the meeting that these were isolated incidents."

The home secretary added that the police have been directed to increase its activity to ensure all types of crime was under control.

NBR likely to hire more lawyers to fight cases

UNB, Dhaka

The appointment of new lawyers for the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is underway for quick disposal of its pending cases, especially the ones filed under the Emergency Power Rules (EPRs).

NBR sources said the number of the cases relating to customs duty, Vat and income tax pending in different courts would be around 15,000.

"More than Tk 1500 crore remains stuck as the cases remain unresolved," Dr Md Rafiqul Islam, Member (Board Admin), told UNB.

There are presently 12 private lawyers assisting the NBR to settle various cases in the courts. "Most of the cases are customs duty-related ones," the NBR official said.

There are currently seven retainer lawyers working for the NBR to assist it in dealing with the pending cases. Besides, there are some eminent lawyers like Dr M Jahir, Mahmudul Islam and Barrister Razzak dealing with the special NBR cases.

Justifying the appointment of new lawyers, Dr Md Rafiqul Islam said new cases continued to come in, especially under EPR. "There are some cases coming from the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Taskforce against serious crimes and corruption. "So, we need 8-10 panel lawyers for that purpose only," he said.

Since NBR is a government organization, the attorney general office is supposed to deal with the NBR cases.

"But they have many other duties. They have to deal with all the government cases. It's really hard for them to give special attention to NBR cases," the official added.

"So", the official said, "The NBR has decided to raise the number of its private lawyers, as the government emphasizes the need for better revenue collection."

"If we can win these cases, it'll be a great relief for us to achieve our target," the NBR official said.

This year's (2007-08) target for revenue collection is Tk 43,850 crore.

3 children of a family drown in Jessore

UNB, Jessore

Three children of a family reportedly drowned in a ditch at Panchrai village in Keshabpur upazila Wednesday night.

The deceased were identified as Ali Ahsan, 6, son of Belayet Sheikh, Halima Khatun, 7, daughter of Zohor Sheikh, and Rahatoon, 6, daughter of Aktar Hossain.

Family members said the children were seen playing near the ditch in the afternoon. As the children did not return house on the night, the family members went there and found the bodies in the ditch.

A pall of gloom descended in the locality following the deaths of the children. However, the family members of the victims were in doubt whether the children were killed or drowned.

Killing of innocent Palestinians protected

DU Correspondent

Palestine-Iraq Solidarity Council at a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday protested the killing of about 200 innocent children, women and elderly persons by Israeli attack at Gaza Stripe recently.

The organisation also demanded immediate end to the atrocious attack immaculate citizens of Palestine and urged the United Nations to condemn the Israeli attacks and take initiatives to save the Palestinians.

Prof Saa`duddin, Convener of the Council, called upon Israel to recognise the independence of Palestine according to the proposals of the United Nations.

He expressed his condolence to the members of the families of the tyrannized and killed Palestinians.

Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in its convention held recently did not raise their voice properly in this regard, Prof Saa`d said.

Rased Khan Menon, President of Workers Party of Bangladesh, Prof MM Akash, Saiful Haque, Haider Anwar Khan Junu, Tipu Biswas and Abdullah Sarkar, among others, were present in the programme.

Call to bar war criminals from participating in elections

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a press conference demanded of the government to ensure that the war criminals could not be given the right of vote and election.

They demanded this at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters unity yesterday organised by Bangabandhu Smriti Parishad. Former MP Panna Kaisar, Dr Nirmal Kanti, Dipak Kumar Nag and Abdul Haque Sabuj, among others, were present.

They said meetings and rallies should be held against the religion-based politics of Jamaat-e-islami and other parties of Razakers and Al-badrs.

Speakers at the press conference said the war criminals are tried in every country of the world and no country allows the war criminals to participate in the elections. Nazis are banned form participating in German politics.

They said though Jamaat was a political party of the war criminals it not only participated in elections but also came into power.

They urged the government to search the files of the cases under the Collaborators Act to collect proofs and documents of the crimes of the war criminals and try them forming a special tribunal under international crimes tribunal act 1973.

The speakers also urged the Government to include chapters of war crimes in the text books and boycott them socially.

Sanitation for all to be ensured by 2010

BSS, Dhaka

LGRD and Cooperatives Adviser M Anwarul Iqbal yesterday said sanitation facilities would be ensured for all by 2010 through combined national initiatives with the help of government, private and development partners.

He said, "We have to accelerate sanitation movement further for ensuring sanitation coverage for all in the country."

The adviser was speaking at a press briefing on the eve of launching the international year of sanitation, national hand washing campaign and observance of the World Water Day-2008 at the CIRDAP auditorium in the city.

The National Sanitation Task Force Media Committee and the Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB) jointly organised the press briefing.

Convenor of the National Sanitation Taskforce Media Committee Prof Dr Majibur Rahman, Member Secretary Qamrul Islam Chowdhury, Joint Secretary Mohammad Lokman Hakim Talukder and DPHE Chief Engineer Mohammad Mostafiziur Rahman addressed the press conference.

Anwarul Iqbal said, "The International Year of Sanitation declared by the United Nations would inspire our sanitation movement."

In reply to a question, Anwarul Iqbal said the government had taken initiatives with the help of local people for purifying water in SIDR-affected areas.

Besides, the government has provided 3,000 tube-wells for the cyclone-affected areas for ensuring safe-drinking water, he said adding that 5,000 deep tube-wells will also be given to these areas.

Describing safe-drinking water as a very challenging issue for Dhaka city, the adviser said adding the government alone could not to meet the demand.

Considering the lack of sanitation facilities during the 'Bishwa Ijtema, Anwarul Iqbal said the government has set up sanitary latrines at a cost Taka 10 crore for avoiding water pollution in the river Turag.

Terming the national hand washing campaign as an important part of sanitation coverage, he said the media could play vital role in creating mass awareness of hand washing.

Describing the present latrine coverage of the country is very encouraging, Majibur Rahman said open defection has been significantly reduced from 42 percent in 2003 to around 10 percent in 2007.