A parliamentary probe body yesterday blamed former caretaker government adviser Mainul Hosein for the death of 13 labourers during demolition of the 22-storey Rangs Bhaban in the capital.

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered further investigation into the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, stating that the investigation conducted earlier could not identify the collectors and suppliers of grenades used in the attack.

A senior member of Bangladesh parliamentary delegation to Tipaimukh site said India has expressed willingness to have more discussions and give more information to Bangladesh if necessary.

A high-powered national committee headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been formed recently to coordinate the activities of the country's intelligence agencies.

The political parties that failed to submit to the Election Commission (EC) their amended constitutions ratified by national councils, will get six more months to do so in order to be registered as parliamentary parties.

Development in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) depends on complete implementation of the CHT Peace Treaty, said representatives of a cross-section of people yesterday, including leaders of local indigenous and Bangalee communities.

Online bidding system is going to be introduced on a limited scale in the next two months to make the process transparent and convenient, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said yesterday.

About 20,000 people living in the vulnerable areas of the district are apprehending fresh mudslide as heavy rains started again yesterday noon.

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has found its three former officials involved in misdirecting the probe into August 21 grenade attack case to save the actual offenders, CID sources said.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's son Arafat Rahman Koko has filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the proceedings of a money laundering case against him.

The government has reinstated judges Abdul Gafur and Md Shahjahan to their offices revoking an earlier notification, which sent them into retirement four days ago, said an official handout yesterday.

Muggers critically injured a police constable with sharp weapons and snatched his bicycle, cellphone and wallet in city's Badda area yesterday morning.

Former British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury arrived in Dhaka yesterday on an official visit.

An unidentified criminal yesterday shot a lawyer in his chamber in broad daylight at the city's Kailash Ghosh Lane in court area.

Bangladesh suffered the only defeat on their trip to the Caribbean, when West Indies won their Twenty20 International by five wickets on Sunday.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in association with Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) in a drive sealed off a ghee processing and canning factory of KDS Food Products in the port city yesterday.

Chittagong Port dock workers-employees' federation has postponed its four-hour work abstention programme scheduled for today following a meeting with the port authorities.

A Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against former BNP state minister Gayeswar Chandra Roy yesterday in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Three passengers of a CNG-run bus burned to death and 20 others were injured when the bus rammed a shop and its gas cylinder exploded at Shaheb Kachari, 20km away from Mymensingh town, last night.

The Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority holds its first congress in 20 years this week to renew a leadership undermined by internal rifts and the faction's 2007 rout from the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Lawyers for Michael Jackson's mother are expected to demand she have a greater say in controlling her late son's estate, at a court hearing in Los Angeles later yesterday.

Nepal's former guerrilla party, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), yesterday warned that if new Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal did not dissolve his coalition government within 72 hours and make way for a Maoist-led national government, it would start a new protest movement both from the street and parliament.

China stepped up its campaign against exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer on Monday with the release of a letter it says was penned by close relatives in China blaming her for last month's deadly riots in her native Xinjiang.

A top cadre of Janajuddho faction of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML) was beaten to death at Sarishadanga Bazar in sadar upazila of Chuadanga on Sunday night.

Fierce clashes between rival ethnic groups in south Sudan have killed more than 160 people, most of them women and children, a regional official said yesterday.

SETTING up of a committee to coordinate the function of all the intelligence agencies (NCIC) in Bangladesh is a very timely and welcome step. Need for such a body has been long felt but which, regrettably, successive governments had failed to meet.

IT is disconcerting news that over 12,000 Bangladeshi job-seekers have returned from Malaysia in the seven months after being cheated or denied the opportunity to work there by their Malaysian employers. On an average, around 40 Bangladeshis, who could not procure the work permit are returning home every day.

WITH the support of the local agents of international militant groups, homegrown militant elements are gradually and surely getting more and more organised. There are strong allegations that these local agents are working from within the civil administration, financial institutes, educational institutes and law enforcing agencies to offer shelter, and financial and legal help to the militants in the making. A pair of prying eyes will be able to see the local recruits working in the cities, towns and villages in pairs or in small groups.

BY launching trials of the nuclear-powered submarine Arihant, India has moved towards realising its post-1998 quest for a major nuclear weapons-power status.

Finally, West Indies won a game. Bangladesh imploded spectacularly at the top but they kept playing like millionaires to be restricted to a below-par 118, which West Indies overhauled without breaking a sweat.

