The Daily Star: Internet Edition Sat. March 13, 2004

Volume 4 Number 282

Sat. March 13, 2004


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Front Page	S Korean president Roh impeached South Korea's President Roh Moo-Hyun was suspended from office yesterday in an unprecedented parliamentary impeachment vote that triggered panic in financial markets and deepened political turmoil ahead
	JCD out to 'punish' B Chy, his men A top leader of ruling BNP's student chapter yesterday vowed to "punish" former president Badruddoza Chowdhury for launching an alternative political platform and branded him as a "traitor", a day after
	B Chy announces mass hunger strike March 20 The new convening committee of Badruddoza Chowdhury's alternative political stream yesterday announced a series of programmes, including a mass hunger strike on March 20, protesting an attack on the former
	Emerging from dark Sitting on one side of a kerosene-lamp lit tiny desk that she shares with her younger brother and sister, Shilpi takes a moment and counts her chances of passing her HSC exams.
	Tigers show grit in defeat Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak produced a sterling all-round performance to secure a 14-run victory and pull home side level in the five-match one-day international series yesterday.
	Dhaka risks Dutch grant to ship out toxic fertiliser Bangladesh risks retaining a 13-year-old stock of highly toxic fertiliser if it misses the March 15 deadline in signing an agreement for US$ 1.
	Fresh bomb attacks on Mannan's Ctg plants Industrial units owned by Major (Rtd) Abdul Mannan, member secretary of the alternative political stream convening committee, in Chittagong came under repeated bomb attacks yesterday evening for the second
	Young woman Gang-raped, burnt to death at Pallabi Rapists allegedly abducted a young woman, gang-raped and then burnt her to death at Pallabi in the city Thursday night.
	Youths attack Adab meet Armed youths stormed the venue of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (Adab) at Nilkhet yesterday, foiled the meet and damaged a number of vehicles
	Fresh roadblock for bridge at Daulatdia People agitating for Padma bridge at Daulatdia-Paturia point yesterday again blocked road at Daulatdia in Goalundo upazila of Rajbari, stranding more than 1,000 vehicles with about 50 thousand passengers
	11 personalities call for national unity to salvage democracy Eleven personalities of politics and civil society issued a joint statement yesterday calling upon all to build a national unity to salvage people and democracy from the danger of confrontational politics.
	Indo-Pak ODI Clash today When India and Pakistan open their one-day match in Karachi this morning as part of India's first full tour of Pakistan in more than 14 years, the focus will be more on security than the pitch action.
	Millions protest Madrid attacks as ETA denies responsibility Millions of people crowded Spanish streets yesterday to protest the Madrid bomb attacks that killed 199 people, as one of the prime suspects, the Basque militant group ETA, denied responsibility.
	7 ministries mum over unspent Tk 867cr Seven ministries did not return to the exchequer as much as Tk 866.92 crore in unspent money at the year-end from the budget allocation in 2001-2002 fiscal year.
	Beware! Formalin in fish The widespread use of formalin, a chemical that contaminates fish but makes them appear fresh, continues across the country with the authorities seemingly reluctant to stop the practice.
	Young-old divide sharpens in BNP on China policy No top policymaker wants to put bilateral relations with China at stake, but some ministers with business ties at the same time are unwilling to miss out on the trade opportunities with Taiwan despite
	Road accidents kill 7 in three districts Seven people were killed and 50 others injured in separate road accidents in Narayanganj, Chittagong and Sherpur yesterday.
	Former footballer stabbed to death Veteran footballer and former president of Sylhet Referee Kalyan Samity Fokhrul Islam Chowdhury was stabbed to death by unidentified miscreants at Boroikandi village in South Surma in the early hoursyesterday.
	Pick your own ring tone Grown tired of stereotype ring tones that came with their sets ages ago? Wonder how much fun it would be to download trendy ring tones on the cellphone! The wait is to be over quite soon.
	Attack on B Chy shows PM heads 'goons' not govt, Saber says Awami League (AL) Organising Secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury said yesterday with the Thursday's attack on Badruddoza Chowdhury the prime minister made it clear that, instead of running the government,
	Warne makes history Shane Warne became the first spin bowler in history to take 500 Test wickets as Australia sealed a 197-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle.
	Clarification In a rejoinder to yesterday's report headlined "Dr Kamal launches new political platform Sunday", Dr Wajedul Islam Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra, known as TUC, said the TUCdid
	A group of youths stormed the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh...
	A Brothers Union fan starts a fire blowing kerosene...
