News of Today (27-9-2010)

1.Me talks face collapse as settlement freeze  ends:Jarusalem
2.Kashmir protest leader rejects Indian govt offer.
3.UN chief urges Asia nations to pressure Myanmar.
4.Japan refuses to apologise in China row.
5.Afghan election descends into war of numbers.
6.Philippines remembers dead from worst floods.
7.Thousands rally in Taiwan against 'incompetent judges'
8.Kuwait to scrap sponsor system for workers.
9.China offers hope of easing one-child policy.
10.Russia against sanctions on Iran despite missiles ban .
11.Chavez set to retain parliament in vote.
12.Impasse threatens Australian.
13.China - Russia ties 'sealed by blood'
14.New study sheds light on saudi volcano risk.
15.Drugs debilitate society Two million bottles o f smuggled Phensedyl seized since 2009.
16.21 ruling party men sent to jail.
17.Speaker asks govt to probe alleged graft.
18.Deal inked allowing Cairn to sell gas to third party.

Ups News (26-9-2010)

1.Eyes on Hillary ,Abbas as end to settlement freeze looms
 .Pak PM cancels Europe trip
3.India seeks sustained talks with Kashmiris to end unrest china hits at Japan after boat captain freed.
4.UP battles flood fury as 68 more dia , toll rises to 380 :Delhi.
5.Aquino bans own face from immigration cards.
6.Fatah , Hamas in reconciliation talks .
7.Man held in Sweden after Pak Plane threat
8.Iran may halt higher enrichment if given fuel:Ahmadinejad.
9.Obama blasts Republicans for"worn-out" ideas.
10.Chile freezes mine assets to pay for rescue.
11.South Sudanese urge world to honour referendum backing :sudan.
12.Seven dead as Matthew slams Central America.
13.Russian -US space crew Lands in Kazakhstan.
14.Departmental action against 150 OSDs :Mostafizur Rahman.
15.Student's death in road accident  30 hurt as police, students clash
16.Al-admin conflict intensifies in Pabna Ruling party to besige DC office today .
17.Powerful cartels control drug smuggling:BDR,BDR-BSF talks continue.
18.SQ Chy may be arrested ICT prosecutor tells journilists
19.Political impasse continues in Nepal ahead of poll
20.Lost language unearthed in a letter
21.New CJ within day or two as incumbent retires Sept 30 SC reopents today
22.Padma bridge project faces setback WB rejects selected pre-qualifiers, demands re-tender.

Latest news Headline (24-9-2010)

1.Most blame US govt for 9/11: Ahmadinejed.
2.Japan to free China's boat captain.
3.HOSTAGE ROW France offers al-Qaeda talks.
4.German Catholic Church to conpesate abuse victims.
5.Israel 'ready to compromise' on settlement:US.
6.Pakistan wants jailed scientist repatriated .
7.NATO frees Al Jazeera cameramen .
8.Child killed in Afghan suicide blast.
9.Queen asked for handout from heating fund for poor:London
10.Soviet 1991 coup leader Gennady Yanayev dies :Moscow
11.IAEA throws out resolution against Israel
12.Colombia kills top FARC commander Reuters
13.Strikes challenge Sarkozy on pension reform
14.303 mass raped in DR Congo:UN
15.US Afghan war review may prompt big changes
16.1 in 5 gay, bisexual men in US cities has HIV:Chicago
17.Gunmen kill Mexican mayor near Monterrey:Mexico
18.BNP not to join current JS session: Bangladesh
19.Living in rickety buildings under looming threat of earthquake
20.Pickup van kills student in city sparking mob protest.
21.Obama lauds Hasina's leadership for attaining MDGs.

Friday News headLine

1.Australian PM majority becomes slimmer.
2.Indian SC defers flashpoint Avodhva ruling.
3.Bush team focused on war with Iraq from start
4.UN experts condemn Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla.
5.Al-Qaeda warns France not to try rescuing hostages:SITE.
6.Fresh Mogadishu fighting kills 19 civilians.
7.Slum demolition protest shuts Philippines highway.
8.Typhoon Fanapi kills 54 in China.
9.Iran ready for nuclear talks if they are 'fair'.
10.Venezuela parliament vote to test Chavez.
11.North Korea reshuffles officials ahead of party meet.
12.Accused bigamist snared on Facebook.
13.2 new horned dinosaurs discover in western US.
14.Dhaka renews call for halt to border killing:Ban.
15.14 military planes, choppers crash in 17 years:Ban.
16.Load shadding comes back every alternate hours:Bangladesh.
17.Obama urges new ways to tackle poverty.

