The New Nation - Internet Edition

Constitution reform body to suggest mode of future govt: Efforts on to free Khaleda, bring BNP to dialogue: CA

Staff Reporter

The Caretaker Government will form a constitution reform commission to recommend necessary amendments to the constitution.

Chief adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said this yesterday while addressing a localised national dialogue session titled 'Transition to democracy' held at Rabindra Kacharibari auditorium in Sirajganj.

The Government, however, will discuss the issue with the political parties and civil society leaders before constituting the jurists' body on constitution reform, Dr Fakhruddin added.

The constitution commission will make recommendations about the mode of future government, balance of power and amendment to the constitution and keep those for the future elected government and parliament for consideration.

The Chief Adviser categorically reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of holding the general election in December and to ensure a conducive environment for the people so that they can exercise the right of franchise without fear and intimidation.

He said the government was trying its level best to ensure all parties' participation in the upcoming general election and expressed the hope that the BNP would join the ongoing dialogue with the government.

Dr Fakhruddin said preparations for holding an acceptable election and handing over power to an elected government were almost complete. In this regard he mentioned the successful completion of voters list with photograph of over 80 million voters as well as electoral rules and regulations and code of conduct by the election commission.

"Post-election stability, sustainable democracy and good governance will have to be ensured," he said about the expectation of the Government out of the polls the interim regime is preparing to hold in the changed circumstances.

He said the government started national dialogue to forge consensus with political parties over the objectives towards a free, fair and credible election.

Regarding release of former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, the Chief Adviser said the government had an identical policy on the issue like that of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"We have already issued a notice during the temporary release of Sheikh Hasina saying that the government has the same stand about Khaleda Zia," he said.

Referring to participation of war criminals in the upcoming general polls, he said their participation in the election is not expected. "Our time is limited, so we are creating a field for you so that in time you can proceed on in this regard," he added.

The Chief Adviser said there was a provision in the RPO (Representation of People's Order) that any person convicted of war crimes would not be able to participate in the polls.

"No steps were taken even by the elected governments during the last 37 years in this regard," he added and urged people to keep up the demand for the next government to deal with.

Education adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman moderated the dialogue broadcast live on radio and TV channels.

Local government adviser Anwarul Iqbal, law adviser AF Hassan Ariff and communications adviser Ghulam Quader also attended the dialogue. Deputy commissioner Sirajganj Ashraf Ali delivered the welcome address.

As many as 43 people of various professions took part in the dialogue.

The points raised by the participants include ban on destructive political activities by promulgating ordinance, taking measures by enacting law so that reform process continues after the exit of this caretaker government, and launching of anti-corruption drive in districts and upazila levels against politicians, government officials, businessmen and so on.

Many suggested holding upzila polls before parliament election while some for holding upazila and parliament elections on the same day.

They raised various demands that included strengthening of the milk vita project, loan facilities to the weavers, supply of gas to Sirajganj and Pabna, setting up a veterinary college and hospital at Sirajganj, construction of Bogra-Sirajganj rail line and formation of task force at local levels to check crimes.

In reply, the Chief Adviser said that the government would consider the legitimate demands of the people in phases. Earlier, the chief adviser visited the Milk-Vita plant at Baghabari in the upazila.

On upazila election, he said the government had given the responsibility to the Election Commission (EC) as per law to hold all elections in the country. The EC has stated that it would not be possible to hold upazila and parliament elections on the same day.

On the anti-corruption drive he said the Anti- Corruption Commission

(ACC) had been made independent and the government was providing financial facilities and capacity-building support to the watchdog body.

He said people also had to play their role by raising their voice against corruption alongside the government efforts to deal with the corruption suspects under the law of the land.

The chief adviser urged people to use their "vote weapons applying conscience, wisdom and judgment to elect most honest and competent candidates in the polls so that the desire of the whole nation is fulfilled and real democracy and good governance are established".

Bhuiyan walks to freedom, demands Khaleda's release

Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan

Staff Reporter

Former BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was yesterday freed from Dhaka Central Jail on bail in the GATCO graft case.

Large number of political followers, activists and supporters received the former BNP leader as he walked to freedom at about 5:35 PM from the jail.

A High Court bench on Monday granted the interim bail to Mannan Bhuiyan for two months. Shortly after his release from jail at about 5:30 PM, the former minister asked the government to release the former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and demanded better medical treatment for her son Tarique Rahman.

