The Opposition BNP will give formal reaction to the proposed national budget for fiscal 2011-12 today.
The reaction will be given at a press conference at BNP chairperson's Gulshan office at 4:00pm, according to the party sources.
Source : New Age
Three dockyards for fishing trawlers to be set up in Ctg
The government has taken initiatives to set up three modern multi-channel dockyards at Chittagong to resolve instantly technical faults of all sorts of water vessels, including the fishing trawlers in the sea.
The dockyards would be set up at Chittagong Fish Harbour on the southern bank of the River Karnaphuli under 'Multi Channel Slipway Project,' officials said.
Implementation of this project will help increase catch of fish as the trawlers would not remain inoperative for long with small technical faults during the full fishing season, hoped the owners of trawlers.
To be constructed with government's own resources, the project will have three yards and each of the yards would be able to repair two vessels at a time.
Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation director general and project director and multi channel slipway commander Syed Hasibur Rahman said the experts of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology had already completed the design of the project.
The infrastructure construction will start soon after approval of the ministry for fisheries and animal resources. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2013, he added.
Hasibur Rahman said currently there are two single dockyards in the fishing harbour. But those cannot deal with so many fishing trawlers.
Therefore, the construction of new dockyards in the public sector will play a significant role in the country's marine fish gathering, he added.
Fishing trawler owner Hazi Mohammad Ali said at present they hardy
get any room in public
and private dockyards to repair their trawlers. Therefore, many trawlers remain inoperative day after day for small technical faults.
He expressed hope that the new dockyards in the public sector would repair the trawlers quickly and help increase fish gathering from the sea.
Source : New Age
Transport strike continues for 9 days in Meherpur
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/national/24015.htmlTransport strike has been continuing for the ninth consecutive day Sunday, disrupting vehicular movement between the district and other parts of the country.
District Motor Sramik Union enforced the strike from June 18, demanding release of transport worker Sirajul Islam and withdrawal of a case filed against him.
Earlier, Siraj was arrested by Rab-12 of Kushtia at Moshan near Kushtia
town with one kilogram heroin worth about Tk one crore on June 7 from his bus of Meherpur-Kushtia route.
Transport workers' leaders of south-western region on Saturday afternoon held a meeting at Meherpur bus stand and demanded immediate release of Siraj and withdrawal of case filed against him.
They said they
would go for 48 hours strike on all routes of 19 districts in south-western region of the country on Wednesday if their demands are met by next Tuesday.
Source : New Age
BGB’s official web site launched
The new official web site of Border Guard Bangladesh was launched Sunday.
The director general of BGB, Major General Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, inaugurated the web site—www.bgb.gov.bd—at BGB headquarters at Pilkhana in the morning.
Officials of headquarters and Dhaka sector were present.
Information about BGB headquarters, activities of it's units and other necessary information will be available on the web site.
Source : New Age
Polls under non-party govt a must: Mahbub
Whatever the name, there must be a non-party government to conduct the election, or else anarchy will descend on the country, the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association president has said.
Khandakar Mahbub Hossain at a SCBA press conference in the city on Sunday also said, 'Caretaker government came because of mistrust among the political parties in 1996, and through Awami League's non-stop movement, including hartal, and vandalism.
'That mistrust still persists,' he added.
A bill for 15th amendment to the constitution was tabled in parliament on Saturday, with a provision for scrapping the non-party caretaker government system.
By tabling the bill, the government is on way to scrap the system while the main opposition BNP is vehemently protesting at the move with threats to boycott polls if not overseen by a caretaker government.
Alternatives to the caretaker government system such as 'interim government' and 'national government' are being discussed in the political arena.
Hossain, an adviser to the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, alleged that political crimes and torture were going on unabated in the country.
'Politicians are being tortured in remands to give false acknowledgements... people are being shot dead like bird along the border.'
Referring to Khaleda's younger son Arafat Rahman's conviction for money laundering, he said, 'Those who were punished by kangaroo courts in the past are being proved innocent today. When democracy will return, the present government's one-sided verdicts will also go.'
Source : New Age
Truck hijacked after killing driver, helper
Miscreants hijacked a poultry feed-loaded truck, killing its driver and helper dumping their bodies in a roadside pond at Ranobagh in Mathurapur-Singra area in Nandigram of Bogra on Saturday.
Being informed the police recovered the bodies of driver Delwar Hossain, 45, of Abadpur village of Naogaon sadar upazila and helper Abdul Barik, 34, of Chakprasad village, and sent those to hospital morgue for autopsy in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the hijacked truck (Dhaka Metro Ta 16-1162) was recovered along with the goods in an abandoned condition from Padma Residential Area in Boalia of Rajshahi Sunday morning. The truck was taken to Boalia police station.
The police said Enamul Haque is the owner of the truck which was hijacked from Bogra-Sirajganj road on its way to Nazirpur of Patnitola in Naogaon from Shyampur of Dhaka early Saturday.
The district truck owners and workers associations in separate statements expressed concern over growing incidents of goods-loaded truck hijacking, killing drivers and helpers on highways in Bogra-Naogaon-Sirajganj region.
They said this was the second time that goods-laden truck was hijacked after killing the driver and the helper on the highway.
A Dhaka-bound rice-loaded truck from Naogaon was hijacked killing its driver Elamul, 40, of Hapania of Naogaon sadar upazila and his assistant and the bodies were dumped in a lake in Banani in the capital on January 8, they mentioned.
They demanded immediate arrests of the killers of the four transport workers and step to ensure security of truck drivers and helpers on highways.
Source : New Age
Tk 18cr grant aid for Japan Development Scholarship
The government on Sunday signed an 'Exchange of Note' with Japan for Tk 18 crore grant aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship Programme for next year.
Economic Relations Division secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh Tamotsu Shinotsuka signed the exchange of notes on behalf of their respective governments, said a release.
Under the agreement, 15 JDS 10th batch fellows will be dispatched from Bangladesh to Japan in August, 2011.
In addition, the new recruitment and selection for JDS 11th batch fellows will also start from August, 2011.
JDS programme was established by the government of Japan in 2001. The objective of this programme is to support the respective government in its efforts to facilitate its own plans for human resource development mainly for capacity building and institutional building, and thereby extend and enhance the bilateral relationship with Japan.
In the last ten years, 183 JDS fellows were sent from Bangladesh to Japan, and 147 JDS fellows have returned to Bangladesh?after the completion of their master degrees and contributed to the development of Bangladesh.
Source : New Age
Charge hearing shifted to July 28
Charge hearing in the tax dodging case against Arafat Rahman scheduled Sunday in the Special Court of Dhaka was shifted to July 28 as his counsel submitted that it cannot be taken up until disposal of a revision petition in the case which is lying pending in the High Court.
National Board of Revenue filed the case March 1 last year accusing Arafat of evading tax of Tk 24.39 lakh during 2002-07 when the BNP was in power.
Arafat, youngest son of the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, now believed in Malaysia was convicted in absentia and sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment in a money laundering case on Thursday. He faces five more cases including tax evasion.
Source : New Age
Journalist Touhid’s mother dies
Dainik Naya Diganta chief reporter Touhidul Islam's mother Shamsunnahar Begum died of heart attack in his Uttara residence on Sunday. She was 60.
She was suffering from high blood pressure.
Shamsunnahar Begum, wife of late Jalal Ahmed, a retired Air Force officer, is survived by two sons.
Touhidul Islam, also former joint secretary of Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh, is her elder son.
Her namaz-e-janaza was held at Sector-4, Uttara, in capital and she was buried at Ikrashi village following two namaz-e-janaza at Lotakhola village in Dohar of Dhaka.
Journalists and staff of Naya Diganata expressed deep shock at the death of Shamsunnahar. They prayed for salvation of the departed soul.
Her qul khwani will be held at Sector-4, Uttara, next Friday after the asr prayers.
Source : New Age
Int’l Literature Conference begins
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Sunday said literature gives real knowledge about culture and contemporary society.
He said the poets and writers are pathfinders for overall development of a country.
The minister as chief guest said this while inaugurating the three-day International Literature Conference at Bangla Academy in the Dhaka city.
Information and cultural affairs minister Abul Kalam Azad and state minister for cultural affairs Promod Mankin addressed the function as special guests while poet Muhammad Nurul Huda presented the keynote paper.
Acting secretary of cultural affairs ministry Suraiya Begum and Bangla Academy director general Shamsuzzaman Khan also addressed the function with National Professor Kabir Chowdhury in the chair.
A number of seminars will be held in the conference where poets and writers from home and abroad will present papers.
Source : New Age
Sirajganj BNP enforces half-day general strike
The local unit of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday enforced a half-day general strike in Sirajganj town in protest at the arrest of the municipal mayor, M Mokaddes Ali.
The police arrested Mokaddes, the district unit BNP's general secretary, at the Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on June 22 in a case of violence relating to tender bid submission filed with the Ramna police.
The half-day general strike beginning at 6:00am on Sunday was, however, peaceful.
During strike hours, most of the shops, banks and educational institutions were closed. No pickets were on the roads.
Train and long-route bus schedules were normal. Buses were off the roads in the town.
