Vol. 5 Num 1009 Tue. April 03, 2007       Home  News Today's Index Front Page Business Sports Metropolitan National International Culture General Views Point-counterpoint Editorial Write to Editor Sections Others About Us Contact Advertisement Supplements Archives WWW thedailystar.net Today's Index Front Page Saarc Summit starts today with high hopes on trade The 14th Saarc Summit starts off in New Delhi today with strong declarations being expected to come on trade and terrorism.   Bangladesh to have own brand of democracy Army Chief Lt Gen Moeen U Ahmed yesterday said Bangladesh will have to construct its own brand of democracy recognising its social, historical and cultural conditions with religion being one of the several   Fuel prices hiked again by 16-21pc The government yesterday increased the prices of diesel and kerosene by 21 percent and octane and petrol by 16 percent to minimise the staggering loss incurred by costly fuel imports.   Kiwi crush Tigers Stephan Fleming struck a superb unbeaten century as New Zealand strolled to a nine-wicket win against Bangladesh in their second Super 8 match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua yesterday.   Vow to bolster bilateral link In the first ever meeting between Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last night in New Delhi, the two leaders hoped to take the relationship between the countriesto   BTTB loses revenue as int'l trunk exchange not installed When illegal VoIP operations were devouring hundreds of crores of taka of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board's (BTTB) revenue from overseas calls, the telecom ministry in November last year suspended   Aminul, Dulu, Nadim Mostafa sued for patronising JMB Two more former BNP lawmakers were sued on Sunday for patronising militants of banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Natore and Rajshahi.   Salahuddin, MAH Salim, Mamun sued for extortion, cheating Three extortion, cheating and forgery cases have been filed against BNP leader and former state minister for communications Salahuddin Ahmed and his wife Hasina Ahmed, former BNP lawmaker MAH Salim and   S Asia Media Commission for free info flow to be set up South Asian media leaders yesterday decided to establish South Asia Media Commission to facilitate free flow of information among Saarc countries while regional foreign ministers promised to liberatetheir   Tarique's petition for stay on proceedings rejected A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the petition seeking stay on the proceedings of the Tk 1-crore extortion case filed against BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman and his close aide Mian Nuruddin   ACC to file cases against Harris, Mamun, Hazari, Shamim Osman The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) will soon file cases against Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, controversial businessman Giasuddin Al-Mamun, and former Awami   Sinking to lower level...   Regional cooperation meet for simplified border rules The seventh Forum for Regional Cooperation among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) urged the governments to simplify border formalities to ease movement of goods, vehicles and people.   Seniority, competence will be key criteria The caretaker government is going to introduce a new system for appointing vice-chancellors (VCs) in a bid to check the practice of political appointments in the top posts of the country's highest educational   Miladunnabi observed The holy Eid-e-Miladunnabi, marking the birth and death anniversary of Prophet Hazrat Mohammed (PBUH), was observed across the country on Sunday.   Yunus returns home after 20-day tour of US, Europe Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus returned home on Sunday, ending a 20-day tour of the United States, and five European countries--Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Norway.   9,000 more chickens culled in Savar, N'ganj Around nine thousand chickens were culled on Sunday night at two more farms in Narayanganj Sadar and Siddhirganj upazila of Narayanganj district and at a farm in Savar following detection of avian influenza   Telenor wants to float GP shares on stock market Telenor, the major shareholder of GrameenPhone, has expressed the desire to offer its shares to the capital market.   Carry out agenda of Dhaka Declaration BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to carry out the Dhaka Declaration adopted in the 13th Saarc Summit in Dhaka in 2005.   Sundarbans fire under control The devastating fire that broke out at Chandpai range of the Sundarbans on March 19 was brought under control on Sunday.   9 more JMB militants held Police arrested nine more militants and Bangla Bhai aides early morning yesterday in Rajshahi and Natore.   Bus bomb kills 16 in Sri Lanka At least 16 people, including three children, were killed and 25 wounded when a bomb ripped through a crowded bus in eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, officials said.   Maoists sworn into new Nepal govt Nepal's Maoists were sworn into a new interim government on Sunday, in a major step forward for a peace process that ended a decade of civil war in the Himalayan nation.   15 killed in Solomons quake, tsunami A powerful undersea earthquake unleashed a tsunami that pounded into the western Solomon Islands early yesterday, destroying entire villages and reportedly killing at least 15 people, officials said. Business Govt's domestic borrowing up 130pc in seven months The government's domestic borrowing increased by 130 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year due to reduction in revenue and foreign aid.   