Today is the second death anniversary of Alhaj Quazi Abdul Mannan, says a press release.
He was the headmaster of Dhaka Govt Muslim School and founder president of Govt Secondary Teachers Association. Abdul Mannan also served as an assistant secretary of Dhaka Textbook Board.
Relatives and well-wishers are requested to pray for salvation of the departed soul.
Source : The Daily Star
Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad yesterday said the government has decided to set up Shilpakala Academy auditorium and e-library in all upazilas of the country.
The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs with Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad in the chair.
The meeting also decided to conduct a survey to asses the feasibility for immediately setting up Shilpakala Academy auditorium and e-library in all upazila headquarters.
Source : The Daily Star
Muhammod Sohel Rana, a fourth year student of Department of English, Dhaka University, is suffering from acute renal failure and needs immediate kidney transplantation.
A sum of Tk 30 lakh is required for the surgery in India, as advised by his physicians. Rana is undergoing treatment at Mirpur Kidney Hospital. His father is a day labourer and his family is unable to bear this cost.
The affluent and generous people of society are requested to come forward with financial assistance.
The AC Payee cheque should be addressed to Prof Kajal Banerjee, Account Number 34115275, Janata Bank Limited, Dhaka University Branch.
It can also be sent to the fund raising initiator Jesmina Shanta Aksad, member of Executive Committee, Alumni Society of the Department of English, DU by contacting over cellphone # 01911382365 or e-mail at jshanta@g mail.com.
Corporate houses are requested to submit a letter of acknowledgement stating the amount to her.
Source : The Daily Star
State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak yesterday said the government has a plan to set up chain cooperative markets across the country to check price hike of essentials and ensure fair price of agri-inputs.
He was inaugurating five cooperative markets in different areas in the city.
Of the five markets, Department of Cooperatives will run four markets while the rest one by Rural Development, Bogra Unit.
The state minister said the government will open this kind of cooperative markets in every ward of the capital in the first phase as part of its programmes to reform the market system for ensuring fair prices to farmers, reducing influence of middle men and protecting consumer rights.
Later, the cooperatives market will be opened in district, upazila and village levels, he said.
The farmers are being deprived of getting fair price in one hand and the consumers are falling prey to price hike on the other hand, he said.
Source : The Daily Star
Three policemen including a sub-inspector were suspended on Saturday night in connection with the death of a 16-year-old boy at Char Kakra village under Companyganj upazila of the district.
The suspended policemen are Md Akram Sheikh, sub-inspector of Companyganj Police Station and his two constables, Abdur Rahim and Hema Ronjon Chakma, said Harunur Rashid Hazari, superintendent of police (SP).
On August 3, 2011, Kohinoor Begum, mother of the deceased Shamsuddin Milon, filed a case claiming that her son was beaten to death by villagers who suspected him to be a robber, in presence of police.
She filed the case with the Judicial Magistrate's Court against the police officials and two others--Jamal Uddin and Mizanur Rahman Manik--in this connection.
On July 27, six people, including Milon were beaten to death by angry villagers who suspected them to be robbers at Rahim Miar Tek area in Char Kakra.
A three-member probe committee led by Additional Superintendent of Police Md Mahbubur Rashid has also been formed to investigate Milon's death, the SP said.
The court also ordered the officer-in-charge of Companyganj Police Station to record the case as first information report (FIR) and take necessary steps in this regard.
Source : The Daily Star
BNP standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy yesterday said BNP could not win the people's confidence as the opposition party till now though the countrymen are fed up with the government for its torture and repression.
"People become afraid when they see the faces of a few of our party men. Though they are necessary for the party, it would not be possible to realise the dream of forging a tougher anti-government movement by keeping these people in the party," he said while addressing a discussion.
Projonmo Academy, a pro-opposition organisation, organised the discussion at Jatiya Press Club in the city.
Goyeshwar, known as an outspoken person in and outside the party forum, said the situation was ripe for a mass upsurge in the country but this could not be initiated as BNP could not earn sufficient trust of the people.
Dedicated leaders were not evaluated properly in the party. Even those who actively demonstrated on the streets after the 1/11 changeover did not get any space in party forums. But those who broke the lock of the party's central office during the period were rewarded later, he said.
Leaders of BNP's reformists' faction broke the lock and entered the party's central office at Naya Paltan in the city during the military-backed caretaker government.
"BNP never stands beside those who stood beside it during political disasters," he added.
Party standing committee member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, Moazzem Hossain Alal and Khandaker Golam Mortaza spoke at the discussion with Abu Al Yusuf Tipu, president of the academy, in the chair.
Source : The Daily Star
A Dhaka court yesterday placed Shehnaz Rashid Khan, daughter of an executed killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on remand for a day in connection with a case filed for possessing banned Yaba tablets.
The court also cancelled a seven-day remand prayer sought for Tayeb Zaman, elder brother of Shehnaz's husband Fuad Zaman, Mahbub Hossain and Touhidul Islam and ordered to send them to jail.
Mosharraf Hossain, sub-inspector of Dhanmondi Police Station and investigation officer of the case, sent them to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka yesterday praying for a seven-day remand for each of them.
Police on Saturday arrested them with 12 pieces of Yaba tablets from the residence of Shehnaz Rashid in the city's Dhanmondi.
Source : The Daily Star
A gang of miscreants stabbed to death a shop employee at the city's suburb Keraniganj early yesterday.
The victim was identified as Mohammad Parvez, 25, son of Faruk Hossain of Bandha Dakpara in Keraniganj.
