HC chaos to 'obliterate' the judiciary: Says Mahbubul Alam

Pro-BNP lawyers intentionally created chaos in the High Court recently to "obliterate" the judiciary and to tarnish the court's image, said ruling Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday.

He was speaking at a discussion organised by Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad, a pro-AL doctor's organisation, in the National Museum auditorium marking the National Mourning Day, to be observed on August 15.

Health and Family Welfare Minister AFM Ruhal Haque chaired the programme where Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury was the chief guest.

Hanif said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia insulted the 30 lakh martyrs and two lakh war heroines of the War of Liberation in 1971 by making the derogatory comment on the constitution.

Khaleda on July 13 at a BNP-sponsored mass hunger strike stated that the amended (15th) constitution is nothing but AL manifesto which will be thrown away, if BNP returned to power.

Matia said Bangabandhu granted general clemency to war criminals, excluding those who engaged in arson, looting, rape and murder. "It is Ziaur Rahman who freed 22,000 collaborators in 1975," she said.

Matia, also an AL presidium member, alleged that a vested quarter is trying to hinder the war crimes trial.

Later, a special prayer was offered seeking salvation of the departed souls of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members.

Source : The Daily Star 

Obituary

Prof Saleha Khatoon, former head of Department of Economics, Badrunessa Government Girls' College, breathed her last at Ibrahim Cardiac Centre in the city on August 8 due to a cardiac arrest.

Prof Saleha was the wife of late Syed Ahmed, former cabinet secretary.

She left behind her two sons and one daughter.

She will be buried at Banani graveyard today after namaz-e-janaza at Sector #3 Jame Mosque of Uttara.

Her qulkhwani will be held at her Uttara residence after Asr prayers tomorrow.

Source : The Daily Star 

Abdur Rahman

Today is the second death anniversary of Abdur Rahman, circle officer (retd) of Nilkomol, Chandpur, says a press release.

On the occasion, Qurankhwani will be held at his Dhaka residence and special prayers will be offered at Bashabo Maath Masjid after Asr prayers.

Friends, relatives and well-wishers have been requested to pray for salvation of the departed soul.

Source : The Daily Star

Air force raises objection to metro rail route

Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has raised objection to the proposed metro rail route through Bijoy Sarani reasoning that its height would hinder air traffic.

It has proposed to move the route alignment to Khamar Bari at Farmgate.

On the other hand, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the lone financer of the metro rail project, has been persistently insisting on the route alignment through Bijoy Sarani.

Jica objected to bringing any changes to the proposed design of the project and in that case, they will not finance metro rail, said an official of the communications ministry.

Against such backdrop, the communications ministry yesterday sat with Finance Minister AMA Muhith to settle the issue. Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain, other high officials and representatives of BAF and Bangladesh Army attended the meeting.

After the meeting, Muhith told reporters that they would try to settle the matter talking to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and finalise the design of the project within two to three months. Jica wants to start the feasibility study by December, he added.

According to the proposed plan, the height of metro rail at Bijoy Sarani is 19 metres, which as per the BAF objection should not be more than 11 metres.

The communications ministry told the meeting that the height at that point can be reduced to 16 metres and that the metro rail can be suspended for some hours to avoid trouble to air traffic after it comes into operation.

In July this year, the communications minister had a wrap up meeting with a Jica mission about financing the project. Jica agreed to provide $ 1.7 billion as soft loan to implement the project.

The proposed 21.5-kilometre metro rail from Pallabi to Sayedabad is expected to help ease traffic jam in Dhaka city to a great extent. The cabinet in March approved the proposal for setting up the metro rail.

Source : The Daily Star

Teachers can draw festival allowance till Aug 18

Teachers and employees of private educational institutions (school, college and madrasa) under monthly pay order (MPO) can draw festival allowances till August 18.

A total of 12 cheques for their festival allowances have already been handed over to head offices of Agrani and Rupali banks and local offices of Janata and Sonali banks, an official release here said yesterday.

The teachers and employees have been asked to draw their festival allowances (government portion) for holy Eid-ul-Fitr through their personal bank accounts.

Source : The Daily Star

BCL Attack on Teachers at BAU: Student arrested

A student of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) was arrested yesterday in connection with the attack on a teachers' procession on August 8 and the proctor's residence the day before by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists.

The arrestee Ahmed Habib is a student of agriculture faculty, said police.

Meanwhile, a BCL delegation led by BCL central General Secretary Siddique Nazmul Alam visited BAU yesterday to inquire into the incident.

The team talked to teachers belonging to Ganotantrik Shikkhak Forum and pro-Awami League teachers and BAU unit BCL leaders and activists.

On August 7, two BCL activists were arrested on charge of snatching a mobile phone set on the campus.

Following the incident, over 100 BCL activists attacked the residence of BAU Proctor Dr Abu Hadi Noor Ali Khan on the campus. A section of teachers the next day brought out a procession protesting the attack.

At one stage, some BCL men attack the procession, leaving at least three teachers injured. Later, the BCL men also ransacked the university's administrative building.

Source : The Daily Star 

Woman killed by husband

A man allegedly strangled her wife to death and left the body in his slum house in the city's Pallabi Tuesday night.

The slum dwellers said they found Sathi Akhter, 25, lying dead in the bed as they went to the house hearing her one-year-old son crying.

They informed police of the incident around 1:00am yesterday.

Moinul Kabir, sub-inspector of Pallabi Police Station, said Sathi's neck was wrapped with a piece of cloth.

Sources at Dhaka Medical College morgue said the victim was strangled, and there were marks of hitting on different parts of the body.

Source : The Daily Star

$120m deal signed with ADB

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government yesterday signed an agreement for $120 million to overhaul urban planning, infrastructure, and services in two city areas.

M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Thevakumar Kandiah, country director of ADB's Resident Mission, signed the loan agreement, at ERD on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively, said an ADB press release.

The assistance for the Bangladesh City Region Development Project will target energy-efficient, environment-friendly urban services, more coordinated development planning, and stronger management capacity for Dhaka and Khulna city corporations and adjoining secondary towns.

"The project aims to increase the growth potential and environmental sustainability of these two city regions," said Thevakumar Kandiah.

Along with physical improvements to water, drainage, urban transport and other facilities, the project will incorporate a pilot programme to install energy-efficient water pumps and solar-powered street lights.

Source : The Daily Star

PM takes iftar with relatives

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took iftar with her family members and relatives at her official residence Gono Bhaban yesterday.

Prime minister's younger sister Sheikh Rehana, her daughter Saima Hossain Wazed's father-in-law Labour and Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, her nephew Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh, uncle Sheikh Kabir and Awami League Advisory Council member Amir Hossain Amu were there.

Prayers were offered seeking divine blessing for the progress of the nation and salvation of the departed souls of Bangabandhu and his family members killed on August 15, 1975.

Source : The Daily Star

Flash Flood: Vast areas of Bandarban submerged

At least 1.5 lakh people have been marooned in flash floods in Bandarban due to incessant rains and water rushing down from hills over the last two days.

A vast area of all the six unions--Aziznagar, Lama, Gazalia, Rupshipara, Fasiakhali, Sarai--in Lama upazila submerged, an official of the district administration said.

The sudden floods have affected at least 4,000 families in the upazila, and 12 people have been reportedly injured in the rush of flood water. Of them, five were admitted to a local hospital in Chakaria, said Ismail, chairman of Lama upazila.

Visiting the area yesterday the Star correspondent found that some parts of the banks of the river Matamuhuri were eroded by water running off the hills.

Heavy rainfall has confined Hajera Begum of Lama Bazar to her home for the last two days.

Though some officers of the local administration visited the area, they did not offer any help to the flood victims, she complained.

Different government offices including Lama upazila office, police station, agriculture office and food stores went under waist-deep water.

Amir Hossain, a shopkeeper at Lama Bazar, said flood water entered his shop Monday midnight and damaged all of his rice.

Lama Bazar has been closed for the last two days as most of it went under water, said Jalal Uddin, a fish trader at the bazar.

Asked about the relief programme, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Saiful Islam said they were yet to assess the affected areas and people. The authorities would start distributing relief materials after the assessment is done, he added.