The Sirajganj unit BNP president, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, also an adviser to the BNP chairperson, in a letter thanked the residents of the town for observing the general strike.
He said that tougher programmes would be taken if Mokaddes were not released in a week.
Source : New Age
Navy to procure 2 maritime patrol aircraft soon
The chief of naval staff, Vice Admiral Zahir Uddin Ahmed, said two maritime patrol aircraft would be added to navy soon with a view to modernising the Bangladesh Navy.
He apprised the president, Zillur Rahman, when he called on him at Bangabhaban Sunday.
During the meeting, the Naval chief said the maritime patrol aircraft are being included with navy as a part of modernising the Naval Force by 2021 as per direction of the prime minister.
After inclusion of the maritime aircraft, the Bangladesh Navy will be able to play important role in safeguarding maritime boundary and resources and preventing smuggling in sea route, said Zahir Uddin.
He also informed the president of the ongoing activities of the Bangladesh Navy.
The naval chief told the president that he was going to visit Ukraine from July 4 to 9 and will hold meetings with the Ukrainian naval chief and defence minister during his visit.
Zillur Rahman gave him a patient hearing and assured him of his all-out support in modernising the Bangladesh Navy.
Secretaries concerned to the president's office were present.
Source : New Age
Indians allowed entry, Bangladeshis refused
No Bangladeshi passport holders are allowed to visit India through Botuli immigration check post in Moulvibabzaar district, but Indians can visit Bangladesh through the point.
The check post is in Juri upazila of Moulvibazaar.
On the other side of the border is India's 'Raghna' land customs and immigration check post in Tripura province.
Mouvibazaar deputy commissioner Mostafizur Rahman told local journalists recently that he had brought the matter to the notice of the ministry of foreign affairs.
Local people said that Botuli land customs and immigration check post remained busy with immigration and import export activities from 1972 to 1975.
They said that in 1975 the check post was closed.
In 1997, the Botuli Land Customs Office was reopened.
The customs and immigration point there became busy with increased trade again in 2008 after a bailey bridge was installed over the river Juri in Moulvibazaar to connect the road with the customs office.
During a visit to India, a Bangladesh chamber team had taken up the issue of reopening the immigration check post and a land custom office there.
Subsequently, in 2001, the two countries set up the check post and the customs offices at Botuli in Bangladesh and Raghna in India in 2001.
Officials said that three immigration officers are posted at Botuli Immigraton Check Post.
They said that Bangladeshi officials posted in India issue visas to the Indian nationals to enter Bangladesh through Botuli immigration point.
They said that since November 28, 2003, the Indian authorities stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis to visit India through Botuli in Bangladesh and Raghna in India.
Juri upazila chairman MA Mumit Ashuk told New Age that after he took up the matter with local lawmaker Md Shahab Uddin he said that he would take it up with the ministry of foreign affairs.
Source : New Age
Left parties reject constitution amendment bill
Three major left parties on Sunday condemned the 15th amendment to the constitution bill tabled at the parliament on Saturday following the report of the special committee on constitution amendment, which recommended keeping Islam as the state religion and the provision allowing religion-based politics and political parties.
The parties – the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, and Jatiya Mukti Council – demanded restoration of the constitution of 1972 instead.
The CPB leaders from a protest rally in front of the National Press Club called on all left and democratic political parties and organisations to launch a united movement for restoring the constitution of 1972.
The bill placed in the Jatiya Sangsad on Saturday by law minister Shafique Ahmed is contrary to the spirit of the independence war, CPB presidium member Mohammad Shah Alam told the rally.
He said the state should not have any religion, and secularism and a state religion could not remain together.
CPB leaders said the party would hold rallies across the country on July 6 in protest against the bill.
CPB presidium member Shahdat Hossain and central leaders Ruhin Hossain Prince, Ahsan Habib Lablu, and Sazzad Zahir Chandan, among others, also addressed the meeting chaired by the party's presidium member Syed Abu Zafar.
Earlier in the day, a presidium meeting of the party at its central office also expressed concern over the bill. The meeting chaired by CPB president Manzurul Ahsan Khan, in a resolution, demanded restoration of the constitution of 1972.
Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Khalequzzaman in a press statement on Sunday said one of the key aims of the independence war, to establish a secular and democratic Bangladesh, was ignored in the report of the special committee.
Jatiya Mukti Council president Badruddin Umar and secretary Foezul Hakim in another press statement termed the report 'anti-people' and called on the government to withdraw the bill.
They also trashed the bill for not recognising the country's indigenous peoples.
Jatisattwa Mukti Sangram Parishad also held a rally in front of the National Press Club on the day and demanded withdrawal of the bill from the parliament.
Central leaders of the organisation Foezul Hakim, Hasibur Rahman, and Uzzal Smriti Chakma, among others, addressed the rally, which was followed by a protest procession.
Bangladesh Chhatra Union president Ferdaus Ahmed and general secretary SM Shuva in a press statement also condemned the constitution amendment move and announced that the student organisation would hold countrywide demonstrations against it on June 30.
4th verdict in Pilkhana BDR rebellion case today
The fourth verdict in cases relating to the February 2009 rebellion at the headquarter of Border Guard Bangladesh, formally Bangladesh Rifles, in Dhaka will be delivered today.
The Special Court-7 chaired by BGB director general Major General Rafiqul Islam on May 26 set the date for delivering judgment in a case against 666 accused soldiers of 24 Border Guard Battalion and its attached units.
After 46 working days of the proceedings, the court chair had said that the verdict would be delivered on June 27 at the Durbar Hall at Pilkhana headquarter of BGB.
Before fixing the date of verdict, all but 32 who pleaded guilty completed their submissions and sought justice from the court considering their financial conditions, service records and, in some cases, the freedom fighters' certificates of their parents and relatives.
The prosecutor, Major Khan Mohammad Alauddin, also the commanding officer of the unit, had completed the final arguments against the accused soldiers on May 22 and called for highest punishment under the Bangladesh Rifles Order 1972.
Four freedom fighters were also under trial in the case.
A number of accused soldiers had claimed themselves to be freedom fighters but after verifying the certificates, only four of them had been found to be freedom fighters, said Major Alauddin.
Besides, 46 accused soldiers submitted freedom fighters' certificates of their close relatives, including father, grandfather and fathers-in-law.
The soldiers were charged with disobeying the command of the then BDR director general Major General Shakil Ahmed, and leaving the Durbar Hall during the annual congress on February 25, 2009, the first day of the mutiny.
In the mutiny, 75 people, including 57 army officers on deputation and seven civilians, were killed. The BDR director general and his wife were among those brutally killed by the soldiers.
The allegations brought against the accused include showing solidarity with the mutineers, rising in arms, staying inactive by not preventing the mutiny, and failure to control unruly subordinates.
Some 57 prosecution witnesses — most of them currently employed in BGB — made depositions against the accused who cross-examined the witnesses.
The prosecution also produced relevant documents, including the lists of mobile calls made by the accused during the mutiny and medical certificates of the accused issued by the military officers soon after the mutiny stopped.
So far 2,197 out of 6,052 under-trial soldiers have been sentenced in 48 cases, including 46 cases outside Dhaka, by special courts on charge of their involvement in February 2009 mutiny.
Sixty-three soldiers have so far been acquitted of the charges by the different specials courts.
Source : New Age
Canadian senator in Niko Dhaka trips probe
A Canadian senator is being investigated on allegations that he lobbied Bangladesh government members on behalf of Niko Resources after travelling here on a special passport reserved for federal officials.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been investigating Niko Resources' natural-gas operation in Bangladesh for nearly four years, the Globe and Mail said.
On Friday, the company agreed to pay a fine of $9.5-million after pleading guilty to bribing BNP state minister for energy and mineral resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain by providing him with a luxury SUV as well as a paid trip to Calgary and New York.
What did not emerge in court, however, is that the police are probing Liberal Senator Mac Harb, a former member of parliament for Ottawa Centre, the Canadian newspaper said.
The police allege his travels to Bangladesh were 'for a purpose other than the public good.' Harb has not been charged with a crime, the Toronto-based paper added.
In a statement, Niko said it retained Harb only in a personal capacity, and 'not as a Senator.' The company said it paid him $65,000 for work done between September, 2005 and July, 2006, according to the newspaper.
'The company inquired and was advised by Harb that he had obtained all of the necessary approvals from the Senate Ethics Committee to be able to carry out this engagement,' the company's statement said.
Canadian senators, according to the Globe and Mail, are free to take outside employment, sometimes as directors of companies or with law firms, but they are forbidden from trading on their public position for personal gain.
The Criminal Code also prohibits someone from using public office for personal gain.
On one of Harb's last trips to Bangladesh, the then Canadian high commissioner to Bangladesh was so infuriated that she confronted him at his hotel.
Media reports said she told investigators that she was 'not happy' that Harb 'had actually met with the [Bangladeshi] minister of foreign affairs at his home, at night without me, and without me being aware of the meeting.'
The former high commissioner speculated to the police that Harb had been enlisted by the company because he was 'known to the players, respected and had influence.'