To day is 23-9-2010

1.Afghanistan tackling 4,000 poll complaints.
2.Pakistan floods hit 10,000 schools:UN
3.Asia struggles to cope as storms spread destruction
4.India holds its breath for divisive ayodhya verdict
5.I more death takes Kashmir toll to 104
6."Extinct " frogs haven't croaked
7.Settker guard kills Palestinian in east Jerusalem
8.China's wen threatens to step up Japan row
9.Bomb Kills 12 at Iran military parade
10.Obama to swap election fury for diplomatic jamboree
11.Six power mull nuclear dialogue with Iran
12.Switzerland gets majority female cabinet
13.NATO, Russia seek new trust at NY talks
14.MK Alamgir loses JS seat
15.Chemical warehouse relocation moves at snail's pace
16.JS passes bill to punish errant realtors
17.Law minister's statement expunged on angry AL MPs' demand.

Twesday (22-9-2010)

 1.Govt.remove illegal markets,structures on highways.
2.Tribunal turns down Jamaat petitions.
3.Bangladesh needs $22b to achieve MDGs :PM.
4.Requisition of pvt vehicles by police still rampant.
5.Indian MPs heckled on Kashmir fact-finding mission.
6.Over 3,000 complaints about Afghan vote.
7.China rejects fance-mending meeting with Japan.
8.Quartet to urge Israel to keep settlement freeze.
9.Asia faces rising cost from disasters:report.
10.India accused over maternal mortality rates.
11.Delhi C'wealth Games stadium footbridge collapses.

12.Food threat looms for Pak child flood victims:UN

Headlines Thursdat (16-9-2010)

1.Bangladesh on children's use in politics,risky jobs proposed.
2.No scope for controversy:Shafique.
3.Mod blocks Dhaka-Aricha Highway.
4.Flooding to worsen in north,central dists.
5.Rajshahi face Sylhet in  NCL opener.
6.Jamie talks tough on Ash.
7.Inter , MU held as Barca hit five.
8.Bangladesh topple India in FIFA ranking.
9.Pakistan trio to contest ICC suspensions.
10.Redbacks stun mighty Mumbai.
11.Musharraf backs Aamer.
12.Bolt targets 'unbeatable' 9.4 sec desh
13.Modest Nadal says Grand Slam just a 'step forward'

14.Buonanotte charged with triple homicide

15.Low questions Ballack return.

Wedness Headlines (15-9-2010)

1.Flooding worsens as rivers keep swelling.
2.Holiday hangover still persists.
3.Villagers lay siege to Barapukuria power plant.
4.Myanmer agrees to go ahead with tri-nation road link.
5.New deadline set for Nepal peace process.
6.Six killed in road accidents.
7.IEDCR confirms 13 new cases of anthrax infection.
8.Govt. reduces time scale for day secretaries by two years .
9.Low over north bay persists.
10.India lost $125 b in illicit outflows.
11.Performance checks halt Ctg power plant production.
12.Nail torture case shines light on Asis's migrant maids.
13.One house,one farm project to infuse dynamism to rural economy:Hasina.

14.Walking help keep body and brain young.

Amarican language is very badful of the world

    Amarican language is very hearmful and bed for the earth.They said 'they will frieng the holey Quran'.This is very cerious tough to the muslims and their god.that might be not accepted to the godness men.So they will praying of the god.and abcourse they were pannised by the god how saws this things.If god is angry they will panished all of them.This will be very bedful of U.S.A. Allah is God.Muslim is prayed by allah.U.S.A. Government Obema is a Muslim.So why they will say this.

Iraq Mission (UN) Accomplished

           The Iraq mission that began with false statements,falsification and forgery remains unaccomplished for the empire although the last combat troops, theoretically ,left the country , and although George W Bush made the 'accomplishment'announcment , another falsification also, years ago.A report of the Associated press described the rolling out of the last stryker carrying combat troops from Iraq War fabricated by Bush and Tony Blair.The "Bush-Blair 2003 Iraq memo' or the 'Manning memo' . a five -page once -secret memo, was first reported by Philippe Sands, a professor at University College,London. in his book Lawless World.The New York Times: Bush was set on Path to War, memo by British Advisor Says'