The victim's brother-in-law Mohammad Aslam told reporters at DMCH that Parvez was called out of his residence at around 12.30am yesterday by his acquaintances Shahin and Jabbar. They stabbed Parvez in front of his house indiscriminately, Aslam added.
Parvez was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where on-duty doctors declared him dead.
Aslam said Parvez used to work at a clothes store at Islampur in Old Dhaka. He was called out of his residence after he returned from his duty around 11.30pm Saturday.
Keraniganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Asaduzzman told this correspondent that Parvez was wanted in three cases.
Source : The Daily Star
A total of 118 students of different departments of Dhaka University (DU) were recognised with Duke of Edinburgh's Award yesterday for their achievements in self-development skills and community services.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Foundation, Bangladesh conferred 94 students with Bronze Award and 24 students with Silver Award at Teacher Student Centre auditorium.
DU Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique handed over the awards, says a press release.
Run by the British royal family, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award was introduced in Bangladesh in 2008. DU has been conferring the award on its students since then.
Prof Arefin, speaking as the chief guest, said programmes like these are extremely important in bringing out the latent talents in youths in order to transform them into a holistically developed individual.
Congratulating the participants, he said they have the ability to lead the nation forward. This award would help encourage the students to perform in extracurricular activities and nation building work and lead a disciplined life.
Source : The Daily Star
Lakes and wetlands in Dhaka must be demarcated immediately on the ground as they have been earmarked in the urban plan to save them, said the leading urban planners and researchers at a workshop in the city yesterday.
The cities like Dhaka, Kolkata and Delhi cannot survive without conservation of urban lakes, they said.
Water bodies are vital for preventing urban flood and groundwater recharge, said Susmita Sengupta, deputy coordinator of Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) that organsied the workshop jointly with Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP).
They also serve as sources of water for agriculture and industries as well as day-to-day purposes, she said.
But urban lakes and wetlands in Dhaka and Indian cities alike have long been ruthless prey to encroachment and pollution, she said, adding that the manner of lake destruction is similar in both the countries.
The urban water bodies could not be saved as yet due to lack of enforcement of relevant laws, said Advocate Manzill Murshid.
A dedicated department should be instituted for water bodies, he said.
"We cannot afford any more loss of water bodies and agriculture land," said Dr Ishrat Islam, associate professor of urban and regional planning at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
Political will for conservation of lakes and other water bodies is crucial, as the lake grabbers maintain strong connection with political quarters and do not care about regulatory agencies and mass media, she said.
Lakes, ponds and canals together constitute a whole system and it has to be addressed with ecological sensitivity, said architect Iqbal Habib, member secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon.
An estimated one million people, 23 percent of Kolkata population, depend on pond water for bathing and washing, reducing load on formal water supply system, said Dr Mohit Kumar Ray, director of Vasundhara Foundation, Kolkata.
There are around 5,000 ponds, including some centuries old, in the Kolkata metropolitan area, he said.
He mentioned two decade-long successful community movements in Kolkata to conserve a pond in Jheel Road and another in Kazi Pukur that are now community-managed and provide better water for the local people.
Dr Suresh Kumar Rohilla, programme director of CSE, and Prof Sarwar Jahan, president of BIP, chaired different sessions of the workshop.
Source : The Daily Star
Ending their captivity for nearly eight months in Afghanistan, five Bangladeshi workers returned home yesterday.
Kidnapped on December 17 last year at gunpoint from a remote camp near Mazar-i-Sharif, they were freed on August 2 following long-drawn negotiations and diplomatic efforts.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni received the workers at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:40am.
She thanked the Afghan government and the Korean company for their cooperation in brining back the Bangladeshi workers home safely. She assured the workers of all of all-out support.
The returnees told reporters that their captors, who they believe to be Taliban or Mujahideen militants, did not give them any food except some bread thrice a day. They were given a little water that often had insects in it. The abductors, however, did not torture them physically.
The five are Aminul Islam, Shafiul Alam Khokan and Abdur Rahman Lablu of Kalihati in Tangail, Mahbub Ali of Charghat in Rajshahi and Imam Uddin of Rangunia in Chittagong. They were employed as construction workers at Samwhan Corporation, a Korean company, in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.
As they walked out of the airport terminal, family members outside the gate broke into tears. In an emotional reunion, they, too, could not hold back their tears.
"I had lost all my hopes to see you again," Aminul Islam wailed as he embraced his elder brother.
Talking to the media, Imam Uddin said, "We could not take a bath for more than seven months. We were allowed to bathe just three days before our release."
"They did not give us enough water to wash our hands and face," added Imam, who went to Afghanistan in 2005.
The five were kept alternatively in two rooms and a cave of a hill with their legs enchained at night.
"We repeatedly told them that we were innocent. But they did not listen. They rather blamed us for working in the Korean company," said Shafiul, who also went in 2005 to seek his luck there.
The abductors picked up them as they were constructing roads which, according to the kidnapers, created problems for them to set mines to destroy vehicles of the US troops.
"The day before we were freed, they made us promise that we will return to Bangladesh straightway and will never go back to Afghanistan to work in a company brought by the USA-backed government," said Mahbub Ali, another returnee.
THE ABDUCTION AND RELEASE
At around 7:50pm on December 17 last year, the workers suddenly heard gun shots when they were in the camp. Within five minutes, around 20 men entered the camp by defeating the policeman deployed there. They captured the workers, blindfolded them and tied their hands.