Briefing journalists at his Gulshan residence he also asked the government to send political leaders, including Tariqul Islam, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, Mirza Abbas, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and Mohammad Nasim abroad for better treatment.

Emphasising the need for maintaining the unity in the party, Mannan Bhuiyan said there was no alternative to unity in the party.

"If there is no unity in the BNP it will be difficult to win the next polls," he said.

Mannan Bhuiyan expressed his gratitude to the people for praying for him during his days behind bars. Replying to a question, he said the condition of jail buildings is very poor,and general inmates face enormous sufferings because of overcrowding and lack of facilities.

The High Court bench also granted bail to BNP standing committee member M Shamsul Islam on the same day, but he was not freed yesterday from jail since two more cases were still pending against him.

Earlier two other senior ministers of Khaleda Zia's past government have already been set free on bail in this same case. They are Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami and BNP leader MK Anwar. Arafat Rahman Koko, the younger son of Begum Zia, was also set free on parole for overseas treatment.

The Anticorruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against former Begum Khaleda Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and 11 others on September 2 last year, on charges of cargo-handling deal with a company through misuse of power.

Mannan Bhuiyan was sent to jail after his surrender to Dhaka CMM court on May 18.

UK minister Hazel Blears arrives today

Hazel Blears

UNB, Dhaka

British Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears MP arrives here on Thursday on a two-day visit, her first to Bangladesh in official capacity.

During her visit, Blears seeks to gain a deeper understanding of issues relevant to British-Bangladeshi communities in the UK, including how the UK's bilateral relationship with Bangladesh can be enhanced through community links, and how the British government can work with communities to help prevent extremism.

Blears is expected to meet senior members of the caretaker government, leading members of civil society and the British-Bangladeshi community, as well as visit UK-funded projects on women's empowerment and access to education, said a DFID release.

"People-to-people links-embodied by nearly half a million British Bangladeshis-are at the heart of our countries' relationship," said Blears.

Bangladesh growing in size by 12.5 sq miles a year

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh is increasing in size contradicting forecasts that the parts of the country will disappear under water due to global warming.

Scientists at the Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) say that the country's landmass has increased by 20 square kilometres (12.5 square miles) annually.

They said that they have studied 32 years of satellite images and found that the country's landmass has increased by 20 square kilometres annually during that time.

Data shows that the sediment travelling down the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers from the Himalayan watershed are creating new land as they wash into the Bay of Bengal, they said.

Mominul Haque Sarker, Head of the department at the CEGIS that looks at boundary changes, said a billion tonnes of sediment that the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and 200 other rivers bring from the Himalayas each year before crossing Bangladesh had caused the landmass to increase.

About a third of this sediment, he said, makes it into the Bay of Bengal, where new territory is forming, he said.

Sarkar said that in the next 50 years this could add up to the country gaining 1,000 square kilometres.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted that Bangladesh, criss-crossed by a network of more than 200 rivers, will lose 17 per cent of its land by 2050 because of rising sea levels due to global warming.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning panel says 20 million Bangladeshis will become environmental refugees by 2050 and the country will lose some 30 percent of its food production.

Director of the US-based NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, professor James Hansen, paints an even grimmer picture, predicting the entire country could be under water by the end of the century.

But Sarker said that while rising sea levels and river erosion were both claiming land in Bangladesh, many climate experts had failed to take into account new land being formed from the river sediment.

"Satellite images dating back to 1973 and old maps earlier than that show some 1,000 square kilometres of land have risen from the sea," Sarker said.

"A rise in sea level will offset this and slow the gains made by new territories, but there will still be an increase in land. We think that in the next 50 years we may get another 1,000 square kilometres of land."

Mahfuzur Rahman, Head of Bangladesh Water Development Board's Coastal Study and Survey Department, has also been analysing the buildup of land on the coast.

He said findings by the IPCC and other climate change scientists were too general and did not explore the benefits of land accretion.

"For almost a decade we have heard experts saying Bangladesh will be under water, but so far our data has shown nothing like this," he said.

"Natural accretion has been going on here for hundreds of years along the estuaries and all our models show it will go on for decades or centuries into the future."