US Slaps New sanctions

              The US government has slapped new sanctions on North Korea,targeting illegal trade in arms,drugs and luxury goods,as it steps up the pressure over the sinking of a South Korean warship.      The treasury department announced Monday it was imposing sanctions on four people and eight organizations accused of aiding the secretive communist government through illicit trade. President Barack Obama issued an order freezing assets and imposing travel bans,in the latest action over the sinking of the South Korean navy ship in March which washington and Seoul have blamed on North Korea. Obama also expanded the scope of US sanctions to cover those involved in the trade in arms,drugs and luxury goods to and from the dirt-poor nation.Among those targeted was a secretive branch of the Korean Worker's Party, known as Office 39,which is suspected of selling methamphetamine in China and South Korea and acquiring luxury items for North Korea's leaders.

Flooding Worsens In Central Dists

The flood situation in Manikganj,Rajbari,Faridpur,Shariatpur and Munshiganj is likely to deteriorate further as the river flowing through the districts continued swelling,Bangladesh water Development Board flood information centre said on Monday.

The Jamuna marked futher rise and was flowing 12 cm above its flood level at Sirajganj and 3 cm above the flood makes at Bahadurabad at 6:00 am Monday,the centre added.

1320 MW power deal signed with India

Bangladesh Power Development Board and NTPC of India Monday signed an agreement in New Delhi to set up a 1,320MW power project in joint venture in Bangladesh.
   Bangladesh high commissioner to India Tariq A Karim, Indian power secretary P Uma Sankar and PDB chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir were present at the MoU signing ceremony.
   AK Sharma GM (I/C), Consultancy Wing and Abul Quasem, chief engineer (generation) signed the MoU on behalf of their respective governments of India and Bangladesh.
   According to the MoU, a copy of which is available to UNB, the governments of India and Bangladesh will facilitate joint co-operation between PDB and NTPC for power generation, transmission, energy efficiency and development of various
   types of renewable energy.
   The two governments will facilitate investments in each other’s country in the fields of power generation and transmission, including joint venture investments subject to their existing policies and legislation.
   Earlier, the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Steering Committee on Power Sector held a meeting in New Delhi on January 12 when it was agreed that NTPC and BPDB will co-operate with each other and enter into a MoU to move the co-operation in the area of power generation in Bangladesh.

Old Town Chemical shops without fire licence

Only two out of some 702 chemical shops and stores in the old parts of Dhaka have valid fire safety licences, sources in the fire service and civil defence directorate said on Sunday.
   After the tragic June 3 fire incident that originated from a chemical storage at Nimtali that claimed some 124 lives, the fire service directorate prepared a list of 994 chemical traders in Dhaka metropolitan area.
   The directorate at a meeting on Monday submitted the list to the task force formed to take measures for shifting chemical warehouses from the city’s crowded residential areas.
   At the meeting, the representatives of the chemical traders, who clearly have little or no fire safety measures, pressed for further extension of the deadline that ends on September 30.
   ‘I have no say in this regard. The ministry of industries will decide it,’ Md Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, head of the task force, replied to the traders.
   The Dhaka City Corporation and the Explosives Department also submitted separate lists of chemical traders, licensed under their jurisdictions, at the meeting, he said.

Judges always supported military rules:SQ chy

Front ranking BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury MP on Sunday said judges had supported marital law whenever it came in the country and administered oath to the military government though the responsibility of the judges was to protect the constitution.
   He made the observation at a discussion marking the day of Tarique Rahman’s release from prison.
   BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman was released from jail on September 3, 2008 after his arrest in March 2007 during the army-backed caretaker government.
   The discussion was organised by Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal at the Bhasani Auditorium in the city’s Nayapaltan Sunday afternoon.
   Chaired by BNP senior joint secretary general and acting president of Krishak Dal Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the discussion was also addressed, among others, by Krishak Dal general secretary Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal general secretary Shirin Sultana, JCD general secretary Amirul Islam Alim and Krishak Dal leader Takdir Hossain Jasim.
   Taking part in the discussion, BNP standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury said if the judiciary became highly ambitious politically then the constitution loses its balance. ‘Consti-tutional continuity and political stability none remains safe.’

Minimum Fitra Tk.45

Minimum fitra is Tk 45, said Islamic Foundation Sunday that had earlier fixed fitra for this year at Tk 100.
   Explaining, the foundation said the fitra was fixed on August 26 at Tk 100 taking into consideration the price of 1.65kg staple food.
   The minimum fitra is equal to 1.65kg rice the market price of which is Tk 45. Therefore, one can give the minimum of Tk 45 as fitra, said a press release of Islamic Foundation.
   Fitra is wajib (mandatory) and should be paid to the needy for each member of the family before the Eid congregation.

