The New Nation - Internet Edition

AL mayoral candidates leading in all four cities

Staff Reporter

Awami League-backed mayoral candidates were leading in all four city corporation polls according to reports received at midnight last night.

While, out of nine pourashavas eight went to AL and one to BNP-backed candidates.

In 52 out of 120 polling centres of Sylhet City Corporation, AL candidate Badaruddin Kamran, with the election symbol Pineapple, the incumbent mayor, received 84,507 votes while his nearest rival AFM Kamal of BNP got 18,382 votes.

In 63 out of 129 centres in Rajshahi City Corporation, AL candidate AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, with the symbol Lock and Key, got 43,635 votes while his nearest rival BNP-Jamaat backed Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul received 32,132 votes.

AL supported candidate in Khulna City Corporation Talukder Abdul Khaleque obtained 19,657 votes (Chair) in 36 out of 239 centres, while his nearest rival incumbent mayor Moniruzzaman Mony of BNP got 16,217 votes.

In Barisal City Corporation, AL candidate Shawkat Hossain Hiron got 21,207 votes (Television) in 42 out of 91 centres, while his rival PDP candidate Sharfuddin Santu got 20,929 votes.

Meanwhile, Ramjan Ali, member of Manikgonj district AL central committee, has been elected mayor of Manikganj pourashava.

He bagged 16,208 votes, while his nearest contender Jubo Dal leader Nasiruddin Jadu polled 8,947 votes.

Ramjan Ali, who has been elected pourashava chairman for four consecutive times, is behind bars in a graft case since the caretaker government resumed power.

In Dhpchachia pourashava under Bogra district, BNP-backed Jahangir Alam has been elected municipality mayor obtaining 4,893 votes, while his nearest rival Nurul Haque Talukder received 2,684 votes.

Jahangir, General Secretary of Dhupchachia thana BNP, was the immediate past chairman of the pourashava.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Monirul Huda said that 12,443 or 94.17 per cent of 13,213 voters cast their votes.

Abdur Rouf Munshi, president of Shariatpur district Awami League, has been nominated pourashava mayor defeating his nearest rival BNP district general secretary Nasiruddin Kalu by 2,148 votes.

Rouf got 10,436 votes, while Kalu bagged 8,288 votes.

The number of total voters was 27,175 and polling booths numbered 18.

AL leader Zakaria Ahmed Pablu was declared mayor of Golapganj pourashava under Sylhet district.

Zakaria polled 5,421 votes, while his nearest rival Sirajul Jabbar Chowdhury, also of AL, got 3,475 votes.

Nayek Shafiul Alam Shafi of Awami League was declared unofficially elected mayor of Sitakunda pourashava.

Shafi polled 12,171 votes in all 13 polling centres, beating his nearest contender M Abul Kalam Azad by 4,213 votes.

Sitakunda Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdur Rouf said that 21,287 people or 84.56 per cent of 25,171 voters exercised their franchise.

AL leader Abdur Gafur elected mayor in Nayahata pourashava. He bagged 16,553 votes, while his nearest rival BNP leader Makbul Ahmed polled 6,883.

AL leader Golam Kibria was unofficially elected Mayor of Phulbaria pourashava in hard contest with BNP contender Chand Mahmud.

Kibria got 3,692 votes, while his nearest rival Mahmud polled 3,409 votes.

Anisur Rahman of Awami League was declared elected unofficial mayor of Sreepur pourashava with a wide margin.

Anis polled 17,805 votes, while his nearest rival Nurul Islam of BNP trailed behind with 7,670 votes.

AL leader Riazul Islam was running ahead bagging 12,779 votes, while his nearest rival BNP leader Khandakar Abdur Jabbar Sona polled 8,744 votes.

City, poura polls 'test case’: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda
visiting a polling centre in Manikganj Pourashava on Monday.
FocusBangla

Staff Reporter

Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday termed the city and poura polls as 'test case' for the Election Commission (EC) before what he said the final test of national polls.

Talking to reporters at the EC Secretariat he said he does not see any problem with holding parliamentary elections under the emergency.

The remark was made as the four city corporations and nine pourasabhas were held without facing problem under state of emergency.

The CEC said there may be some psychological and conceptual misgivings among people about the emergency, but, practically, it does not create problem in holding election.

Asked whether the national elections would also be held under the emergency, he said they would ask the government to create congenial atmosphere for holding a fair general election.

"But it is the matter of the government whether or not they would lift the state of emergency," he observed.

He said that no major problem was noticed in the local- government elections held yesterday.

Turnout of women and first-time voters were much more in the election compared to the previous elections, he said.

