Snaps And Snippets: BSF returns body

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) returned the body of a Bangladeshi youth after a company commander-level flag meeting with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Monday night. BGB Sources said a Bangladeshi was detained by BSF members of Kokradaha Camp at Udoypur village in India on 1 July near Darmagarh border under Ranishankoil upazila. Bhulu,35, son of Monsur Ali of Kochua village under Baliadangi upazila in Thakurgaon died at an Indian hospital on 2 July.

Source : The Daily Star

Implement CHT accord fully to ensure peace, good governance: Workshop at Rangamati told

Participants in a workshop here yesterday stressed the need for full implementation of CHT peace accord to establish good governance in the country.

They said access of people to all government and non-government institutions must be ensured to restore accountability and transparency in those organisations.

A misconception among the Bangla-speaking people about CHT Regional Council still remains that the institution works only for welfare of the indigenous people. It must be removed through neutral activities of the council, the participants said.

CHT Regional Council (CHTRC) organised the workshop on preparing 'Citizen Charter' for CHTRC in the conference room of Rangamati Hill District Council.

Public representatives, civil society leaders, government officials, NGO representatives, journalists and women leaders attended the workshop.

Speaking at the workshop, CHT Regional Council Chairman Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma alleged undemocratic attitude of the government is an impediment to full execution of the peace accord.

He said the people in CHT are still being deprived of all government facilities due to politicisation of local government institutions.

He urged the civil society leaders, politicians, Journalists, public representatives, NGO representatives and women leaders to help make the local institutions effective.

Robert Stoleman, chief of implementation of CHTDF-UNDP, stressed the need for strengthening local government institutions.

Dr Manik Lal Dewan, former chairman of Rangamati Hill District Council, CHTRC member Gautam Kumar Chakma, Ushatan Talukder, president of Adivasi Forum, CHT chapter, mayor of Khagrachhari Municiaplaity Md. Rafiqul Alam, councillor Roksana Akhter, among others, spoke at the workshop.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Land Dispute Resolution Commission Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury said establishing peace in CHT will be complicated due to delay in resolving land disputes of the region.

Replying to a query about the commission's activities at the commission's Khagrachhari office, he said the indigenous people are not attending the scheduled meetings and helping the commission in resolving land disputes.

Land Commission Secretary Abdul Hamid, Registrar Mohammad Hanif were present.

Source : The Daily Star

Locals resist felling of trees in Thakurgaon: 35 trees on govt land allegedly sold at throwaway prices

At least 35 fruit bearing trees on a government office premises at Akcha village adjacent to Thakurgaon-Ruhia road have been sold allegedly at throwaway prices.

Local people resisted the buyer when he was felling the trees with his workers on Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) compound on Monday afternoon.

LGED office and local sources said, 35 different fruit bearing trees were sold earlier to local timber trader Fazlur Rahman at a cost of Tk 20,000.

On Monday at about 4:30pm, he along with his workers went to the LGED garden and started to fell the trees.

A group of local people went to the place and asked him to show papers.

As the buyer failed to show any official order, they forced them to stop the work.

Locals including Shaiful Islam and Md Rubel, said the market price of the 35 trees would be at least Tk 1 lakh but the trees were sold at Tk 20,000 without inviting any tender.

Despite several attempts, executive engineer of Thakurgaon LGED Shariful Islam could not be contacted as he was not at his office. His cellphone was also out of reach.

Assistant engineer of LGED Shujan Kumar Kar said, the office recently took an initiative to plant mango trees at the garden. Three trees were felled to test the soil whether it is suitable for cultivation of Amropali variety .

However, he refuted the report of selling 35 trees by the office.

Replying to a query, he said as the trees were not of much importance, the authorities sold them without tender.

Source : The Daily Star

Nine sued on charge of torturing housewife

A case was filed on Monday with Debhata police station, accusing nine people, including a union parishad member, of torturing wife of a rickshaw-puller at Garanbaria village in Debhata upazila the previous day.

Following the case filed by victim's husband Mukul Gazi, police arrested Afsar Ali, a member of Noapara Union Parishad (UP), in Satkhira town.

The other accused are Hayat Ali, Sobed Ali, Manirul Islam, Hafija Khatun, Momena Khatun, Ansar Ali, Ensan Ali, and Abdur Rashid of Garanbaria village.

Police quoting local people as saying that a group of people led by UP member Afsar Ali, Manirul Islam, Hafiza Khatun and Hayat Ali went to rickshaw-puller Mukul Gazi's thatched house on a roadside khas land at the village at around 11:00am on Sunday.

In a bid to take possession of the land, they asked Mukul Gazi and his wife Karima Khatun to leave the place. On refusal, the accused dragged Karima Khatun out of the house, tied her hands to an electric pole and tortured her.

Hearing screams, locals came to the spot and rescued Karima. They (locals) said UP member Afsar and his cohorts tried to capture the khas land, evicting the poor family.

Satkhira Police Superintendent (SP) Md Habibur Rahman Khan visited the spot Monday morning and ordered police to arrest the culprits.

Contacted, officer-in-charge (OC) of Debhata police station Mashiur Rahman said the rest of the accused have gone into hiding. Drive to arrest the culprits will continue, the OC added.

Source : The Daily Star

Assault on headmaster by lawmaker sparks protest: Traders observe hartal as Cox's Bazar JP demands MP Bodi's arrest

Local leaders and activists of Jatiya Party (Ershad) staged a demonstration in the town on Monday evening protesting assault on the party's Teknaf upazila unit president MA Manzur, also headmaster of Shamlapur High School, by lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi on Sunday night.

The JP men also gave a two-day ultimatum to arrest the lawmaker. Otherwise, they threatened to launch a tougher agitation programme including hartal.

Witnesses said Baharchhara union Olama League General Secretary Maulana Aziz along with some party cadres went to Shamlapur High School at around 10:00am on Sunday to occupy the playground of the school.

As headmaster Manzur, local AL leader and influential people strongly protested the bid to capture the playground, Aziz complained to lawmaker Bodi of Cox's Bazar-4 constituency (Ukhia-Teknaf), saying that headmaster Manzur prevented them from setting up union Awami League office on a khas land adjacent to the school playground.

Manzur alleged that Bodi called him to Hotel Green Garden in Teknaf in the evening, beat him up severely and then handed him over to the police. Local AL leader Saifullah said he was also beaten up as he came to rescue Manzur.

Monzur was released from police custody at around 9:00pm and admitted to Teknaf upazila health complex. Later, he was shifted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital.

Protesting assault on Manzur, traders observed a day-long hartal at Shamlapur Bazar on Monday. Students of the school also took out a procession and held a rally in the area demanding immediate arrest and punishment of lawmaker Bodi.

Bangladesh Teachers Association Cox's Bazar unit president Mostafa Kamal Chowdhury told this correspondent that they had submitted a memorandum to the prime minister demanding arrest of the lawmaker. The district unit of the teachers association will form a human chain and stage a protest rally in the town on July 12, he added.

Refuting the allegation, lawmaker Bodi said Monzur criticised the PM and hurled abuse at local AL leaders and activists when they went to Shamlapur to set up a party office on a khas land adjacent to the local high school. Manzur denied the allegations .

"I have heard that Manzur received injuries during a scuffle between AL activists and his men," the lawmaker said.

Contacted, acting officer-in-charge (OC) Mahabubul Haque of Teknaf police station said headmaster Manzur was injured during a clash over setting up a party office on the playground of Shamlapur High School playground. None, however, filed any complaint in this regard, the OC added.