Niko officials also told Federal Court in Calgary on Friday that the firm bribed the minister in 2005 following explosions at the Niko drilling site at Magurchhara in Moulvibazar.
The bribes were paid to Mosharraf when he was to determine what compensation should be paid to villagers.
At the time, Niko said it had provided the luxury SUV to its partner in Bangladesh, the state-owned BAPEX, and denied having any knowledge about the vehicle's ultimate destination.
In January 2005, as Niko started drilling a gas well in Tengratila, it accidentally set off an explosion that blew up the field. The impact of the disaster on local schools and villagers and the environmental damage is still evident.
No one was killed, but the fires destroyed billions of cubic feet of gas and forced thousands to evacuate.
Then, in June 2005, as Niko was trying to contain the first blowout, it set off another explosion. The accidents caused massive protests around the country.
According to an agreed statement of facts, a new Toyota Land Cruiser, purchased by Niko, was delivered to his house.
Mosharraf and his family also travelled to Calgary for the 2005 Gas and Oil Expo event and to New York to visit family at the expense of Niko, the statement says.
Hossain was fired when the transactions were revealed in Bangladesh a short time later.
Niko operates mostly in India and Bangladesh but also explores and produces natural gas and oil in Pakistan, Kurdistan, Indonesia, Trinidad and Madagascar.
Source : New Age
One to die for killing Eden College student
A Dhaka court Sunday sentenced to death the lone accused in Eden College student Mohsina Rabbani Menuka killing case.
Judge of Dhaka-4 Speedy Trial Tribunal M Rezaul Islam delivered the verdict against accused Tariquzzaman Kabir in a case filed by victim's father Lutfe Rabbani in July 2010.
A student of honours in Bangla in Eden College, Menuka was killed at their house at Paikpara of Mirpur in the city on July 25 last year after she rejected the marriage proposal of Kabir.
Kabir was apprehended from the spot and he later made a confessional statement in the court.
The police recovered bloodstained dagger from Kabir after the killing. The investigation officer submitted the charge-sheet against Kabir on September 27.
The court recorded depositions of 16 witnesses, out of 21, in the case.
Kabir was the bother-in-law of Menuka's aunt. He planned to kill Menuka as she rejected his marriage proposal.
SM Rafiqul Islam conducted the case on behalf of the state.
Source : New Age
Canadian senator faces Niko lobbying charge
A Canadian senator is being investigated on allegations that he lobbied Bangladesh government members on behalf of Niko Resources after travelling here on a special passport reserved for federal officials.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been investigating Niko Resources' natural-gas operation in Bangladesh for nearly four years, the Globe and Mail said.
On Friday, the company agreed to pay a fine of $9.5-million after pleading guilty to bribing BNP state minister for energy and mineral resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain by providing him with a luxury SUV as well as a paid trip to Calgary and New York.
What did not emerge in court, however, is that the police are probing Liberal Senator Mac Harb, a former member of parliament for Ottawa Centre, the Canadian newspaper said.
The police allege his travels to Bangladesh were 'for a purpose other than the public good.' Harb has not been charged with a crime, the Toronto-based paper added.
In a statement, Niko said it retained Harb only in a personal capacity, and 'not as a Senator.' The company said it paid him $65,000 for work done between September, 2005 and July, 2006, according to the newspaper.
'The company inquired and was advised by Harb that he had obtained all of the necessary approvals from the Senate Ethics Committee to be able to carry out this engagement,' the company's statement said.
Canadian senators, according to the Globe and Mail, are free to take outside employment, sometimes as directors of companies or with law firms, but they are forbidden from trading on their public position for personal gain.
The Criminal Code also prohibits someone from using public office for personal gain.
On one of Harb's last trips to Bangladesh, the then Canadian high commissioner to Bangladesh was so infuriated that she confronted him at his hotel.
Media reports said she told investigators that she was 'not happy' that Harb 'had actually met with the [Bangladeshi] minister of foreign affairs at his home, at night without me, and without me being aware of the meeting.'
The former high commissioner speculated to the police that Harb had been enlisted by the company because he was 'known to the players, respected and had influence.'
Niko officials also told Federal Court in Calgary on Friday that the firm bribed the minister in 2005 following explosions at the Niko drilling site at Magurchhara in Moulvibazar.
The bribes were paid to Mosharraf when he was to determine what compensation should be paid to villagers.
At the time, Niko said it had provided the luxury SUV to its partner in Bangladesh, the state-owned BAPEX, and denied having any knowledge about the vehicle's ultimate destination.
In January 2005, as Niko started drilling a gas well in Tengratila, it accidentally set off an explosion that blew up the field. The impact of the disaster on local schools and villagers and the environmental damage is still evident.
No one was killed, but the fires destroyed billions of cubic feet of gas and forced thousands to evacuate.
Then, in June 2005, as Niko was trying to contain the first blowout, it set off another explosion. The accidents caused massive protests around the country.
According to an agreed statement of facts, a new Toyota Land Cruiser, purchased by Niko, was delivered to his house.
Mosharraf and his family also travelled to Calgary for the 2005 Gas and Oil Expo event and to New York to visit family at the expense of Niko, the statement says.
Hossain was fired when the transactions were revealed in Bangladesh a short time later.
Niko operates mostly in India and Bangladesh but also explores and produces natural gas and oil in Pakistan, Kurdistan, Indonesia, Trinidad and Madagascar.
Source : New Age
Police yet to make any headway
The police are yet to make any headway in the daring robbery of Hira Jewellers at Banani in the capital on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court remanded the seven people including four employees of the jewellery shop arrested by the police on Friday afternoon for their suspected involvement in the heist in police custody for three days for interrogation.
Inspector Masud Karim, investigation officer of the case, told New Age on Sunday evening that they were yet to arrest any body or make any headway in the robbery.
He said, 'A court has remanded the seven people arrested after the robbery in our remand for quizzing. We sought custody for seven days but the court granted three days.'
The arrested people remanded in police custody are not accused in the case filed by the jewellery shop owner, he said, adding, 'but, the police suspect they were involved.'
On Friday, robbers posing as customers looted at least 800 tolas of gold ornaments from the jewellery shop. They held the employees of the shop on the first floor of Iqbal Centre at gunpoint during the robbery committed in broad daylight.
Source : New Age
Talk of progress won’t work if prices soar
Lawmakers in their budget discussions on Sunday warned the government that talk of development and progress would not work if price hike of essentials could not be checked.
Jatiya Samajtanrik Dal's lawmaker Hasanul Huq Inu, a partner of the ruling Awami League-led alliance, said the people did not understand budget or progress. 'What they understand is prices of essentials. If prices soar, all praises for your progress will go in vain.'
He called for steps to control prices of some specific essential commodities rather than working on the idea of market control.
Inu also criticised the ruling alliance for proposing price hike of fertiliser in the budget.
He said people had expected some measures over the share market collapse but none was punished. 'I do not understand why the government is delaying action against the culprits?'
Inu said the finance minister should care about the risks of price inflation and weak administration in implementing his budget.
Inu also came down hard on opposition leader Khaleda Zia describing
her as 'Sidr' and 'Aila' of current politics. 'The grand alliance is the
shelter for the people against such disastrous politics,' he said.
He also branded BNP lawmaker Moudud Ahmed 'black sheep' in politics
and said the opposition leader should avoid the advices of her advises.
Awami League lawmaker Abdul Matin Khasru said, 'People do not understand progress. Situation in the market affects them. It needs to be taken care of,' he said.
He also dismissed the opposition's claims that cases had been filed against its men to harass them. 'Foreign courts gave verdict against Coco [Arafat Rahman] but the opposition is plotting to enforce hartal. You have right to call strike and the people have the right not to observe it,' he said.
The minister for planning, AK Khandaker, said though the size of the
budget was big, it would not be difficult to implement it. 'Many countries in the west are getting over recession. It will create demands for commodities and chances for us to supply our goods there.'
Jatiya Party lawmaker Ruhul Amin Hawlader called for strengthening the 'grand alliance'. He also stressed the need for keeping prices of essentials at
tolerable levels and ensuring safety and security of the people.
The chairman of parliamentary panel on home ministry, Abdus Salam,
said price hike had caused sufferings to middle-income group forcing them to indulge in corruption. In such a situation, implementation of budget would be difficult.
Lawmaker Tipu Munshi said 30 lakh families had suffered due to stock
plunge. He called for allowing investment of black money in stock market to restore normalcy.
Source : New Age
Death anniv of Jahanara Imam observed
The seventeenth anniversary of the death of Jahanara Imam, writer and political activist known for her efforts to bring people who committed war crimes during the war of independence to trial, was observed on Sunday with the demand for immediate trial of war criminals.
Jahanara Imam is also popularly known as 'shaheed janani' (mother of martyrs).
The demands put forth on the occasions also include not keeping Islam as the state religion in the constitution, banning religion-based political parties and getting back to the constitution as it was on adoption in 1972 for a modern, secular country.
Various political parties and rights, social and cultural organisations observed the day.
The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee, or the committee to exterminate the killers and collaborators, held a discussion.