Earlier, the CEC visited some polling centers in Manikganj Sadar pourasava to see the atmosphere of the election.

Confusion over ID cards: Voting delayed, queue enlarged

Women voters waiting in a long queue to cast their
votes at a polling centre in Sylhet City Corporation
Election on Monday. FocusBangla

Staff Reporter

A majority of voters who cast votes in the four-city corporation and nine pourasabha elections faced confusion and harassment as the serial number of their identity cards carried by them and their voter serial numbers did not tally.

Both the polling officers and the voters became confused over the issue that delayed vote casting and stretched voters queue ever longer.

Election Commissioner M Shakhawat Hossain said the card given to the people is national identity card, not voter identity card. The Election Commission (EC) has asked the voters not to go to the polling centres with this card.

He claimed that the EC has carried out huge campaign mentioning it as the national identity card but the media was still publicising it as voter identity card.

But messages from the field level say neither the voters nor the polling officers were informed about the ECs publicity regarding the national ID card and the voter ID card. There was a common perception that the card would be used for voting purpose.

One of the reasons of foiling the national election of January 22, 2007 was voter identity card. In the history of Bangladesh voter identity card was given to people once in the 90s.

Earlier, it was a rule that voters will enter the pooling centres with voter serial number. But this time they entered the centres with the card.

However, Election Commissioner M Shakhawat Hossain said experience of this election will be helpful in future for casting votes with photograph added voter list.

Our Correspondent Tapan Chakrabarty from Barisal reports voters had complained slow vote casting due to complicacies over identity card issue. Mayor candidates Ahsan Habib Kamal, Ebaidul Haque Chan, Enayet Peer, Shawkat Hossain Hiron also complained slow progress of vote casting while talking to newsmen and poll observers.

Our Correspondent Nasima Muneer from Khulna reports a voter had to wait in a long queue for more than two hours to cast vote. A voter, housewife Asma Khatun told the correspondent that she thought she would go back home for preparing food for lunch after casting vote but she was locked in the queue.

Our Correspondent Bashiruddin from Sylhet reports only 25 to 30 per cent voters carried identity cards with them. Carrying the identity card was not mandatory for the voters. Voting went on peacefully.

10 of a family burnt alive in city

Relatives wailing as 10 members of a family were
burnt alive in a devastating fire at Aga Sadek Road in the
old part of the city on Sunday night. FocusBangla

Staff Reporter

Ten people, including three women and two children of a family were burnt to death and seven others received burn injuries in a devastating fire at a five-storey building at Aga Sadek Road under Kotwali Police Station in the old city Sunday midnight.

The duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters, Ataur Rahman, said fire fighters and residents recovered 10 charred bodied from the building. The victims were asleep when the pre-dawn blaze started, Rahman said among the dead were two children.

Fire service source said the fire originated at a shoe factory on the ground floor of the five-storey building at about 12:10am and soon spread to the staircases on the second and third floor apartments in the crowded neighbourhood.

Local people said that the fire originated at Purnima Traders when a burning candle tripped on inflammable chemical during power outage at night. After the shop caught fire the shop-owner and workers quietly fled the scene.

On information, fire fighters rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control after frantic efforts for an hour. They found 10 bodies at the scene of the fire, according to the control room.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police Kotwali Zone, Syed Nurul Islam, told the New Nation they recovered ten bodies from the spot.

Nasrin an official at the control room yesterday told the New Nation that the deceased, who were residents of the building, include six males, two females and two children.

Nine of the victims were identified as Shabana Siddiqui, 38, Ayesha

Siddiqui, 15, Abu Sayeed Shuvo, 11, Amisha, 18, a maid servant, Akmal

Hossain, 52, Meherunnessa, 63, Aman Hossain, 11, Rafin Ahmed, 6, and

Anas Hossain, 7.

The seven injured, tenants in the building, were rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Of them, four, Ruma, Nurul and two others were given first aid, while one Golam Rabbani was shifted to Trauma Hospital in Shyamoli with third-degree burn injuries, he added.

Relatives shifted two burn-injured-Azizul Haque and Manik-to other hospitals from the DMCH, AC police said.

Another fire official, Mizanur Rahman, told the New Nation an investigation into the incident has been ordered.

Shanto, who survived the fire on the fateful night, was seen crying over the dead bodies of his family members at the scene. He is the only son of Abu Bakar Siddique, the owner of the building, who died of a heart attack some 40 days ago.

His sister and brother-in-law and two nephews come to the house for the 'Qulkhani' of their father.

Local people blamed the loss of lives and damage to property partly on the late arrival of firemen to the spot-only a stone throw away from the Fire Headquarters.