Nurul Abser, assistant district commissioner of Bandarban, said all the seven upazilas of the district were affected by the recent floods.

Source : The Daily Star

ISI trained Ulfa: Top separatist leader claims individuals from Bangladeshi agencies also helped Ulfa

Top leader of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) Sashadhar Choudhury has said Pakistan's ISI trained the insurgent outfit while individuals from various Bangladeshi agencies gave logistics support.

"Pakistan's ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] trained Ulfa. In 1991, I was part of the first batch of Ulfa members to go to Pakistan for training in small arms including main battle rifles," Choudhury said in an interview to The Times of India published on Tuesday.

Choudhury, who joined the Ulfa in 1985, is now a member of the Ulfa delegation preparing to hold peace talks with the Indian government.

"I had a Bangladeshi national ID card issued by its army, and passports of several countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Fiji and South Africa," he said.

But when contacted, officials of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) rejected the statement, saying the army did not issue any ID card to anybody as it does not have the authority to do so.

"Army only provided some technical support to a government project on national ID card. That doesn't mean that army men had issued the ID cards," an ISPR official told The Daily Star yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The Times of India quoted Sashadhar as saying that he had lived in Bangladesh with his wife and daughter for 12 years until his arrest in November 2009.

"I lived in Bangladesh as Rafiqul Islam. My wife Runima, a member of Ulfa's cultural wing, assumed the name Sabina Yasmin," said Choudhury, who lived in a rented house at Uttara Sector-3.

Choudhury and Runima got married in Bangladesh in 1997 and settled down. Their 10-year-old daughter studied in Dhaka's International Turkish Hope School.

Ulfa leaders, their wives and children assumed Islamic names and lived a life of disguise in Bangladesh until Sheikh Hasina-led government came to power in 2009, he added.

In 1992, he was chosen as Ulfa's "foreign secretary" by the outfit's general council.

"Soon after joining, we had trained with the Nagas of the undivided NSCN. In 1988, we were the second batch of Ulfa who went over to Kachin in Myanmar. We fought along with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) for two years and shared their guns," he said.

Later, as Ulfa's financial resources improved, it began buying weapons.

The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is a Naga nationalist militant group operating in northeast India. Its aim is to establish a Christian socialist state in the areas inhabited by the Naga people in northeast India and Burma.

The Ulfa leader said, "The Chinese sold Ulfa weapons, but indirectly. They are not fools to train insurgents or get directly involved."

The worst ordeal, Choudhury said, was during Operation Goldenbird in 1995, a joint anti-insurgent military offensive launched by India and Myanmar.

"I was the golden bird they were looking for. For nine days, I fought without food or water in the jungles of Myanmar's Chin which was an unknown terrain for us," he claimed.

But the Indian Army managed to capture him in northeastern Indian state of Mizoram.

"But they did not know they had caught Shashadhar Choudhury. For two-and-a-half months in army custody, they only asked me where is Shasha? But I managed to protect myself saying I was Sailen Choudhury," he said. Sailen Choudhury was an Ulfa member who had been killed in that operation.

Later, he was taken away from army custody, produced in a court and sent to jail. He struck a deal with then Assam government by offering to build bridges between Ulfa and the government in return for his release. But, soon after he was released, he obtained bail and fled to Bhutan. "It was for survival," he said.

Ulfa received the worst blow during Royal Bhutan Army's operation "All clear" in 2003. A large number of its members were killed or went missing.

"After this, we shifted our headquarters to Bangladesh and then to Myanmar," he said.

PARESH BARUA REFUTES MEDIA REPORTS
Meanwhile, Paresh Barua, Ulfa commander-in-chief, described as "not true" media reports quoting Ulfa Chairman Arabindo Rajkhowa as saying that his outfit procured weapons with the help of the Pakistan government and ISI.

"This allegation is completely baseless and such reports have been made with a purpose. It is nothing new that such malicious publicity is given to Ulfa but this time Chairman Rajkhowa has been quoted," Baruah said in an email to the media.

"We challenge those making such claims to prove with direct or indirect evidence that we took weapons and other help from Pakistani fundamentalists or ISI," he said.

Source : The Daily Star

2/3 of foods not certified

In the absence of a national food control system, nearly two-thirds of the total food items hit the market without any quality check, according to facts revealed at a discussion organised by The Daily Star and RDRS Bangladesh yesterday.

Some 150 food items that include everything from rice, fish, vegetable, meat and edible oil to baby food are available on the market.

But Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), the sole quality certification authority in the country, is mandated to monitor only 60 packaged items.

Rules do not permit BSTI to check any unpackaged food items such as fruits, vegetables, meat and fish.

"We're all taking poison every day," Capt (retd) Mujibur Rahman Fakir, state minister for health and family welfare, told the discussion titled "Hazard of Food Contamination in National Life."

Held at The Daily Star office in the capital, the programme was attended by food experts, government officials and policymakers, among others.

"Time has come to form a parliamentary standing committee to constantly supervise the food safety issue," he added.

BSTI says it is impossible for it to monitor all the food items with only 48 inspectors to cover the country of over 140 million people.

In the capital, only 10 mobile courts comprising officials of BSTI, Dhaka City Corporation and Rapid Action Battalion operate to check food adulteration.

Only 13 inspectors are posted to prevent food contamination in Dhaka, home to an estimated 13 million people.

Its officials say the job is very difficult, as they have hardly any idea as to how many toxic chemicals are used in food in the country.

"We're very poorly equipped," BSTI Director Syed Humayun Kabir told the discussion. "About 80 percent food items are outside of the purview of BSTI."

According to him, checking food contamination is not a matter to be dealt only by the BSTI. It is not possible either. The menace has to be addressed at the national level before it is too late.

Although food graded food additives and preservatives are available in the market, traders in Bangladesh prefer cheaper toxics, experts say.

BSTI has some 300 technologists countrywide in its laboratories located only in the divisional headquarters. Also, the body cannot conduct drives on its own for not having the power of magistracy.

As the discussants, 11 of them lawmakers, shared their experience about food adulteration, a shocked audience heard them say that almost every food item is contaminated with toxics capable of causing diseases from allergy to cancer.

The speakers recommended for making tougher laws and ensuring their implementation, media attention on the issue, media policy not to run advertising of food items without having their quality certificates, availing necessary equipment to conduct tests and including lessons on food adulteration in textbooks.

"It's better to die starving than to die from cancer by taking contaminated food," said lawmaker Monoranjan Shill Gopal.

DCC Magistrate Khalil Ahmed said there should be more magistrates and health inspectors, and that the laboratories should be modernised.

"We can't detect chemicals other than formalin, as we don't have necessary kits," Khalil added.

Meher Afroze Chumki, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on women and children affairs ministry, said the National Food Safety Advisory Council (NFSAC) should come up with a long term plan to ensure safe food.

Interestingly, many lawmakers attending the programme have no idea about the body established in 2005 under Bangladesh Pure Food Ordinance.

Since its formation, NFSAC held only three meetings.

Lawmaker Prof Shah Alam, also a member of parliamentary standing committee on education ministry, attached the highest importance to creating awareness to stop food adulteration.

Prof MA Mannan, another parliament member, said water contamination should be stopped to ensure pure drinking water.

According to Mokbul Hossain, member of parliamentary standing committee on fisheries and livestock, everybody is a victim of food contamination.

Lawmaker Farida Akhtar Hira emphasised the need for improving transport system. She opined traders will use fewer toxic chemicals in fruits and vegetables if they can transport those faster.

Narayan Chandra Chanda, member of parliamentary standing committee on food and disaster management, recommended forming an inter-ministerial committee to protect public health.

Matiur Rahman, member of parliamentary standing committee on health and family planning ministry, said BSTI should make a list of healthy food and distribute it among the consumers in market.

The discussion was also attended by RDRS Executive Director Selima Rahman, Dhaka Medical College Hospital Associate Professor Golam Kibria Khan, lawmaker Rebecca Momin and The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam.

"Eating all these contaminated food, even dead bodies will not rot in grave," lawmaker Sultana Bulbul quoted her class-I granddaughter who was making fun with her the other day about the widespread food contamination.