The organisation, which set up mock trials in Dhaka in March 1992 and sentenced war criminals, also distributed Jahanara Imam Memorial Award in a programme at the Women's Voluntary Association at Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
The organisation's president Kabir Chowdhury handed over crests and medals to historian and researcher Salahuddin Ahmed and social scientist Anupam Sen.
The Adivasi Forum and Sampradayikota O Jangibadbirodhi Mancha also received the award in the organisation category.
Political leaders, rights activists, media personalities and writers attending the programme said that retaining Islam as the state religion and not banning religion-based political parties were contrary to the spirit of the war of independence of 1971.
They also said the then BNP-led government and fascist HM Ershad-led government had come to power illegally and changed the constitution but the Awami League-led government that has come to power legally is approving the illegal changes made by then illegal governments and this would not be acceptable as such moves contradict with the constitution of 1972.
The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee in the morning placed flowers at the grave of Jahanara Imam.
Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal also observed the day. The party leaders in the morning placed flowers at Jahanara's grave in the Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard at Mirpur in Dhaka.
The leaders at a rally organised at Shahbagh on the occasion demanded immediate trial of war crimes.
The Jatiya Ganatantrik League also observed the day by holding a discussion where it put out a call for brining war criminals to trial.
Jahanara Imam was born on May 3, 1929 in Murshidabad in West Bengal. After finishing her studies in Carmichael College in Rangpur in 1945, she went to Lady Brabourne College in 1947 for her bachelor's degree. After the partition of India, she started teaching at Vidyamayee Government Girls' High School.
In 9060, she gave up her job in teaching and obtained her master's degree in the Bangla language and literature in 1962 and a bachelor's degree in education in 1963 from Dhaka University. She then went back to teaching.
Her literary works include Anya Jiban (1985), Ekattorer Dinguli (1986), Jiban Mrityu (1988) and Cancer-er Sange Basabas (1991).
Source : New Age
UNICEF calls for child-friendly budget
The United Nations Children's Fund on Sunday said a large number of poor children remain out of reach of welfare enhancing programmes targeted for their development and urged the government to increase direct budgetary allocation for child related initiatives.
'If development issues affecting children are not adequately addressed in a timely manner, children will be denied the
opportunity to develop and reach their full potential, and the country will
be unable to break
the inter-generational poverty cycle and achieve the millennium development goals with equity,' said a report jointly
prepared by UNICEF and the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
The report titled 'National Budget: Are the commitments to the children of Bangladesh being kept' was unveiled at a national seminar at Hotel Sonargaon.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, women and children affairs state minister Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, UNICEF representative Carel de Rooy, former caretaker government advisor Wahiuddin Mahmud, Bangladesh Economic Association president Abul Barakat, CPD executive director Mustafizur Rahman and UNICEF child rights advocate Jewel Aich, among others, were present on the occasion.
Twenty children, representing different status of the society, who present UNICEF-sponsored talk show 'Our Voice' on Bangladesh Television, were also present at the function.
Presenting the report, CPD additional director and head of research Fahmida Khatun said the study report was not updated after the newly proposed budget for 2011-12 fiscal and was based on analyses of budgets from 2005-06 fiscal to 2010-11 fiscal year.
The study that measured child deprivation using seven indicators — shelter, sanitation, water, information, food, education and health — found that
deprivation varied between rural and urban areas, and high deprivation is
mainly concentrated in Chittagong and Sylhet
divisions and in the tribal areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The report estimated that the total budget allocated for children, including allocations for children's social safety net programmes, amounted to mere 4.1 per cent of the national budget for 2010-11 and was equivalent to 0.7 per cent of the GDP. Bangladesh is home of 66 million children, consisting 45 per cent of the country's total population.
The recommendations in the report called for enhancing coordination action between different ministries responsible for the budget allocation and strong political commitment for children friendly budget.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith criticised the report and said most of the recommendations have been addressed in the proposed budget for 2011-12.
However, admitting little initiatives for the slum children, he assured to address the segment.
State minister Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury handed over gifts among the children representatives present at the function.
Source : New Age
Rights activists decry state-sponsored torture
Political leaders and right activists on Sunday said that death and torture in custody and incidents of disappearance of persons allegedly picked by the law enforcers were on the rise as the government continued to use state machinery for repressing alleged criminals and dissidents.
They made the observation at a discussion meeting at the National Press Club organised by rights organisation Odhikar marking the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Addressing the meeting, Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the present government continued with repressing people in general and opposition leaders and activists in particular, although the ruling Awami League in its election manifesto had pledged to stop torture by state machinery.
Mentioning the case of Limon, a college student whose left leg had been amputated after being shot by the Rapid Action Battalion, Fakhrul said the government was out to criminalise Limon's family to save the battalion.
Although the BNP-led alliance government had formed the battalion, they never used it for political vendetta, he said.
AL leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna, also a former vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students Union, however, said that successive governments had been using law enforcer and different state agencies against the opposition.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia expressed the hope that people would resist the government's torture on people as the situation could not be allowed to continue for long.
Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman said the present government has resorted to repression on dissidents and urged people to say 'no' to torture.
Biplabi Workers Party's general secretary Saiful Haque said the present government also tortured different left leaders like Moshrefa Mishu.
Jatiya Mukti Council general secretary Fayzul Hakim Lala said the AL-led government was torturing people as they have no other way to stay in power.
Odhikar advisor Farhad Mazhar said if a country failed to establish human dignity then the country could not expect to have a democratic environment.
He also said the government did not sign the optional protocol of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as it said that if anyone is tortured by the government then the affected person should be given compensation.
Hill Women's Federation general secretary Konika Dewan said if someone tried to protest against the incidents of torturing on the indigenous people, they become victims of harassment by the government.
Jatiya Mukti Council general secretary Fayzul Hakim Lala, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia, Moniruzzaman Rubel's brother Iqbal Hossain, who was allegedly killed at Tangail thana on April 21, 2011, and Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan,among others, addressed meeting.
Odhikar also held rallies in different district headquarters including Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Bogra demanding enactment of a law criminalising torture.
Source : New Age
Govt allows phased new power connection until December
Power utilities would provide new connections in phases until December to the applicants who pay all the dues by June, a senior power division official said on Sunday.
But he said that those who applied for connections of two kilowatts or more would have to install solar panels.
Officials said that 8,30,000 applicants have been awaiting new connections since November 7, 2010.
They said that the five power utilities gave new connections to 80,000 applications out of 3,94,000 who had made all payments against demand notes issued by the utilities between May 14 to June 20.
Officials said that following a decision taken on Sunday applicants seeking five megawatt or greater capacity power connections would have to obtain permission from the power division of the government.
The power division took the decision at a meeting chaired by state minister Enamul Huq.
Officials said that the country's power generation was expected to rise by 1,000 MW by December, matching increased consumption after new connections are given by then.
Officials at five power utilities, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, Dhaka Electricity Supply Company, Power Development Board and West Zone Power Distribution Company, informed the meeting that they gave 8,844 new power connections until May 14.
Rural Electrification Board told the meeting that it had provided 1,38,792 new connections until May 14.
The officials said that the new connection given by the five utilities, DPDC, DESCO, PDB, WZPDECO and REB, increased an extra demand of 219 MW on the national grid.
They informed the meeting that the new consumers of REB have installed 1,698 solar power panels at home system with the needed backup and the new consumers of DPDC installed 98 solar power units and new DESCO consumers installed 10 solar units.
The state minister asked DPDC and DESCO to monitor the solar systems.
From April to October 2009, the government had suspended giving new power connections across the country due to power shortage.
After keeping it suspended from April to October 2010, the government allowed new power connections to consumers on condition that they would install solar system to supplement the supply they would get from the utilities.
The authorities asked new domestic consumers intending to get power supply from two kilowatt or greater capacity distribution lines to obtain three to five per cent of their electricity requirement from solar panels.
It means an applicant seeking new domestic connection would have to install a 90 watt solar system for getting power from a three kilowatt distribution line of the government's power utility.
The authorities asked commercial and industrial consumers seeking new connection from over 50 kw distribution lines to get from solar panels at least three per cent of their power requirement for using lights and fans.
Source : New Age
UPDF man shot dead in Rangamati
United People's Democratic Front activist Bijoy Singh Chakma, 25, was shot dead at Jurachari in Rangamati on Sunday morning.
The UPDF blamed Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti for the killing but Jana Sanghati Samiti brushed aside the allegation.
The Jurachari police, quoting local sources said that Bijoy along with two others came to be attacked by a group of gunmen, said to be of Jana Sanghati Samiti, when they were coming out from a house at Gilachari early Sunday.
Bijoy died on the spot and one of the other two, Dhanu Chakma, was abducted, the sources said.
Sajib Chakma, information and publication secretary of Jana Sanghati Samiti, said that they were not involved in the attack.
Alokesh Chakma, the spokesman of the Rangamati unit UPDF, in a statement protested at the killing. He held responsible Santu Larma for such incidents.
The superintendent of police in Rangamati, Masud Ul Hasan, said that the killing might have links to extortion.
The body was sent to Rangamati General Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.
Source : New Age
Hasan sent to jail, bail petition rejected
A Dhaka court on Sunday remanded Hasan Syeed, husband of Dhaka University teacher Rumana Monzur, in custody until his trial for attempted murder of his wife.