JP district unit leaders alleged that lawmaker Bodi had earlier assaulted magistrate, engineer, lawyer, teacher and some district officials.

Source : The Daily Star

Int'l photo exhibition starts July 8

The 7th International Inter University Photography Exhibition 2011, organised by North South University Photography Club (NSUPC), will begin July 8 at Drik Gallery in the city.

Photos of 152 photographers from 28 local and 15 international universities will be exhibited this year.

North South University Vice-chancellor Dr Hafiz GA Siddiqi will attend the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition as the chief guest at Drik Gallery.

The exhibition will remain open for all from 3:00pm to 8:00pm at Drik Gallery everyday from July 8-14.

The exhibition's 2nd phase will be held at Jatiya Chitrashala of Shilpakala Academy from July 15-22. It will remain open for all from 11:00am to 7:00pm.

The award giving ceremony will be held at Shilpakala Academy on July 15.

Faculty adviser of NSUPC Shahriar Iqbal Raj, NSUPC president Tahsin-ul-Mujib, and NSUPC treasurer Shovon Saha spoke at a press conference organised yesterday to brief about the exhibition.

The Daily Star is the media partner of the exhibition.

Source : The Daily Star

Hearing on charge framing against Partex chairman July 19

A Dhaka court yesterday fixed July 19 for hearing on charge framing against Partex Group Chairman MA Hashem and seven others in connection with a tax evasion case.

Judge (In Charge) Mohammad Akhteruzzaman of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court passed the order after the accused appeared before the court and appealed to fix a date for hearing a charge framing in the case.

Source : The Daily Star

Sahara's traffic puzzle

Home Minister Sahara Khatun in parliament yesterday claimed traffic congestion in the city has been reduced "a great deal", but in apparent contradiction she blamed traffic jam for her 25-minute delay in joining the House proceedings.

According to yesterday's parliament business schedule, the home minister was to reply lawmakers' queries during the question hour after the House went into sitting around 5:35pm.

But Speaker Abdul Hamid, who was presiding over the sitting, did not find the home minister to reply question of Awami League lawmaker Nurunnabi Chowdhury.

The Speaker then requested Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad to give proxy for the home minister.

After around 25 minutes, Sahara Khatun entered the House and took part in the question hour and replied lawmakers' queries.

Before starting replying, the home minister told the House that she was delay in joining the House in time due to traffic congestion.

She also regretted to the Speaker for the delay.

But while replying to lawmakers' queries on reducing people's sufferings due to tremendous traffic jam in the city, the home minister in a scripted answer said, "Traffic jam in the city has been reduced to a large extent for ensuring movement of vehicles according to traffic rules".

Source : The Daily Star 

Govt may fall any time, says SCBA president

Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Khandker Mahbub Hossain yesterday said the government may collapse at any time amid mass upsurge.

"The country is passing through such a situation that a mass upsurge might take place at any time to topple the government," he said at a press briefing arranged by Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, an associate body of BNP.

Mahbub, also adviser to BNP chairperson, was highly critical against law enforcers and said, "I don't know what fate await you [law enforcers] after the change of government."

Source : The Daily Star 

BDR Carnage Case: 'Charge-sheet defective'

A defence counsel yesterday claimed that the charge-sheet of BDR carnage case is "defective" and pleaded before a Dhaka court to reinvestigate the case.

"The charge-sheet placed before the court is defective. Reinvestigation into the matter is needed to find out the real accused," said Faruk Ahmad, one of the defence counsels of accused BDR jawans.

Faruk Ahmed made the appeal before the makeshift court, set up at Bakshi Bazar in the capital during the hearing of discharge pleas of the accused of BDR (now Border Guard Bangladesh-BGB) carnage case.

A total of 395 accused placed their discharge pleas till yesterday.

Judge Mohammad Zohurul Hoque of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court adjourned the hearing till July 13.

Faruk Ahmed claimed that the charge-sheet submitted in this case could not specify the time and location of the accused during the BDR mutiny on February 25-26 of 2009, which is very important to charge one.

He also said though the BGB headquarters in Pilkhana was not under Lalbagh Police Station, but the then officer in charge of the station filed the case.

Prosecutor Mosharaf Hossain Kajol, however, claimed that cases can be filed with any police station in connection with criminal offence.

About the allegation of defence counsel, he told journalists that, "As a defence counsel they can call for reinvestigation. But we have enough evidence to prove their (accused) involvement in BDR mutiny."

Source : The Daily Star

Top pirate killed in shootout

Leader of a gang of pirates was killed in a 'shootout' between his accomplices and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) while a policeman was injured in Botiaghata upazila of the district early yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Nasir Ahmed Sheikh, 32, leader of the notorious 'Nasir Bahini' of the Sundarbans responsible for crimes ranging from extortion and kidnapping to robbery and murder in the Sundarbans and around the coastal belt, said a press release of Rab-6.

The injured policeman, Nayek Abul Bashar, who sustained bullet wounds, was admitted to the local upazila health complex, it said.

Abdul Quader Beg, officer-in-charge (OC) of Botiaghata Police Station said a joint squad of Rab and local police conducted a raid in Narayankhali around 4:20am when the pirate gang was allegedly waiting to collect ransom from fishermen.

Sensing police presence, the pirates opened fire on them, prompting them to retaliate, resulting in a gunfight that lasted for 15 minutes, said the OC.

Nasir was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, while his cohorts managed to flee the scene, he added.

Rab recovered a revolver, a pistol, four live bullets, Tk 4,310 and a flashlight from the spot.

Earlier, on June 25 this year, the notorious gang led by Nasir allegedly abducted 21 fishermen from Dular Char of the Sundarbans under Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat district and demanded a ransom of Tk 2 lakh, said the press release.

Source : The Daily Star

Moderate quake hits Japan

A moderate 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit western Japan yesterday, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

No injuries or major damage was reported immediately.

The quake hit at 7:18pm in Wakayama prefecture, 450 kilometres southwest of Tokyo, with its epicentre a shallow 10 kilometres deep, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

A 9.0-magnitude quake that struck the country's northeast on March 11 and the tsunami that followed left 23,000 people dead or missing and triggered an atomic crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Source : The Daily Star

Businesses look down the barrel

Chamber and trade body leaders see a serious setback in the economy for frequent shutdowns hampering business activities.

They fear Bangladesh will lose competitiveness in international trade as hartal cuts production.

AK Azad, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said businessmen are perturbed by the spectre of confrontational politics.

His comment underlines fears among the business community that Bangladesh will lose the export growth pace because of hartal. The country posted more than 40 percent export growth in July-May, buoyed by ready-made garment sector.

Urging the opposition parties to withdraw hartal, the business community suggested disputed issues be resolved in parliament.

The main opposition BNP and its allies including Jamaat-e-Islami called a 48-hour hartal from 6:00am today, protesting the repeal of caretaker government system.

"Hartal will not only hamper the local investment, but also foreign direct investment," he said.

He said businessmen are already in a lot of troubles like higher bank interest rate and inadequate supply of gas and power. Hartal will add woes to the economy.

The economy will suffer if businessmen cannot generate employment due to destructive activities, Azad added.

Amjad Khan Chowdhury, president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said hartal will push the country into anarchy.

"Of course, hartal will have a detrimental effect on our economy. We lose crores of taka in a hartal day, as we cannot sell our products. Hartal hampers both tax collection and export," he said.

Asif Ibrahim, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said now the economy is in a take-off situation. Hartal is not desirable at this moment. "We must grab more foreign investment through creating a better business environment."