Source : The Daily Star

Rain stops but life not back on track

Almost incessant rainfall since Monday wreaked havoc all over the country.

Till yesterday, nearly four lakh people in Bandarban remained disconnected from the rest of the country after the torrential rain caused landslides and floods in the hill district.

Many roads went under water and a worrisome number of families lost their homes to landslides after water in the Matamuhuri and Sangu rivers rose significantly above the danger level.

Our Chittagong correspondent reports: although road communication resumed in several parts of Bandarban yesterday, Bandarban Sadar remained totally detached.

The locals of Bandarban termed the downpour the "all time heaviest" and the aftermath "unbelievable".

The Met office recorded around 750mm of rain across the country yesterday with Bogra having the highest amount of rain, which was 216mm.

While the weather is expected to improve from today, reports of travel disruptions and floods poured in yesterday from all regions of the country.

Half of Rajshahi city went under water and about 1.75 lakh people have been living in knee-deep water for the last three days.

Local city corporation officials assured that the situation would improve shortly as the drainage system of the city was recently upgraded.

Similar scenes were seen at different parts of Sirajganj, Madaripur, Munshiganj, and Narayanganj.

Crops on nearly three thousand hectares of land in Sirajganj were damaged due to flooding. Local agriculture officials said the losses could multiply as the downpour continued last night.

Our Madaripur correspondent reports: the Padma, Arial Khan, and Kumarnod rivers were flowing above the danger level causing floods and river erosion in Shibchar, Rajoir, Kalkini, and Madaripur municipalities of the district.

Several hundred people lost homes to river erosion while scores more were reportedly marooned. Croplands of most part of the district went under water.

Meanwhile, Dhaka city also witnessed a little rain with overcast sky throughout yesterday.

Parts of the capital, however, remained flooded as the city struggled to cope with the aftermath of almost non-stop rain of the previous two days.

Due to the continuous rain, spread of viral fevers including influenza took a sudden turn towards the worse, mostly among children.

According to Dhaka Medical College Hospital sources, not many people visited the hospital during the rain, but the ones that came were suffering from viral fevers, cold, cough, and respiratory tract infections.

The hospital that receives over 400 patients every day received an average of below 300 patients over the last three days. A total of 80 patients suffered from fever and influenza like illnesses.

Most of the patients were children, as their immune systems could not adjust with the weather conditions, doctors said.

Medical experts feared that dengue fever could see an increase as an aftermath of the continuous rain over the last few days.

Source : The Daily Star

Food adulteration rings alarm bell: STAR-RDRS roundtable told most food items adulterated, pose lethal risks to public health

Food adulteration with poisonous chemicals has reached a dangerous proportion posing serious health hazards in the country, said experts and government officials yesterday at a discussion jointly organised by The Daily Star and non-government development organisation RDRS Bangladesh.

Basic food items on the market like rice, fish, fruits, vegetables, and sweetmeats are adulterated with hazardous chemicals in an indiscriminate manner, though food-grade preservatives and colours can be safely used in permissible quantities, said the discussants.

The discussion on "Hazards of Food Contamination in National Life: Way Forward" was held at The Daily Star Centre in the capital.

Views about the proportion of adulterated food items on the market varied between 70 and 90 percent.

RDRS put the proportion at more than 90 percent referring to test results of government laboratories published in newspapers, while the officials and researchers present at the discussion said it is 70 percent.

More than 76 percent food items on the market were found adulterated in a random survey by Public Health Laboratory of Dhaka City Corporation in 2004.

There are approximately 150 food items in the country, said SK Roy, a senior scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B).

Poisonous residues in food items leave the worst impact on children's mental and physical growth and women's fertility, cause cancer, and damage vital human organs like liver, kidney, and heart, the discussants said.

Roy in his presentation said formalin is applied on fish for preservation; calcium carbide on fruits to ripen; brick dust in chilli powder; urea to whiten rice and puffed rice; sawdust in loose tea; soap in Ghee; and artificial sweetener, coal tar, and textile dyes in sweetmeats.

Formalin applied on fish, fruit, meat, and milk causes throat cancer, blood cancer, childhood asthma, and skin diseases, he said.

Poisonous colouring agents like auramine, rhodomine b, malachite green, yellow g, allura red, and Sudan red applied on food items for colouring, brightness, and freshness -- damage liver and kidney, and cause stomach cancer, asthma, and bladder cancer, said Roy.

Colouring agents chrome, tartzine, and erythrosine are used in spices, sauces, juices, lentils, and oils -- causing cancer, allergy, and respiratory problem.

Calcium carbide may lead to cancer in kidney, liver, skin, prostate, and lungs.

Rye flour used in barley, bread, and wheat flour contribute to convulsion and miscarriage. Hormone used in cauliflower causes infertility of women.

Agino moto or monosodium glutamate used in Chinese restaurant food items cause nervous system disorder and depression. Urea put in puffed rice and rice causes nervous system damage and respiratory problem. Sulphuric acid used in milk for condensation causes damage to the cardiac system.

Dr Syed Humayun Kabir, director of Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution, said not just anyone should get trade license to produce food items, and the mass media must check the authenticity of a food product before carrying its advertisement.

Application of excessive and unauthorised pesticides also cause contamination of food, he said adding that additives used for making food items attractive can be lethal if those are cancerous.

But some permitted preservatives, thickening agents, gelling agents, antioxidants, and stabilisers could be harmless if applied in appropriate quantity, said Kabir.

Food grains, vegetables, and fish also get contaminated by industrial pollution of the soil, air, and water, he said.

Burnt engine oil is used to fry Jilapi, while artificial fragrance is applied on flowers, said Khalil Ahmed, executive magistrate of Dhaka City Corporation, who operates a mobile court against adulterated foods in the capital.

Dr Selima Rahman, executive director of RDRS, said most of the food adulteration occurs in the hands of middlemen in the process of transportation and marketing.

Urea is dangerous for kidney, she said adding, "At present, a total of two crore people are suffering from kidney diseases for various reasons."

Food adulteration has been happening on a massive scale for the past half a decade due to increased investment, expanded market, and high consumer demand, according to Roy.

Some items like guava, lemon, and hog-plum [amra] are however still free from chemical aggression, he said.

Greed for fast super profit and moral degradation among food traders have led to today's alarming situation, he added.

''The pattern of diseases is changing. In our student life, prevalence of infectious diseases was high. Now the number of patients suffering from cancer, diabetes, and kidney diseases are on the rise due to food adulteration,'' said Dr Md Golam Kibria Khan, associate professor of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Source : The Daily Star

BoE cuts 2011 growth forecast

The Bank of England forecast on Wednesday that the British economy would grow less than expected this year amid concerns over the eurozone debt crisis, markets turmoil and government austerity measures.

The BoE predicted that gross domestic product would grow by about 1.4 per cent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 1.8-per cent in May.

The central bank also expects the economy to expand 2.0-3.0 per cent in 2012 but growth would remain sluggish in the near term, reflecting the continued squeeze on household incomes from high inflation.

'The outlook for output growth remains highly uncertain,' the Bank of England said in a quarterly report which detailed its latest economic forecasts.

'The greatest risks to the prospects for global demand come from the euro area and the substantial challenges faced by several member countries as they seek to ensure the sustainability of their fiscal positions and to preserve the stability of their banking systems.

'Were they to crystallise, the risks emanating from the euro area have the potential to have a significant impact on the UK economy.'

However, the BoE's latest calculations did not take into account recent stock market turmoil as the eurozone crisis and the weak US economy sparks fears of another sharp global economic downturn.

Source : New Age

HSBC is selling US credit card business to Capital One

HSBC is selling its US credit card arm to Capital One Financial Corp in a $32.7 billion deal as Europe's top bank streamlines its mammoth operations.

It marks the second major deal in the United States for cards specialist Capital One, which said it was paying a $2.6 billion premium over the value of the loans. For HSBC, it is part of a radical overhaul to save $3.5 billion by new chief executive Stuart Gulliver.