	Pentagon awards $1.1b in Iraq contracts to US, British firms US and British firms have won two contracts worth 1.
	Al-Qaeda resurfaces to claim Madrid bombings A group claiming to be an al-Qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the blasts in the Spanish capital, which killed at least 198 people and injured some 1,400.
	5 robbers held with arms in Mohammadpur Five robbers were arrested with arms and ammunition in the city's Mohammadpur area on Thursday.
Business	EPB to embark on massive trade campaign in Australia The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) is to embark on a massive trade campaign in Australia to reap maximum benefits from duty free access facility offered by the Pacific economy.
	Nissan Motor service centre opens in Dhaka New showroom and service centre of Nissan Motor Company was inaugurated on Tejgaon-Gulshan Link Road in Dhaka yesterday.
	3G mobile: It's a different league "Thanks a billion!" exclaimed the mobile phone industry in 3GSM World Congress at Cannes, France in the last week of February.
	Oil prices up more after Madrid bombings High oil prices rose further Friday, after the Madrid bombings revived security fears and further strengthened a market boosted by soaring Chinese demand and persistent concerns of a gasoline supply crunch
	Employment will begin to grow: Greenspan Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday that tax increases probably will be needed in combination with benefit cuts to close the massive funding gap faced by Social Security.
	India's industrial output doubles India's industrial output growth doubled to 6.5 percent in the 10 months to January due to a resurgent manufacturing sector, official data showed Friday.
	Premier Bank sanctions loan for Satata Hatchery Premier Bank has sanctioned Tk 95 lakh in loan to Satata Hatchery and Beach Resort Limited for setting up a shrimp hatchery in Cox's Bazar.
	Ctg chamber for private sector Representation in port policy body Chittagong Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Friday strongly suggested representation of private sector in the policymaking body of Chittagong Port.
	CityCell customer service centres now open 7 days a week CityCell mobile phone's customer service centres are now open 7 days a week. The opening hours have been extended to provide better service to customers, says a press release.
	Training course on labour standards begins A five-day training course on "Labour Standards and Workplace Environment in Apparel Industry", conducted by Young Consultants, a consulting firm with global network, has begun.
	US seeks market access, urges India to allow FDI in retailing US Ambassador to India David C. Mulford on Friday renewed Washington's demands for greater market access and urged India to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in its booming retail sector.
	US threatens to haul up China in WTO for reneging on trade rules The United States on Thursday threatened to haul up China before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for allegedly not complying with global trade rules and adopting discriminatory tax policies.
	Japan protects farm products Japan's imminent free trade deal with Mexico should help its major companies make further inroads into North America while the Asian country's farm sector remains protected, officials say.
	Weekly Currency Roundup March 6-March 11, 2004 Local FX Market US dollar got weaker this week. Later continued to weaken throughout the week.
Sports	Football: Brothers become big An agonising wait of three decades ended for Brothers Union Club when they clinched their maiden league title, courtesy of a solitary goal victory over Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra at the Sher-e-Bangla
	Football: It means a lot It was looked upon as a coup, a tasteless display of wealth by men of power when Brothers Union shopped and purchased the country's best booters on offer.
	Cricket: Zim A roll despite Sunny spell Despite a six-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny, Zimbabwe A scored 319-9 at stumps on the opening day of their three-day tour match against Bangladesh U-23 at the Fatullah Stadium in Narayanganj
	Cricket: History begins Pakistan captain Inzama-mul Haq said Friday his team was ready to exploit India's weak bowling to take his side to a stunning victory in the opening of historic series between the south Asian rivals.
	Cricket: Lanka has been Warne-d Shane Warne sealed a triumphant comeback to international cricket by becoming the first spin bowler to take 500 Test wickets as Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 197 runs here Friday.
	Priyanka, Rahul the cheerleaders Chief opposition leader Sonia Gandhi's two children led a team of Indian cheerleaders to Pakistan Friday ahead of the hotly-anticipated opening one-day cricket international between the two countries,
	Cricket: Smith responds to crisis Devon Smith responded to the latest West Indies batting crisis by collecting his maiden Test hundred and leading a fightback on the opening day of the first Test against England at Sabina Park.
	Cricket: Kiwis fight back New Zealand fought back to avoid the follow-on after a debut half-century from Brendon McCullum against South Africa at close on the third day of the first Test here Friday.
