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