Murshed Murad Ibrahim, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry said businessmen face troubles for stoppage of delivery in the Chittagong Port during the hartal.

"We have to count a huge demurrage per day for overstaying of ships at port during hartal," he added.

Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, in a statement said international buyers might shift to other destinations for frequent hartal.

The risks of discount, cancellation, air freight and deferred payment compound in the garment business for hartal, he said. International buyers are delaying in placing orders for frequent hartal.

AKM Salim Osman, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said workers will face the trouble for hartal as the garment factory owners will not be able to pay them properly due to loss in production for hartal. "The owners will face the delayed shipment problem."

Source : The Daily Star 

WikiLeaks to sue Visa, Mastercard

WikiLeaks will lodge a complaint with the European Commission against credit card giants Visa and MasterCard if the two companies refuse to lift their ban on donations to the site, their lawyer said Monday.

The controversial site that has infuriated the US by leaking thousands of diplomatic cables was to file the complaint yesterday if the ban is not lifted first, the site's Iceland-based lawyer Svein Andri Sveinsson told AFP.

WikiLeaks will also file separate complaints in both Denmark and Reykjavik, likely in September, hoping to recover the tens of millions of euros it says it has lost through the seven-month donation freeze, Sveinsson said.

Source : The Daily Starr

Mamata invited May come with Manmohan

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to accompany Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his official visit to Bangladesh on September 6 and 7.

An indication to this effect was available when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman and International Affairs Adviser Gowhar Rizvi met Mamata at the Writers' Building in Kolkata yesterday to invite her to visit Bangladesh.

"On instruction from our prime minister, we invited her to visit Bangladesh to discuss developments in economic, technical and other sectors," Mashiur told newsmen after meeting the chief minister.

The two advisers met Mamata a day after the official announcement of the Indian premier's visit to Dhaka.

Hasina had talked to Mamata over the phone soon after her party's landmark victory in the West Bengal assembly elections in May and invited her to visit Bangladesh.

Hasina and Manmohan will discuss areas of cooperation in economic affairs, technology transfer and other sectors, noted Mashiur adding, the two countries identified the areas of cooperation during Hasina's visit to India in January 2010 and a joint declaration was issued thereafter.

The adviser stressed on ensuring benefits for both the countries in these areas of cooperation.

Discussions would be held between the leaders of the two neighbours to further widen the areas of cooperation in railways, waterways, power and commerce and industries, he maintained.

Mashiur said he was not sure if the two countries were incurring loss in running Maitree Express, Dhaka-Kolkata train service, due to lack of passengers.

"There are reports that rigid rules are followed in customs checking, which should be simplified," he observed.

Asked if discussions would be held on adversely-possessed enclaves, he hoped the issue would be resolved in line with the 1974 Indira-Mujib agreement.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim and Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata Md Mustafizur Rahman accompanied the advisers.

Source : The Daily Star

Sexual assault charges rock leading school: One teacher fired, 2 others suspended

Viqarunnisa Noon School and College authorities yesterday fired a teacher on allegation of molesting a class X student.

Porimol Joydhor, the sacked Bangla department teacher of the school's Bashundhara campus, went into hiding after the alleged assault.

Of the same campus, two other teachers -- Barun Chandra Barman of commerce department and Abdul Kalam Azad of religion -- were also suspended for their indecent behaviour with students.

The decisions came at a meeting of the school's governing body following demonstrations of guardians and students at Bashundhara and its main campus of Shiddeshwari for the last few days.

"We've dismissed Porimol on allegation of violating a girl and suspended two other teachers for their indecent behaviour with students," Husne Ara Begum, principal of the school, told The Daily Star.

In the meeting, a committee headed by governing body member Khondakar Afroza Begum has been formed to look into the allegations against Barun and Azad. It will submit a report within one month, she said.

Husne Ara declined to make further comment.

The school, however, in a press release said Lutfur Rahman, in charge of Bashundhara campus, was relieved from duties for his failure to carry responsibilities.

Another four teachers, against whom the students raised allegations, will be transferred.

Yesterday afternoon, the victim's father filed a case with Badda Police Station, accusing Porimol, Lutfur and Husne Ara.

In the complaint, he mentioned that Porimol, who runs a coaching centre at his Badda residence, first molested his daughter on May 28.

As she went to the coaching centre in the morning, Porimol told her to go to another room, the complainant said, adding he locked the door and sexually assaulted her. Porimol violated her once again on June 17.

An unconfirmed source said Porimol on May 28 took a nude photograph of the girl and threatened her with posting the snapshot on the Internet if she refused to meet him.

The blackmail forced her to go to the tutorial house again on June 17, the source added.

Yesterday, enraged parents demonstrated in front of the two campuses, demanding arrest and punishment of Porimol and action against the school principal for her inaction.

They wanted to form a human chain in front of the Shiddeshwari campus but the school authorities did not allow. They, however, managed to form a human chain in front of Bashundhara campus which was declared closed on Monday.

The guardians have been staging protest for the last few days but the authorities did not pay any heed, rather tried to save Porimol, they said.

They also brought allegations of sexual harassment against few more teachers.

"How come a culprit like Porimol escaped whereas the students submitted a written allegation against him in the last week of June?" questioned a mother whose children studies in class X.

The guardians alleged the authorities initially tried to cover up the incident as Porimol was once involved with Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student organisation backed by ruling Awami League.

Prof Noman-ur-Rashid, director general of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), visited the campuses yesterday and talked to parents and teachers.

He said the DSHE's one-member probe body, formed on Monday, will recommend filing criminal case against Porimol and Barun.

The committee will also suggest suspending four other teachers against whom the students and guardians brought allegations, he said.

"The probe committee will also recommend taking steps against the school principal since she cannot deny responsibility."

Source : The Daily Star

A classic example of dirty politics

Joj Miah, a petty criminal and vendor, lost four years of his life behind bars as he was falsely implicated in the August 21 grenade attack cases.

The then CID investigators, who forced the Noakhali youth to make false confessional statements regarding the grenade attack on an Awami League rally in the capital in 2004, have now been put on the supplementary charge sheets submitted on Sunday.

Implicating innocent Joj Miah is a classic example of how misdirected investigation leads a case nowhere and creates complications in probing a grisly attack that threatened the life of the then leader of the opposition in parliament Sheikh Hasina.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Joj's mother Jobeda Khatun said sending of her son to jail in the August 21 cases has changed their life for ever and they left their home in Noakhali's Senbagh to escape social stigma.

Jobeda's second son Joj was picked up by local police in June 2005, nine months after the grenade attack on the opposition leader's rally, and was shown arrested. In subsequent months, officials of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who were probing the case then, gleaned "statements" from Joj under duress. Indeed, he had no links whatsoever with the incident.

An innocent Joj suffered in jail for years until getting released in March 2009. But by the time he got cleared of the concocted accusations, his widowed mother Jobeda and younger and only sister Khosheda had suffered a lot due to financial hardship and social stigma.

After years of investigations, the CID submitted the supplementary charge sheets naming 30 other accused in the cases, and they included the then investigators -- CID special superintendent Ruhul Amin and assistant superintendents of police Abdur Rashid and Munshi Atiqur Rahman. The three had tried to falsely implicate poor Joj in the case.

For giving "false statements", the then CID investigators used to pay Joj's family Tk 2,500 a month during his absence.

Based on the statements by Joj and two others, the investigators even attempted to submit a charge sheet. But the government held it back following media flak.