After a historic triumph the Bangladesh cricket team was scheduled to leave the Caribbean yesterday for Zimbabwe to play a five-match one-day series entitled the "Grameenphone Cup".

Mahela Jayawardene hit his first one-day century in two years as Sri Lanka thumped Pakistan by six wickets on Monday to grab a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Michael Phelps ended on a golden note on Sunday as the United States rounded out the swimming World Championships' world record total at a staggering 43 with a medley relay triumph.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is apparently worried over coach Edson Silva Dido's policy to train the eight 'rebel' footballers in a separate group. The national team management committee has now decided to visit BKSP today to help mitigate the gap between the coach and the footballers who had walked out of the team previously.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will leave Dhaka tomorrow for Australia to check his knee injury with surgeon David Young in Melbourne.

Michael Clarke and Marcus North took Australia closer to the safety of a draw on the final day of the third Ashes Test here at Edgbaston on Monday.

Holders Abahani Limited will complete official formalities of the players' registration for the 3rd B. League tomorrow after the third day of the players transfer failed to draw any attention at the BFF House yesterday.

Different organisations and professionals brought out a protest procession here yesterday afternoon to press home their demand for awarding the port city a World Cup match.

A representative of Singapore-based World Sports Group, the marketing agent of the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship, inspected the possible venues of Bangladesh yesterday.

Teen star Jack Wilshere bagged a brace of goals Sunday as Arsenal saw off Scottish champions Rangers 3-0 to lift the Emirates Cup.

Aston Villa overcame Italian giants Juventus to win the Peace Cup on penalties on Sunday after both sides had failed to score at the end of extra time.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp insists his side can break into the Premier League's top four this season but admits it will be tougher than ever with mega-bucks Manchester City an added threat.

Premier League champions Manchester United have dismissed claims they stole 16-year-old midfielder Paul Pogba from French club Le Havre.

Top flight Hanover suffered an embarrassing early exit from the German Cup on Sunday, losing 3-1 at fourth division Trier in their first round meeting.

Liverpool and Real Madrid are still negotiating the possible transfer of midfielder Xabi Alonso to the big-spending Spanish club, the Spanish press reported Monday.

Tottenham striker Darren Bent is on the verge of signing for Sunderland after undergoing a medical with the Premier League club.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger attempted to put a lid on the growing hype surrounding teenage striker Jack Wilshere after the 17-year-old produced a sensational display against Rangers.

Chelsea captain John Terry insists he won't use his influence at Stamford Bridge to pressure new boss Carlo Ancelotti into making big-money buys.

Marion Bartoli avenged a Wimbledon loss to Venus Williams, winning a marathon final at the WTA Bank of the West Classic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 at the American's expense on Sunday.

India's sports minister and the country's lone Olympic champion on Monday hit out at cricketers for refusing to divulge there daily location under an anti-doping code.

Andrew Flintoff said England had it in them to defy the bad weather that has played havoc with the third Test and beat Australia on Monday's final day here at Edgbaston.

The Australian media fretted Monday that the nation's cricketers are on the verge of going 2-0 down in the Ashes series against England with some pundits doubtful of the tourists' state of mind.

Everton manager David Moyes is concerned midfielder Marouane Fellaini may miss the start of the season with the Belgium international suffering from a virus which has caused him to lose significant weight.

Former England fast bowler Andy Caddick on Sunday announced his retirement at the end of the current season.

Mushrooming shopping malls in Dhaka cast a pall of gloom on those who have already put investment at stake by buying or renting showrooms. The dream of high returns is far off.

All commercial banks will provide loans up to Tk 1 crore for setting up effluent treatment plant (ETP), solar panel and bio-gas plant at a 9 percent interest rate.

Sales of solar home systems in towns and rural areas in Rangpur and Dinajpur are soaring, driven by frequent power outages.

An initiative has been taken to resolve a long-running case on mutual funds, which was filed a year ago to challenge a ban on the declarations of their stock dividends.

Jute price has declined to Tk 1,000 or below per maund in the primary markets, worrying the farmers and encouraging smugglers.

CNG pump owners have submitted their six-point demand to Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.

Rajshahi Textile Mills (RTM) resumed operations yesterday after nine months of its closure, following a private initiative that is expected to employ around 500 people.

Singer Bangladesh Ltd has introduced ‘digital’ IPS in the market, said a statement.