'This sale frees up capital and it shows that Stuart Gulliver is executing on the priorities that he's laid out,' said John Wadle, an analyst with Mirae Asset Management.

'The price the business fetched was somewhat disappointing, but it shows that it was a buyer's market. All in, it is still progress because at least they completed this, and it did not take too long,' he added.

Credit card portfolios are valued at a discount or premium to the loans the buyer takes on. Before the financial crisis portfolios could be sold at hefty premiums of over 20 per cent, but more recent sales have been at slim premiums, discounts or have been scrapped.

HSBC's US credit card unit has total assets of about $30.4 billion, primarily its loans to customers which will transfer to Capital One's books.

The deal further unravels HSBC's disastrous $15 billion purchase of US consumer lending firm Household in 2003, which executives now admit was a bad deal as

they have taken massive losses on the sub-prime home loans they took on.

The deal created one of the world's top 10 credit card firms and HSBC said it gave it the scale and expertise to broaden its cards business across the world. Almost half of Household's $105 billion of loans were to credit card customers.

The deal marks the second time Capital One has swooped for unwanted US assets from a retreating European bank in recent months. The McLean, Virginia-based firm said in June it was buying ING's US online bank for $9 billion in cash and stock.

Wells Fargo & Co had also been interested in buying the portfolio, sources have said previously, and Britain's Barclays was also seen as a possible buyer.

The business earned $1 billion in pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June.

For HSBC, the sale will free up capital when banks are under pressure to bolster their balance sheets, but it will not help Gulliver's task of lifting profitability as it was a high return business.

'Selling a business that makes an annualized 30 per cent return on equity and parking the cash is clearly dilutive,' said Mike Trippitt, analyst at Oriel Securities in London.

HSBC will book a post-tax gain of around $2.4 billion on the sale and boost its consolidated core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio by 60 basis points to 11.4 per cent.

Capital One will pay the consideration in cash and stock, with HSBC taking up to $750 million of Capital One shares as part of the deal.

'This transaction continues the execution of the strategy we announced at our investor day ... to focus our US business on the international needs of customers in commercial banking, global banking & markets,' Gulliver said in a statement.

The deal is dilutive for earnings, but will cut group risk-weighted assets by up to $40 billion. The proceeds from the sale will be used for repayment of debt among others.

Source : New Age

DSE remains closed in Aug 26-Sept 3

The Dhaka Stock Exchange will remain closed from August 26 to September 3 on the occasion of Shab-e-Qadr, Eid-ul-Fitr, weekly holidays and a special holiday, said a news posted on the DSE web site on Wednesday.  

The positing said the trading at the bourse would resume after the nine-day closure on September 4 as per its regular trading session from 11:00am to 3:00pm and office hours would be from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

Source : New Age

Concern over Greece, rumour of French downgrade hit hard ailing world stocks

Stocks plunged at great speed in Europe and on Wall Street on Wednesday led by bank shares amid new concern over Greece, and talk of danger for France's credit rating which was immediately denied.

The slump of up to six per cent and more than four per cent on Wall Street, coupled with a record rise of gold, came only a day after markets soared on strong signals by the US Federal Reserve that it would hold low interest rates for two years

The stocks slump marked a sudden switch from a modest rally in early European trading on emergency action by the US and European central banks to fight the fires of debt and economic slowdown eating ever deeper into confidence.

In late afternoon stock trading, Frankfurt's DAX index dropped 4.47 per cent to 5,652.59 points and Paris' CAC 40 dropped 4.30 per cent to 3,039.62 points, while in Milan the FTSE Mib fell 4.42 per cent to 15,027 points.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.96 per cent, also hit by news that the Bank of England has downgraded its 2011 British economic growth forecast.

In the United States, in morning trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 4.0 per cent, the broader S&P 500 index was down 3.5 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.4 per cent.

Shortly before Wall Street opened, banking stocks turned the European rally into a rout, apparently on a mixture of factors: renewed concerns about Greece after the finance minister made comments on procedures for the eurozone rescue bond swap, concern about France's credit rating and rumours France might increase taxes on banks.

The French finance ministry categorically denied the rumour of a downgrade and Futch rating agency said that its rating for France was the top 'AAA'. However, a central uncertainty for markets is whether the new EU EFSF rescue fund will be increased, and many analysts say that if it were, the burden would cost France its top rating.

In Paris, shares in Société Generale, were showing a loss of 13.1 per cent, having crashed by 20 per cent.

In Madrid, an analyst at IG markets, Soledad Pellon Bannatyne, said that Spanish bank shares had fallen in line with French bank shares which had dropped because of 'their exposure to Greek debt'.

She said: 'French banks are being attacked so strongly that this has spread via falls throughout the European banking sector.'

The French president's office said after a government meeting that within two weeks France would announce extra action to ensure that it meets tough targets on cutting its budget deficit.

In London afternoon trading the price of shares in Standard Chartered bank was showing a loss of 6.34 per cent, Barclays was down 6.30 per cent, Royal Bank of Scotland was down 5.5 per cent and HSBC was down by 4.11 per cent.

In Madrid, stock in Santander bank were down 7.13 per cent and BBVA was down by 6.35 per cent.

The Italian prime minister Berlusconi was holding urgent talks with employers and unions on yet more action to cut the public deficit and boost the economy.

This was the day after the head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet had made public in the bluntest terms that he had told Italy and Spain what they had to do in return for ECB support for the eurozone system.

The US Federal Reserve then took action mainly at supporting the US economy and warding off the threat of a double dip recession, now the overall driving concern for global markets, by giving exceptionally revealing information that the Fed would keep interest rates at very low levels for about two years.

The actions by the ECB, principally the resumption of purchases of bonds issued by eurozone countries in distress, paid dividends initially, when European markets firmed and Italy was able to sell debt at sharply reduced rates.

The positive mood on Tuesday had spilled over into Asia earlier on Wednesday. Tokyo rose 1.05 per cent, Sydney added 2.64 per cent and Seoul gained 0.27 per cent.

Hong Kong meanwhile jumped 2.34 per cent, bouncing back after a disastrous showing on Tuesday when it lost 5.66 per cent. Shanghai gained 0.91 per cent.

Source : New Age

NBR to relax rules on new car import

The National Board of Revenue is going to relax a rule for the importers of brand new cars that was incorporated in the latest budget to prevent tax dodging through under invoicing.

NBR officials said the board is going to recommend the finance ministry to allow importers to produce to customs department invoices certified by an authentic organization like the national chamber of commerce or any other association of the exporting country, instead of the manufacturers. The government in the current budget included a provision that importers of new cars would have to submit the invoice issued by the manufacturer to the customs department for assessing the value of a car to prevent tax dodging.

The importers earlier used to produce price certificate or invoice of new cars issued by the agent or dealer, not the manufacturers.

There was an allegation that the value of the cars which was shown in the dealer invoice was much less than the real market value of the car.

But the new car importers opposed the new rule in the budget and started hectic lobbying with the government to change the rule claiming that the manufacturers of the new cars did not agree to export cars directly to Bangladesh, said an official of the NBR.

He said that they would send a proposal to the finance ministry to change the rule to allow certificates of organisations like the national chamber of commerce or any other association of the exporting country.

He, however, could not say whether the proposed change in the rule would be much effective to stop tax dodging.

It was observed that the assessable value of a brand new car fixed on the basis of dealer's invoice was less than half of that of a used car of same quality.

For instance, the assessable value of a new 1500 CC sedan car stood at $8270 while the assessable value of a used car of the same feature stood at $7550 at customs in 2010.

There is no way of being the value of a new car less than that of a used car of the same features imported from same country unless the importers make it through under invoicing, said the officials.

Source : New Age

Dhaka stocks on a rollercoaster ride, continue to slide

Dhaka stocks continued to slide on Wednesday in yet another volatile trading session as a section of nervous investors went for heavy selling while large investors remained inactive to see the market falls further to pounce on the relatively cheap share.

Although the state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh tried to halt the heavy slide of the market, sustained selling pressure of the investors panicked by last few days' volatility, pulled down the index at the day's closing.