ASP of CID Fazlul Kabir, who was appointed investigation officer (IO) of the grenade attack cases by the last caretaker government, filed a case on March 29, 2009 with Paltan police against the three retired CID officials on charges of misdirecting the case, destroying evidence and forcing people to make false statements to save the real culprits.

Jobeda said she has come to know about the fresh charge sheets in the cases. But she will not file any case against the then CID investigators for falsely implicating and harassing her son as her family cannot bear the expenses for it.

Jobeda had sold her very limited family assets at Noakhali's Senbagh and took refuge in a rented house in Gazipur last year.

"For the last six months, we have been living a tin-shed rented house in Narayanganj. I spent several thousand taka to get Joj trained in driving, and now we're desperately looking for a driving job for him," Jobeda said.

She also said a ruling party lawmaker had assured her of a job for Joj, and he appeared for a test about a month back. "We're now waiting to hear from him (lawmaker)."

Of the five siblings, Joj , his younger brother Saiful and lone sister Khosheda live with their mother. Two other brothers live with their families separately .

"Saiful works at a shop at Nababpur in Dhaka and Khosheda is doing some embroidery work. But it is so painstaking for us that whenever people learn about Joj, they link him with the August 21 incident and look down upon us."

She went on, "I'm now facing financial problems in getting my daughter married. If Joj now gets a job, it will be the biggest help for us."

Source : The Daily Star

Politics of crime: Top leaders threw spanner in Aug 21 case probes

Eleven days after the grisly grenade blasts at an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004, the then prime minister Khaleda Zia pinned the blame on AL leaders.

This week, 82 months into the attack, the Criminal Investigation Department pressed charges against her son Tarique Rahman, nephew Saiful Islam Duke, ex-political secretary Harris Chowdhury, ex-state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and some former top police and intelligence officials of her administration.

According to the supplementary charge sheets submitted on Sunday, Islamist militants had collaborated with Hawa Bhaban, former political office of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and the then administration to plot and stage the attack, the most gruesome in the country's recent history.

Interestingly, three weeks into the blasts, Khaleda said no extremist groups existed in the country.

Speaking at a BNP parliamentary party meeting, she said, "We have to prove that we don't patronise Islamist extremists and that no such groups exist in the country."

She also accused AL, the then main opposition, of conspiring to tarnish the country's image.

Ten days before that speech, Khaleda said the attack was part of a conspiracy to tarnish her administration's image and divert public attention from her government's success.

"As investigations are on, I won't name anyone. But I do know for sure that there was a plot, which is still being nursed," she told her party meeting on September 2, 2004.

Less than a month into the attack, BNP lawmakers in parliament blamed AL for carrying out the attack on its own rally, which killed 24 of its leaders and workers including incumbent president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman and injured 300 more. Hasina, then leader of the opposition, narrowly escaped death.

Through multiple investigations, the BNP-Jamaat alliance government was relentless in its efforts to establish that AL killed its own activists to tarnish the government's image.

They also tried to prove that "foreign enemies" instigated the carnage, and some listed criminals holed up in India had taken part in the attack.

The one-member judicial probe commission of Justice Joynul Abedin, which the then government formed a few days after the attack, claimed to have identified the perpetrators.

"The incident is a naked attack on the country's independence and sovereignty," the commission chief told reporters after submitting a 162-page report in October 2004.

The report, which has never been made public, put it all down to a "foreign enemy". But the investigators failed to substantiate that claim.

In line with the four-party alliance government's stance, the investigators made up a story involving Mokhlesur Rahman, an AL leader and former ward commissioner of Moghbazar in the capital.

They also attempted to feed the public with another story woven around one Joj Miah.

Joj was made to give a confessional statement naming Mokhlesur as one of the plotters.

During the BNP-Jamaat rule till October 2006, the investigators were out to send the probe in the wrong direction to save the real culprits.

Three former Criminal Investigation Department officials now face charges of misleading the investigation.

During the four-party rule, the CID had failed to submit charge sheets, though the then government leaders claimed several times the investigation was about to be completed and everything revealed.

Media reports on the cooked-up story of Joj Mia brought to public attention the then CID officials' move to divert the investigation.

During the last caretaker government rule, the first charge sheets in the August 21 cases were placed against 22 people including ex-BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and 21 Huji leaders and workers.

Even then, the investigators could not unmask the masterminds and unearth the sources of the grenades used in the attack.

Some officials in the law enforcement and investigation agencies told this correspondent that when government high-ups openly blame some people or groups for any crime, investigators cannot work independently.

It was obvious to the top officials that either they have to follow the dictates of the four-party government or quit, added the officials.

Besides Khaleda, several influential ministers and leaders blamed AL for the grenade attack. Ironically, a few of them are now accused in the August 21 cases.

After the blasts, Lutfozzaman Babar, the then state minister for home, declared a Tk 1 crore reward for information leading to the names of the individuals or groups responsible.

Describing his announcement of reward as "unprecedented", Babar told journalists eight days after the attack, "The government has decided to announce the reward since it is giving highest priority to the matter."

In parliament, BNP lawmaker Shamsuzzoha Khan alleged that AL itself had exploded the grenades at its rally as part of a conspiracy against the government.

At the same sitting, the then foreign minister Morshed Khan said, "We know better who sheds crocodile tears at meetings with foreign envoys and from where the money for treatment comes."

Abul Khaer Bhuiyan, another BNP lawmaker, asked Babar in parliament why AL had changed the rally venue. Babar replied, "It's a good question. Awami League had sought permission for Muktangan, but in the afternoon of the day they moved the venue to Bangabandhu Avenue."

A day after the attack, when journalists asked Babar to comment, he urged people to help the probe by providing information to the home ministry.

The following day, journalists were barred from the home ministry, but the state minister denied any such move by his ministry.

After the August 21 carnage, Harris Chowdhury said, "The prime minister has called upon all, irrespective of party affiliations, to uproot terrorism from the country. She strongly condemned the incident.

"A judicial investigation commission has been formed. The commission will find out the reasons and the masterminds behind the incident to try them."

Apart from the August 21 blasts, at least two dozen terror attacks took place during the BNP-Jamaat rule. They included the grenade attacks on former finance minister and AL leader Shah AMS Kibria, the then British high commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury, AL lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta and Sylhet city mayor and AL leader Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, militant assault on writer Humayun Azad, and blasts at three cinemas in Mymensingh. Investigations into all the incidents had been politicised like the one into the August 21 blasts.

Source : The Daily Star

Indonesia to impose ‘tax holiday’ to spur growth

An Indonesian minister has said that the government is preparing tax-holiday scheme that would be imposed on five capital-intensive business sectors in a bid to help spur economic growth, local media reported Tuesday.

Finance minister Agus Martowardojo said Monday that the tax holiday would cover the base metal, oil refinery, renewable energy, machinery and telecommunication.

In addition to the special tax, the government regulation, which provides tax allowances, would be revised so that more industries would be covered, Agus said.

He also said, however, that he preferred to call the rules 'special fiscal programme for specific industries' instead of 'tax holiday'.

Under government regulation, widely known as the 'tax allowance' regulation, the government offers income tax reductions for investments in 15 specific business sectors, such as animal husbandry, textile industry and chemicals and in specific regions from Batam to Papua.

The main point of the regulation is the reduction of tax income by 30 per cent for six years, meaning 5 per cent income tax reduction per year. However, the regulation is considered too rigid on certain classifications of sectors compared with the proposed 'tax holiday' for wider industries.