Weeds have not yet had time to overtake the factories shuttered in the wake of recent bankruptcies at General Motors, Chrysler and a host of their suppliers.

It was one of the rare occasions when I got to hear Mahfuz Anam, The Daily Star editor, speaking about the responsibilities of the media. Bangladesh Brand Forum organised a discussion on the role of the media and businesses. Like a fresh breeze, and without much ado, he told the audience of how he, a socialist oriented student, has become a capitalist entrepreneur, thanks to running The Daily Star.

Asian markets were broadly higher Monday as dealers welcomed news that the US economy contracted at a slower than expected pace in the second quarter.

The dollar was little changed in Asian trade Monday as traders looked ahead to a US jobs report due later this week, after the latest data painted a mixed picture of the world's largest economy.

AKTEL, one of the leading telecom operators in Bangladesh, has named Michael Kuehner as the company's managing director and chief executive officer, it said in a statement.

India's exports plunged by more than a quarter in June, marking the ninth straight month that overseas sales have fallen due to the global economic slump, official data showed Monday.

HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said on Monday that first-half net profits slumped by 57 percent to 3.35 billion dollars (2.35 billion euros) as bad debts ballooned to nearly 14 billion dollars.

Surging demand from the government's "cash for clunkers" program has helped lift Ford Motor Co to its first monthly increase in two years, the company's top sales analyst says.

House prices in former boomtown Dubai tumbled in the second quarter as the market in the Gulf emirate continues to reel from the global economic downturn, a UAE-based consultancy firm said on Monday.

United Airways is going to spread its wings further on international routes as it yesterday got government permission to operate flights twice a week on Dhaka-London-Dhaka route, the first by a private airline.

Bangladesh Shop Owners Association yesterday demanded uninterrupted power supply till 9pm after the Shab-e-Barat and till early hours during the month of Ramadan.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) launched yesterday a web page styled BDInfo to store data generated from censuses, surveys and records of management information.

Oil advanced further in Asian trade Monday, still cheered on by data showing the US economy contracted at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter, analysts said.

Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said Monday net profit rose 10 percent in the second quarter on the back of growing income as business picks up from the global economic slump.

Top US administration officials said on Sunday that economic growth is highly likely to resume in the second half of the year, but warned of "hard choices" to contain rising deficits once recovery is assured.

South Korea's annual inflation rate fell in July to its lowest level in more than nine years thanks to cheaper oil prices, official figures showed Monday.

The government would consider forming separate land commission for indigenous people of the plain land like the land commission for Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) if the demand comes from them, said Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafiq Ahmed yesterday.

President Zillur Rahman yesterday asked for taking effective measures for protecting country's traditional species of fish alongside developing aquatic bio-diversity considering people's interest.

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the newly inducted Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan to check extortion in the transport sector.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday asked upazila election officials to perform their duties neutrally, without being influenced by administration and political leaders.

Criminals sprayed bullets at a garment factory gate in the city leaving two security guards injured yesterday as the garment authorities did not give them jhoot (garment wastage).

National security remains at stake unless welfare and well-being of the citizens can be ensured and protected, said the experts at a lecture session in the city yesterday.

Tomorrow is the fifth death anniversary of eminent journalist and writer Santosh Gupta, says a press release.

Leaders of Save the Environment Movement have urged the government to recover 47 canals to solve waterlogging problem and preserve rainwater in the city.

Speakers at a national consultation yesterday said integrating issues of disaster risk and early preparedness strategies into national textbook curricula can build Bangladesh a disaster-resilient nation.

The family and a group of supporters of recently fired Proshika chairman Qazi Faruque Ahmed claiming themselves followers of Bangabandhu have demanded immediate government intervention to get control of the NGO and all its activities.

'English in Schools (EIS)', a special corporate social responsibility project jointly initiated by AKTEL and The Daily Star, will kick off in Chittagong zone today.

The High Court yesterday issued a contempt rule asking three high government officials to explain within two weeks why they should not be punished for not complying with its verdict.

The Supreme Court yesterday stayed for three weeks the High Court verdict quashing the proceedings against former BNP minister Mirza Abbas in a case filed against him for possessing illegal foreign currency.

US Ambassador James F Moriarty yesterday said the US government will continue to help Bangladesh meet the most pressing needs in health, disaster management and agriculture sectors.

The department of accounting and information systems will observe 'Accounting Week' on the Dhaka University campus from today with a view to keeping pace with modern professionalism and increase the exposure of students to corporate career.

