Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on Thursday justified the five-year ban imposed on Shoaib Akhtar, saying the controversial fast bowler had been asking for trouble for quite some time now, reports PTI.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board seems to have taken the decision after careful thought. I don’t think they have hurried into making this decision,” Inzamam, who is leading Lahore Badshahs in the Indian Cricket League, said. Inzamam justified the action by the PCB, though he pointed out that it was a bit “too harsh”.

A 5-day Basanti Fair began Friday at Bangladesh Girls Guide Association’s premises at Baily Road in the city, reports UNB.

Organised by Expo Bangla Worldwide, some 15 small entrepreneurs are participating in the fair. The fair will remain open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm till Tuesday.

A two-day conference on Bangladesh’s devastating cyclone Sidr has been kicked off at the Oxford University in UK under the auspices of the Oxford International Biomedicine Conference (OIBC) and the British Royal Institute, a message received in the city on Friday said, reports agency.

Agriculture and Water Resources Adviser Dr CS Karim said every inch of fallow land should be brought under cultivation to cope with any future food shortage in the country, reports agency.

Karim, who visited different flood-control embankments in the haor areas under Madan, Khaliajury and Mahanganj upazilas of Netrakona district, said the domestic production of paddy, wheat, potato and other crops should be increased to ensure food security.

Seven thousand and five hundred tonnes of rice given by the Indian government as aid for the people affected by flood and other natural disasters in Bangladesh will reach Chittagong port within a few days, reports agency.

According to a press release issued by the Indian High Commission here, India has already supplied 12,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh out of 40,000 tonnes committed by New Delhi as assistance to the country for its relief and rehabilitation programme following flood and other natural disasters.

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury had meetings with European External Relations Commissioner Mrs Benita Ferrero-Waldner and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering at Brussels on Thursday evening, reports UNB.

With Waldner, the foreign adviser reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral political and economic relations between Bangladesh and the European Union.

The nation’s employers eliminated tens of thousands of jobs for the third month in a row, the government reported Friday, and top Democrats immediately called for new measures to help suffering American workers, reports agency.

After the early-morning report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that 80,000 jobs had disappeared in March, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said she would propose a second economic stimulus package. Hers would supplement the $150 billion in tax rebates scheduled to be mailed to millions of Americans beginning next month.

New York, Reuters - US Treasury bond prices rose but stocks were little changed on Friday after the biggest monthly decline in US payrolls in five years fed expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further to bolster the sluggish US economy.

Trading in the energy, currency and equity markets around the globe was choppy as investors assessed the outlook for the U.S. economy and how much more damage a global credit crunch can inflict.

Agency

Dhaka has sought greater access to the European market, the Bangladesh mission in Brussels said in a statement Friday.

Foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, now on a two-day trip to Brussels, made the request to the European Union when he met Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European external relations commissioner.

It seems ludicrous that following the footsteps of the Food Adviser Shaukat Ali who advised people to eat less, the Special Assistant for Power and Energy has asked industrial units to reduce gas consumption and also to install own power plants. The newly elected President of the FBCCI has dismissed the Special Assistant’s advice as a prescription to destroy the country’s economy. It is a reasonable guess that like businessmen dealing in essentials and MS rods disregarding the caretaker government’s repeated requests, gas and electricity users would also do the same.

REUTERS, ISLAMABAD - Nearly half of Pakistan's 160 million people are at risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices, the World Food Programme said on Friday.

The WFP survey covering the year to March showed the number of people deemed "food insecure" had risen 28 percent to 77 million from 60 million in the previous year.

REUTERS, ISLAMABAD - Nearly half of Pakistan's 160 million people are at risk of going short of food due to a surge in prices, the World Food Programme said on Friday.

The WFP survey covering the year to March showed the number of people deemed "food insecure" had risen 28 percent to 77 million from 60 million in the previous year.

Staff Correspondent

The chief election commissioner will have to take responsibility for any delayed election, said BNP leader Khandaker Delwar Hossain Friday.

"The CEC has already muddied the water by excluding the mainstream BNP from electoral dialogue," Delwar, BNP's disputed secretary general, appointed by party chairperson Khaleda Zia, told reporters, after he returned from abroad.

REUTERS, NEW DELHI –India's food bills are soaring and the economy is slowing as high interest rates bite, threatening to derail an election strategy the ruling coalition hopes will return it to power before May next year.

India v South Africa, 2nd Test, Ahmedabad, 2nd day

Cricinfo.com

If an Indian team with ambitions to world dominance found the opening day at the Sardar Patel Stadium humiliating, day two was soul-destroying, with a classy AB de Villiers double-century and a dogged Jacques Kallis hundred underpinning a relentless South African charge to victory. By the time the rain came down to wash away Indian tears,

Staff Correspondent

The food crisis, soaring prices of daily commodities and law and order are expected to top the agenda of a four-day conference of deputy commissioners beginning Saturday, said a senior official with the Cabinet Division Friday.

Many of the issues tied to the professional needs of the district administrators are also expected to come up at the conference, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Agency

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is set to resume its flights to New York in October after a break of about two years, said a special assistant to the chief adviser Friday.

For the new arrangement, Biman is trying to take a Boeing-777 on lease from Boeing Company. "If Biman fails to resume its New York flights by Oct 25 the Federal Aviation Authority will cancel the route permit for the national carrier," Mahbub Jamil, the CA's special assistant in charge of the civil aviation ministry, told bdnews24.com.

The government has decided to fill up the posts of headmaster in private secondary and under secondary schools which remained vacant for a long time, reports agency.

The authorities, in a circular, issued here today said the government has taken the decision to recruit the headmasters for different schools considering the importance of the post at an institution.

Government authorities urged the people to maintain austerity in consuming electricity and gas in view of the prevailing crises, failing which the situation could aggravate further, reports UNB.

Chief Advisor''s Special Assistant for Power and Energy Dr. M Tamim made the request at a press briefing held at Power Ministry Thursday. Power Secretary M Fouzul Kabir Khan and Energy Secretary M Mohsin were also present.

Dialogue with govt Awami League and BNP Thursday welcomed the government-sponsored dialogue to be held this month, aiming to hold the stalled general election in a free, fair and credible manner.

"We welcome the dialogue, we''re waiting for it as we first raised the demand for it to reach a national consensus," Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told UNB.