Metropolitan magistrate Shahriar Mahmud Adnan issued the order, rejecting a petition filed by the defence lawyer for his bail as well as another petition of the investigating officer of the case to remand Hasan in police custody.
The IO, sub-inspector Bahauddin Faruki of the Detective Branch of police, produced Hasan before the court with a petition for remanding him in custody of the DB police for seven more days after keeping him for six days in their custody in four phases.
SI Bahauddin in his petition said Rumana decided to divorce Hasan after he had tortured her on May 21. As Rumana informed him about the decision, he became infuriated and started to beat her brutally. The police recovered an 18-inch iron rod from his bedroom with which he had tortured Rumana.
Hasan was arrested in the city's Mugda area on June 15.
Rumana, an assistant professor of international relations at Dhaka University, was brutally tortured and blinded allegedly by her husband on June 5.
Rumana's father retired major Monzur Hossain filed the case with Dhanmondi police station on June 6.
Meanwhile, a Canadian lawmaker, Nina Grewal, raised the issue of brutal torture on Rumana in the parliament of the country.
'Canadians were horrified to learn of the savage beating inflicted on Rumana Monzur, a barbaric act of violence. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ms Monzur and her daughter, but prayers are not enough... We are addressing these barbaric crimes by supporting programmes like the Indo-Canadian Women's Association's Elimination of Harmful Cultural Practices project. This initiative will empower immigrant girls and young women. Violence should not be and will not be tolerated,' Grewal told the parliament.
Source : New Age
Gas shortage 500 mmcfd
The country has a demand of 2500 mmcf (million cubic feet) per day while the production is over 2000 mmcfd, the energy state minister has told parliament.
The government has increased daily production by 284 MMcf and by December 2011 another 110 MMcf would be added to the grid, Mohammad Enamul Haque told parliament in reply to a question from Nazrul Islam Manju on Sunday.
Twenty-nine districts are under the gas distribution network and it would not be wise to develop additional gas pipeline without ensuring gas supply, he added.
Source : New Age
Global diabetes epidemic balloons to 350m
The number of adults with diabetes worldwide has more than doubled since 1980 to 347 million, a far larger number than previously thought and one that suggests costs of treating the disease will also balloon.
In a study published in the The Lancet journal, an international team of researchers working with The World Health Organisation found that rates of diabetes have either risen or at best remained the same in virtually all parts of the world in the past 30 years.
The estimated number of diabetics is markedly higher than a previous
projections that put the number at 285 million worldwide. This study found that of the 347 million people with diabetes, 138 million live in China and India and another 36 million in the United States and Russia.
The most common type of diabetes, Type 2, is strongly associated with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
'Diabetes is becoming more common almost everywhere in the world,' said Majid Ezzati, from Britain's Imperial College London, who led the study along with Goodarz Danaei from the Harvard School of Public Health in the United States.
'Unless we develop better programmes for detecting people with elevated blood sugar and helping them to improve their diet and physical activity and control their weight, diabetes will inevitably
continue to impose a major burden on health systems around the world,'
Danaei added in a joint statement.
People with diabetes have inadequate blood sugar control, which can lead to serious complications like heart disease and stroke, damage to the kidneys or nerves, and to blindness.
Experts say high blood glucose and diabetes cause around 3 million deaths globally each year, a number that will continue to rise as the number of people affected increases.
As a result, diabetes is a booming market for drugmakers like Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Eli Lilly, Merck and Takeda.
Dozens of diabetes treatments, both pills and injections, are on the market. Global sales of the medicines totalled $35 billion last year and could
rise to as much as $48 billion by 2015, according to drug research firm IMS Health.
New research being
presented this weekend
at the annual meeting
of the American Diabetes Association in San
Diego will focus on experimental drugs and ways to combine classes of medicines to better control blood sugar.
'This is a chronic, progressive condition,' said Dennis Urbaniak, vice president of Sanofi's diabetes division. 'What we are most worried about is the number of people out there with diabetes that is not optimally controlled.'
For the Lancet study, the largest of its kind for diabetes, researchers analysed fasting plasma glucose data from 2.7 million participants aged 25 and over across the world, and then used advanced statistical methods to estimate prevalence.
They found that between 1980 and 2008, the number of adults with the disease rose from 153 million to 347 million. Seventy per cent of the rise was due to population growth and aging, with the other 30 per cent due to higher prevalence, they said.
The proportion of adults with diabetes rose to 9.8 per cent of men and 9.2 per cent of women in 2008, compared with 8.3 per cent of men and 7.5 per cent of women in 1980.
Diabetes has taken off most dramatically in
Pacific Island nations, which now have the highest diabetes levels in the world, the study found. In the Marshall Islands, a third of all women and a quarter of all men have diabetes.
Among wealthy countries, the rise in diabetes was highest in North America and relatively small in Western Europe. Diabetes and glucose levels were highest in United States, Greenland, Malta, New Zealand and Spain, and lowest in the Netherlands, Austria and France.
The region with the lowest glucose levels was sub-Saharan Africa, followed by east and southeast Asia.
Source : New Age
JS panel finds price situation ‘stable’
The parliamentary panel on commerce ministry on Sunday said it found the price situation in retail markets stable but called for strengthening the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to increase supply of commodities in the market.
The committee observed that price situation was stable but the measures government has taken to keep the prices under control were not enough.
'We monitored the retail markets and found prices were stable.
Usually prices shot up after announcement of the budget but this time there was no such price hike,' said the committee chairman Abul Kashem.
Kashem said the committee at its meeting on Sunday asked the government to strengthen the TCB and expressed satisfaction at prime minister's approval for allocating the corporation Tk 1,000 crore for importing essential items.
He said the committee also laid stress on the corporation's infrastructure and suggested construction of multi-storied buildings at the present sites of the corporation's dilapidated buildings.
The committee expressed satisfaction at the preparations of the TCB to meet market demands for commodities during the holy month of Ramadan.
TCB has already opened letters of credits (LC) to import goods and the committee expected prices would remain within people's reach, he said.
Kashem added that the TCB had also decided to increase dealers at upazila levels to ensure smooth supply of goods in the market.
The 29th meeting of the committee was also attended by commerce minister Faruk Khan and lawmakers Rumana Mahmud and Tipu Munshi.
Source : New Age
Indian firm submits report on 1,300MW Khulna plant
Indian company NTPC has submitted a draft feasibility report to set up a 1,300 megawatts joint-venture coal-based plant in Khulna.
The project is expected to be completed in 2015, said the state minister for energy, Mohammad Enamul Haque, in parliament in reply to a question from Nazrul Islam Manju.
The government between January 2009 and May 2011 signed 39 agreements to install 41 power plants for generation of additional 4,504 megawatts of electricity, he said, replying to Begum Salma Islam.
Fifteen power plants have already been commissioned and are generating 1,201 megawatt and the rest 26 plants are in process of implementation.
The government has undertaken short, medium and long-term plan for comprehensive and balanced development of the sector and under the plan, by 2016, a total of 15,000 megawatt power would be produced, the minister said.
Considering the gas shortage, the government has emphasised on liquid fuel, coal, duel fuel and renewable energy to produce electricity.
Tenders for 30 plants in private and public sectors to generate 3,879 megawatts are under process and deals would be signed in six months, Enamul added.
Power import process from Nepal, India and Bhutan is going on and by 2013, a total of 500 megawatts would be imported from India.
In reply to a question of Zafrul Islam Chowdhury, the minister said Power Development Board owed the private and public sector Tk 1.26 billion.
Twenty-nine districts are under the gas distribution network and it would not be wise to develop additional gas pipeline without ensuring gas supply, he added.
Source : New Age
Police yet to make any headway
The police are yet to make any headway in the daring robbery of Hira Jewellers at Banani in the capital on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court remanded the seven people including four employees of the jewellery shop arrested by the police on Friday afternoon for their suspected involvement in the heist in police custody for three days for interrogation.
Inspector Masud Karim, investigation officer of the case, told New Age on Sunday evening that they were yet to arrest any body or make any headway in the robbery.
He said, 'A court has remanded the seven people arrested after the robbery in our remand for quizzing. We sought custody for seven days but the court granted three days.'
The arrested people remanded in police custody are not accused in the case filed by the jewellery shop owner, he said, adding, 'but, the police suspect they were involved.'
The inspector also said that, along with the police, the Rapid Action Battalion was also investigating into the robbery to bring the robbers to book.
On Friday, robbers posing as customers looted at least 800 tolas of gold ornaments from the jewellery shop. They held the employees of the shop on the first floor of Iqbal Centre at gunpoint during the robbery committed in broad daylight.
Source : New Age
Gaddafi revives offer of vote to end Libya conflict
The Libyan government on Sunday renewed its offer to hold a vote on whether Muammar Gaddafi should stay in power, a proposal unlikely to interest Gaddafi's opponents but which could widen differences inside NATO.
Pressure is growing from some quarters within the alliance to find a political solution, three months into a military campaign which is costing NATO members billions of dollars, has killed civilians, and has so far failed to topple Gaddafi.