Ill-gotten wealth Morshed Khan jailed for 13-yr

Morshed Khan

UNB, Dhaka

Fugitive former Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan was yesterday sentenced to 13 years' rigorous imprisonment for accumulating wealth illegally and hiding information about it.

A special court that deals with high-profile corruption cases under the current chase against corruption suspects in the interim period pronounced the judgment, trying him in absentia.

Judge M Sirajul Islam also fined Khan, also a business tycoon, to pay Tk 10 lakh or serve one year more in prison in default.

On December 10 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against him with Gulshan Police Station.

Besides, the court in the high-security parliament complex ordered confiscation of his ill-gotten property worth over Tk 82 lakh.

"The sentences come into effect after his arrest or surrender to the court," says the court order.

Rogge hails 'milestone’ Olympics

BBC Online

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge says the Beijing Olympics can be a milestone in Chinese history.

Speaking at the General Assembly of the IOC, he avoided mention of contentious issues such as pollution and media freedom but did allude to "challenges."

"China is a nation in transition, with a great future, tremendous potential and some challenges," he said.

"I think history will view the Games as a significant milestone in China's remarkable transformation."

A record 205 teams will compete at the Games, with a global audience of one billion television viewers expected to watch Friday's opening ceremony.

Chinese president Hu Jintao also addressed the meeting, saying sport was playing a major role in speeding up change in the country as a whole.

"It is our hope that through the Games, we can show the world the sincere aspiration of the Chinese people to share the benefits of development and to join with the rest of the world in building a bright future," he said.

Liu Qi, the president of the Games' organizing committee, said the Olympics had transformed the Chinese capital.

"All venues and facilities are now in operation, and all staff are in their posts," he said.

"Volunteers and Beijing residents are greeting athletes and friends from all over the world with welcoming smiles. Now we are proud to say Beijing is ready."

Tarique sued for dodging income tax

Court Correspondent

National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday sued detained Tarique Rahman, elder son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Senior Joint Secretary General of BNP, for concealing facts about his income and dodging income tax.

NBR Deputy Tax Commissioner Samia Akhter filed the case Monday with Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court of Dhaka accusing Tareque of concealing facts about his income to the tune of Taka 1,07,47,125 and dodging income tax on it to the tune of Taka 26,86,781 between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2005.

The complainant made 12 people witness in the case. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Azizul Haque took cognisane of the case and fixed August 7 to produce the accused before the court.

Complainant Samia filed the case under Sections 165, 166 of Income Tax Ordinance 1984 and section 15 of Emergency Power Rules 2007.

Advocate Hossain Kajal appeared before the court on behalf of the National Board of Revenue.

ADB to provide $170m for food security

Staff Reporter

The Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday signed a loan agreement to finance emergency assistance for food security at the office of Economic Relations Division (ERD) at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar in the city yesterday.

The loan to the tune of $ 170 million would help cope with the soaring food prices.

Mrs Monwara Begum, joint secretary, ERD and Nurul Huda, officer-in-charge of Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

Md Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, Secretary, ERD and senior officials from the concerned ministries and ADB were present during the signing ceremony.

The assistance will help the Government to ensure access to food for those hardest hit by natural disasters in Bangladesh and the rapid increase in food prices.

The project will provide short-term transitional support to help the Government meet unexpected high expenditure for safety net programmes based on the needs assessment conducted jointly with other development partners.

To save the poor and vulnerable people from rising food prices, the Government has requested the ADB to provide $ 200 million as emergency support to assist her in implementing its vastly expanded safety net programmes.

The ADB conducted the need assessment in collaboration with the World Bank, IMF and JBIC to determine the country's safety net requirement that has resulted in ABD' s providing of $170 Million as budget support.

The proposed loan being a concessionary in nature will have to be repaid in 32 years, including a grace period of 8 years, with an interest of 1.0 per cent during the grace period and thereafter 1.5 per cent. ADB is one of the largest multilateral Development Partners of Bangladesh extending assistance to the country since it became a member of the lending agency in 1973. ADB's total loan to Bangladesh till now stands around $9.0 billion.

The development assistance of ADB mainly focuses on power, energy, local government, transport, education, agriculture, water resources and governance sectors of the country.

HC rejects Hasina’s writ challenging Mig scam case

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court yesterday summarily rejected a writ petition filed by ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina challenging the validity of the Mig-29 warplane purchase scam case against her, clearing the way for her trial to go on.