They were forced to walk for nearly five kilometres. Then their blindfolds were taken off and hands were untied. They then walked for the whole night to reach a house the next morning.
After a few hours, the workers were again blindfolded and taken to another place after a three to four hours' journey on a vehicle.
They had no idea if they would ever be released.
On August 2, the kidnappers tied their eyes and put them on a vehicle. After around a 40-minute drive, the abductors asked them to walk down a road, saying they would find their company officials ahead.
After walking for a few hours, they found a local who helped them talk with the company officials over the phone. A number of company officials then came in a car to pick them up.
Source : The Daily Star
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld death sentences of three outlaws for killing Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president Kazi Aref Ahmed and four other leaders in Kushtia 12 years ago.
A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Muzammel Hossain also upheld a portion of the High Court verdict that acquitted 10 others of the charges.
The apex court passed the orders after hearing appeals filed by the government and the accused against the HC verdict.
The HC in 2008 upheld the death sentences handed down by a trial court to nine accused and acquitted 12 others, who were given life term imprisonment by the trial court.
Earlier in 2004, Additional Sessions Judge of Kushtia Md Fazlur Rahman gave 10 accused capital punishment and jailed another 11 for life.
Kazi Aref, a Liberation War organiser, along with the four Kushtia unit JSD leaders was killed at a rally in Kalidaspur village in Daulatpur upazila on February 16, 1999.
The convicts sprayed him with bullets as he was about to leave the rostrum after delivering a speech against political violence.
The four other leaders -- Kushtia district unit JSD president Lokman Hossain, general secretary Yakub Ali and activists Israil Hossain and Shamser Mandal -- died as they tried to save the valiant freedom fighter.
Police filed a murder case with Daulatpur Police Station the same day.
The accused whose punishment was upheld by the SC are Ilias Hossain alias Elas of Talbaria, Rashedul Islam Jhantu and Anwar Hossain of Kursha in Kushtia.
The 10 accused cleared of the charges are Gares Sarder, Tasir Uddin, Asgar Jomaddar, Nazrul Islam, Waliur Rahman, Ekubbar, Tikka alias Jobbar, Lavlu, Firoz alias Foro and Laltu alias Nuruzzaman.
The SC will pass order today on the appeals of Sahir Uddin and Rafat alias Rafa, who got life term imprisonment from the HC. Sahir got death sentence and Rafa got life term imprisonment from the lower court.
Mannan, Baker, Raushan, Jahan, Jalal and Habib, who were given death sentence by the trial court, are still on the run.
Advocates Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Nawab Ali appeared for the accused, while Additional Attorney General Momtazuddin Fakir represented the government.
Source : The Daily Star
Ruling Awami League yesterday joined the Election Commission's dialogue on electoral reforms but refrained from giving opinions on the reform proposals.
It asked the commission to bring BNP to the dialogue to reach a political consensus on the proposed reforms. The EC started the dialogue on June 7.
The AL said the party would give its opinion on the proposals after consultations with the party chief and the party forum.
The EC had planned to wrap up the dialogue after holding talks with the AL, as the main opposition BNP turned down its repeated calls for talks. However, the ruling party's stance has made it more difficult for the EC to go ahead with its plan.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda and election commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hussain and Sakhawat Hossain seemed unhappy at the outcome of yesterday's talks.
"We'll wait for a few days for the ruling party's opinion. Then we'll start reviewing opinions given by other parties during the talks," the CEC told reporters at his office yesterday.
During the talks, AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam repeatedly said they came just to know the justification of the EC's proposals for electoral reforms and would give a decision later.
The EC insisted that the AL should specify a time frame for giving its opinion.
In response, the AL leaders said the party would give its opinions before the present EC's tenure expires in February next year.
Stressing the need for a consensus on electoral reforms, the AL general secretary said if the EC takes effective steps, it can ensure BNP's participation in the talks.
In response, the EC said it tried to bring BNP to the talks, but the main opposition refused to sit with it.
The CEC said the commission sent letters to BNP thrice. An election commissioner also talked to BNP leaders and requested them to join the talks.
The AL delegation led by Deputy Leader of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury joined the talks with the EC.
The delegation was briefed on the use of electronic voting machine (EVM) that the EC plans to introduce in the next parliamentary elections.
The EC and its technical experts gave a demonstration of the EVM and answered questions from the AL leaders.
The CEC said the EC plans to use EVMs in the upcoming polls to Narayanganj and Comilla city corporations.
Huda also explained the reasons for its proposals for enacting laws on redrawing parliamentary boundaries, state funding for political parties to meet their election expenses, appointment of the CEC and election commissioners, and making some changes in the Representation of the People Order.
The EC invited 38 registered political parties to the talks. Of them, BNP and six other parties did not participate in the dialogue.
Source : The Daily Star
Police let a mob beat a 16-year-old boy to death on suspicion of being a robber at Tekerhat in Noakhali on July 27, witnesses told a private TV channel yesterday.
A video footage of the incident telecast on Somoy TV channel last night showed how the mob beat him after police forced the boy, Shamsuddin Milon, to get off a police van.
Police claimed that six suspected robbers were beaten to death on that day.
A local said they handed over the boy to SI Akram after locals caught him on suspicion of being a robber.
Another witness said, "I saw the boy getting on the police van."
"The policemen were repeatedly telling people to kill the boy," said another witness to the incident.
A local claimed that he knew Milon for long and the boy had never been involved in any criminal activities.
Home Minister Shahara Khatun told the TV channel that the people responsible for Milon's death will be brought to book.