Billionaire Saudi prince looks to Asia The United States remains obsessed with the September 11, 2001 attacks on its soil and is unlikely to allow Arab investment into sensitive areas, Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said in a report   China, US head for fresh trade row China appears headed for a fresh trade spat with the United States, denouncing new US pressure on its trade policies after Washington said it would slap sanctions on imports of Chinese coated paper.   Fuel import deal with Kuwait extended for another year The Advisers Council on Public Purchase, known as Cabinet Purchase Committee, yesterday approved a proposal to extend the existing agreement on fuel import from Kuwait by another year.   Pak 4B Gentel awards contract to REVE Systems to build VoIP infrastructure 4B Gentel (Pvt) Ltd Pakistan, a concern of Pakistan's famous 4B Group, has awarded a contract for building its VoIP infrastructure on turnkey basis to REVE Systems, a leading Bangladeshi software developer   Exempt RMG units from fuel price hike for six months Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the government to exempt apparel sector from the fuel price hike for the next six months.   BASIS 'Best IT Use Award' announced BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services) has awarded seven organisations for their role to implement information technology (IT).   China looking to deepwater for energy China is increasingly looking to deepwater hydrocarbon resources such as gas and oil to meet growing energy demand from its rapidly expanding economy, an industry group said Monday.   Dutch-Bangla recommends 25pc cash dividend Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd (DBBL) yesterday recommended a 25 percent cash dividend for its shareholders for the year 2006, says a press release.   ADB says it has to change to meet new challenges in Asia The Asian Development Bank has to radically transform itself if it wants to remain relevant in a rapidly changing Asia, a major report on the future role of the ADB said Monday.   S Korea, US reach landmark FTA With just minutes to go, the United States and South Korea on Monday reached a free trade agreement which scraps tariffs on thousands of items and will boost commerce by billions of dollars a year.   Islami Bank Bangladesh recommends 25pc dividend The Board of Directors of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) has recommended a 25 percent dividend i.e.   Suez Canal fees rise Transit fees for ships using Egypt's Suez Canal increased on Sunday by an average of nearly three percent, the canal authority said, in the second such increase in a year.   Currency Sports Cricket: Basics-man moves atop Bowl straight and move the ball away late from the bats-man have been instructions handed down by ge-nerations of cricket coaches to pace bowlers.   Cricket: Minnows matches huge: SA South Africa will treat their next World Cup Super Ei-ght matches against Ireland and Bangladesh as "huge" games which could clear the way to the semifinals, according to coach Mickey Arthur.   Cricket: Akram hails McGrath Pakistan bow-ling great Wasim Akram Sunday hailed Australian pa-ceman Glenn McGrath's feat of breaking his World Cup record of most wickets, saying he wanted to congratulate his all-time favourite.   Cricket: Dhaka, Rajshahi stay alive The penultimate round of the limi-ted-overs Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 8th National Cricket League was marked by record number of centuries as seven batsmen reached three-digit figures in high-scoring encounters   Cricket: Tapash injury not serious Bangladesh team physio Paul Close confirmed that there was no fracture on Tapash Baishya's ankle.   Cricket: SL A clinch one-day series too An unbeaten hundred by Malinda Warnapura ensured Sri Lanka A's one-day series victory against Bangladesh A with one match in hand when they inflicted a six-wicket defeat on the visitors in the secondgame   Cricket: Australia thrash Tigers Australia's ruthless form at the World Cup has been no more than captain Ricky Ponting expected from the reigning champions.   Cricket: Cops study poison theory Detectives leading the Bob Woolmer murder inquiry said Monday they are studying the possibility that poison was used to incapacitate the burly Pakistan cricket coach before he was strangled.   Cricket: Pakistan pay respects to Bob Pakistani players and dignitaries on Sunday paid their respects to cricket coach Bob Woolmer, two weeks after his mysterious murder that shocked the genteel sport and stumped Jamaican investigators.   Cricket: Jayasuriya punishes WI Sanath Jayasuriya dealt a potentially fatal blow to the West Indies' semifinal hopes with a blazing century to set up Sri Lanka's 113-run win in the World Cup Super Eights match here on Sunday.   Cricket: Mahela owes it to Sanath Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene paid tribute to opener Sanath Jayasuriya for helping him return to his big-scoring ways in the World Cup victory over the West Indies.   Cricket: He won't forget this one Sanath Jayasuriya may be playing in his last World Cup, but has proved he still has it in him to demoralise any attack with his breath-taking strokes.   Football: Revenge on Bayern menu Bayern Munich are determined to give AC Milan a taste of their own medicine when the teams meet in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal here on Tuesday.   