The revision of the regulation will ease flexibility to add more sectors to receive tax allowances and will add about 118 new classifications of business sectors — from about 60 at present.

Agus and Coordinating economic minister Hatta Rajasa said the government was still finalising both regulations on the new 'tax holiday' and the revised tax allowance, citing a 'Soeharto-era' six-year tax holiday model as a benchmark.

'We have proposed a regionalisation system for [the tax holiday regulation], so there would be sector-based incentives and regional-based incentives,' Hatta was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying, adding that the incentives would be 'tailor-made'.

According to Hatta, the revision of the government regulation will be finalized on Thursday in a cabinet meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 'It must be done by this July,' he said, expecting the regulation to be effective in August.

Indonesia is pushing efforts to lure investors' interests in to invest in the country as the government will need trillions of rupiah investment to realise its ambitious 4,000 trillion rupiah ( $468.3 billion) economic master plan for 2011 to 2025, aimed at boosting the country's gross domestic product, approximately $4.5 trillion, making Indonesia among the world's 10 largest economies.

Investors' interests in Indonesia, one of the most attractive emerging markets in the world, have been peaking in recent years as the country has shown stellar economic growth amid global slowdown, economists have said.

The upward trend in investment, which increased 54 per cent to Rp 208.5 trillion in 2010, has supported the country's economic growth to accelerate by 6.1 per cent during the year and has helped add nearly 4 million new jobs, government's data shows.

Source : New Age

Moody’s warns on Chinese debt

China's local government debt burden may be 3.5 trillion yuan ($540 billion) larger than auditors estimated, putting banks on the hook for deeper losses that could threaten their credit ratings, Moody's said on Tuesday.

Addressing the estimate by China's state auditor that its local governments have chalked up 10.7 trillion yuan of debt, Moody's said it found more potential loans after accounting for discrepencies in figures given by various Chinese authorities.

'The potential scale of the problem loans at Chinese banks may be closer to its stress case than its base case,' Moody's said in a statement.

In view of that, the non-performing loan ratio for Chinese banks could be as high as 8-12 per cent, compared with 5-8 per cent in the base case and 10-18 per cent in the stress case.

Unless China comes up with a 'clear master plan' to clean up its pile of local government debt, the credit outlook for Chinese banks could turn negative, the ratings agency said.

In a bid to assuage investor worries about the potential souring of its massive local government debt, different Chinese authorities including the state auditor, the bank regulator and the central bank have tried to assess the situation.

But all three agencies have used different definitions and accounting methods to review the debt, resulting in a hodgepodge of official forecasts.

Moody's said it derived the additional 3.5 trillion yuan of debt after comparing the estimates of China's state auditor with that of the bank regulator's.

The ratings agency said the Chinese state auditor likely omitted the 3.5 trillion yuan of debt from its assessment because they were not considered as real claims on local governments.

Source : New Age

EAB urges govt to extend tax holiday up to ’15

The Exporters' Association of Bangladesh on Tuesday urged the government to reconsider extending the tax holiday facility for the export-oriented industries up to 2015 from 2013.

The association also urged the government to continue and increase the amount of stimulus package announced earlier to shield the exporters from the adverse effects of global economic meltdown as well as exploring new markets, said an EAB press release signed by its president Abdus Salam Murshedy.

In a reaction to the Finance Bill of the passed budget for fiscal year 2011-12, the EAB gave a nine-point demand comprising consideration of exemption of VAT from the rented establishment of all export-oriented industries including that of textile and clothing sector.

The EAB also demanded of the government to readjust price of per litre diesel and furnace oil at Tk 30 and Tk 26 respectively which are being used in generators and boilers of the export-oriented industries.

Source : New Age

DSE finishes up in volatile trading

Dhaka stocks finished up in volatile trading on Tuesday after a fall in the previous day as institutional buying in the late trading pulled up the prices of the stocks, market operators said.

The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, or DGEN, gained 40.81 points, or 0.66 per cent, to close at 6,165.26 points on Tuesday. The index had lost 33.06 points in the previous day after a five-day bull run.

Turnover of the bourse, however, dropped to Tk 875.60 crore from Tk 881.77 crore in the previous day.

A DSE stockbroker said a section of investors sold shares in the opening hour of the day's trading as they booked profits. Institutional buying in the late trading pulled the stocks prices, he said.

Turnover dropped in the last two trading days because of a decreased participation of institutional investors, he added.

Stock market analysts said investors in the past few weeks were in an optimistic mood following a number of moves taken by the government and the Bangladesh Bank.

Before Monday's fall, the DGEN had gained 223 points in the previous five trading days as the investors became active in trading and went for a buying binge following the government decision of allowing investment of undisclosed money in the capital market by paying 10 per cent tax.

The National Board of Revenue on Tuesday said the investors must keep the undisclosed money invested in stocks till June 2013 to avail the opportunity.

Bangladesh Bank's move of extending time for banks to limit their over exposure in the capital market and reassessing the credit-deposit ratio on source fund also brought back institutional inventors on the trading floor, the analysts said.

Akter H Sannamat, a capital market analyst, said, 'Tuesday's trading pattern was positive as it showed that the market was getting support when needed.'

'The market saw a selling pressure in the opening hour, but some institutional buying in the late trading helped it to finish in the black,' he said.

 Asked about the NBR's provision concerning investment of undisclosed money in shares, Sannamat said, 'It is a good move by the government to ensure long term investment in the market.'     

Of the 257 issues traded on the day, 175 advanced, 68 declined, and 14 remained unchanged.

United Commercial Bank topped the turnover leaders with Tk 28.21 crore. The other turnover leaders were Shajalal Islami Bank, City Bank, MI Cements, Beximco, National Bank, Islami Bank, Malek Spinning Mills, United Commercial Bank, and United Airways.

Source : New Age

SEC okays Rangpur Dairy IPO

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved the initial public offering of the Rangpur Dairy and Food Products Limited.

It was the first IPO approved by the SEC after the restructuring of the stock market regulatory body.

The commission in Tuesday's meeting, however, rejected the IPO proposal of the Central Depository of Bangladesh Limited.

'The commission rejected the IPO proposal of the CDBL considering the crucial role the company is playing in the capital market. The proposed IPO of the company could rise conflict of interest between the company's function and the investors' interest as the company maintains all beneficiary owner's accounts and their details,' said Saifur Rahman, executive director of the SEC.

SEC sources said the commission had sought suggestions from the stakeholders about the IPO proposal of the CDBL and all the stakeholders gave negative opinions about the matter.

Rangpur Dairy and Food Products will raise Tk 16.30 crore by floating 16,341,400 shares at Tk 18 per share, including a premium of Tk 8, and the market lot will be of 200 shares. The company, however, had sought a premium of Tk 15 per share.

The company will issue its shares under fixed-priced method of the IPO and the pre-IPO paid-up capital of the company is Tk 23.65 crore. The earning per share of the company is Tk 0.88 and net asset value is Tk 16.97 per share. The price earning ratio is 20.55.

Alliance Financial Services Limited will be the issue manager to the Rangpur Dairy IPO.

Source : New Age

NBR collects Tk 78,692cr revenue in FY2010-2011

The National Board of Revenue on Tuesday said its revenue collection in fiscal year 2010-2011 exceeded the revised collection target by nearly Tk 3,090 crore.

The NBR's provisional data for the fiscal year shows the board collected Tk 78,691.83 crore in duties and taxes against its revised target of Tk 75,600 crore.