Meanwhile, three policemen including a sub-inspector were suspended on Saturday night for negligence in duty after Milon's mother Kohinoor Begum filed a case against the policemen and two locals, reports our Noakhali correspondent.
The suspended policemen are Akram Sheikh, sub-inspector of Companyganj Police Station, and constables Abdur Rahim and Hema Ranjan Chakma, said Police Super Harunur Rashid Hazari.
A three-member probe committee led by Additional Superintendent of Police Mahbubur Rashid has been formed to probe Milon's death, he said.
On August 3, Kohinoor filed the case with the Judicial Magistrate's Court claiming that villagers beat her son to death in the presence of police suspecting him to be a robber.
She alleged that police did not try to save her son from the angry mob. They left wounded Milon lying on a road, instead of arranging treatment for him.
After Milon succumbed to his wounds, police took his body to the police station, said Kohinoor.
Source : The Daily Star
The government has finally started dredging the Turag river in efforts to bring fresh water to the highly polluted Buriganga river.
The dredging is part of its Tk 945-crore project to connect the Buriganga with the Jamuna river through Turag-Bangshi-Pungli and then the new Dhaleshwari near Bangabandhu Bridge.
The first-phase dredging, which began last month, will cover a 6.5-kilometre stretch of the Turag--from Rustampur point to the Pungli canal. The Turag meets the Buriganga near Aminbazar, on the outskirts of the capital.
Water Development Board, the implementing agency of the project, will dredge 162.5 kilometres of rivers and canals in different phases.
Titled "Buriganga River Restoration", the project was planned to be completed in December 2013. It might take more time now as the work started a year late, said officials.
"Once the project is implemented, the Buriganga will get an additional 141 cubic metres of water per second during the lean period," said Project Director Sunil Baran Dev Roy.
"The fresh flow of water will decrease the level of pollution and increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the Buriganga," he added.
The main objective of the project is to raise the level of dissolved oxygen (DO) to 4 micrograms per litre from almost zero in dry season now. Aquatic life forms cannot survive if the DO level drops below 4.
Experts, however, say this project alone will not be enough to make the Buriganga healthy and clean. The government must relocate the tanneries and stop the industrial units in Savar and Gazipur dumping untreated waste into the rivers in and around the capital.
The water flow in Dhaka's river systems remains almost stagnant for seven months a year including the lean period. To make matters worse, millions of gallons of highly toxic industrial and human waste are dumped into the rivers.
In the second phase of the project, 29 kilometres of Turag-Bangshi will be dredged. A proposal to that end has already been submitted to the purchase committee for approval, Project Director Sunil Roy told The Daily Star.
In later phases, around 63 kilometres of the new Dhaleshwari will be extensively excavated, as this portion of the river is totally silted since Bangabandhu Bridge was built.
Besides, a sluice gate will be set up at the Jamuna confluence to control floodwater during monsoon. "We will not divert any water during the monsoon," Sunil continued.
The idea is to divert around 300 cm of water per second towards the city's river systems. Some water, however, will be taken off for irrigation purposes on the way.
"If 141 cubic metres of water per second is added to the Buriganga during the dry season, pollutants will be automatically flushed out," he observed.
Experts from the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), which did the feasibility study on the project in 2003, believe diverting water will not affect the environment as over 2,000 cubic metres of water flows through the Jamuna every second.
Asked about rampant river pollution, Sunil said the Water Development Board is responsible only for the river water restoration project. The environment and forest ministry will ensure installation of effluent treatment plants to check pollution.
Hasan and Brothers, a local firm, is conducting the dredging work on the Turag.
IWM will give them technical support.
Source : The Daily Star
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) have been filling up portions of Baunia and Ramchandrapur canals to build roads in another instance of violation of environmental laws by government agencies.
The river taskforce yesterday expressed concern over the filling up of the two canals and decided to inform the prime minister about it.
"If they do not stop such activities, I don't see any other option but to draw the prime minister's attention," said Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, who chaired the meeting of the taskforce at his ministry's auditorium in the capital.
Rajuk filled up a portion of Baunia canal to construct an approach road for its Purbachal project while the DCC is filling up Ramchandrapur canal to build a road in Mohammadpur area, said officials of Wasa and Water Development Board.
These activities clearly go against the government policy to save the water bodies in and around the capital.
On assumption of office, the present government made the environmental laws tougher and launched drives against river encroachers. But little did they improve the situation.
Filling up of water bodies by government agencies goes unabated despite the prime minister's directives to save them from encroachment and pollution.
The Daily Star ran reports on filling up of the Balu river by the Rajuk to build a bridge without environmental clearance in May and filling up of flood plains in Savar by the DCC to make a dumping ground. It also reported filling up of the Buriganga river by Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to construct a market at Sadarghat.
The taskforce decided to hold a meeting next month with officials of government agencies and ministries to find ways to stop pollution and encroachment of water bodies.
It voiced concern at the filling up of water bodies and unplanned dredging by sand traders.
Sand traders are doing extensive earth filling in water bodies in and around the city. They should be checked, said the shipping minister.
Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira echoed the shipping minister.
BIWTA Chairman Abdul Malek Mia said once sand traders get permission to do business for a year, they continue it for years by getting court orders in their favour.
The taskforce asked Dhaka, Gazipur, Munshiganj and Narayanganj administration to put up pillars on undisputed land on the banks of the Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleshwari, Shitalakkhya and Balu to demarcate river foreshores.