Moussa Ibrahim, a spokesman for Gaddafi's administration, told reporters in Tripoli the government was proposing a period of national dialogue and an election overseen by the United Nations and the African Union.
'If the Libyan people decide Gaddafi should leave he will leave. If the people decide he should stay he will stay,' Ibrahim said.
But he said Gaddafi — who has run the oil-producing country since taking over in a military coup in 1969 — would not go into exile whatever happened. 'Gaddafi is not leaving anywhere, he is staying in this country,' Ibrahim said.
The idea of holding an election was first raised earlier this month by one of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam.
The proposal lost momentum when the Libyan prime minister, Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi, appeared to dismiss it. At the time, it was also rejected by anti-Gaddafi rebels in the east of Libya, and by Washington.
Many analysts say Gaddafi and his family have no intention of relinquishing power. Instead, they say, the Libyan leader is holding out the possibility of a deal to try to widen cracks that have been emerging in the alliance ranged against him.
The election proposal could find a more receptive audience this time around, especially after a NATO bomb landed on a house in Tripoli on June 19, killing several civilians.
After that incident, alliance-member Italy said it wanted a political settlement, and also said that the civilian casualties threaten NATO's credibility.
Libyan government forces have been fighting rebels, backed by NATO air power, since February 17, when thousands of people rose up in a rebellion against his rule.
The revolt has turned into the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings sweeping the Middle East.
Rebels now control the eastern third of the country, and some enclaves in the West. They have been unable though to break through to the capital, leaving Western powers banking on an uprising in Tripoli to overthrow Gaddafi.
The Libyan leader suffered a propaganda defeat when four members of the national soccer team and 13 other football figures defected to the rebels, the rebel council said.
Libyans are passionate about the sport and the national team was closely aligned with Gaddafi's rule. At one point his son, Saadi, played in the side.
Asked about the defections, government spokesman Ibrahim said: 'The Libyan football team is full and functioning and performing all of its duties inside and outside Libya.'
A momentary thaw in the fighting allowed the Red Cross to reunite people caught on the wrong side of the conflict with their families.
A ship, the Ionis, arrived in Tripoli's port on Sunday carrying 106 people from the main rebel stronghold in Benghazi. Many of the passengers were elderly, and families with small children.
A crowd of a few dozen people waited for the ship to dock, among them Mohammed Al-Gimzi. 'I love Muammar Gaddafi very much,' he said.
When Al-Gimzi's sister disembarked from the ship, he rushed to greet her and the two stood weeping with their heads on each other's shoulders. 'I am very happy to see my sister again,' he said, tears running down his face.
Source : New Age
Matia admits mistake on tobacco tax
Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury said in the parliament on Sunday that she should have been more cautious in signing files, admitting that she had signed the file proposing tax cuts on tobacco export mistakenly.
Matia, standing on rule 300 of the rules of procedure, gave the statement clarifying her position on the issue.
'I did not sign the file consciously. It was an error and I signed it along with some other files. I would not consciously sign such a proposal, which I had mentioned in my budget speech, too,' she said.
'Then the file went to the National Board of Revenue as the ministry's answer,' she added.
Matia said it was for the first time that the NBR decided to reduce the duty on tobacco export by 10 per cent and sought opinion of the agriculture ministry on the move. 'After officials at different levels had signed it, the file came to me with the ministry secretary's approval and I signed it on April 28,' she added.
'It is not true that we had written to the finance ministry requesting for the duty cut,' she added.
Matia made the explanation in response to a news item published in a vernacular daily and requested the newspaper to be more cautious in publishing news in the future.
Source : New Age
PM reacts to Rabbi’s remarks on lawmakers
http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/frontpage/24043.htmlThe prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday sharply reacted to remarks of Jatiya Party lawmaker TIM Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury in parliament that lawmakers did not have courage to speak on many issues.
Speaking on the proposed budget for the fiscal 2011-2012, Rabbi said that the lawmakers did not have enough courage to raise many issues in the house.
'Even they do not have courage to demand an office in their respective constituencies, although it is essential,' he said, claiming that he had the guts to say that the lawmakers visited their constituencies as vagabonds for want of an office.
The speaker, Abdul Hamid, who chaired the session, said that the remarks made by the JP lawmaker might not be quite true.
The prime minister took the floor and said that Rabbi's claims might be true about his own party.
'I think he (Rabbi) is talking about his own party. The lawmakers of his party might have no courage to talk to their leader,' said Hasina, adding that it was not applicable to the Awami League.
'Relations between me and my party men is very easy and they can share everything with me without hesitation,' said the leader of the house.
She also said that there was an allocation for setting up offices for the lawmakers in their constituencies.
What can be done if a lawmaker keeps the money in his pocket instead of spending it for the purpose, Hasina asked.
'I think he (Rabbi) has kept the money in his pocket,' said the prime minister.
Source : New Age
1,500MW power supply deficit in summer
The country is experiencing a deficit of up to 1,500 megawatts of power supply during current summer and there is a daily deficit of 500 million cubic feet of gas, state minister for energy and power Enamul Haq told parliament on Sunday.
The demand for power in summer is around 6,000 megawatts while power plants can generate four to five thousand megawatts, he said in response to a question from Shahriyar Alam.
The minister told Moshtaq Ahmed Ruhi that the daily demand for gas was more than 2,500 million cubic feet while the highest 2,020 million cubic feet of gas could be supplied.
He said the reserve of recoverable gas in 23 gas fields was 10.8 trillion cubic feet, adding that the government was working on plans to explore new fields and also to increase production from the existing fields with a target of 2,800 million cubic feet a day by 2015.
Besides, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company was working on 2D and 3D seismic survey for exploration of new fields. In this context, he referred to the deals signed recently with ConocoPhillips for deep sea exploration.
To a question from Apu Ukil, the state minister said at present gas was being supplied to 29 districts through pipeline.
He said the government has taken 10 projects to increase the capacity of petroleum storage. After implementation of the projects, the storage capacity would increase by more than three lakh tonnes.
Enamul Huq also said the amount of power bill arrears with different government and private organisations stood at Taka 126 crore.
The minister said 39 deals had been signed by government agencies and private companies to construct 41 power plants to produce 4,505 megawatts of power.
Source : New Age
Khaleda threatens to bring down govt
The BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, has threatened to bring down the government through movement and hold midterm election under a caretaker government.
The threat of the opposition leader came at a closed door meeting with a group of senior engineers and agriculturists at her Gulshan office at about 8:45pm Sunday as part of her ongoing exchange views with various professional groups.
Sources close to the meeting said Khaleda reiterated her party's stand that existing provision of the caretaker government in the constitution has to be sustained. The unilateral government move for constitution amendment is not acceptable to her party.
She indicated that a tough movement would be launched shortly. She said the ruling Awami League had chosen the course of repression on its political opponents as well as professionals to cling to power.
BNP standing committee member RA Gani and acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Sammalitya Peshajibi Parishad convenor Mahmudur Rahman were present at the meeting.
Source : New Age
JS body to further examine ACC amendment bill
The parliamentary standing committee on law ministry on Sunday decided to further scrutinise some sections of the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill 2011 before finalising it.
At a meeting of the committee, most of its members and the finance minister opposed a proposed provision of the bill that stipulates that permission should be obtained from the government for filing corruption charges against a judge, magistrate or public servant, meeting sources said.
The minister in-charge of cabinet division in parliamentary business, Matia Chowdhury, who was present at the meeting, suggested that the committee should finalise a balanced law, prompting the committee to further examine the bill, meeting sources said.
The bill proposes insertion of a new Section 32A that says the provisions in Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure must be followed in filing a graft case against a judge, magistrate or public servant.
'I advised the committee to finalise it considering our reality,' Matia told New Age, adding that she had suggested a balanced law. The finance minister, AMA Muhith, told the meeting that the new provision should be dropped.
'We want to examine the bill closely and a team will be sent abroad to gather experience, if necessary,' committee chairman Suranjit Sengupta told reporters after the meeting.
He also said that most of the committee members and the finance minister had opposed the new provision and the agriculture minister called for finalising the bill considering the reality to make it effective and acceptable.
On May 19, the committee raised questions about some sections and called for bringing changes to the Anti-Corruption Commission (amendment) Bill 2011 which was placed in the house on February 28 and sent to the committee for scrutiny.
The committee members observed that although the proposed law would enable the bureaucracy to act independently for the state, individual corruption by government officials could increase.
They suggested that in case of personal corruption, the commission should have power to file cases without government permission, committee sources said.
Earlier, Muhith wrote to the committee proposing that the provision that makes it mandatory to take government's permission for filing corruption cases against government officials should be dropped.
He also opposed the proposal for stripping the ACC of the authority to appoint its own secretary.
Section 197 of the CrPC says, 'When a person who is a judge within the meaning of section 19 of the Penal Code, or when a magistrate, or when any public servant who is not removable from his office save by or with the sanction of the government, is accused of an offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty, no court shall take cognisance of such offence except with the previous sanction of the government.'
The act, however, does not have any definition of 'public servant'.