Football: Tough task for Brothers Brothers Union look to exorcise the ghost of a shocking defeat to Khulna Abahani when the local giants face a confident Arambagh in today's B. League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.   Cricket: McGrath plays down Akram comparison Glenn McGrath played down comparisons between himself and Wasim Akram after breaking the Pakistan great's record for World Cup wickets.   Chess: National Chess GMs settle for draw Grandmasters Niaz Murshed and Ziaur Rahman drew their opening round match of the Mercantile Bank 33rd National Chess Championship yesterday.   Cricket: Lara still hopeful West Indies skipper Brian Lara has said he remains optimistic of making it to the World Cup semifinals despite his team's third successive defeat in the Super Eights.   Football: Bellamy boost for Liverpool Liverpool received a boost ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal tie against PSV Eindhoven with striker Craig Bellamy given the all clear to travel with the squad.   Football: Inter close to finish line Inter Milan won 2-0 at home to relegation-threatened Parma on Sunday to move within touching distance of the Serie A title.   Football: Barca find breathing space Second-placed Sevilla handed reigning champions Barcelona a two-point lead at the top of the Spanish first division when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Osasuna on Sunday.   Swimming: Phelps makes history Michael Phelps capped an historic world championships with his seventh gold medal Sunday and another world record as Grant Hackett lost a 1500m freestyle race for the first time in 11 years.   Football: Kalou keeps Chelsea alive Jose Mourinho admitted that Chelsea had been on the brink of surrendering their Premiership title on Saturday after he was forced to wait until the 93rd minute before Salomon Kalou grabbed the winnerat   Football: Totti fuming at Fergie Not mentioning Francesco Totti when listing Roma's best players is tantamount to treason in the Eternal City.   Football: England stars feared for life England defender Luke Young has revealed that several of the national team's stars feared they would be attacked by their own supporters during the Euro 2008 qualifier against Andorra.   Football: Capello's humble way Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello conceded that his team were lucky to get three points against relegation-threatened Celta Vigo despite winning 2-1 on Sunday. "A draw would have been fair. Metropolitan Saarc countries should synchronise dev plans to have same goals Saarc countries should synchronise their development plans to have same basic goals, said Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury in an interview with The Daily Star on Sunday.   Construction of Asian University for Women to begin in Oct The construction work of the Asian University for Women (AUW) on a 100-acre site in North Pahartali in Chittagong will begin in October this year.   City road caves in as pilings collapse A stretch of road at Purana Paltan area in the city caved in when shore protection pilings of an under-construction commercial building collapsed yesterday.   Rajuk demolishes 200 structures in Purbachol Over two hundred houses and shops in the proposed Purbachal town project in Rupganj were demolished yesterday by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).   Seminar on peptic ulcer disease held Health and Family Welfare Adviser Major General (retd) Dr ASM Matiur Rahman has said gastrointestinal diseases are very common in the country.   10 outstanding women honoured Speakers at a function yesterday stressed the need for a strong and supportive women policy in order to ensure development and empowerment of women in the society.   Injunction against BA decision to cut commission to travel agents A Dhaka court yesterday issued a temporary injunction against the decision of British Airways (BA) to reduce the commission to travel agents on ticket sale from seven percent to one percent.   Extortion case filed against Jatrabari OC, three SIs A criminal case was filed yesterday accusing officer-in-charge (OC) of Jatrabari Police Station, three Sub-Inspectors (SIs) and nine residents of Ramna and Jatrabari areas of taking Tk 2 lakh illegally   Technical glitches delay Sylhet-Dhaka Biman flight Technical glitches forced a Biman Bangladesh Airlines Sylhet-Dhaka flight to be delayed for over 14 hours on Sunday causing immense sufferings to its 49 passengers including Information Adviser Barrister   DMP launches one-stop service for clearance certificate Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) yesterday launched one-stop service to issue police clearance certificate within shortest possible time to the people going abroad to work or stay for a long time.   Anti-corruption cartoon show begins in Ctg A three-day exhibition of anti-corruption cartoons began in the port city yesterday.   65 phensidyl bottles seized, 5 women held Police yesterday seized 65 bottles of phensidyl and arrested five women from Madanpur Bus Stand area at Bander in the district.   Container train derails at Tongi Rail Station A compartment of a Dhaka-bound container train derailed at the outdoor signal at Tongi Rail Station yesterday, disrupting train service at Tongi for one and a half hours.   