Officials of Munshiganj and Narayanganj administration told the taskforce that they have already installed 70 percent of the boundary pillars on river banks.
The Dhaka deputy commissioner said they would complete the demarcation of river foreshores by September and then install pillars.
Officials of Gazipur administration that installed over 300 pillars sought intervention of the land ministry for demarcation of foreshores of the Turag and Balu.
Source : The Daily Star
Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited is likely to restart ferrying limestone from the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya to its cement plant at Chhatak in Sylhet through a 17-kilometre-long conveyer belt any day this week. According to news published in the Dhaka Stock Exchange web site on Sunday, the firm started mining operations in its limestone mine in Meghalaya on Friday.
Lifting a ban it imposed 17 months back, India's Supreme Court on July 6 allowed French multi-national Lafarge to resume limestone mining at Nongtrai in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, paving the way for resumption of supply of raw materials to the cement plant at Chhatak.
The court upheld the legality of the 2010 clearance by the India's Ministry of Environment and Forest to the Lafarge for limestone mining at Nongtrai.
India's apex court had in February 2010 halted limestone mining by the LUMPL in Meghalaya. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lafarge Surma Cement Limited.
Source : New Age
State minister for LGRD and cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak on Sunday said the government had a plan to set up cooperative chain markets across the country to check the price hike of essentials and ensure fair price of agro-inputs.
He was inaugurating five cooperative markets in different areas in the city.
Of the five markets, Department of Cooperatives will run four markets while the rest one by Rural Development, Bogra unit.
The state minister said the government would open this kind of cooperative markets in every ward of the capital in the first phase as part of its programmes to reform the market system for ensuring fair prices to farmers, reducing influence of middle men and protecting consumer rights.
Later, the cooperatives market will be opened in district, upazila and village levels, he said.
Nanak said scrupulous traders were making money from the common people.
The farmers are being deprived from getting fair price in one hand and the consumers are falling prey to price hike on the other hand, he said.
Source : New Age
Global policymakers held an emergency conference call on Sunday to discuss the twin debt crises in Europe and the United States that are causing market turmoil and stoking fears of the rich world sliding back into recession.
After a week that saw $2.5 trillion wiped off global stock markets, political leaders are under mounting pressure to reassure investors that Western governments have both the will and ability to reduce their huge and growing public debt loads.
South Korea said finance deputies from the Group of 20 major economies discussed the European debt crisis and US sovereign rating downgrade on Sunday morning in Asian time zones.
A Japanese government source said finance leaders from the Group of Seven big developed economies would also discuss the crisis and may issue a statement afterwards, although the timing of such a call was unclear.
The European Central Bank was scheduled to hold a rare Sunday afternoon conference call. Investors are anxiously looking for the central bank to start buying Italian and Spanish debt on Monday to stabilise prices, a move that has split the ECB governing council.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who chairs the G7/G20 group of leading economies, conferred with Britain's prime minister David Cameron on Saturday.
'They discussed the euro area and the US debt downgrade. Both agreed the importance of working together, monitoring the situation closely and keeping in contact over the coming days,' a spokesman for Cameron said.
In Washington, a White House economic advisor castigated ratings agency Standard and Poor's for downgrading the United States' credit rating to AA-plus from AAA, a move that over time could ripple through markets by pushing up borrowing costs and making it more difficult to secure a lasting recovery.
Washington's Asian allies rallied round the battered superpower, with Japan and South Korea both saying their trust in US Treasuries remained unshaken.
'I expressed our country's position on the (G20 conference) call that there will be no sudden change in our reserve management policy,' South Korean deputy finance minister Choi Jong-ku told Reuters by telephone, referring to Seoul's heavy ownership of US bonds out of more than $300 billion in foreign reserves.
'There's no alternative that provides such stability and liquidity,' added Choi, who declined to elaborate further on the G20 discussion.
There was no confirmation of the timing of a G7 call for finance ministers and central bankers, but a second Japanese government source said it 'would be normal' for it to take place before Asian markets opened. Tokyo's stock market, the biggest in Asia, starts trading at 9:00am (0000 GMT) on Monday.
The most immediate concern for financial markets was the debt crisis in the euro zone, where yields on Italian and Spanish debt have soared to 14-year highs on political wrangling and doubts over the vigour of budget cuts.
Investors saw the ECB's failure to include Italy and Spain in a re-launch of its bond purchases late last week as a sign of the depth of political divisions over the role of the euro zone currency.
German officials want to see stiffer austerity programs in place before the ECB would shoulder more Italian and Spanish debt.
The danger is that further pressure on Italian and Spanish bonds could undermine an already damaged European banking system and lock Italy, the world's eighth largest economy, out of the market.
Indeed, doubts are growing in the German government that Italy could be rescued by the European emergency fund, even if the fund were tripled in size, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
Source : New Age
Regulator's foot-dragging in bringing the suspected market manipulators to book and an untimely remark made by the finance minister prompted the latest spell of bear run in the capital market, said experts on Sunday.
They said the rumour that some big market players were going for large-scale disinvestment following the announcement made by the Securities and Exchange Commission of taking legal actions against the market manipulators named in the probe report on January's stocks debacle but not going for the action yet made a large number of investors panicky and go for heavy selling.
The remark made on Saturday by finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith also had a negative impact on the market, they added.
Muhith on Saturday said gamblers, not investors, were dominating the country's capital market at the moment.
The latest bear run began on July 25 with a market correction, following the government decision to offload more shares of state-owned enterprises in the market. Poor corporate disclosures made by listed companies and the tight monetary policy adopted by the Bangladesh Bank also fuelled the fall at the time.