Speaker Abdul Hamid Advocate on Sunday urged the non-residents Bangladeshis (NRBs) to invest in productive sectors in the country for rapid development of the country.

A group of people staged demonstrations in front of the Zia International Airport in the city yesterday under the banner of little known organisations to protest the visit of former British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury.

Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad yesterday said noted journalist Bazlur Rahman was a polite and politically conscious person as well as a man of principle.

Two of the six Harkatul Jihad al Islami members arrested on Saturday in the capital and elsewhere were placed on a three-day remand by a Dhaka court yesterday after police placed them before the court seeking a five-day remand.

Jatiya Party (JP) yesterday segmented its Dhaka city unit into two organisational districts to make the party activities dynamic, says a press release.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said election officials have to perform their duties honestly in accordance with the existing law.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad yesterday expressed deep concern over the medieval-style torture of a housewife by her husband over dowry at Kalapara upazila in Patuakhali.

BCS General Education Association yesterday strongly condemned the heinous attack on Kamal Uddin, former principal of Gafargoan Govt College in Mymensingh, on July 30 and demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits.

When a large number of cyclones Aila and Sidr affected people are still homeless and trying hard to recover from losses, a section of loan sharks have started pressing them for repayment.

Another tragedy followed recovery of drowned college student Real's body from Madhabkunda waterfall in Baralekha upazila of Moulvibazar on Sunday as a local youth, who had helped fire brigade divers to find it, died of heart attack after seeing the body.

Teachers of Rajshahi University and different student bodies, including Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) RU unit, have urged the government to investigate the violence on the university campus on August 22, 2007.

Police yesterday noon arrested a woman, allegedly a member of the outlawed Sarbahara Dal, from Bandar area under Nilokhi union of Shibchar upazila.

Leaders of Parbattya Bangali Chhatra Parishad (PBCP) at a protest meeting yesterday urged the government to change its decision to withdraw one army brigade and 35 temporary army camps from several places in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) by September.

Dr Shafiqul Islam, joint secretary of Jessore Swadhinata Chickitshok Parishad, also one of the owners of Jess Clinic, who was attacked by some local criminals, died yesterday after fighting for life for the last six days at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital in the capital.

District and Sessions Judge of Sylhet yesterday deferred charge framing in the case involving the incident of grenade attack on AL men at Gulshan Centre on August 7, 2004.

Marriage of a student of class three was stopped by a teacher yesterday. The 9-year-old bride was Sheuli, 9, daughter of Golam Mostafa of Kabirpur village under Shailkupa upazila. Sheuli is a student of Kabirpur Government Primary School.

Dr Md Shafiqul Islam, joint secretary of the district unit of Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad (SCP) and treasurer of Bangladesh Medical Association in Jessore, succumbed to his injures at BSMMU hospital yesterday, says a press release.

Two Faridpur courts yesterday sentenced four people to life imprisonment in two separate cases of murder and rape. In the murder case, Ali Akbar and his son Halim Fakir of village Char Chanda Ashapur under Modhukhali upazila were punished for killing one Rahima Begum on July 16,2006. They were also fined Tk 10,000 each, in default, to suffer six months more in jail. In the rape case, Shyamol Chandra Biswas and his friend Sanjoy of Char Gojaria of Sadar upazila were punished for rape of a female student of class eight on September 7, 2008.

The two-day Celebrating Life Festival, jointly organised by The Daily Star and Standard Chartered Bank, ended in the hilly town of Rangamati last night with a concert featuring patriotic and modern Bangla songs and dance.

Around 80 people including four policemen were injured in clashes at Mohishadanga village in Magura Sadar upazila yesterday morning and Sunday evening. Rival groups led by Tofazzal Hossain and Shawkat Ali Biswas engaged in a clash following a local grocery shop owner's demanding due bills from a customer. The clash left 13 people including four policemen injured, police and locals said. In a sequel to the incident, the two groups involved in another clash at around 6:30am yesterday. At least 67 people were injured as both the groups used lethal weapons during the clash that lasted for about five hours. On information, police rushed to the spot and arrested 33 people including 15 women from the village.

Two rival groups of pirates traded gun fires for over an hour on Sunday afternoon at Dadhmukhi canal under Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat district. Unconfirmed sources said seven people were killed as Raju Bahini and Zulfiqur Bahini clashed in the Sundarbans. They said the gunfight took place at Dudhmukhi canal. Officials of the east wing of Sundarbans Forest Division admitted to the hour-long battle but could not confirm if the gunfight left anyone dead or injured. Sharankhola police said coastguards rescued 26 fishermen on Sunday evening from Lathimara canal of the Sundarbans. Two engine trawlers and six fishing boats were also recovered from there.