Although the board had initially set its revenue collection target at Tk 72,590 crore for FY2010-11, it revised the target upward in the second half of the fiscal year after seeing a robust growth in revenue collection.

'The revenue collection had made new records for the last two consecutive fiscal years. It is a rare case,' NBR chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed told a press meet held on Tuesday at the NBR headquarters in the city to release the provisional revenue data.

He said such a growth in revenue collection was possible because of the 'democratic environment', efforts of the collectors at fields, and the automation of revenue activities.

He said the NBR would collect more revenue this fiscal year as it was expanding the tax administration.

The revenue collection target for the NBR has been set at Tk 91,870 crore for the current fiscal year.

According to the NBR's provisional data, the overall revenue collection had grown by 26.84 per cent, income tax collection by 33.89 per cent, value-added tax collection by 26.80 per cent, and customs duty collection by 21.93 per cent in the last fiscal year.

The income tax collection had posted a year-on-year increase of around Tk 713 crore, VAT collection Tk 1,120 crore, and customs duty collection Tk 1,328 crore.

In FY2010-11, the board collected Tk 22,817 crore in income tax against a target of Tk 22,105 crore, Tk 27,602 crore in VAT against a target of Tk 26,483 crore, and Tk 27,862 crore in customs duty against a target of Tk 26,535 crore.

Source : New Age

High vegetable prices aggravate consumers’ suffering

The continued price hike of vegetables on the city market in the last two weeks has aggravated the sufferings of consumers, who are already affected by the high prices of other essential commodities.

Many consumers at different retail markets said on Tuesday that greengrocers had increased further the prices of vegetables, like green papaya, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, pointed gourd, snake gourd, aubergine, teasel gourd, and okra over the past one week, claiming a supply dearth caused by rain.

They said the prices of almost all vegetables had been doubled from that of 15 days ago.

On Tuesday, a number of consumers at Hatirpool and Polashi markets said there was almost no vegetable in the market that could be bought for less than Tk 40 per kilogram.

Mahmood Hasan at Polashi Bazar said, although the greengrocers had increased the prices claiming a supply shortage of vegetables, no such shortage of vegetables could be seen at the market that justified doubling the prices.

He said that every time the traders raised the price of an item, they gave a lame excuse in defence of the hike.

Abdul Halim at Hatirpool Bazar said, 'How do the people of the fixed income group like us manage their livelihood, if the vegetable prices increase so erratically? We are already paying through the nose for other essential commodities, like rice, edible oil, and sugar.'

Halim censored the government for having no market monitoring system to control the essential commodity prices.

He was angry at the price hike and went away

buying just a kilogram of potato.

At the Hatirpool kitchen market on Tuesday, aubergine, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, long bean, okra, and green chilly was sold at Tk 40 per kg, posting a rise ranging from Tk 5 to Tk 15 over the past two weeks.

Teasel gourd at the market was sold for Tk 30 per kg and papaya for Tk 15, up by Tk 5 over the same period, while pointed gourd was sold for Tk 35 per kg, up by Tk 10.

The wholesale prices of different vegetables also had increased by Tk 2 to Tk 15 per kg at Karwan Bazar over the past two weeks.

It will take at least two weeks for the vegetable prices to come down, if there is no rain during the period, said vegetable wholesalers at Karwan Bazar.

They said the non-stop rainfall all over the country in the past two weeks affected the production of vegetables and pushed the prices up.

Vegetable wholesaler Jamal of Karwan Bazar said the supply of vegetables from different regions

of the country had been halved over the rainy period.

'I hope the supply will increase within the next 15 days as the weather is going to be dry,' he said.

He blamed the retailers for increasing the prices

at will to maximise

their profits.

Source : New Age

Project aims to protect local small fishes by 2013

The government has initiated a project to protect local small fish varieties from extinction, which is expected to increase fish production by 1500 metric tonnes in two years.

Under the Tk 36 crore project, the Department of Fisheries will develop 70 water bodies in 39 upazilas of 17 districts to protect and produce 250 types of small native fishes. The fishes, which do not grow over 25 centimetres or 10 inches, are considered as small ones.

Officials at the Department of Fisheries told the agency that they had already identified different dying rivers, haors, canals and low-lying areas for the purpose. Besides, 57 government and 500 private hatcheries would be provided with necessary technical assistance so that they could hatch local small fishes.

They said 400 officials of the fisheries department and 3750 members of different fisheries and social organisations would be given proper training on protecting and managing native fishes.

'The project, to be completed by 2013, is aimed at protecting native fish varieties from extinction and increasing supply of protein from local sources,' director general of the Department of Fisheries, Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman Khan, said.

Former DG of the Department of Fisheries, Md Liakat Ali, however, expressed his skepticism about the outcome of the project.

He said the government earlier developed 400 water bodies for the same purpose, but most of them later did not yield much due to lack of proper management.

Fisheries department official said this time they had incorporated a programme in the project to establish a sustainable management system for ensuring expected outcome from this initiative.

Director of the project, Kazi Iqbal Azam, said the project was also givenspecial importancebecause small fishes were one of the major sources of vitamin-A.

He said producing more small fishes would help protect people from many diseases like iron deficiency, galaganda (hypothyroidism) and night blindness.

According to a report of the Switzerland-based the World Conservation Union, Bangladesh over the years lost 32 small fish

varieties from its native  fish resources duemainly to pollution, indiscriminate use of pesticides and other chemicals for crop production and river grabbing.

Source : New Age

Young man found dead in Gazipur

The body of an unidentified young man was found dead in a water body in Golaghat area at Shreepur in Gazipur on Tuesday afternoon.

The police said that local people found the floating body of the unidentified young man aged about 22 in a water body in Golaghat area and informed the police.

Later, the police recovered the unidentified body wearing blue pant and white shirt at about 5:00pm and sent it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination.

Miscreants might have left the body of the young man in the water body killing him at another place, the police said.

Source : New Age

ICT officers demand separate cadre service

Government Information and Communication Technology Officers' Forum has urged the prime minister to introduce an ICT cadre service.

The forum in a memorandum submitted to the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on June 30 said that over 250 posts of first class ICT officer are available at different government ministries and agencies under the revenue sector.

The ICT officials have for long been deprived of promotion as they are appointed to the posts directly, not by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, the forum said, adding that it had creates frustration among them.

The parliamentary standing committee on science and information and communication technology ministry on June 4, 2009 recommended creating a post of ICT official in every upazila under the ministry and introducing a separate cadre service for the officials, the memorandum mentioned.

More than 3,000 students graduate in ICT from the public and private universities of the country every year but there is no specific government job for them, it added.

The forum appealed to the prime minister for giving necessary instructions to the authorities concerned to introduce a separate cadre service in government for ICT.

Source : New Age

DU soil science observes founding anniv

The Dhaka University Soil, Water and Environment department on Tuesday observed 60th anniversary of the founding of the department through comprehensive programme.

Vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique inaugurated the celebrations.

A discussion, marking the celebrations, was also held at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building.

Arefin Siddique addressed the discussion as the chief guest with the department chairman Shah Mohammed Ullah in the chair.

Biology faculty dean Shaheed Akhtar Hossain, founding anniversary committee convener AHM Mostafizur Rahman and department professor Akhtar Hossain Khan addressed the discussion, among others.

Former vice-chancellor SMA Faiz, also a professor of the department, presented a keynote paper at the discussion.

Source : New Age

Guilty feeling leads daughter to follow father in death

A teenage girl hanged herself in Jhenidah Monday afternoon after she was given to understand that he father was electrocuted because of her fault on the day.