The announcement made by the SEC on Monday that it was going to file cases against the market manipulators suspected to have been behind the January's stock market crash aggravated the situation.
Investors took to the street twice in the last week in protest against the relentless fall in share prices and claimed that it was plotted by a syndicate to put pressure on the market watchdog to let its members go scot-free. The general index of the country's premier bourse, Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 590 points in last 10 trading days.
Mahmood Osman Imam, a professor of finance at Dhaka University, said, 'The SEC should not have made its future legal actions public as it generated panic among the investors and helped the market manipulators as well.'
He also termed the finance minister's comment discouraging for the investors.
Akter H Sannmat, a capital market analyst, said, 'Investors became panicked once again as many of them are yet to recover the losses incurred in the stock market crash in January.'
He said when the market started rolling and
the investors were regaining confidence, a vested quarter might have
spread rumours in the market to make the investors shaky.
He said, 'The SEC should not have made the announcement about filing cases against market manipulators in advance and when it did, it should have gone for immediate action.'
Sannamat also identified the recent comment of the finance minister as one of the factors that fuelled Sunday's market crash.
'People in key positions should act more responsibly towards a sensitive and rumour-driven market like ours,' he added.
Mirza Azizul Islam, finance adviser to the immediate past interim government, said, 'If the investors make their investment decisions based on rumours then I have no rational explanation to make of the current bear run.'
He said, 'Although the investors became panicked after the SEC had announced that it would take the market manipulators to justice but the scenario should have been the opposite.'
Mirza Aziz, however, said, although the remark of the finance minister was not wrong, the timing was not right. 'In the current situation, such a comment is not welcome at all.'
DSE senior vice president Ahasanul Islam said, 'Investors should not get panicky and pay heed to rumours.'
In his opinion, 'Regulators will do their job and the investors should do theirs.'
Chittagong Stock Exchange president Fokhor Uddin Ali Ahmed said 'The SEC should not make any further delay in lodging the cases as it is making the situation worse.'
He also said that no one should be accused of illegal act or market manipulation without concrete evidence.
Source : New Age
The minister sees no affect of global stock meltdown on country's capital market
Bdnews24.com . Dhaka
Finance minister AMA Muhith on Sunday termed demonstrators at the stock market fatkabaj (speculators) as they were trying to make a quick buck.
This comes following a demonstration in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange where small investors demanded resignation of the finance minister and the central bank governor for 'their failure to stabilise the market'.
'There is no investor in the demonstration. They [demonstrators] are "fatkabaj". Real investors never demonstrate,' Muhith told reporters at the finance ministry after a meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Suggesting that people should invest wisely in the stock market, he said the government was initiating several measures to stabilise the market.
Asked whether the falling share prices across the world had any influence in Dhaka, Muhith replied in the negative.
About a meeting with SEC chairman M Khairul Hossain earlier in the day, Muhith said they had discussed the book-building system.
After the meeting, Khairul told reporters that the investors had nothing to fear as steps would be taken to stabilise the market.
He suggested the investors to invest in shares with strong fundamentals.
About the suspended book-building system, he said there would be decision by August 11.
The SEC chief also said those responsible for the capital market debacle would be tried under the existing law.
The investors took to the streets in front of the DSE protesting a sharp fall on Sunday.
They carried placards that read 'Stop interference in the capital market by National Board of Revenue'.
They also chanted slogans demanding prime minister's intervention to stabilise the capital market and resignation of the Bangladesh Bank governor and the finance minister.
The DSE general index shed 139.74 points or 2.22 per cent to stand at 6120.16 points on Sunday.
On Saturday, Muhith on the recent stocks fall said that those who expect a rise in the capital market everyday are nothing but insane.
He said that the revamped market regulator was taking several new steps for the stability of capital market and that he was happy with its work.
Source : New Age
Barisal port authorities restricted of plying motor launch type water transports up to 65 feet in length in 29 routes of Barisal region until further order.
The step was taken after weather department asked river-port authorities to hoist cautionary weather signal no. 2 from Sunday morning as deep convection was taking place over the coastal region.
Kazi Wakil Newaz, Barisal port officer and deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said that river port authority stopped plying motor launches less than 65 feet length due to adverse weather and rough river condition in the region since Sunday morning.
The other types of water transports including triple deck Barisal-Dhaka bound launches were also asked for plying cautiously, he added.
Cloudy weather and light to mid rainfall with normal wind speed less than 7 kilometre per hour reported from different areas of Barisal.
Barisal met office recorded 80 mm rain fall in Barisal city and adjacent areas in 12 hours till 3:00pm on Sunday.
Squally weather might affect the maritime ports and coastal areas of Bangladesh with roughness and high tidal bore than usual time. Coastal areas were hoisted weather signal no.3 and recorded 229 ml rainfall in last 24 hour till 3:00pm on Sunday at Kalapara, said Pradip Kumar, officer of Kalapara weather radar station.
The low lying areas of the coastal and offshore islands and chars were likely to be inundated by storm surge of 6 to 8 feet, under influence of low, Pradip Kumar cautioned.
All fishing boats and trawlers over North Bay and deep sea had been advised to come close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice, the port and weather officials informed.
Officials of Cyclone Preparedness Programme of Barisal Red Crescent unit said that regular wireless contact with their units on different shore, off shore, coastal islands and shoals were being maintained informing that conditions of river estuaries and sea were very rough with high waves and strong tides and gusty winds since morning.