Article 152 of the constitution defines 'public officer' as 'a person holding or acting in any office of emolument in the service of the republic'. The Bengali version of the article makes the same definition for 'public servant' (sarkari karmachari).
The term 'public servant' is, however, defined in the Penal Code.
The bill proposes empowerment of the government to appoint a secretary to the commission.
If the bill is enacted, the commission will have no power to summon witnesses or to record their depositions on oath.
Source : New Age
Businessman’s house robbed in city
Armed robbers looted gold ornaments and cash from the house of a businessman at 135, West Malibagh in the capital in the early hours on Sunday.
They robbed businessman Jaman Ahmed's home of at least 40 tolas of gold ornaments and Tk 80,000 in cash at around 2:30am holding the residents at gunpoint.
Police and Jaman's family said at least seven robbers carrying firearms and sharp weapons stormed the house. Two of them stood guard in front of the house, while the rest of the gang took position at its entrances.
According to witnesses, it took the robbers merely 10 minutes to decamp with the ornaments and money.
Jaman filed a case with Malibagh police station in this connection in the morning but the police had been unable to make any headway in the case till Sunday evening.
Source : New Age
FBCCI urges PM to re-fix tax at source
FBCCI leaders met with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, Sunday evening in Sangsad Bhaban and requested her to review some of the budget proposals including re-fix tax at source at 0.40 per cent on exportable goods instead of proposed 1.5 per cent.
They also asked for 15 per cent incentive for the textile sector to help grow the potential sector which contributes substantially to the national economy as well as reducing import duty on raw materials.
'The prime minister listened to us and assured us of considering our proposals,' FBCCI senior vice- president M Jasim Uddin told the news agency over phone.
He said the prime minister informed that the rate of tax at source would have to be increased to a certain level. 'She didn't, however, tell about the revised rate.'
Replying to a question Jasim said they did not discuss allowing untaxed money to channel into the capital market as they have already placed the proposal through the post-budget press conference.
REHAB president and Awami League lawmaker Nasrul Hamid Bipu, however, raised the demand during the meeting.
Jasim said the prime minister would sit with the finance minister, AMA Muhith, today to discuss their proposals.
FBCCI president AK Azad and vice-president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu were also present.
Source : New Age
BNP asks govt not to play risky game
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday staged demonstrations, amid police obstructions, across the country in protest at 'repression' and 'vendetta' against the Zia family that include conviction of Khaleda's youngest son Arafat Rahman.
The party also observed the day as 'day against repression' coinciding the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The party announced to hold the protests soon after Dhaka's third special judge's court had sentenced Arafat Rahman to six years in jail and fined him Tk 190.41 million in a money laundering case.
'Rallies and processions were held in divisional and district headquarters as part of the observance of the day and in protest at the government move to ruin the Zia Family,' the BNP's joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told New Age.
He said that the police had foiled rallies and processions at different places in the country.
The Dhaka city BNP as part of the nationwide programme held a rally in front of the party's central office at Naya Paltan.
The mayor of Dhaka, Sadeque Hossain, presided over the rally and the party's standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and Rafiqul Islam Mia, acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman and the party's chairperson's advisers Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Ahmed Azam Khan and Fazlur Rahman Patal, among others, spoke.
Mosharraf Hossain, who spoke as chief guest at the rally, asked the government to stop playing the 'dangerous game centring on the caretaker government provision.'
'Stop playing any dangerous game centring on the caretaker government provision so that the country does not fall in any disaster,' Mosharraf told the government.
'Otherwise,' he said, 'you [the Awami League-led government] will be held responsible.'
Mrza Fakhrul earlier at a discussion at the National Press Club accused the government of creating smokescreen in the name of holding talks on the caretaker government provision.
Terming 'airy fairy' the call the Awami League's general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam put out for talks on the caretaker government issue, Fakhrul said that the government was trying to create smokescreen by holding talks on the issue.
'Syed Ashraf is saying that the talks will be held for certain. But nobody knows with whom the talks will be held and when. Neither the main opposition nor any other party knows anything about the talks,' Fakhrul said.
He criticised the government for placing the bill on amendment to the constitution in the parliament even before it received the court verdict.
New Age correspondents in districts such as Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Bogra, Munshiganj, Feni and Narsingdi said that the local BNP units had brought out processions and held rallies.
The correspondents in Chuadanga and Bhola said that the police had obstructed BNP processions in the districts.
Source : New Age
DCC employees charge extra for birth certificates
Residents of Dhaka city are being overcharged by the staff at Dhaka City Corporation when they seek copies of birth certificates from its different zonal offices.
The city corporation's zonal executive directors told New Age they were unaware that this was the case while the local government division's birth and death registration programme director said it was 'nothing unusual' in Bangladesh.
Rahat, a resident of Mirpur section 11, told New Age that he was overcharged when he had visited the corporation zone 7 office to get birth certificates for him and his brother.
'Some employees took Tk 150 per certificate from me,' he said, admitting that he had no idea about the actual fee for a birth certificate.
A New Age investigation found that an employee of the zonal office demanded Tk 300 from a resident when she went to the office for birth registration.
'You can take your birth certificate by paying a fee of Tk 50 but it will take you six months to get it. If you want it in 10-15 days, give me Taka 300,' he said.
Wahida Rahman, a housewife from Mirpur 14, said that when she had visited the DCC's zone 8 office to get birth certificates for herself and her cousin, a female employee demanded Tk 200 for each.
'That woman did not let me go to the officer and instead told me that if I gave her necessary papers and the money, I would get the certificates the next day,' she said.
Karwan Bazar's resident Mahmudul Hasan alleged that an employee at the corporation's zone 6 office demanded extra money for birth certificate.
He said the employee had told him that if he submitted the birth registration form and pay Tk 50 the next day, he would get the certificate after one month but if he wanted it the next day had to pay him Tk 300.
'I do not know if anyone in my office has asked for extra money for birth certificates,' said DCC zone 7 executive officer Mohammad Rafiqul Islam on Tuesday.
'Now that I have received a complaint, I will take action,' he said.
Amar Chand Banik, regional executive officer of DCC zone 8, also told New Age that he had no knowledge of such practice.
'We often carry out activities to stop counterfeiting of certificates,' he said.
He claimed that birth certificates were given within one hour from his office.
The local government division's birth and death certificate programme director Saiful Islam Chowdhury admitted that the city corporation employees had become 'extremely corrupt'.
'In different zone offices, employees are charging extra even for birth certificates of children who are under 18,' he said.
He said that since July 3, 2008, the corporation has been charging Tk 50 for birth certificates of persons aged over 18 years and no fee for those who are below the age limit.
'If there is corruption in your mind how can you work transparently,' he asked.
Source : New Age
2 more killed in UP polls violence
At least two persons were killed and 150 others injured in violence on Saturday night and during Sunday's polling for electing new councils in 83 unions amid snatching of ballots.
Earlier, 27 people were killed in violence in the second phase of union parishad elections, which began on May 31, amid stray clashes, intimidation and snatching of ballot boxes.
Elections would be held in 25 unions today. The elections are set to end on July 5
According to bdnews24.com, 50-year old Sobhan Mian was killed in post-poll violence at Gabindaganj upazila in Gaibandha.
He was admitted to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogra with serious injuries where he died Saturday night, said Abu Akkas, officer-in-charge of Gabindaganj police station.
Sobhan, a supporter of chairman elect Abdul Latif Prodhan, was injured attacked by the supporters of a defeated candidate at Kurastair Government Primary School centre Saturday night.
New Age correspondent in Jessore reports that 45-year old Hasan Mandal of the village Silumpur in Raipur union under Bhagarpara upazila died in post election violence Sunday evening.
The police said that they recovered his body but would not say how or who killed him.
The chairman elect of Raipur union and the defeated candidate made conflicting claims about his death.
New Age correspondent in Noakhali reports that supporters of the ruling party backed chairman candidate Ahmed Ullah vandalised Kazi Nagar Government Primary School centre in Amanullahpur union in Begumganj and snatched ballot papers. A clash ensued when the police present tried in vain to foil their bid.
In another incident in Begumganj upazila the police stopped over 100 people who tried to force their way into the Jaminderhat BM High School centre in Rasulpur union to snatch ballot papers.
At least six people including a magistrate were injured in the ensuing clash.
The police took to baton charge and fired blank shots to disperse the mob.
According to United News of Bangladesh in Narail, at least 12 people were injured in pre-poll violence Saturday morning between the supporters of two candidates contesting for the position of chairman in the village Padmobila in Kashipur union in Lohagara upazila.
The police said that the supporters of Motiar Rahman were going to Erenda Bazaar after electioneering at around 1.30 AM when they came under attack, on reaching Padmobila from the supporters of rival candidate Azizur Rahman Arzu, prompting a clash which
left at least 12 people injured on both sides.
At least seven motorbikes were damaged in the clash.
In Narayanganj, 20 people including an assistant sub-inspector of police were injured in a clash between police and supporters of a chairman candidate, who stormed Mongoler Gaon Govt Primary School polling centre in Pirojpur union and snatched two ballot boxes after the end of voting at 3:00pm on Sunday. The miscreants fired four rounds of bullets in the sky to scare the voters away.