The DGEN, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, on the day lost 15.13 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 6,162.68 points, after fluctuating heavily throughout the trading session.

Turnover on the day dropped to one-and-half month low at Tk 446.96 crore from that of Tk 501.61 crore in the previous day as institutional investors continued to remain in the sideline. On June 22 turnover was the lowest since Wednesday at Tk 444.67 crore.

Market operators said the general investors' mood remained damp and they continued with sell-offs on Wednesday following the downtrend in the market for the last two weeks, which was initially caused by poor corporate disclosures of some listed companies and the Bangladesh Bank's tight monetary policy and aggravated by the regulator's announcement to file cases against suspected market manipulators.

'The fact is that the market is facing liquidity crisis and there is almost no activities from the large investors who have taken a wait-and-see policy to watch the market behaviour when the SEC files cases against the market manipulators. They know that the market might fall further and they are waiting to pounce on the trading floor to buy cheap shares,' said an operator.

On Tuesday, the Anti-Corruption Commission announced that it would file case against four people including an executive director of Securities and Exchange Commission for market manipulation during the January's stock market crash and many of the large investors are now waiting to see the SEC's legal action against some other market manipulators.

The ICB's move somewhat saved the day from a big plunge.

Md Fayekuzzaman, managing director of the ICB, said, 'We are trying to keep the market afloat and today we also bought with the same motive.'

 After the day's opening bell, the DGEN lost around 40 points in 20 minutes, which it recovered in the next five minutes, and again lost in next 20 minutes.

At 11:35am, the general index lost 22.77 points to stand at 6,155.04 points which shot up in the next half-an-hour to stand at 6175.34 points at around 12:06pm.

'Whenever the index went into positive zone, some investors took the opportunity to sell off their shares in fear that the gains would not sustain. The low turnover on the day is not a good sign for the market,' said a stockbroker.

Heavy gains in share price of market giant Grameenphone by 6.28 per cent and marginal gain of MJL Bangladesh on Wednesday might have saved the day from a sharp fall, said market operators. 

In the past two weeks the investors staged rowdy demonstration in the streets of Motijheel, protesting the free fall of share prices.

The DGEN lost 548 points till Wednesday in the latest bear run that began at the end of July.

Of the 250 issues traded on Wednesday, 121 gained, 121 declined and eight remained unchanged.

Grameenphone topped the list of the day's turnover leaders, with its share worth Tk 30.56 crore changing hands. The rest on the top-10 list were Beximco, City Bank, RN Spinning Mills, United Airways, Lafarge Surma Cement, Keya Cosmetics Ltd, Malek Spinning Mills, One Bank Ltd and MI Cement.

Source : New Age

5yr WDB project scrapped with 6pc of Tk 300cr fund spent

A five-year Tk 298.50 crore project aimed at improving the irrigation system in five districts of the country undertaken in June 2005 by the Bangladesh Water Development Board was scrapped in June 2010 as only 6 per cent of its budget had been spent in the project period and none of the project activities was completed.

The unused project fund was diverted to other projects under the Annual Development Programme in fiscal year 2010-2011.

The project was intended to improve the flood control system, increase water supply, and improve the irrigation system in 21 upazilas of south Comilla, Noakhali, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, and Feni districts. The project area is low-lying and flood-prone, where farming is impeded for much of the year by flooding of the Dakatia and by lack of irrigation water in the dry season.

The report of an evaluation committee, submitted in early July 2011 to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the planning ministry, also identified irregularities and corruption in spending Tk 18 crore of the project fund, with activities costing more than double what they should have done.

The evaluation committee, which visited Comilla, Noakhali, and Lakshmipur districts, also recommended further investigations to ensure transparency of the project implementation.

'Most components of the project were not properly implemented and the funds misused,' the report said.

'The dredging of a 4.69 kilometre canal' could have been done using less than half of the total money expended for it, the report continued.

The committee found that much of the Tk 9 crore spent in Comilla was 'wasted', project activities had only been done partially in Noakhali, which in fact made things worse, and in Lakshmipur the activities were carried out with derelict machinery.

It also criticised the WDB for poor management of the project, which had employed as many as 14 project directors in the 5-year period.

The report mentioned that at the end of the project period, a proposal to complete the project activities was rejected by the Planning Commission as the WDB demanded additional funds that were 76 per cent more than the original project budget.

A senior IMED official said it was not unusual to find irregularities and mismanagement in project implementation. The failure of the projects often meant, he said, that it was not possible for the implementing agencies to carry on with the work.

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies research director Zaid Bakht said every year some of the government's development projects remained unfinished due to irregularities and mismanagement.

He said the projects often ended up wasting large sums of money but producing no outcome.

The BIDS economist said, 'Every year the government approves projects for a specific period and allocates funds for them but the project implementation trend is not satisfactory at all.'

Out of the total 1,039 projects under the current ADP, only 77 are new ones, with the rest being 'ongoing' projects which were not completed in time, Zaid Bakht pointed out, adding, 'It is a vicious circle of ADP project implementation.'

He also said that some of the ADP projects were taken from political consideration or to satisfy different stakeholders, with no clear selection criteria and project objectives.

Source : New Age

eavy to very heavy falls likely

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at most places over all the seven divisions till 6:00pm today.

Moderately heavy to very heavy falls are also likely at places over the country, Met Office said.

Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in the capital today at 6:35pm and rises tomorrow at 5:32am.

The country's highest temperature, 30.5 degrees Celsius, was recorded today at Khepupara and the lowest, 24.0 degrees, at Cox's Bazar, Feni and Chittagong.

Source : New Age

Pateswari Bridge at risk for sub-standard sand bags

Throwing sub-standard sand bags to protect erosion of River Dudhkumar at Bhurungamari upazila in Kurigram poses risk to the Pateswari Bridge on the river and adjoining roads, according to locals.

Local sources said that the authority of Water Development Board in Kurigram had taken initiative to protect the bridge and adjoining roads from erosion of River Dudhkumar with 25000 sand bags.

The local people alleged that sand bags of 50kgs packed with old cement and fertiliser were being thrown to protect erosion instead of 150kgs sand bags with new synthetic bag.

The most of the sub-standard sand bags were being damaged soon after throwing, the locals alleged.

The locals lodged complaint to the Bhurungamari upazila nirbahi officer regarding sub-standard sand bags.

The Bhurungamari UNO, Md Hamidul Haque, along with vice-chairman Jalal Uddin, visited the spot on Tuesday and ordered for not throwing the sub-standard sand bags.

Assistant engineer of the project, Mohibul Alam, told New Age that he had already ordered to stop such kind of sub-standard work.

Source : New Age

Zia released 22,000 razakars after Mujib murder, says Matia

The agriculture minister, Begum Matia Chowdhury, on Wednesday said Ziaur Rahman assumed state power through illegal path and released 22,000 collaborators (rajakar) from jails awarding them general amnesty following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

'Trial of listed war criminals was continuing during Bangabandhu's period, but it is unfortunate that Ziaur Rahman freed them from jails intentionally,' she said addressing a discussion on 'National Mourning Day' in the National Museum auditorium in Dhaka.

Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad (SWACHIP) arranged the discussion, which was chaired by SWACHIP president and health minister Professor AFM Ruhal Haque.

Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, AL health and population affairs secretary Bodiuzzaman Bhuiyan (Dablu), vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Professor Pran Gupal Dutta, SWACHIP general secretary Professor Iqbal Arslan, Bangladesh Medical Association president Dr Hassan Mahmud, president of Bangladesh Private Medical Practitioners Association S Moniruzzaman and BMA secretary general M Sharfuddin addressed the meeting.

Matia said Bangabandhu forgave those who committed different crimes excepting arson, raping, looting and killing during the liberation war.

He alleged that a vested quarter has been hatching conspiracies to foil the process of trying war criminals.

Dr Bodiuzzaman called upon all to work together for building a 'Digital Bangladesh' as envisioned by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Source : New Age

$120m ADB fund for urban dev

The Asian Development Bank will provide $ 120 million to Bangladesh to overhaul urban planning, infrastructure, and services in two big city regions—Dhaka and Khulna.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the government and the ADB at a simple ceremony at the Economic Relations Division in Dhaka on Wednesday.