Dams built along the country's southern coast in the 1950s and 1960s had helped reclaim a lot of land and he believed with the use of new technology, Bangladesh could speed up the accretion process, he said.

"The land Bangladesh has lost so far has been caused by river erosion, which has always happened in this country. Natural accretion due to sedimentation and dams have more than compensated this loss," Rahman said.

Bangladesh has built a series of dykes to prevent flooding.

"If we build more dams using superior technology, we may be able to reclaim 4,000 to 5,000 square kilometres in the near future," Rahman said.

AL toughens stance on no-upazila polls: Ashraful stresses on ideological combine of 14-party

Staff Reporter

Awami League (AL) yesterday formally decided to boycott the upazila polls if it is held ahead of the parliamentary elections and planned to place formal request to the Government to arrange the parliamentary polls before the upazila elections.

The decision came out from six-hour long party's central working committee meeting held for consecutive two days at the party's Dhanmondi office.

AL acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam disclosed this information while briefing reporters after the meeting.

The working committee meeting was followed by a meeting of AL presidium members, which was held early yesterday.

Replying to a question he said AL would be compelled to launch tough action programme if the party's demand was not met.

"We will meet with the Chief Adviser (CA) and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) separately to place our demand formally immediately after August 4, which is scheduled for holding of four city corporations elections", said Ashraf.

"That will be our last endeavour. If even after that the government wants to arrange upazila elections before the parliamentary polls, we will take the right decision. And all concerned are aware of our party decision: no upazila elections before the parliamentary polls," he said.

Though the major political parties are strongly opposing the upazila elections before the parliamentary polls, the election commission has already announced its decision to hold election to 300 of the upazilas on October 23.

When asked by the journalists to clarify their stand on the current controversy over the grand alliance and HM Ershad's Jatiya Party, Ashraful Islam said AL was now busy with its 'ideological' combine, with the 14-party alliance.

About the media reports on the meeting between AL president Sheikh Hasina and Jatiya Party Chairman Ershad in London Ashraful Islam claimed that no meeting was held between the two leaders.

He further said that Hasina also told him that she would have no objection about any decision taken by the AL central body in Dhaka in her absence.

Ashraful Islam also demanded the complete lifting of emergency before all polls.

AL also demanded of the government to implement the High Court verdict, which declared the cancellation of the August 15, National Mourning Day and public holiday.

Syed Ashraful Islam informed the journalists that they had chalked out a month-long programmes to observe the 'August 15, National Mourning Day'.

AL Presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chowdhury, among others, were present in the meeting while AL Acting President Zillur Rahman presided over the meeting.

Total solar eclipse tomorrow

Staff Reporter

A total eclipse of the sun will occur tomorrow (August 1). It will start at 14 hours 04 minutes 06 seconds (Bangladesh time) and will end at 18 hours 38 minutes 24 seconds, said an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release.

The central eclipse will start at 15 hours 22 minutes 36 seconds and will end at 17 hours 20 minutes, it said.

The greatest eclipse will occur at 16 hours 21 minutes 06 seconds. The maximum magnitude of the total eclipse will be 1.040 and duration of the total phase will be 02 minutes 30 seconds.

The eclipse will start at 04 hours 35 minutes 08 seconds LMT (Local Mean Time) of August 1 at the east of Newfoundland island of Canada in

the North Atlantic Ocean. It will end at 18 hours 20 minutes 49 seconds LMT at the east of Tamilnadu coast of India in the Bay of Bengal.

The central eclipse will start at 02 hours 30 minutes 07 seconds LMT at the Viscount Melville Sound strait of Canada. It will end at 18 hours 55 minutes 32 seconds LMT at the north-west of Nanking of China.

The greatest eclipse will occur at 15 hours 10 minutes 15 seconds LMT at the Gulf of Ob of Russia. The maximum magnitude of the eclipse will be 1.040 only at this place and its duration will be 02 minutes 30 seconds.

Bangladesh will be able to observe a partial eclipse of the sun on August 1 if the sky remains clear. This eclipse will start from 16 hours 29 minutes (Bangladesh times) to 16 hours 44 minutes and will end from 18 hours 22 minutes to 18 hours 37 minutes in Bangladesh.

The central eclipse will occur from 17 hours 25 minutes to 17 hours 40 minutes in Bangladesh. The maximum magnitude of the eclipse in Bangladesh will be 0.65 to 0.70, said the ISPR news release.