	Cricket: England 33-2 West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards made early inroads in England's first innings removing opener Marcus Trescothick for seven and his partner and captain Michael Vaughan for 15 to leave the tourists
	Cricket: Patuakhali cricket Young Pegasus recorded a 119-run victory over Kalikapur Jubo Sangsad in the First Division Cricket League at the Patuakhali Stadium yesterday..
	Football: Battle of England Chelsea and Arsenal were drawn in a mouth-watering all-English European Champions League quarter-final here Friday with the prospect of facing Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
Metropolitan	Attack on B Chy condemned Socio-political organisations strongly condemned the attack on former president Badruddoza Chowdhury and his supporters in and around the capital.
	Accused placed on 2-day remand Md Hasan alias Army Hasan, a prime accused in Banshkhali carnage, was placed on a two-day remand instead of recording his confessional statement at the magistrate's court at Banshkhali on Thursday.
	Ainjibi Parishad demands separation of judiciary The Sammilita Ainjibi Samannaya Parishad, a lawyers' body, has reiterated its demand for immediate separation of judiciary.
	Housewife stabbed to death over dowry A housewife was stabbed to death allegedly by her husband and in-laws at a village in Savar on Thursday for her failure to bring Tk two lakh in dowry from her parents.
	'Appoint physiotherapists in all hospitals' Speakers at a seminar yesterday urged the government to appoint physiotherapists in all hospitals. They said there is hardly any family in the country that does not need physiotherapy treatment.
	Over 1,365 held, nine firearms recovered Police arrested 1,365 people during their ongoing countrywide drive in the last 24 hours ending at 6.00am yesterday.
	Housewife raped A housewife was raped at Begunbari in Tejgaon in the city on Thursday night. The victim, wife of a rickshawpuller, was alone at her residence when one Hasan, a local of the area, tried to seduce her.
National	A jobless youth now raises hopes in many Life is now meaningful to Shaumen Bain, once a jobless and frustrated young man. He is now wealthy by cultivating vegetables. Strong will and hard work made him successful.
	BNP men chase LGED contractors out of Pirojpur BNP activists in Pirojpur allegedly snatched tender documents from contractors who went there from Barisal to drop tenders at LGED office and made them leave the town on Thursday.
	Handicapped Salma crawls to school Indomitable mental strength has made physically handicapped Salma different from others. She is determined to be educated and not to remain a burden on her parents.
	Rail blockade at Mohimaganj Several hundred workers and sugarcane growers laid a siege to Mohimaganj railway station on Thursday protesting the government decision to lay off Rangpur Sugar Mills at Mohimaganj.
	Load shedding in Ctg to continue till month-end Menacing load shedding is back in the port city well ahead of summer. SSC examinees are the worst sufferers. City areas plunge into darkness several times every night.
	Expatriate contributes to Gaibandha dam construction More people are spontaneously joining construction of a dam at Kuthibari on voluntary basis to protect Fulchari upazila headquarters from erosion by Brahmaputra river.
	CARE to help Promote child, woman rights An agreement was signed between CARE Bangladesh and Community Development Centre (CDC), a local Non-Governmental Organisation, on Wednesday to implement 'Manusher Jonno' project in the coastal belt of
	Token hunger strike in Rangpur About 1,000 diploma engineers and polytechnic students under the banner of Bangladesh Diploma Engineer Chhattra Shikkhok Peshajibi Parishad observed a three-hour token hunger strike here on Thursday.
	ICS sweeps Barisal polytech polls Islami Chattara Shibir (ICS) , student front of Jamaat-e-Islami, won 11 seats out of 18 in Barisal Polytechnic Institute Student Union election held on Thursday.
	Khulna mayor's plea for gas rejected The government has rejected a plea of Khulna city corporation mayor to supply gas in the city through pipeline.
	JCD, ICS violate RU Syndicate's ban on meeting Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) on Wednesday violated a ban on holding procession, meeting and rally on Rajshahi University campus.
	Training for journalists ends today A weeklong training course for journalists titled 'Advance Reporting ' will end in Rajshahi today.
	Satkhira Mohila Awami League body formed A 31-member convening committee of Sadar upazila Mohila Awami League (AL) headed by Rabeya Khalid as convenor and Jesmin Ara Chowdhury, Halima Khatun as joint convenors was formed at a meeting held at
	Bodies of two outlaws handed over to Anjuman Bodies of two slain outlaws Alamgir and Ismail were handed over to Anjuman-e-Mafidul Islam as nobody claimed those till Monday morning.
Point-Counterpoint	Interplay between democracy and authoritarianism A topic that fascinates me is the serious and sometimes even depressing subject of the state of Democracy in South Asia.