The case is now pending with Dhaka divisional special judge's court relocated to the high-security parliament complex. The court has set August 12 for order whether to frame charges against Hasina and other co-accused after closing the arguments and counter-arguments by the Anti-Corruption Commission Prosecutor and the defence counsel.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Mashuque Hosain Ahmed passed the order after a five-day staggered admissibility hearing on the writ petition.

Rejecting the petition, the HC Bench observed that the petition is "not maintainable"…. The does not want to reopen the "tested case" as the issue of quashing the case was earlier resolved by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

The apex court upheld the HC judgment that had turned down the petition for quashing the case, court sources said.

The now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) filed the case in December 2001 against Hasina, former army chief Lt Gen (retd) Mustafizur Rahman, former air chief Air Marshal Jamal Uddin Ahmed, former Defense Secretary Syed Yusuf Hossain, Air Commodore (retd) Mirza Akhtar Maroof, Defense Joint Secretary (retd) Mohammad Hossain Serniabat and businessman Noor Ali.

While Hasina was Prime Minister (1996-2001), eight Russian-made fighter planes of the brand were procured for Bangladesh Air Force.

Immediate after the BNP-led 4-party alliance government had come to power, the BAC filed the case. According to FIR, the government incurred a loss of Tk 700 crore on account of the warplane purchase.

The longstanding case remained dormant following a High Court order upon petitions filed by the accused persons for quashing the case.

The army-backed caretaker government that has waged war on corruption allegedly committed during the political regimes revived the case through legal battle, as a purge is now on stream.

Barrister Shafique Ahmed assisted by Barrister Fazle Noor Tapas appeared for Hasina while Additional Attorney General Mansur Habib for the state.

City, pourashava polls held peacefully under emergency

Staff Reporter

Barring some stray incidents, elections to four city corporations and nine pourasabhas were held yesterday amid enthusiasm and in a peaceful manner under the state of emergency with heavy turnout of voters.

No allegation of vote rigging or manipulation in the elections, like previous times, was made formally anywhere in the 13 election areas till closing of polls.

Enthusiastic voters, both male and female, started turning out at the polling centres at many places even before the voting started at 8:00 am.

Voters were also seen standing in long queues in many places of Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet and Barisal city corporations defying the rain and drizzles.

Turnout of female voters were also remarkable.

Election Commission sources said up to 60 per cent of voters cast their votes in four city corporations and nine pourasabhas.

The voters for the first time franchised their voting rights with their photographs in the voter lists.

However, in many places the voters have to face difficulties as there was lack of uniformity between the ID card numbers and serial numbers in the voter lists that led to slow pace in voting. The government had taken foolproof security measures to maintain law and order during the polls.

Polling started at 8:00 AM and continued more than an hour beyond the closing at 4:00 PM in many places, as heavy turnout of voters crowded the enclosures until the last moment.

Our Khulna Correspondent Nasima Muneer reports, that Armed Police Battalion resorted to mild lathicharge on the supporters of candidates who gathered in front of PTI centre to distribute voters numbers and location of booths.

Incessant rain prevented the voters to go to the polling centres. The voters rushed to the polling centres mainly in the morning and did not mind to wait in the long queue for two hours.

Our Rajshahi Correspondent Shamsun Nahar reports that the election to Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) ended peacefully.

Mayoral candidates AHM Khairuzzaman Liton of Awami League and Musaddeque Hossain Bulbul of BNP along with their family members cast their votes at Upashahar Satellite Primary School. The two rival candidates were seen hugging and shaking hands at the polling centre.

Our Barisal Correspondent Tapan Chakrabarty reports that the polling in the Barisal City Corporation ended peacefully.

Though it was supposed to end at 4:00 PM, voting continue at many centres as voters who already entered the centre could not cast their votes.

Casting of votes was also delayed in few centres having large number of female voters. At many centres, vote casting continued till 6:00 PM.

Most of the Mayoral candidates including Shawkat Hossain Hiron, Ahsan Habib Kamal, Ebaidul Huq Chan, Sardar Sarfuddin Santu and Advocate Enayet Pir Khan, and minor candidates like Syed Shahid and AK Azad acknowledged that the election was held in a free, fair and peaceful condition.

Different types of rumours were spread in the city about disturbances in the vote centres which later proved to be false.

About 850 national and foreign election observers including 795 observers of eight national organisations observed the election.

Our Sylhet Correspondent Basir Uddin reports polling of Sylhet City Corporation was held in a peaceful manner.

The presence of voters was seen very thin in the morning due to incessant rain. However, the turnout increased gradually as the day progressed.

Members of law enforcing agencies remained active in and outside of polling centres to maintain law and order during the polls.

Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda visited different polling centres in Manikganj and Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain in Sreepur. They expressed their satisfaction with the peaceful voting.