Source : New Age
Country's river-routes are getting a big boost as three more dredgers costing around Tk 75 crore being purchased in the private sector would be added to the dredging fleet by this year end for restoring navigability of rivers.
'Private sector has introduced brand new 12 new dredgers at Tk 500 crore last year and three more dredgers worth Tk 75 crore to be added to dredging fleet by this year,' Tahmina Rehman, chairperson of Association of River Dredging Companies Bangladesh told the news agency Sunday.
Tahmina, managing director of SS Dredgers and Engineers Ltd, noted with appreciation of the government's step for revamping the ailing water communications to transport saying there was no significant dredging during the period from 2001 to 2008 rather dredging companies incurred a loss of huge amount after investment.
The country has now nine river dredging companies, which are capable of carrying out dredging task maintaining highest standard but local companies cannot compete with international tender for dredging due to cumbersome terms and conditions of Public Procurement Rules, she said. The association president urged the government to sanction more funds for dredging works together with procurement of dredgers.
She also suggested that the government should declare the 'Dredge Soil Policy' forthwith to bring synchronisation in the dredging sector side by side with lowering the bank interest rate.
Talking to the news agency, the shipping
minister, Shahjahan
Khan, said mainly private sector was now playing key role in the field of dredging as the number of dredgers in the private sector were more than public one.
He said a number of dredging projects were yet to get ECNEC approval while dredging work of 36 rivers were waiting at the Planning Commission and the country would witness a 'grand pomp' once the projects were approved.
'We are hopeful about approval of the projects shortly,' he added. The government has a plan to simplify terms and conditions of PPR so local dredging companies can qualify with international tender, said the minister.
Source : New Age
Three men were arrested early Sunday on the charge of gang raping a mentally handicapped woman in Bera upazila of Pabna.
The police recovered the victim from Jagannathpur Primary School premises at about 2:30am and arrested Islamil Hossain, Shafiqul Islam and Saddam Hossain from the spot.
The arrested men, aged 30 to 35 years, were sent to jail, said the Bera police.
Bera police sub inspector Tariqul Islam, who was investigating the case, said Islamil Hossain, Shafiqul Islam and Saddam Hossain, along with another man named Akhter Hossain, abducted the woman from in front of her residence in Bera municipality about 11:00pm Saturday and raped her taking her to the primary school.
Akhter Hossain managed to flee the spot, the SI said.
The victim was admitted to Bera Upazila Health Complex where her medical examinations were carried out, he informed.
The victim's mother filed a case accusing the four men of the rape.
Source : New Age
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chittagong city unit on Sunday formed human chains at different points of the city thoroughfare stretching from Patenga to 3rd Karnaphuli Bridge.
The party was scheduled to form an 18-kilometer human chain in protest against state persecution, the government's failure to check price hike of essential commodities, and implicating the party leaders and activists in what it alleged were false cases.
The BNP leaders and activists formed human chains at different points of the road including Dewanhat, Jamiatul Falah, Muradpur, Kalamiar Bazar, Kathgar, Nomtol, and Bandartila crossing for 15 minutes since 2:00pm.
BNP Chittagong city unit president Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury, who took part in the human chain formed at Jamiatul Falah point, told reporters that thousands of party leaders and activists had joined the human chains at 40 points of the road.
'The government earlier used to persecute the opposition leaders and activists using law-enforcers. Now they have also been using the country's apex court for the same purpose,' he said, adding that the dictated verdicts of the apex court reflected a single-party rule.
Party leaders Shahadat Hossain, Roji Kabir, Kazi Belal, Abu Sufian, Mosherraf Hossain Dipti, and Ahmedur Alam Chowdhury Rasel, among others, joined the human chains.
Source : New Age
Works on establishing boundary pillar on river bank excluding the disputed areas will continue and river boundary will be identified during the rainy season.
This was decided at the 13th meeting of the Task Force formed for giving advice, recommendation and implementation in order to maintain the navigability of country's important rivers and its natural flow.
The shipping minister, Shajahan Khan, also president of the Task Force, chaired the meeting, which was held at the ministry on Sunday.
The meeting decided that an emergency meeting comprising industry ministry, Dhaka City Corporation, WASA and RAJUK will be held next month for holding discussion on freeing canals in Dhaka city, for setting up sewerage line, checking river pollution in industrial areas and ensuring use of ETP.
Land minister Rezaul Karim Hira, AKM Mozammel Haque, MP, Meher Afroz Chumki, MP, secretary of shipping ministry Abdul Mannan Hawlader, chiefs of different departments and deputy commissioners concerned attended the meeting.
Source : New Age
A young man allegedly committed suicide by hanging from ceiling fan at Purba Bashabo in the capital early on Sunday.
Sabujbag police sub-inspector Sirajul Islam said they recovered the body from the victim's house and sent it to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem.
Source : New Age
The High Court Sunday ordered construction firm Sagufta Group to pay Tk 15 lakh as compensation to the family of deceased student Habibur Rahman Munna.
The bench comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Govinda Chanda Thakur issued the order.
Munna, 20, died instantly as a brick fell on him from an under-construction high-rise building, being constructed by Sagupta Group, while he was passing by the site in Panthapath area on July 16.
He was returning home after visiting his ailing mother who was under treatment in Samarita Hospital in the area.
Earlier on July 19, the court summoned Sagufta Group managing director Jewel Mollah and others to appear before them and also issued a suo moto rule asking the authorities concerned to show cause why they would not be ordered to take appropriate action against the persons responsible for the tragic death of college student Munna.