	Financing the poor Microfinance is recognised as one of the most important tools in global poverty alleviation.
	Gaddafi: An Arab Robin Hood who pays the rich! In the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, backed by the US and the UK, Israel completely routed the Arabs in six days. Israel occupied all the strategic territories it wanted.
Culture	Of Sun and Sitar Watching a morning concert by the music maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan at least once in your lifetime is so rare these days. The last time Khan Sahib did a morning concert in UK was 22 years ago.
	Bulbul Mahalanobish in a new identity Most music lovers have heard of Bulbul Mahalanobish as a Nazrul singer. Less well-known is her talent as a poet.
	Dip, a successful entertainer Dip, the founder member and leader of the well -known Bangladeshi band named Sudden, has been in the entertainment industry from his childhood.
General	Set up more tissue culture labs for agri development Private sector entrepreneurs and non-government organisations (NGOs) have set up only five modern tissue culture laboratories in the last few years.
	India, Pakistan call for recognition as N-powers The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan each appealed for their countries to be fully accepted as nuclear powers, six years after the neighbours conducted back-to-back nuclear tests.
	Country heading towards uncertain situation: Manju Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju has called for strengthening the party as the country is heading towards an uncertain situation.
	An evening of Tagore songs...
International	ROK in shock over Roh impeachment South Koreans knew for days it was a possibility, but most were still shocked after the National Assembly impeached President Roh Moo-hyun.
	LTTE, renegade rebels point gun at each other on bank of a river Armed rival factions of Tamil Tiger rebels were face-to-face on the banks of a river dividing an area held by a breakaway group, the main guerrilla movement said here yesterday.
	'Madrid bombings signal new threat to Europe' As Europe digested the full horror of the Madrid bombings, commentators in yesterday's European newspapers feared that the attack signalled a new and growing terror threat putting the continent on alert.
	India, Pakistan should look at 'innovative ideas' Maintaining that public opinion in India and Pakistan should lead politicians to "pragmatic and acceptable" solutions to their problems, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday said the two countries
	Bush, Kerry step up attack on each other President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry escalated their campaign battle on Thursday, with Bush launching television ads criticising Kerry by name and Kerry fighting back against the "Republican
	Bush renews Iran sanctions US President George W. Bush on Thursday renewed sanctions barring US firms and citizens from oil dealings with Iran, citing the "unusual and extraordinary threat" from Tehran.
	Israel strives to gain US backing for Sharon's disengagement plan Israeli officials continued talks here yesterday with three US envoys to outline further Ariel Sharon's plan for a unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians.
	Chandrika's party to scrap presidency if elected Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's new alliance with Marxists said yesterday it would scrap the powerful presidency and halt privatisation if it won April 2 parliamentary polls.
	Nehru speech Destroyed by gunfight in Kashmir Original footage from Kashmir's partition including film of a historic speech by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru were destroyed in a gunbattle with rebels, an official said yesterday.
Editorial	Editorial: Row over trade mission The latest on Taiwanese trade office centred trouble-shooting can be summed up as follows: Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan while reiterating Dhaka's unwavering One-China Policy says Taipei can have trade
	Editorial: Indian cricketers in Pakistan It is of the stuff that truly great news is made. The resumption of cricket between Pakistan and India after 15 years in hibernation has hogged global headlines. Not for nothing.
	US-Europe cooperation on global governance The contemporary world is facing today a general debate on the importance of increased and open dialogue on global governance.
	Putin doing a high wire act to win the presidential election There is a whole lot of political acrobatics going on in Russia and Mr. Putin is the solo performer. Some of his actions have annoyed his opponents.
Letters to Editor	RAJUK plots I thank The Daily Star for publishing a news item on Gulshan-Banani plot allotment.
	Current politics Bangladesh became independent 33 years ago.
	Denial of freedom of speech On Friday, 27 February there was a clear sign that freedom of speech is denied in this country. Professor Humayun Azad, a teacher of Bangla and a prominent writer, was stabbed.
	Cursed English Department We are the students of English Department, National University, of 01-02 session. We are following a four year integrated course.
	Control the price spiral Prices of essential commodities have soared sky-high in the recent years in Bangladesh.
Literature	The Discovery of Telenapota When Saturn and Mars come together, you may also discover Telenapota.
	A Stranger in My Native Land In the second of his two-part series on travels inside Tibet Tenzig Sonam,* a Tibetan poet and film-maker currently living in New York, enters Lhasa, the capital, and finds that none of it is*