Later, the police recovered the ballot boxes and arrested 12 people including four siblings of the vanquished chairman candidate.
In Comilla, supporters of a chairman candidate raided Kamal Smrity Girls' High School polling centre in Chandirchar union under Homna upazila during voting at 1:00pm on Saturday and snatched three ballot boxes triggering a series of clashes with the police that left 10 people injured on both sides.
The police fired 10 warning shots to drive the attackers out of the centre.
Seriously injured assistant sub-inspector Abdur Rahman, constables Jafar and Moniruzzaman, and journalist Ataur Rahman received treatment at local hospitals. The police later recovered the ballot boxes and arrested one person in this connecdtion.
In Kurigram, at least five people, including a schoolteacher, were injured on Saturday in a clash between supporters of the winner and the defeated chairman candidate in the village Milerpar in Chakirposhar union under Rajarhat upazila.
Accoding to the police and witnesses the supporters of the defeated candidate Abul Kalam Azad attacked schoolteacher Golzar Hossain, a supporter of the chairman elect Jahid Suhrawardy Bappi, when he was going to school in the morning.
On hearing the news, Bappi's supporters retaliated on Azad's supporters,
leaving at least five persons injured on both side.
New Age correspondent in Pabna reports that at least 10 people were injured as the two rival groups clashed over union parishad election in the village Arkandi in Faridpur upazila in Pabna on Sunday.
The clash occurred between the supporters of the winning member candidate Bablu Mollah and the defeated candidate Thandu Mollah near Arkandi Bazaar at about 12 noon on Sunday.
The police and local people said that tension gripped the village since the election was held in the union on June, 5.
It was in this backdrop that Thandu and Bablu came face to face near the Arkandi Bazaar.
Our Correspondent in Jamalpur reported that at least 13 persons were injured in separate post election violence in Sarishabari upazila of the district.
Quoting local sources he reported that the supporters of the defeated chairman candidate Enamul Haque attacked the supporters of the wining candidate Md Billal Hossain near Jagannathganj Ghat in Awna union in the morning leaving six people injured.
Of the injured Abubakar ,Sohel , Mukul and Milon were admitted Sarishabari hospital.
In another incident, supporters of defeated member candidate Ataur Rahman ransacked the house of Abul Kalam Azad in the morning for not casting his vote in favour of their candidate in the village Gabindapur in Pogaldigha union.
Unruly supporters of another defeated member candidate Sabuj Miah attacked the house of elected member Abdur Razzak at Kamrabad Saturday night.
Our Correspondent in Lalmonirhat reports a human chain was formed on both sides of Lalmonirhat-Rangpur Highway at Mohendra Nagar in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila demanding a recount of ballots at Nizpara Govt Primary School polling centre Sunday morning.
About one thousand people from five villages of Ward No 2 of Mohendra Nagar union in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila took part in the demonstration to back the demand of nine defeated member candidates.
The protesters said that Khazir Uddin was elected a member of Ward No 2 of Mohendra Nagar Union Parishad by rigging the polls and ballot forgery with support from the presiding officer of Nizpara Govt Primary School polling centre.
They said that it was impossible for Khazir the weakest candidate to defeat his nine contestants in the ward.
Source : New Age
Div admin chiefs asked to curb corruption in land offices
The land ministry has directed all the divisional commissioners to take stern measures to check corruption and public suffering in land offices.
In a fresh move, it has asked the senior-most field administrators to take 'due action' against land administration officials and employees allegedly involved in corruption and irregularities as the ministry's similar directives to all the 64 deputy commissioners issued about two months and a half ago have fallen flat, officials said.
The land secretary, Md Mokhlesur Rahman, in a demi-official letter sent to all the seven divisional commissioners on July 23 said that the people going to field-level land offices, especially union land offices and offices of assistant commissioner (land), for different purposes were being denied the expected service and harassed in many ways.
'This has raised questions about the transparency of the government's revenue administration in many cases,' the letter says.
The secretary said that the land minister's repeated directives at coordination meetings for making the field offices hassle-free and service-oriented were not reflected in activities of land offices on the ground.
On April 13, 2011, the land ministry directed all the deputy commissioners to launch a crackdown on 'dishonest land officials/employees' at grass roots to check public sufferings.
The directive came in the wake of widespread allegations of corruption and irregularities against officials and employees in land offices and also officers of assistant commissioners (land) in upazilas.
In the latest letter, the secretary said that the scenario in many districts had remained unchanged even after his directives that had been issued in April to the deputy commissioners to take action against 'dishonest land officials/employees.'
It was expected of deputy commissioners, who also work as district collectors, that they should take action against 'dishonest officials/employees' to streamline the land administration and to ensure smooth services to the public, according to the secretary.
It has been alleged that land officials were realising money beyond the fees set by the government for services such as land registration and mutation, causing immense sufferings to clients.
'The negative pictures of land offices as presented in electronic and print media are damaging the image of the land administration,' says the letter addressed to the divisional commissioners.
Mokhlesur reminded the commissioners that they were the senior-most officials at the divisional level and were responsible for establishing an efficient, transparent and accountable land administration.
He asked them to ensure regular inspections at the land offices by additional deputy commissioners (revenue) and assistant commissioners (land) under their respective jurisdiction.
Source : New Age
Charges pressed against Nizami, Babar, 9 others
Charges were pressed on Sunday against 11 more people, including former industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami and former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, in two cases of the sensational 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong.
Senior assistant superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department Mohammed Moniruzzaman, also the investigation officer of the cases, submitted supplementary charge sheets in the two cases to the Chittagong chief metropolitan magistrate's court.
The investigation officer pressed charges against Nizami, also the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami amir who is now detained, Babar, former National Security Intelligence directors general retired major general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury and retired brigadier general Abdur Rahim, former additional secretary of the industries ministry Nurul Amin, former NSI directors retired wing commander Shahabuddin Ahmed and retired major Liakat Hossain, former NSI field officer Akbar Hossain, former Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited managing director Mohshin Talukder, its former general manager AKM Enamul Haque and United Liberation Front of Assom leader Paresh Barua.
Nurul Amin and Paresh Barua are still on the run and nine others are detained in prisons, the charge sheets said.
The charges were pressed against the 11 in both the cases in addition to the people against whom charges were pressed earlier.
In 2004, the investigators pressed charges against 45 in a case filed for smuggling the firearms and ammunition and 43 in the other case filed under the arms act.
The arms and ammunitions were transported from China for ULFA with the connivance of the accused, Moniruzzaman told reporters after the submission of two supplementary charge sheets.
He, however, said that the investigation had failed to identify the ship that carried the arms and ammunitions to Chittagong.
The charge sheets were the third in the arms case and the second in the smuggling case.
On April 2, 2004, the police seized 4,930 types of sophisticated firearms, 27,020 grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 2,000 grenade launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11,40,520 bullets when they were being loaded on to 10 trucks from two engine boats at the jetty of the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited.
This is the biggest-ever arms haul in the country.
Ahadur Rahman, the then Karnaphuli police officer-in-charge, filed the two cases on April 3, 2004. He was also the first investigation officer in the cases.
The cases were transferred to the CID 22 days after the filing of the cases and the CID's Chittagong zone assistant superintendent Kabir Uddin was then appointed the second investigation officer, who submitted the first charge sheet on June 11, 2004 in the case filed under the arms act.
The court, however, directed further investigation in the case and the CID's assistant superintendent Nawshad Ali submitted a supplementary charge sheet, the second in the arms case, pressing charges against 43 people on August 24, 2004.
Nawshad also submitted the first charge sheet in the case filed under smuggling act pressing charges against 45 people in November 2004.
Chittagong metropolitan sessions judge ANM Bashirullan, however, on February 12, 2008, during the immediate-past military-controlled interim regime, ordered further investigation in the two cases on an appeal preferred by the then public prosecutor Ahsanul Haque Hena.
The CID's assistant superintendent Ismail Hossain carried out the further investigation as the fourth investigation officer of the cases but failed to submit the reports even after deadline extension for six times.
On January 18, 2009, a Chittagong court ordered to replace Ismail Hossain on an appeal by the state lawyer and ASP Moniruzzaman was appointed the fifth investigation officer.
After the Awami League had assumed office on January 6, 2009, the course of investigation in the cases took a fresh turn with the arrest of former NSI chiefs.
The court, in its February 12, 2008 order, directed investigation of seven specific points in the further investigation.
Moniruzzaman told reporters that the weapons had been bought from Noriho Company of China for ULFA.
He said that the investigation could resolve all the issues, ordered by the court, but the identification of the ship that carried the arms and ammunition.
He, however, said that the investigation could not reveal the route that the smugglers intended to use to take the arms to Assam.
With the new 11, the number of accused people stood at 50 in the case filed under the arms act and 52 in the case filed under the smuggling act, court sources said, adding that four people, named earlier in the charge sheets in both the cases, had died by this time.
In both the cases, 256 people were named as prosecution witnesses, the sources said.
A section of lawyers, after the submission of the charge sheets, said that the implication of Nizami, Babar and former army officers posted to the National Security Intelligence was motivated.
Source : New Age
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