Manusher Jonno emerges as independent organisation The Manusher Jonno Project of CARE Bangladesh started to function as an independent organisation styled 'Manusher Jonno Foundation', from April 1 with the mandate to promote human rights and good governance,   Death anniversary of Justice SM Murshed today Today is the 28th death anniversary of former chief justice Syed Mahbub Murshed, an eminent jurist and independent thinker, says a press release. National Turn common rivers into bonds of friendship, not bones of contention Speakers at an international conference here stressed the need for understanding and co-operration among countries in South Asia in sharing water resources for the benefit of all.   Arnab murder trial resumes tomorrow Arnab murder trial will resume at the District and Sessions Judge's Court here tomorrow.   11 BNP men sued in Gaibandha for 'abduction threat, looting' A case has been filed against 11 leaders and activists of BNP and its front organisations in Palashbari for allegedly threatening abduction of a minor boy for toll and looting.   OC closed, SI sent to jail in Patuakhali The Officer-in-Charge of Galachipa police station was closed and a Sub inspector of Kalagachi police camp in Patuakhali was sent to jail for taking bribe at Patuakhali.   'Outlaw'dies in police custody An alleged cadre of an outlawed party died in police custody after five hours of his arrest in Chuadanga yesterday. Point-Counterpoint The state of the State of Emergency Having tasted the bitter elixir of "democracy," "socialism," and "secularism," the omni-present nationalisms of the "Bangali" (Bengali) and "Bangladeshi" variants and doses of Islamism through civil and   Fighting corruption: Not for faint-hearted liberals The present fight against corruption was unthinkable a few weeks ago. Anti-corruption rhetoric was largely confined to newspaper articles, roundtable discussion and academic pieces.   Markets 102 Given the rave reviews for 101 I thought it was time to come back with more.   Time to get serious about bird flu Sunday was April Fool's Day. In the West, newspapers sometimes run "gag" stories (silly stories which they don't expect anyone to believe) on the first of April. Culture Kalidas' clever craftsmanship Kalidas Karmakar, one of our most renowned print-makers, is conducting a fortnight-long workshop in collaboration with Bengal Foundation on printmaking at Alliance Francaise, Dhaka.   Talent hunt by Palli Baul Shamaj Unnayan Shangtha As part of their talent hunt programme, Palli Baul Shamaj Unnayan Shangtha (PBSUS), a cultural organisation, in association with the German embassy, held a daylong cultural event recently at the Engineers   Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad's annual conference ends One of the country's largest and renowned cultural organisations -- Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad's 26th annual conference wrapped up on April 1. General Four killed in road accidents Four people were killed and three others injured in separate road accidents in Gaibandha and Manikganj yesterday.   2 cops suspended, another stand released An inspector of Detective Branch (DB) of Police and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Jatrabari Police Station were suspended while an assistant commissioner of DB was stand released on various charges. International Maoists sworn into new Nepal govt Nepal's Maoists were under renewed pressure yesterday to put an end to their violent practices, the day after five former rebels were sworn into the Himalayan nation's new interim government.   Amnesty urges Saarc to address HR violation Amnesty International urged a South Asian bloc Monday to agree on a human rights charter and work to fight widespread abuses, as leaders from eight nations gathered for a summit.   Baghdad bombings kill 6 US soldiers Insurgents killed six US soldiers in twin bombings over the weekend, the military said, undermining assessments by visiting congressmen that the Baghdad security crackdown is making progress.   Iran cites 'positive changes' from UK Iranian state radio reported that all 15 British sailors and marines held captive by Iran have confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters but, in an apparent softening in the dispute, said their statements   Thousands of Pak tribesmen enlist to fight militants Around 5,000 tribesmen gathered in a Pakistani border area yesterday to enlist for ongoing battles against foreign al-Qaeda militants, officials and witnesses said.   Indo-Pak officials to hold talks on Siachen glacier this week Top defence officials from nuclear-armed south Asian rivals Pakistan and India are to meet later this week for talks on possible troop cuts at the world's highest frontline, an official said yesterday. Editorial Editorial: After the patrons now We welcome the government's announcement to go after the patrons of the JMB and other religious extremist groups.   Editorial: Thirteen OSDs The administration has finally taken action against the civil servants who met at the Uttara office of a former energy adviser last November in what was seen to be questionable circumstances.   Religion in the hands of imbeciles The JMB top leaders are now having good food, drinks, dried raisin and swell time in heaven (amen). They are getting what they have preached for before the innocent and credulous young minds.   Cricket as a gigantic scam The over-reaction to the Indian cricket team's elimination from the World Cup has been so gross that one must worry about that sport's future in India, with its identification with national self-esteem   America's invisible empire There was a time when one could ideate the extent of an empire by counting up the colonies the imperial power held.   © thedailystar.net, 2007. All Rights Reserved.