ERD secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and ADB country director Thevakumar Kandiah inked the loan agreement on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB respectively.

The fund for the Bangladesh City Region Development Project will target energy-efficient and environment-friendly urban services, more coordinated development planning, and stronger management capacity for Dhaka and Khulna city corporations and adjoining secondary towns.

The loan from ADB's Special Fund resources covers about 71 per cent of the total project cost of $170 million.

It has 32-year tenure, with an 8-year grace period carrying an annual interest charge of 1 per cent during the grace period, and 1.5 per cent for the balance of the term.

The government of Bangladesh will provide counterpart support of $ 50 million.

The technical assistance will include a $ 675,000 grant from ADB's concessionary Technical Assistance Special Fund, while ADB will also administer a grant of $ 1.5 million from the government of Japan-established, Asian Clean Energy Fund, held under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility.

The Local Government Engineering Department is the executing agency of the project to be completed by December 2016.

'The project aims to increase the growth potential and environmental sustainability of these two city regions,' the ADB country director said.

'Municipalities are not well prepared to face the impending negative impacts of climate change, and are not well aware of the potential benefits of efficient energy use, and this project will help address these concerns,' he added.

Along with physical improvements to water, drainage, urban transport and other facilities, the project will incorporate a pilot programme that will install energy-efficient water pumps and solar-powered streetlights.

This will deliver substantial cost savings for municipal authorities as well as reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Based on a study to simulate climate change impacts, the project will also support adaptation measures to strengthen climate change resilience, notably the improvement of drainage in Khulna.

To tackle planning weaknesses, the project will review and update the existing urban plans, including the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan, and draw up a framework for integrated, coordinated regional development.

Support will be given to help municipal agencies improve their capabilities for urban planning, tax assessment, property tax collection, human resource management and public participation.

Performance-based funding for a previous urban infrastructure project in Bangladesh was successful in meeting planned outcomes, and ADB will again link its financing to performance criteria, providing an incentive for participating municipalities to meet targets.

Source : New Age

BR takes projects to improve services

A series of projects have been taken for development of railway network that will help Bangladesh Railway ensure safe and comfortable journey of passengers.

After assuming power, Awami League government took a total of 39 projects involving an amount of about Tk 18,046 crore. Of them, 31 were new projects and eight revised ones, said chief planning officer of BR Mozammel Haq.

The projects include construction and rehabilitation of metre and broad gauge lines, converting metre gauge lines into duel and broad gauge, supplying load-monitoring devices for both the sides of Bangabandhu Bridge and modernising signalling system of 13 rail stations.

BR had also planned to refurbish 200 metre gauge and 60 broad gauge passenger coaches and build an Inland Container Depot at Dheerasram in Gazipur, he said.

Besides, the chief planning officer said, BR has sorted out 12 more projects for implementation under India's $1 billion credit support programme.

The projects include purchasing of 40 locomotives, 125 broad gauge and 414 metre gauge passenger coaches, two broad gauge inspection cars, 165 broad gauge and 81 metre gauge tank wagons, 220 metre gauge flat wagons and 10 broad gauge DEMUs (diesel electric multiple unit).

With the Indian credit support, BR will construct a rail line from Khulna to Mongla, and the second Bhairab and second Titas railway bridges, he added.

For development of the rail sector, the present government has created a new railway division under the ministry of communications. Construction of a double lane rail track from Tongi to Bhairabbazar will kick off soon.

BR will also construct a double lane rail track from Chinki Astana in Chittagong to Laksam under the financial support of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mozammel Haq said.

The government has initiated formalities for acquiring land for constructing a rail line from Dohazari to Gundum via Coz's Bazar-Ramu, said the chief planning officer.

Under the Indian credit line, an agreement has already signed for purchasing 165 broad gauge tank wagons and tenders have been accepted for purchasing 81 metre gauge tank wagons and 10 broad gauge locomotives.

A rail line from Khulna to Mongla will be constructed with Indian credit support, he said.

Source : New Age

Shrimp, fishes worth TK 43cr washed away

Shrimps and other fishes worth about Tk 43.9 crore were lost as strong flow of rainwater flushed them away from nearly 9,472 shrimp 'ghers' (enclosures) out of 56,556 and 7,344 ponds and fish farms out of 31,847 in the district, official sources said.

But the shrimp farmers said their loss in the last couple of day's heavy rain amounts to Tk 100 crore at the least.

District fishery office sources said about 50,000 shrimp farmers became penniless due to incessant rain which caused floods in nine upazilas of the district.

The worst affected upazilas in the district are Koyra, Dakop and Dumuria where 11,661-hectare shrimp ghers were damaged.

Assistant fisheries officer of Khulna district Bidhan Das told the news agency that if the rain continues for five or six days, 48,898.8 hectares of shrimp 'ghers' and 1904.5 hectares of ponds and fish farms would be damaged completely.

Harun-ur-Rashid, a shrimp farmer of Koyra upazila in the district, said his five shrimp ghers on 200 bighas were completely washed away in the heavy rain.

'I have become penniless as my five ghers washed away in incessant rains,' he said, adding that he spent about Tk 10 lakh for shrimp farming this year.

Assistant fisheries officer of Khulna Bidhan Das further said 60 per cent shrimp ghers, ponds and fish farms of nine upazilas and city were completely damaged by floods caused by heavy rain.

Source : New Age

Rofiqul Hoque new BAU VC

Professor Mohammad Rofiqul Hoque has been appointed vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Agricultural University.

An education ministry notification to this effect said Hoque would be appointed for a four-year term.

Source : New Age

Repairs cause net disruption for two hours and a half

Internet connection in Bangladesh was disrupted for an hour and a half in Bangladesh beginning 4:30pm on Wednesday because of submarine cable maintenance.

The internet disruption was due to power re-configuration in the submarine cable SEA-ME-WE 4 to which Bangladesh reconnected again on Wednesday after completion of the repairs, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd managing director, Monowar Hossain, told New Age on Wednesday.

Earlier on Sunday, there had been an internet blackout for about two hours early morning when power was shut down in the SEA-ME-WE 4, the submarine cable which connects Bangladesh with the rest of the world, for repairs.

The Submarine Cable Consortium changed two repeaters on a segment of the submarine cable on the 20,000km submarine cable in Singapore beginning on August 7.

'Two repeaters have been replaced successfully in the SEA-ME-WE 4 and there will be no disruption of internet service in the near future,' Monowar said.

He, however, stressed the need for Bangladesh to get connected to a second submarine cable to avoid such disruption caused by technical glitches.

Bangladesh had been connected to the i2i cable maintained by India's Bharti Airtel between Sunday and Wednesday during the repairs of the SEA-ME-WE-4 cable, Monowar said.

Source : New Age

Full wage for RMG workers before Eid demanded

The Garments Sramik Sangram Parishad, a platform of nine political organisations working for garment workers, called on the government to take necessary steps for full wage, including Eid-bonus and other dues, for the workers before Ramadan 20.

Bangladesh Garment Workers' Solidarity convener Taslima Akhter at a press conference in Dhaka on Wednesday announced the demands of the platform.

The garment sector would face unrests if their salary and other allowances were not paid in time, Taslima Akhter warned.

The platform would observe demonstrations to press its 4-point demand, including introduction of low-price shops for the garment workers, increase in minimum wages and stopping firing workers without plausible reason, Taslima Akhter also said.

The coordinator of the platform Rafiqul Islam Pakhik, leaders Shamsuzzoha,  Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, Zubran Ali Jewel and Shabnam Hafiz also spoke at the press conference.

Source : New Age

Maoists fanning into Indian cities: minister

India's Maoist guerrillas are believed to have spread into the country's major cities such as the national capital New Delhi, the government said on Tuesday.

The statement in parliament followed questions by a lawmaker on the expanding influence of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) rebels, who were earlier active only in rural areas.

'Activities of the CPI-Maoist and their frontal organisations have been reported in urban areas of various states,' junior home minister Jitendra Prasad said.