Ershad Meet Hasina

Jatiya Party chairman and former president HM Ershad met the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday, ostensibly to discuss strengthening the alliance headed by the ruling Awami League.
   The visit, which took place at 11:00am, came three days after the High Court declared the Seventh Amendment that legitimised Ershad’s 9-year autocratic rule illegal.
   Jatiya Party presidium member Qazi Firoz Rashid told bdnews24.com, ‘Sir (Ershad) has visited the prime minister. They discussed issues relating to strengthening the alliance, so far I know.’

Indian Govt offers cash to Naxals who surrender

Having achieved limited success in defeating the Maoists militarily, the Indian government is now dangling attractive monetary rewards to those Naxalites who are willing to surrender with arms.
   The centre has asked Maoist-affected states to draw surrender policies similar to the one announced by it about a year ago that includes a package of nearly two lakh rupees if the Naxalite comes with arms.
   The central government’s policy gives each surrendered Naxalite an immediate grant of rs 1.5 lakh, a rs 3,000 monthly stipend during vocational training for up to three years and even monetary incentives for surrender of weapons.
   The rs 1.5 lakh would be kept in a bank in the name of the surrendered ultra as a fixed deposit, which may be withdrawn by him or her after completion of three years, subject to good behaviour to be certified by the authorities designated for this purpose by the states concerned.
   The home ministry has conveyed to Naxal-affected states that apart from continuing armed operations, they must address questions of poverty and economic deprivation, which apparently motivate many youths to join the extremist ranks.
   ‘A good and effective surrender and rehabilitation policy would definitely encourage many Maoist cadres to shun violence and surrender before the authorities. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for each state to formulate one,’ an official said.

Tony Blair not welcome

I am disappointed to read that Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, will be coming to Dhaka with his wife on a private visit. I am disappointed that Bangladesh issued him and his wife a visa given his global reputation as a religious zealot and one of the prime architects of the current global turmoil — namely the protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Blair blatantly misled the British parliament and the British people when he stated that Iraq had the weapon to attack within 45 minutes and used it as an excuse to invade Iraq. In doing so not only did he violate international laws and wage an illegal war but also caused unprecedented death and destruction in those countries. This is a man who will be remembered as one of the biggest liars of this century. This is a man who is an international war criminal.
   Why then is such a character being allowed entry into a country that is in the process of trying its own war criminals? Why is such an individual — visiting in a private capacity — being given VVIP treatment? Does that not lower the stature of Bangladesh in the eyes of the world? How can Bangladesh expect any respect or credit from the world community when it bestows state honours on a man like Blair whose religious zealousy is still causing so much pain and anguish to innocent victims of his ‘crusade’?

Obama Family easy to please

Serving meals for the US president, Barack Obama, and his family is not as tough a job as outsiders like to think, according to White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford.
   ‘The president and his family are very open to all different types of food. It’s very easy to please them,’ Comerford, who emigrated to the United States from the Philippines in the 1980s, said on a visit to Hong Kong.
   ‘It’s such a blessing to have that.’
   Obama’s family love trying seafood such as Maryland blue crabs, and a wide variety of international cuisines, including Chinese dim sum and Vietnamese dishes, she said.
   Comerford was appointed to head the White House’s kitchen ‘cabinet’ by former first lady Laura Bush in 2005, making her the first female and the first person of ethnic minority origin to hold the position.
   Together with other chefs serving heads of states around the world including the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Comerford was invited to Hong Kong by a hotel group this week to sample local cuisine.
   The group will also visit Macau and Beijing.
   In addition to leading a team of seven full-time chefs for the White House, the executive chef took on an additional task under the Obama administration: tending to the White House Garden.
   The organic plot, on a secluded part of the White House’s south lawn, was an initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama last year to promote healthy eating habits across the country.
   School children and volunteers were hired to take care of the plot, which grows a large variety of vegetables and herbs, the chef said, adding that the produce is used throughout the White House.
   ‘We harvested more than 100 pounds of vegetables last year from the tiny plot. We hope to turn it into a four-season garden.’
   Comerford admitted it was always a challenge to cook for large state dinners with guests having very different dietary needs.
   ‘You have to be cognisant of all of their different dietary preferences. But you also have to be very even-tempered.
   ‘At the end of the day, you try to make most of them happy.’