The villagers buried both the father and the daughter in the evening.

The girl was identified as Arifa Khatun, 15, daughter of Alam Hossain of village Hudaputia under Jhenaidah sadar and a Class IX student of Hudaputia High School.

Officer-in-charge of Jhenaidah police station Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury said Alam Hossain, had told his daughter Arifa to turn off the main switch of their house before setting a new power connection to a shop.

But Arifa did not carry out the order accordingly and was engaged otherwise in the house.

When Alam started his work, he came in contact with the live wire and died on the spot.

Out of a guilty feeling, which was much more instigated by the neighbours, Arifa hanged herself in the evening, the OC said.

Source : New Age

Bangladeshi tortured to death by BSF, handed over to BGB

The body of a Bangladeshi, who was tortured to death by the Border Security Force of India, was handed over to BGB Monday night.

The deceased was Mohammad Bhulu, 35, son of Monsur Ali, resident of Badambari Kasua village of Baliadangi upazila.

The Indian border guards caught Bhulu on Dharmapur border in Ranishongkoil upazila Friday night and tortured him mercilessly.

He was later handed over to the Indian police and admitted to a hospital where he died Saturday night.

BSF handed over the body to BGB at 9:00pm on Monday after a flag meeting between Thakurgaon 20 BGB and 23 BSF battalion held on Dharmagor border.

Source : New Age

LDP for non-stop hartal

The Liberal Democratic Party president, Oli Ahmed MP, has said the opposition should announce non-stop countrywide hartal against the ruling party.

'Usually we don't support hartal. But the opposition has no alternative right now… opposition should announce non-stop hartal instead of phase by phase hartal,' he said at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Tuesday.

Oli said the ruling Awami League had pushed the country towards confrontation by scrapping the caretaker government system and urged all nationalist forces to unite against the government.

He alleged that the ruling party people were involved in the recent share market scam and demanded exemplary punishment to the culprits.

Oli, a former communications minister, strongly criticised the government for the price-hike of essentials and urged it to take appropriate steps to control the rising prices.

He said the emergence of third force could not be avoided by merely enacting law; rather political consensus was needed to avert such a situation.

LDP presidium member Arif Moinuddin, vice- presidents Jamilur Akhter and Kamal Mostafa, and joint secretary general Shahadat Hossain Selim were present.

Source : New Age

ASK concerned over police attack on oil-gas body men

Rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra on Tuesday expressed grave concern over the police atrocities on the leaders and activists of the national committee for protection of oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports.

The organisation in a press release said the committee called a half-day general strike for July 3 demanding cancellation of the deals signed with the ConocoPhillips for the exploration and extraction of gas in two offshore gas fields.

According to the media report, the police injured the leaders and activists of the committee and arrested many students, the release said.

The organisation said it was unacceptable that anybody would vandalise vehicles and it was likewise unacceptable that the police would attack a peaceful demonstration.

Ain O Salish Kendra

said the committee was carrying out its movement to save the country's resources. 

It hoped that in future the government would take necessary step to change the behaviour of the police forces during any strike.

Source : New Age

One more sea port to be built in Ctg: Shahjahan

The shipping minister, Shahjahan Khan, has said another sea port will be built to the south of Chittagong port in addition to the deep sea port planned in Kutubdia belt.

He said if Chittagong port faced any crisis or heavy load, the second seaport would share those.

'Besides, if the (proposed) transit traffic to and from neighbouring countries—Nepal, Bhutan and India— causes pressure on Chittagong port, we can use the second one as an alternative port,' the minister said.

Shipping minister

said this while formally inaugurating much awaited capital dredging works of the River Karnaphuli on Sadarghat Lighterage Jetty premises Tuesday afternoon.

The capital dredging with Bank Protection, Marine Drive and Jetty facilities will be completed by Malaysian Maritime and Dredging Corporation at a cost of TK 229.54 crore.

MMDC as per the agreement would complete the dredging works within next 20 months.

Addressing the function Shahjahan said the government had taken a mega project at a cost of

TK 11,400 crore for

digging rivers, controlling river pollution and recovering river embankment from the hand of illegal encroachers.

The government has already procured seven dredgers after assuming state power in 2009 and has decided to procure another 20 dredgers to maintain navigability of the country's rivers.

He said the first dredger had been brought by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1973.

But it is a matter of regret that no other government after 1975 except Hasina government could procure a single dredger in the country, he added.

Sheikh Hasina brought two dredgers instead of the vehicles gifted to her by Kuwait government.

'The government has taken up the dredging works of the River Karnaphuli for increasing berthing and navigation facilities of the port channel and setting up marine drive roads for reducing traffic jam in the port city', the minister added.

He said the prime minister stressed the development works of Chittagong port more than any other government did in the country.

As part of her desire

a 25 storied port tower, a specialised hospital would be built in Chittagong

port area very soon, he added.

Shipping secretary Abdul Mannan Hawlader presided over the inaugural function while chairman of parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry,  Whip Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury, MP, Mainuddin Khan Badal MP, Shamsul Hoq Chowdhry, MP, Malaysian high commissioner to Bangladesh Jamaluddin Sabeh, chairman of Chittagong Port Commodore Anwarul Islam and corporate director of MMDC Dato Abdur Rahman Mohammad Noor, among others, addressed the function.

Source : New Age

S Arabia to recruit more Bangladeshi farm workers

Saudi Arabia will soon recruit more Bangladeshi farms workers in its agriculture sector, according to an official message from Saudi Arabia received in Dhaka  Tuesday night.

Referring to a meeting of visiting finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith with Prince Jalawy bin Abdul Aziz bin Msaeed Al Saud, vice-governor of the Kingdom's eastern province, the message said the prince told Muhith that his governor was considering recruiting more Bangladeshi farm workers in different agriculture projects in Saudi Arabia.

Prince Jalawy also said Saudi investors were keen to invest in garment, pharmaceutical and ceramic and jute product sectors in Bangladesh. The finance minister apprised the prince of the investment facilities, especially in infrastructure development and power generation, in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia Md Shahidul Islam was also present at the meeting, held in Dammam Tuesday.

The finance minister will brief journalists more about the outcome of his visit today after his return from the Kingdom.

Source : New Age

Twin suicide attacks kill 35 in Iraq

Twin suicide attacks ripped through the city of Taji north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 35 people, officials said, after Iraq suffered its deadliest month so far this year in June.

'Thirty-five people were killed and 28 wounded when a car bomb and an improvised bomb exploded simultaneously outside a government office where national identification cards are issued, and the provincial

council offices,' the official said.

A police officer in Taji said that one suicide bomber in a car and a second with an explosives belt had caused the carnage.

'A car bomb exploded at the entrance of the identity-cards office, which is next to the provincial council building.

'When people gathered, a suicide bomber in their midst exploded his belt,' he said.

He added that the mayor of Taji, security officials from the city and tribal leaders were in a meeting at the provincial council offices when the bombers struck. There was no immediate word on who the casualties were.

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta said the blasts struck at 12 noon (0900 GMT).

He also said that at least five people were killed by a rocket strike on the grounds of Baghdad's Al-Rasheed hotel late on Monday.

'A Katyusha rocket struck at 9:00pm (1800 GMT) on Monday in the grounds of the Rasheed Hotel where workers live in mobile homes,' he said.

'Five people were killed and 25 trailer homes were destroyed,' he said.