The minister listed Bangalore, India's software hub, commercial hub Mumbai, New Delhi, the eastern city of Kolkata and the southern city of Chennai among 10 cities where the presence of guerrillas has been detected.

Source : New Age

No headway in Milon ‘murder’ case

The police have failed to arrest any of the accused in a case involving the killing of a teenager initially branded by police as a robber in the district.

Investigating officer Fazlu Kader Patwari, a sub-inspector of Companyganj Police Station, said on Wednesday they failed to arrest the accused after a two-day hunt in the case of Shamsuddin Milon.

Acting chief and inspector (investigation) of the station Humayun Kabir also said their raids went in vain.

On July 27, six people, branded as robbers by police, were beaten to death by a mob in Rahimar Tek area at Charkakrha union of Companyganj upazila. The last one fell victim of the mob fury was Milon,16.

The three-member probe committee found proof of negligence of duty against Companyganj police chief Mohammad Rafique Ullah, sub-inspector Mohammad Akram Sheikh and constables Abdur Rahim and Hema Ranjan Chak.

Source : New Age

JS lacks atmosphere for constructive debates

MEMBERS of parliament should respect each other, irrespective of their political identities, to uphold the dignity of the House and also to improve political practices in the country, says Fazlul Azim, the lone independent lawmaker in the ninth Jatiya Sangsad. 'The people are losing their faith in politics and politicians because most of the treasury and opposition benchers in parliament do not play their role as lawmakers properly,' Azim said in an exclusive interview with New Age at his Kakrail business office in the capital Dhaka on August 4.

The treasury benchers hurriedly pass bills in parliament without a proper review, he claimed. He also criticised them for their failure to create in parliament an atmosphere conducive for constructive debates.

Azim, who has been elected to parliament from the Noakhali-6 constituency, was especially critical of the ministers, who he said were not serious about properly discharging their responsibilities in the House, often oblivious of the fact that the main business of the lawmakers in enactment of law.

Azim, who successfully ran in the 1996 parliamentary election with nomination from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was also critical of the BNP for its sustained boycott of parliamentary proceedings.

The treasury and opposition benchers do not hesitate to use obscene remarks and suggestions in their bid to malign one another, he said.

The situation, Azim believes, will improve if the major political parties nominate qualified people for parliamentary elections, people who prefer constructing debates in parliament.

Source : New Age

847 charged with BDR carnage

A Dhaka court on Wednesday posted for August 24 the beginning of the trial of the 847 people after the the court on the day had completed their indictment with murder and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in Dhaka in February 25-26, 2009.

The trial will begin with the recording of the depositions of prosecution witnesses.

Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Mohammad Jahurul Haque ordered the plaintiff of the case to appear before it on August 24 to make his deposition as the first prosecution witness.

The court on Wednesday indicted 107 of the accused by reading out their charges and the court asked whether the accused pleaded guilty.

None of the accused, however, pleaded guilty.

On July 20 and 27, the court framed charges against 749 out of the total 847 accused in the case, including former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and local Awami League leader Torab Ali, and a number of deputy assistant directors, for murder and 25 other criminal offences committed during the rebellion.

The court on Wednesday started framing charges against the accused in the makeshift courthouse set up in the Aliya Madrassah ground at Bakshi Bazar in the capital amid tightened security.

During the framing of charges, accused Atikur Rahman told the court that he had been on vacation in February 19-27, 2009.

Following departmental investigation, he was cleared of the BDR mutiny charge, Atikur Rahman told the court.

The court replied, 'You may ask the question later on.'

The court told a sepoy, Al Amin, 'You have made a statement before a magistrate.'

Al Amin replied that he did not make any statement in court but he was interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department.

After the indictment, the chief prosecutor Anisul Haq told the court that 20 of the accused were still in hiding.

The court later started framing charge against the accused under the supplementary charge sheet.

The accused named in the supplementary charge sheet told the court that he had been detained for 15 months and 5 days after the mutiny in the headquarters of the border force.

He was released later and his commanding officer suspended him, the accused told the court.

'Five months after my suspension, the authorities called me and asked to be a witness. As I refused to do so, I was made accused,' said the accused, who used to work as a cook in the border force headquarters.

Nayek subedar Rafiqul Islam, convicted in a mutiny case, told the court that they had held an inter-intelligence meeting on February 22, 2009 fearing trouble.

'People of all the intelligence agencies attended the meeting at the headquarters but only some rifle security unit members such as us were implicated in the case,' said Rafiqul Islam, who was dismissed from the security unit, which is now renamed as BG Security Force, after his conviction.

The Criminal Investigation Department, however, cleared him after the preliminary investigation, he told the court.

'If all intelligence agencies feared the rebellion, why am I the only one to be victimised?' Rafiqul told the court.

He gave an assurance that justice would be meted out in keeping with the law and asked the defence prosecutors not to waste time during the trial.

Of the accused, 829, including Nasir Uddin and Torab Ali, a retired subedar, were present in the courtroom.

Three of the accused have, meanwhile, died and they were not indicted. The court also asked the prosecution to publish advertisements in national daily newspapers asking the 20 of the accused still in hiding to be present in the court.

The Criminal Investigation Department pressed charges in two cases - one filed under the Penal Code for murder, arson, robbery and other crimes and the other filed under the Explosive Substances Act for illegally taking up arms - against 850 border guard personnel and civilians.

After the completion of indictment of the 847 accused, the prosecution counsel sought permission to read out the names of 831 of the accused to frame charges against them under Section 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act.

Citing the legal bindings, the defence counsel, Faruque Ahmed, told the court that the framing of charges under the act would be 'illegal.'

The court, however, stopped him.

Following the court permission, the prosecution counsel started reading out of the names but the defence counsel, Faruque Ahmed, objected to the way of reading.

Sustaining the objection, the court asked the prosecution to read out the names properly.

After the names had been read out, the court asked the prosecution to define the time, place and manner of the case.

The chief prosecutor, Anisul Haq, briefed on the case.

Seventy-five people, including 57 army officers, were killed at the BDR headquarters during the 2009 rebellion.

Source : New Age

‘Obsolete’ road traffic law to be replaced

The government will replace the Motor Vehicle Act 1983 with a new law called the 'road, transport and traffic act,' which is intended to meet the changing needs of modern traffic system, government officials concerned said.

A draft of the legislation has recently been sent to the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board for its consideration and to initiate a process of consultation.

Law enforcement officers told New Age that they hoped that it would clarify many areas of the law that are currently confusing or absent.

Under the clean air and sustainable environment project of the environment and forest ministry, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board in March 2010 established a committee to draft a bill.

The draft committee's consultant Abdul Alim Bhuiyan told New Age that the current Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1983 was adapted from the Motor Vehicle Act 1939 which was enacted in the colonial period.

'Now, however, technology, communications systems and the traffic situation have so totally changed that the old act is no longer appropriate,' he said.

The new act would be entirely different including new sections on driving licences, vehicle insurance, and safety related measures, he added.

Abdul Alim also said that the proposed legislation was based on a review of different international laws.

The executive summary of the draft legislation states that 'the effectiveness of the [existing] law has eroded and if the current situation continues the present law … will have no relevance to the sector it is intended to regulated.'

It goes onto that at the very first meeting of the drafting committee it was observed that 'the structure and content of the MVO 1983 is so obsolete and redundant that it is a better option to prepare a new law … instead of updating [the old one].'

Whilst the MVO 1983 has 12 chapters. 183 sections and 12 schedules, the proposed new law has 22 chapters, 371 section and one schedule.

The law envisages that the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority will 'outsource' to other organisations the services it provides like issuance of motor vehicle licences, registration of motor vehicles and issue of fitness certificates and instead focus on its regulatory functions.

The draft contains new provisions to ensure that vehicles imported or locally made comply with the construction, weight equipment and emission standards and are fit for registration and use.

Provisions have also been made to regulate sale of parts, equipment and vehicle testing stations.

The legislation currently has no provision to regulate pedestrians and non-motorised transports, and the new draft proposes changes to this.

In relation to offences, the consultant said that that the proposed act divides offences into three categories - accidents resulting in death, accidents resulting in injury and basic traffic rule violation.