Women cannot wear burqa in court:

A Muslim witness in an Australian fraud trial must remove her all-covering burqa while giving evidence, a judge ruled Thursday.
   Western Australia District Court Judge Shauna Deane said it would be inappropriate for the woman to testify with her face covered but didn’t specify what the woman could wear. The judge said the woman’s decision to wear the burqa came down to ‘reasons of modesty’ and a ‘personal preference’ in her interpretation of Islam, rather than a religious requirement.
   Defence attorneys argued the jury needs to be able to see the witness’s facial expressions to assess what she says, while prosecutors said the woman’s discomfort without the garment could affect her testimony.
   Deane stressed that her decision applied only to this case and wasn’t setting a precedent for other courts, but the issue has sparked national interest and drawn comparisons to France and Belgium, where there are efforts to ban the wearing of Islamic face veils. In Australia, some Muslims wear head scarves, but burqas are almost never worn.
   The woman is an Islamic studies teacher who has only been identified by her first name, Tasneem. She is 36, has lived in Australia for seven years and has worn a burqa since she was 17.
   She is a prosecution witness in a case against the director of a company that ran a Muslim women’s college in Perth. The director, Anwar Sayed, is accused of inflating the number of students at the school in 2006 and 2007 to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grants.

Brown seeks lucrative speaking dayes

Britain’s former prime minister Gordon Brown is offering himself for speaking engagements at a cost of 100,000 dollars (78,000 euros) an hour, a magazine reported Thursday.
   Brown, whose book on the global financial crisis is due out in November, has asked a London agency to look for possible engagements for him in the Middle East and Asia, the Spectator said, quoting an unnamed ‘impeccable’ source.
   The former premier, whose centre-left Labour party lost Britain’s general election in May, is also said to be asking for five-star hotel accommodation, a first class plane ticket and three business class ones as part of any deal.
   His wife Sarah is reportedly available to present prizes at events where he speaks for a further 20,000 dollars.
   Brown said before leaving the top job in British politics that he wanted to do ‘something good’ afterwards, indicating this could include working in the charity sector or education rather than business.
   He has kept a low profile since the election defeat, writing his book at home in Scotland, but last week appeared on television appealing to Britons to donate to Pakistan’s flood relief effort.

Australia's First women PM battles election disaster

Australia’s first woman prime minister Julia Gillard will fight for her political life in a nail-biting election Saturday which could doom her as one of the country’s shortest-serving leaders.
   Gillard, 48, who came to power in a hail of controversy after knifing elected leader Kevin Rudd, has shrunk to a wafer-thin lead in the opinion polls over conservative Tony Abbott, the pugnacious opposition leader.
   Defeat of the Welsh-born Gillard, whose parents emigrated in 1966, would make her Labor Party the first single-term government since Second World War, and return the Liberal/National Coalition to power after less than three years.
   It would also cap a dramatic period of upheaval in Australian politics, starting with the once enormously popular Rudd’s slide down the approval ratings and highlighted by his spectacular ousting in June.
   ‘When I became prime minister I said to the Australian people I would very quickly call an election so people could have their say,’ Gillard said Wednesday. ‘Everybody gets their say on Saturday.’
   The latest Newspoll gives the former industrial lawyer a 52-48 per cent advantage over Abbott, but with some 40 marginal seats in the 150-seat lower house, the race is viewed as too close to call.
   Haydon Manning, head of politics at Adelaide’s Flinders University, said the election — a compulsory vote by about 14 million electors, spread across the vast and varied continent — could be the tightest in decades.
   ‘Voters are looking at two of the least exposed leaders since World War II,’ he said. ‘To a lot of average voters, Gillard and Abbott are not names they know well. They wouldn’t know very much about them at all.
   ‘At this stage there’s a lot of undecided voters and anything could change their minds.’
   During the bitter campaign, Gillard has struggled to dispel memories of June 24, when as deputy prime minister she suddenly turned on her boss, Rudd, and deposed him in a party ballot backed by shadowy factional chiefs.