Atta said that security forces had arrested two men in the south Baghdad Shia district of Zafraniyah, from where the attack was launched.

He said another Katyusha rocket, a launcher and a video camera were seized from the men.

The violence came after June saw the highest monthly death toll for Iraqis so far this year. A total of 271 were killed in attacks, according to government figures.

Fourteen US soldiers were also killed in attacks in June, making it the bloodiest month in three years for American troops, who are due to pull out by the end of the year under the terms of a bilateral security pact.

The spike in violence comes as US officials

have repeatedly asked Baghdad if it wants some troops to stay beyond the scheduled pullout deadline.

Baghdad has blamed al-Qaeda for the increased death toll for Iraqis, which was up 34 per cent on May. But the US military holds Iranian-backed Shia militias responsible for the deadly attacks on its troops.

State minister for reconciliation, Amir al-Khuzai, said on Monday that Iraq would not reconcile with members of al-Qaeda or anyone who had killed Iraqis, but suggested it was open to talks with those who had fought American forces.

US officials have recently accused Iran of smuggling more lethal weapons to Shia militias in Iraq, a charge Tehran denies.

Source : New Age

Indian foreign minister due today

Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna arrives in Dhaka today (Wednesday) afternoon on a three-day official visit to review bilateral ties and prepare the ground for the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to a press release by the Indian external affairs ministry.

Krishna will be accompa-

nied by a 12-member official delegation and a media team.

Foreign affairs minister Dipu Moni will receive him at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, according to a press release of the ministry.

The two ministers will lead their sides on Thursday morning at the official talks where they are expected to discuss the entire range of bilateral issues including sharing the waters of common rivers, cooperation in trade, connectivity, power, boundary demarcation, border management, security, culture, education and people-to-people contact, et cetera, said the foreign affairs ministry.

They will take stock of the implementation of the decisions taken during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to New Delhi in January 2010.

They will also discuss the details of the Indian prime minister's visit which is scheduled to take place on September 6-7 this year.

The two ministers will hold a joint press conference after the official talks on Thursday afternoon.

Krishna will call on President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Minister for Finance AMA Muhith.

He will also hold a meeting with senior editors from the print and electronic media.

He will also visit the National Mausoleum in Savar and Bangabandhu Museum in Dhanmondi.

He will unveil the inaugural plaque of an auditorium and rehearsal centre at the theater department of Dhaka University.

He will also join a discussion on the relationship between Bangladesh and India at the Bangladesh International Institute of Strategic Studies.

Krishna is scheduled to leave Dhaka for New Delhi on Friday afternoon.

Indian water resources minister Salman Khurshid and home affairs minister Palaniappan Chidambaram are likely to visit Dhaka by August to discuss water-related and border issues respectively.

The foreign ministry is expecting the visits to 'infuse dynamism' into relations between the two neigbouring countries, according to the press release.

Source : New Age

Police attach Hanif’s property

The police have attached the property of Mohammad Hanif, the owner of Hanif Enterprise, indicted in the August 21 grenade attack case.

The attachment took place at Hanif's Dhanmondi residence near Sultana Kamal Women's Complex around 7:00pm on Tuesday, officer in charge Moniruzzaman told the news agency.

Hanif, general secretary of the Bus-Truck Owners' Association, is also facing

arrest warrant in the case.

This is first-ever the police drive against any accused since the order, issued on Sunday.

'All the belongings of Hanif's present in the house were attached as per the court order. He [Hanif] was not present at the time,' Moniruzzaman said.

Hanif is the younger brother of Kafil Uddin, general secretary of Savar BNP and newly-elected chairman of Amin Bazar Union Parishad.

A supplementary charge-sheet in the case on Sunday named 30 more, including BNP chief Khaleda Zia's eldest son Tarique Rahman, and arrest warrants were issued against 18 fugitives the same day.

Twenty-two people were earlier accused in the first charge-sheet submitted on June 22, 2008.

The grisly grenade attack on an Awami League meeting on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka on August 21, 2004 had left 24 people, including incumbent president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman, dead and 73 injured.

Source : New Age

Pvt sector won’t be allowed to charge unjust transport fares: PM

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has said her government will not allow the private sector transport operators to impose unjustified fares on the passengers.

She further said the present government would not take into consideration the loss and profit of the state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation as this organisation was just for providing services to the people.

'If we don't run the BRTC, then the private sector transport operators will get a free field and this may not augur well for the common people. That's why we will run the BRTC without considering whether they are making profit or loss.'

The prime minister made the remarks while handing over keys of 30 BRTC buses to various educational institutions of the country at a function at the PMO on Tuesday.

Hasina said as in the past, her present government was only for serving the people.

In this regard, she recalled an advice from a donor organisation during her previous tenure where they said  the BRTC should be shut down as this state-owned organisation was incurring losses year after year.

'We ignored the advice and went ahead to find out why the BRTC is incurring loss. 'At that time, we took steps to make the state-run organisation a profitable one,' she said.

Hasina said in each country of the world, whether rich or poor, there was public sector transportation system. 'So, why should we shut down the (BRTC) service in our country?'

She also said for the public sector service, there is no scope to see how much they are making profit or loss. 'If we don't have a system of check and balance in the country, then the private transport owners might get the chance to impose unjustified fares on the mass people.'

The premier said the present government was working for the welfare of the mass people. In this connection, she reiterated her government's firm determination to ensure overall development of the country including its social and economic sector.

Hasina said that the government would expand the BRTC service for the welfare of the mass people.

She also said the BRTC and other government agencies should go for strict imposition of the traffic rules that would reduce the road accidents significantly.

At present, the BRTC has 1,031 buses in its fleet while the government already procured 275 buses from China and 255 buses from Korea.

Another 295 double-decker buses, 100 air-conditioned buses and 50 articulated buses will be procured from India for the BRTC fleet. These buses will be purchased under the one billion dollar Indian line of credit.

The communications minister, Syed Abul Hossain, who was present at the function, said additional 300 buses and 300 trucks would be purchased under the Indian line of credit and the process has already started in this regard.

Later, the prime minister formally handed over the keys of the buses to the heads of different educational institutions, including Dhaka University, Chittagong University, Jahangirnagar University and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.

Source : New Age

Sahara claims traffic jam reduced in city

Although home affairs minister Sahara Khatun was late in joining the parliamentary session on Tuesday and attributed the delay to traffic jam, in reply to questions by a lawmaker she claimed that traffic congestion in Dhaka had been reduced considerably as the police had brought about some discipline in the traffic flow.

Responding to a question by Nasimul Alam Chowdhury, she claimed that measures like making some of the streets one-way and introduction of community policing in a number of areas had eased traffic congestion.

She said 155 closed-circuit television cameras have been set up at 59 points to monitor traffic flow.

Sahara said that the digital control room of Dhaka

Metropolitan Police could not become operational as it requires fibre connectivity. She also said after installation of some equipment a few minor faults were detected but they have been fixed.

When M Abdul Latif wanted to know whether there was any plan to invest the responsibility of probing complaints against the police in any impartial agency, Sahara told him that each of the forces conducts inquiry against their members as per the law so there is no plan to introduce a new scheme.

She said that 18 thanas were under the process of being made model police stations under the Police Reform Programme, and 25 thanas under the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund.

Sahara also said that speed detectors and alcohol detectors have been bought for the police and will be soon brought into operation.

She informed the Parliament that at present there were 452 police outposts across the country.

Sahara told the House that at present 134 women members of the police were working for the UN Peace Keeping Missions.

Source : New Age