A housewife allegedly committed suicide at village Krisnapur in Chandina upazila yesterday. Khorsheda Begum,20, daughter of Abul Kashem of village Bosantapur was found hanging from ceiling of her bedroom with a scarf around her neck. The family members broke open the door in the morning after they saw Khorsheda's hanging body through the widow. Chandina police recovered the body at around 10:00am and sent it to Comilla Medical College and Hospital morgue for autopsy. In another incident, police recovered body of a youth from a ditch at village Krisnapur in Sadar upazila yesterday morning. The deceased was identified as Tipu Sultan,19, son of Zahidul Islam of village Paththubi. Tipu was a student of Bamail Degree College. Police said, there were several marks of stab injuries in the victim's body.

Ramadan is the month of self-restraint. If we go by the spirit of Ramadan and teachings of Islam, then consumption of food items should go down. As a result, demand for food items should also go down and in that case dwindling demand would automatically force the prices down. As a matter of fact, this should be the situation in the Muslim majority countries during Ramadan. But the opposite is seen everywhere. The spirit of Ramadan and the teachings of Islam being taken out of the context year after year, consumption of food goes up. So much so that for the last few years successive governments in Bangladesh are facing the challenge of their existence during Ramadan over the prices of food items! It got worse when the print and electronic media jumped into the bandwagon.

Journalism as a profession has acquired a broader dimension today. The skill-sets are no longer specific and the importance of digital media cannot be ignored any more. A holistic training is becoming imperative to equip students to meet the myriad demands of the industry. Above all, students are taught how to write well. We aim to deliver skills such as communicating ideas, problem-solving, team work, creativity and innovation, ability to work under pressure and, flexibility and multi-tasking. Students have to learn to write well, to communicate clearly, work well in teams, work to deadlines and learn how to be persuasive to get interviews, among other things. This is the duty of our generation as we enter the twenty-first century -- solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick, and those in despair. It is expressed by the desire to give a noble and humanizing meaning to a community in which all members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others.

Our pharmaceutical sector is one of the developed and hi-tech sectors, which is contributing to our national economy. After the promulgation of The Drug Control Ordinance 1982, the development of this sector was accelerated. At present there are 222 licensed pharmaceutical companies; but now 164 of them are in operation in Bangladesh. Now Bangladesh is exporting medicines to more than 180 countries around the world. In the last fiscal year, the export of medicines was worth around BDT 300 crores.

During my last visit to Dhaka in March, exactly on 23rd March 2009, I found myself in a Jewellery shop by chance selling gold and diamond articles in a Gulshan shopping enclave.

A detailed article, written by a professor of Khulna University, published in "The Financial Express" on July 26, gives some very interesting points about the Tipaimukh dam and BNP's hue and cry about it. In the professor's opinion it is all a political sham, engineered by the leader of the opposition to regain political ground shattered by her party's total defeat in the last election!

There are around nine hundred students in the commerce faculty of Dhaka University, while there are about three thousand and a half in the arts faculty.

In his remark, Syed Ashraful Islam, Awami League General Secretary, very clearly mentioned what his party wants to come up with the proposal to end the nasty political culture. He even offers to the opposition party to turn the proposal into deed in which the nation can experience such a political culture where corruption, extortion, murders, pilferage, anarchy can no longer exist. The bottom line of the persuasive, but still logical, remark rests on three observations:

A parliamentary standing committee expressed its deep concern that some political people of the government party were involved in crimes like tender hijacking in many places in the country.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said yesterday that Nato would help prevent Afghanistan from once more becoming the main hub of international terrorism as he took the helm of the military alliance.

A bomb planted in a rubbish bin detonated next to a police convoy here yesterday, killing 12 people in the latest attack to hit beleaguered Afghanistan weeks before elections.

Beneath the surface of relative calm in the Swat Valley, there is a sense of both fear and hope over whether peace will ever return to the area in the wake of the military offensive against the Taliban.

After deposed king Gyanendra, whose property was to have been investigated by a succession of governments, it is now the turn of his arch-enemy, the Maoists, to face a similar probe -- by their own comrades.