Pakistan accused of Kashmir Truce Violation

India’s army on Thursday accused Pakistan of violating a ceasefire along their militarised border, accusing it of trying to push Islamic militants into divided Kashmir under the cover of fire.
   A defence spokesman said Indian military posts in southern Kashmir came under small arms and mortar fire from across the border in a pre-dawn skirmish with Pakistani troops that lasted around two hours.
   ‘Pakistani troops opened unprovoked firing at Indian posts and targeted several positions in Poonch’ district, Lieutenant Colonel Biplab Nath said in Indian Kashmir’s winter capital Jammu.
   ‘Our soldiers retaliated to the firing,’ Nath said, adding there were no casualties on the Indian side in Poonch, a hilly Kashmir district some 240 kilometres northwest of Jammu.
   The Press Trust of India quoted an Indian commander as saying dozens of mortar shells exploded around Indian posts.
   ‘It is ceasefire violation and it was aimed at infiltrating militants into this side of the Line of Control,’ brigadier S Dua said, referring to a de facto border which divides the Indian and Pakistani zones of Kashmir.
   India has in the past accused the Pakistani army of providing covering fire for infiltrating militants. Islamabad denies the charge.
   Meanwhile, 20 people were hurt Thursday in fresh clashes with the police after the death of a nine-year old boy injured during a weekend protest in Indian Kashmir, the police said.
   The death brought to 59 the number of protesters and bystanders killed in two months of violent protests in the mainly Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, most of them young men or teenagers shot dead by security forces.
   They agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC in 2003 and began a peace process in 2004. Since then there have been sporadic clashes with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce.

Myanmar opposition widens reach befour poll

The Myanmar opposition party formed by ex-members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy opened a new office in Mandalay Thursday to drum up support ahead of November elections.
   Watched by plain-clothes police and military intelligence personnel, about 100 people attended the inaugural ceremony in the central city, where members of the National Democratic Force cut a ribbon and released balloons.
   ‘We cannot avoid the coming election, whether we assume it is fair or not,’ NDF chairman Than Nyein said in a speech.
   ‘People might have expected in the past they would vote again for the NLD as they had done before. But, unexpectedly, the NLD does not exist any more as it is not participating in the election.’
   He said NDF members felt they would be failing in their duties if they did not stand in the country’s first polls in two decades when people are ready to cast their votes.
   ‘We will not go backwards nor run away.... We are not people who will retreat because of difficulties,’ he said.
   The NDF’s decision to contest the election has put it at odds with other former members of the NLD — including Suu Kyi — who opted to boycott the poll because of ‘unjust’ election laws.
   The vote has been widely condemned by activists and the West as a sham aimed at shoring up almost half a century of military rule.

4.6 m Without Shelter in Pakistan

The United Nations on Thursday estimated 4.6 million people are still without shelter after Pakistan’s devastating floods, tripling its target number for assistance as it prepared to drum up more aid.
   The United Nations has described Pakistan’s worst humanitarian crisis as one of the world’s biggest disasters, but while foreign aid is now reaching some of the 20 million flood victims, critics have slammed the response as too slow.
   At least six million survivors are dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive, in desperate need of food, shelter and clean drinking water, with concerns growing over potential outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and hepatitis.
   ‘Roughly 4.6 million people are still without shelter,’ Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Islamabad, said.
   The estimate includes hundreds of thousands of people who are still on the move, he said. Not all of them could be considered technically ‘homeless’ because they may find homes to return to when the flood waters recede.
   ‘In this context we have decided to increase the number of targeted beneficiaries for tents and plastic sheeting from the initial figure of two million to at least six million,’ he said.
   At a camp for the displaced from across the country, survivors are battling with crippling heat, miserable sanitation and swarms of mosquitoes.

1000 Prisoners Set Free

A deranged Arun Kanti Ghosh, 45, was released from Dhaka Central Jail after serving for 19 years in a double murder case in old Dhaka.
   Once a member of a terror group, Arun killed two of his group over a dispute and was sentenced to serve for 31 years.
   Arun, who lost his mental balance after his first two years in prison, was one of the 75 people who were released from the Dhaka central jail as part of government’s decision to set free some 1,000 prisoners serving for long periods. Arun’s elder brother Gopal Ghosh, who came to receive him at the jail gate, said they will try to find cure for Arun and help him lead a normal life.
   The government on Thursday released 1,000 prisoners from 68 jails across the country, the largest mass release in the history of Bangladesh.
   ‘The inmates who had already served 20 years imprisonment were freed from the 68 jails under title 569 of the prison code, which grants amnesty to prisoners who are elderly or have showed good conducts,’ said inspector general of prisons Brigadier Mohammad Ashraful Islam Khan.