The highest sentence would be imprisonment for up to two years.

The DTCB's project director Mohammad Anisur Rahman said that the project had started in 2009 with DTCB, the Dhaka City Corporation and the environment and forest ministry jointly working together.

The project director said that some sections of the Motor Vehicle Act would remain in the proposed draft while many other new sections would be included.

'In the current law, there was nothing said on CNG-run auto-rickshaws, emergency vehicles and bus rapid transit systems,' he said.

The CASE project director, Mohammad Anisur Rahman, said that the proposed act was very necessary for the changing needs of the present time and added that they hoped the act would be enacted soon

The draft committee's consultant Abdul Alim Bhuiyan said that if anything was missed in the draft, they could be included in it after discussion.

Anisur said that a seminar would soon be called involving different pressure groups, the media and other authorities concerned to gather different views and comments.

Source : New Age

10 rivers keep flowing above danger mark

Rainfall that continued for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday increased the height of most of the rivers, with some spilling over inundating vast tract of low-lying areas and causing flash floods.

The flood forecasting and warning centre of the Bangladesh Water Development Board said  that river height was monitored at 73 water level stations and 53 marked a rise and only 14 registered a fall in 24 hours till 6:00am on Wednesday.

Eight rivers including the Padma were flowing above danger mark, the centre added.

Significant rainfall recorded during 24 hours till 6:00am on Wednesday was 210 millimetres at Bogra, 192mm at Chandpur, 131.2mm at Jariajanjail, 187.7mm at Teknaf, 124.2mm at Sirajganj, 161mm at Cox's Bazar, 110mm at Rajshahi, 157.7mm at Mymensingh, 154mm at Bandarban, 104mm at Dhaka, 148mm at Bhairab Bazar, 141mm at Gaibandha and 103mm at Lama.

The Met Office in Dhaka said that the overall situation might improve in a couple of days.

The flood forecasting and warning centre said that the Padma had an increase by two centimetres at Goalanda and by five centimetres at Bhagyakul and was flowing 11cm and 40cm above danger mark at the points.

The Kobadak registered a 13cm rise on Tuesday and was flowing 25cm above flood mark at Jhikargacha on Wednesday morning.

The Tongi Khal swelled by 20 cm and was flowing 2cm above danger level at Tongi, the centre said.

The River Arialkhan was also flowing 2cm above danger level at Madaripur.

The River Bhugai at Nakuagaon and the River Kangsa at Jariajanjail were also flowing 40cm and 13cm above danger level on Wednesday morning.

The hilly river Matamuhuri was flowing 96cm and 127cm above flood level at Lama and Chiringa, causing  flash floods in the low-lying areas along its banks.

The River Shangu registered an abrupt rise by 560cm in 24 hours at Bandarban and was flowing 125cm above flood level at 6:00am Wednesday.

The Ganges and the Padma are likely to rise while the Meghna will remain steady, the flood forecasting centre said on Wednesday evening.

The New Age correspondent in Manikganj said that the Padma, the Jamuna and the Dhaleswari, in full spate, eroded vast areas in 25 villages of eight unions at  Harirampur, Daulatpur, Shivalaya and Ghior, rendering at least 700 families homeless in seven days.

Forty rooms of the Mailagi government shelter project at Ghior have been washed away by the Dhaleswari while the rests 40 rooms were also under threat.

The tin-shed rooms were given to eighty homeless families by the government in 2007.

the local administration in the past year tried to save the rooms from being eroded by putting bamboo fence but they could not be saved, said Abdul Halim, who lived in the project area and became homeless again.

More than 400 houses of 18 villages of Daulatpur have been eroded by the River Jamuna, local leaders and administration said.

The upazila nirbahi officer, Khodeza Khatun, said that a list of 158 erosion-hit families of Bachamara had been prepared.

The Bachamara union council chairman, Abdur Rashid Sarkar, however, said that at least 200 houses of the union had been washed away by the river.

At Harirampur, about 100 houses of Dhulsura union have been washed away by the River Padma.

At Shibalaya, the Jamuna also affected many areas such as Zafarganj Bazar which is about to be completely eroded.

The correspondent in Noakhali said that incessant rainfall during a few days and the Meghna spilling over in some places had affected low-lying areas in seven coastal upazilas in the district.

Flood and rain water have inundated standing crops on huge low-lying areas of Hatiya, Subarnachar, Companyganj, sadar, Chatkhil, Senbagh and Kabirhat.

A large number of houses, educational institutions, fishing farms and roads have been damaged, local people said.

Amir Hossain, deputy director of the district agricultural extension department, told New Age that rain water had inundated standing crops of nearly 5,000 acres of land and seedbeds on 150 acres of land.

The correspondent in Rajshahi said that rainfall had completely paralysed life in the city and had inundated low-lying areas such as Chhoto Bangram, Mollapara, Dingadoba, Mushrail, Sapura, Tikapara, Sirail, Baliapukur and Machuapara.

Inclement weather severely affected the people of low-income groups such as  day-labourers who were left without work.

The correspondent in Cox's Bazar said that Al-Mohaymin Himel, a Class VIII student of Korak Bidyapith at Chakaria, was electrocuted.

The correspondent in Gazipur said that a wall had collapsed during rainfall in which 56-year-old Halima Begum was killed and four others were injured at Mouchak of Kaliakair in the district on Tuesday night.

The injured have been admitted to Enam Medical College Hospital at Savar.

Source : New Age

GPS cameras to be made mandatory for cars, trucks

The government on Wednesday decided to make mandatory for cars, micro-buses, jeeps, trucks and covered vans to install of GPS (global positioning system) camera against the backdrop of increased incidents of carjacking.

An inter-ministry meeting, presided over by the home minister, Sahara Khatun, at the secretariat, made the decision to stop carjacking with the use of modern technology.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority has been asked to issue a gazette notification to the effect soon.

'We have decided to make mandatory the installation of GPS cameras in cars, micro-buses, jeeps, trucks and covered vans so that the owners can track the vehicles from their home,' Sahara Khatun told reporters after the meeting.

She said that the use of GPS , beside the routine operations of he police, would help to contain crimes on highways.

There are 20,07503 cars, 90,635 jeeps, station wagons and micro-buses, 12,298 taxicabs and 81,561 trucks in the country, according to BRTA records.

The shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, communications minister Syed Abul Hossain, state minister for home Shamsul Haque, senior officials from law enforcement agencies and representatives of transport owners and workers' associations, among others, attended the meeting to check road accidents and keep law and order on highways.

The meeting was told that the number loaded trucks and covered vans being lifted from highways on Dhaka–Bogra, Dhaka–Narayanganj, Dhaka–Sylhet and Dhaka–Chittagong routes had increased recently.

Sahara assured the transport owners and workers that special measures would be taken to check mugging and lifting of trucks and vans on the highway.

'A syndicate was active behind the lifting of the trucks and covered vans carrying garment items,' she added.

The shipping minister, however, said that the owners had been requested not to operate trucks but those carrying essential commodities in three days before Eid, which is likely to take place either on August 31 or September 1, to ensure smooth movement of passenger vehicles.

The labour leader-turned-minister Shajahan said that the police alone could not check carjacking and stop the looting of goods on highways.

'We have to use modern technology to stop carjacking and mugging on highways as we cannot depend only on the police to contain such crimes,' he said adding that  GPS cameras were devices through which vehicles can be tracked sitting at home and the device costs about Tk 12,000.

Each subscriber will need to pay Tk 300 a month to service providers for line rent, officials said adding that mobile phone operators were already offering such services.

Sahara said that most highways such as Dhaka–Tangail, Dhaka–Mymensingh and Dhaka–Narayanganj had been rickety, which was causing huge sufferings to the public.

The communications minister, she said, had assured the meeting that the damaged roads would be repaired to reduce suffering of the people.

The shipping minister complained at the meeting that transport workers were usually harassed by the Highway Police, which sometimes caused fatal accidents.

The meeting directed the truck owners to keep biographical data with photographs of all truck drivers and their assistants with them for security reasons.

Law enforcers were once again directed not to allow any weekly markets on highways.

Source : New Age