Truth Commission formed, Justice HR Khan made Chairman

Staff Reporter

In a major development, the much-talked-about Truth and Accountability Commission has been formed yesterday with the appointments of its Chairman and two members.

Justice Habibur Rahman Khan has been appointed Chairman of the Commission constituted by the present Caretaker Government to deal with the clemency matter of high-profile corrupt elements.

Former Comptroller and Accountant General Asif Ali and Maj Gen (Retd) Manzur Rashid Chowdhury have been made members of the three-man Commission, sources said.

President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed approved the appointments in the yesterday from, Bangabhaban sources said.

The Truth Commission, being housed at 'Tatinee', 'Tonmoy' and 'Uttaron', quarters for high officials at Mintoo Road in the city, is expected to start functioning from today.

Justice Habibur Rahman yesterday told reporters that he is yet to receive his appointment letter.

He, however, said that he would attend the Commission office this morning and talk to journalists on his new assignment.

As per provision of the ordinance, the Truth Commission will run for five months after its formation.

The Truth Commission has been formed with a view to giving a scope of clemency to the high-profile corrupt elements.

According to the provision of the Right to Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008 promulgated by the President on June 5, anybody already convicted of graft, with a sentence of two years or less, will get the scope of clemency if he confesses and returns any illegal earnings within a given timeframe.

However, if anyone provides false and misleading information the commission will fine the person Tk 1 lakh or sentence him to six months in jail or both.

On the other hand, the people convicted of arms, drugs, child trafficking and rape cases will not get clemency.

The cabinet approved the Right to Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008, to create the commission, on May 25.

Earlier, the Government had appointed 26 officials and staffers on deputation for the Commission.

WTO talks collapse over food tariffs

Agencies

Ministers from about 35 countries have failed to make a breakthrough in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) Doha round to open up global trade.

Talkd to broker a new global trade pact have collapsed because key powers are unable to bridge their differences on food tariffs, the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) says.

"There is no use beating around the bush, this meeting has collapsed, members have simply not been able to bridge their differences," WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said.

Several delegates still maintained that in light of what had been accomplished in trade talks to date, further moves to salvage the negotiating process would be justified. But for the moment, momentum has ground to a halt. Lamy said that time was needed before the 153 members of the WTO could decide on how to proceed.

"We will need to let the dust settle a bit, it's probably difficult to look too far into the future at this point," he said.

"WTO members will need to have a sobre look at if and how they bring the pieces back together," he said.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said hopes for a breakthrough had been dashed.

"The package that we were able to negotiate and agree on Friday night is not going to carry the day," Ms Schwab said as she left a meeting of key trading powers, referring to an earlier breakthrough on a deal proposed by Lamy.

Ministers had struggled for more than a week to reach consensus on subsidy levels and import tariffs for a new deal under the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round, which has repeatedly foundered since its launch seven years ago.

Delegates said negotiations stumbled on proposals for so-called SSM measures to protect poor farmers that would have imposed a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.

"They (the US) have refused to move on SSM. It is an issue of vital importance to us," an Indian diplomat said as today's meeting of seven key countries dissolved.

The world's economic superpower, the US, and India, one of the world's biggest emerging economies, are sharply divided over the SSM - the special safeguard mechanism.

"The US and India did not accept the compromise proposals, and arrived at an impasse," a source close to the talks said, adding that the negotiations had broken down.

Some developing countries such as India wanted the mechanism to kick in at a lower import surge level than has been proposed in order to protect their millions of poor farmers from starvation.

Others wanted it to take effect at a higher rate so as not to hurt exporters.

Nizami demands lifting of emergency

Staff Reporter

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Moulana Motiur Rahman Nizami yesterday demanded lifting of the state of emergency adding that election congenial atmosphere would not be possible under the state of emergency. He also demanded fair, free and credible election with the participation of all the political parties.

Jamaat Ameer was addressing the inaugural session of its Central Majlish Shura meeting at Al Falah auditorium in the city's Magbazar area.

He said, the people of the country expected the parliament election first to be held.

He demanded release of political detainees including former Prime Minister and four-party alliance's Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and withdrawal of all false cases including GATCO and Boropukuria cases against her and others.