While the international community condemns the prison trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, many people in military-ruled Myanmar have more pressing concerns as they struggle to make ends meet.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday formally endorsed hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president for a new four-year term amid intense political turmoil in the Islamic republic.

Former president Pervez Musharraf could be tried by simple majority resolution of Parliament, Pakistan's Attorney General Latif Khosa has said.

West Bengal Minister for Transport and Sports and senior CPI-M leader Subhas Chakraborty died at a private hospital here yesterday. He was 68.

Pakistan's Supreme Court Monday indefinitely adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging the release of Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, who India claims is the mastermind of last year's Mumbai terror attack.

Pakistani Christians have closed their schools and colleges across the country for three days starting yesterday to mourn and protest the killings of eight of their religious brethren, leaders of the minority community said.

Police in western China have detained another 319 people suspected of being involved in deadly ethnic unrest between Muslim minority Uighurs and the dominant Han Chinese community last month, a state news agency said.

Malaria, which affects some 500 million people a year worldwide, was first transmitted to humans by chimpanzees, according to a US study out yesterday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman yesterday vowed to stand down if indicted on graft charges, raising the spectre of disarray in the four-month-old right-wing coalition government.

A second man has died of pneumonic plague in northwest China, in an outbreak that prompted authorities to lock down a town where about a dozen people were infected with the highly contagious deadly lung disease, a state news agency said.

The government yesterday deferred a bill that aimed to get judges to disclose their assets.

Masses of mourners yelled her name as former president Corazon Aquino's body was escorted Monday through rain-soaked streets to Manila Cathedral, along a historic avenue that 23 years ago became the site of a "people power" revolt against a dictator led by the woman in a yellow dress.

A Sudanese journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing "indecent" trousers vowed on the eve of her judgment that she is ready to be whipped 40,000 times in her bid to change the country's harsh laws.

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar here said that India would build four 700-megawatt nuclear power units shortly.

Scuffles broke out on Sunday when hundreds of Saudi women students held a rare protest at a university over alleged corrupt admission policies, local newspapers reported.

Suspected Muslim militants killed three people and injured four others in separate attacks in Indian Kashmir amid an upsurge in violence in the revolt-hit region, police said yesterday.

Five people were killed, including a policeman and two soldiers, in a string of bomb attacks in Iraq yesterday, police said.

The present environment in the country's filmdom has left Sirajul Islam, a veteran actor-director, with little option but to quit films. In the year 2000 he acted in the film Ami Bou Hobo, directed by Hasmat, after which he has not set foot at the FDC Film Development Corporation (FDC).

Shaheed Kabir Polash belongs to a next generation of Nazrul singers. His first album “Pordeshi Badhua” was released in April, 2009 under the banner of Laser Vision. The album features 12 Nazrul songs.

This year's "Lux-Channel i Super Star" pageant was launched yesterday. This instalment of the pageant offers more opportunities for the contestants, as the winner will earn an exclusive chance to take acting classes at an internationally recognised institute.

After a lull, Kathakoli (a theatre group of Sylhet), staged its 25th production "Lal Dewan" for two consecutive nights on July 31 and August 1 at the M Saifur Rahman Auditorium in the city.

Nazrul exponent, trainer and artiste Sohrab Hossain is the guest on tonight's "Agroj Anuj." The show will be aired on Boishakhi TV tonight at 8pm.

TV serial "Johur Ali Johuri" will be aired on Ekushey TV tonight at 9:30 mp. The serial is aired every Tuesday and Wednesday.

Steven Spielberg is to direct a remake of 1950 James Stewart classic "Harvey"-- the tale of a man who claims his best friend is a giant invisible rabbit.

A national child labour policy is going to be adopted very soon, which is really good news. There must be a well-balanced public policy to establish the rights of the child labourers and improve the child labour situation.

THE United States and China, two major economic engines of the world, met for the first round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), under the Obama administration, in Washington on July 27-28. China is the largest developing nation, with a GDP of $4.2 trillion (2008) and US is the largest developed country, with a GDP of $14.2 trillion (2008) -- the two have been nicknamed "G2."

THE day is July 28, Dhaka city stands half paralysed because of stagnancy of water due to the exceptionally heavy rainfall the night before. With global climate change such a situation is likely to recur, but our drainage system does not have the capacity to cope with it. To design and develop an effective drainage system will not only be a time consuming exercise but will also, apart from being very costly, be almost impossible as unplanned construction is widespread and could be a prohibiting factor.