Nizami said, the caretaker government fuel led the political crisis involving itself in different activities out of its jurisdiction like trying to disperse the political parties and create quarrels.

Senior Nayebe Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Abul Kalam Mohammad Yousuf, Nayebe Ameers Makbul Ahmed and Prof AKM Nazir Ahmed, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, members of the Central Executive Council Abdus Subhan and Moulana Delwar Hossain Sayedee, Assistant Secretaries General Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Kader Molla, ATM Azharul Islam and Barrister Abdur Razzak, Ameer of the Dhaka city unit Rafiqul Islam Khan, among others, were present at the function.

NBR expanding income tax base among professionals

UNB, Dhaka

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is making a list of various professional groups at district and upazila levels to expand its income tax base.

Taking the advantage of the National ID Card, the official revenue agency has engaged the civil administration to see how many of the eligible professionals have Tax Identification Number (TIN).

In the list the officials would match the National ID card numbers with TIN numbers.

"We have engaged the civil administration people to make the list of doctors, lawyers, businessmen, contractors and artistes to see how many of them have TIN numbers," NBR chairman Muhammad

Abdul Mazid told UNB by telephone.

Defending his new approach to make such a list by the civil administration people, he said there was phobia among the people about the NBR officials.

"To ease that fear we have changed the method of conducting the survey," Mazid said.

The agency has also moved to strengthen the activities of its Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) to identify people who are eligible but evade income taxes.

NBR chairman said that from now on, they would give priority to the intelligence activities to enhance tax collection.

Mazid said that this new method was not against the taxpayers but it was against the taxmen who are suffering from an "image crisis".

The NBR chairman said that he has taken some measures to make the agency more effective and people-friendly, and "this new method is part of that plan".

He also said that he was encouraged by the initial responses to its self-motivation strategy under which people declare their income and pay the taxes.

Currently, the country has about 26 lakh registered tax payers, of which, only about 6 lakh submitted tax returns in the previous fiscal year.

SAARC deal on SAFTA, food bank likely: FS-level meet concludes

UNB, Colombo

SAARC Foreign Secretaries concluded their 2-day meeting here Wednesday with set of recommendations, including one for starting negotiation on trade in services under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) deal.

Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain, who led Bangladesh at the meeting, told reporters that the SAARC Standing Committee (comprising Foreign Secretaries) meeting also recommended that the SAARC Commerce Ministers at their next meeting in Male take steps to reduce the negative lists of the member-states to expedite intra-SAARC trade.

He said the Standing Committee stressed making the SAARC Food Bank operational as soon as possible to assist any member-states in emergency situation. The Food Bank will be set up with initial reserve of 241,000 metric tons of food-grains.

The Colombo summit of the forum will issue a separate statement on the Food Security considering the importance of the issue. The meeting emphasized research and development in the agriculture sector to boost production.

The SAARC Foreign Secretaries also recommended signing the charter of South Asian Development Fund (SDF) with a paid-up capital of USD 207 million to finance projects relating to poverty alleviation in member-countries.

Touhid said Sri Lanka proposed to set up a Regional Economic Unit to coordinate various issues in the field.

He said the Standing Committee agreed to sign SAARC Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters providing for cooperation among the member-states in dealing with criminals who sneak from one member-state into another.

The Standing Committee recommended accession of new member Afghanistan to SAFTA as an LDC.

Touhid said the Standing Committee recommended providing SAARC Observer status to Australia and Myanmar. Presently, China, Japan , South Korea , Iran , Mauritius , the United States and the European Union enjoy the Observer status.

The Standing Committee also recommended the draft declaration of the 15th SAARC summit as Colombo Declaration to be announced on the concluding day of the summit on August 3.

These recommendations will be discussed and finalized by the SAARC Council of Ministers comprising Foreign Ministers who will meet tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday to do the final preparatory work for the summit.

UK tightens visa rules for overseas students

UNB, London

The British Home Office has released new visa rules requiring international students to be fingerprinted and prove they have money to support themselves.

The ministry says international students must also be sponsored by licensed educational institutions.

Immigration and Border Minister Liam Byrne says the new criteria will help "crack down on bogus colleges."

Universities wanting to recruit international students must apply for a license and would face a ban on foreign recruiting if they fail to report students to immigration officials who don't enroll in classes or don't attend classes.