Source : New Age
A Dhaka court on Sunday allowed police to interrogate Shehnaz Rashid Khan, daughter of Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, a former army officer who was executed for killing the country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, over the 'seizure of drugs' from her house.
Shehnaz, 28, who has been carrying for six months, and her brother-in-law Taiyeb Zaman, 37, and two others — Mahbub Hossain, 28, and Touhidul Islam, 28 — were arrested at Dhanmondi in the capital early Saturday in a case filed under the Narcotics Control Act 1990.
The metropolitan magistrate court allowed the police one day to quiz her after she was produced in the court with a seven-day remand prayer.
The three others were sent to jail, the court sources said.
The police said that they had seized 12 pieces of contraband Yaba pills and Tk 10,000 in fresh currency notes, 'earned from sales of the pills,' from the house.
Shehnaz, who is an architect, told New Age on Saturday that she had neither possessed the pills nor was involved in drug peddling. The police were levelling the charge at her to demean her family.
Source : New Age
Advance tickets for long-route buses and launches start selling on August 15 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
The Bangladesh Railway authorities, meanwhile, at a meeting at Rail Bhaban on Sunday decided to start selling advance ticket on August 21 and continue the sale for five days, an official attending the meeting told New Age.
The official, however, said that the date might be changed. Leaders of bus owners' association said that they would start selling advance ticket of long route buses on August 15.
The respective bus company will, however, prepare separate schedule of advance ticket sale and make their schedule public within a week, a leader of the association told New Age.
The association is likely sit in a meeting to fix the date by this week.
The launch owners will start selling advance tickets on August 15. The decision came at a meeting of the shipping minister with the launch owners, and other government agencies concerned in the ministry conference room on August 4.
At the meeting, shipping minister Shahjahan Khan warned of stern actions against those who will charge extra fare or sell tickets in 'black market'.
He also directed the Bangladesh Inland Waterways (passenger carrier's) Association to erect temporary ticket booths at the city's Motijheel or Purana Paltan so that the passengers could manage the tickets without hazards.
Badiuzzaman Badal, senior vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water-ways (passenger carrier's) Association, told New Age that the owners would hold a meeting tomorrow to fix the date of selling advance ticket.
Source : New Age
At least two people were killed and 24 others injured when a bus plunged into the river Turag at Taltola in Kamarpara area of the city on Sunday morning.
Officials said a child remained missing since the accident.
The deceased were identified as Mohammad Ripon Mia, 28, of Delduar upazila under Tangail district and Mohammad Shahidul, 30, a resident of Companyganj of Noakhali district.
The injured were admitted to East West Medical College Hospital at Taltola.
Police and survivors said the accident occurred when a Tangail-bound bus from Dhaka hit a bus of Shawan Enterprise heading for Dhaka from Ashulia at about 11:30am.
The bus of Shawan Enterprise plunged into the river killing the two passengers on the spot.
Soon after the mishap, local people, police and members of fire service began rescue operation and found the two dead bodies inside the bus, said Sheikh Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defense, Dhaka Division.
Rahman said that some passengers of the bus managed to swim ashore while the rescue teams were trying to retrieve the bus from the river.
He told New Age that a minor boy was missing since the accident. 'We have rescued all the passengers of the bus but the boy is still missing. Our divers will continue their search for the missing child', he added.
Sub-inspector Moham-mad Ferdous said that they had sent the injured to East West Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
Hospital sources said among the injured, 11 were undergoing treatment at the hospital while the rest were released after giving them first aid.
Mamunur Rahman, a passenger of the bus, told New Age that the accident occurred due to reckless driving.
Officials of Dhaka Metropolitan police, north, visited the spot and the injured at the hospital.
The bodies were sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for postmortem examination, police said.
The driver of the bus however fled the spot soon after the accident. Police also failed to seize the bus which hit the bus of Shawan Enterprise while trying to overtake, local people said.
A case was filed with the Turag Police Station in this connection.
Source : New Age
At least 22 people were injured when police swooped on a demonstration of hill students in Khagrachari town on Sunday, local sources said.
The hill students were demonstrating against imposition of Bengali nationality on them and demanding withdrawal of foreign minister Dipu Moni's 'discriminatory and disrespectful' remarks in this regard.
The police action triggered sporadic clashes around Khagrachari College campus and prompted road blockade by students for five hours.
Eight organisations of hill students — Pahari Chhatra Parishad, Bangladesh Marma Students' Council, Tripura Students Forum, Tanchangya Chhatra Kalyan Sangstha, Khyeang Students' Council, Chak Students' Council, Bawm Student Council and Khumi Students Council — had called the demonstration.
Witnesses said police intercepted as the students brought out a procession from Khagrachari College campus.
Police again barred the procession at Chengi Square, prompting a clash when police charged batons on the protesters.
Later the students went back to the college and put blockade on the road with logs triggering a tense situation in the town.
Later, additional police and army personnel were deployed in the area.
Assistant police superintendent Al Masud Mahfuzul Islam said the situation was under control.
Source : New Age
Syrian security forces backed by tanks on Sunday killed 42 civilians in the city of Deir Ezzor and at least 10 more in the central town of Hula, rights activists said, in the army's latest crackdown on protests.
'Forty-two civilians have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Deir Ezzor by gunfire from the armed forces and security agents,' Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights head Abdel Karim Rihawi said.
He said at least another 10 people were killed in an army assault with tanks on Hula, a town in the Homs district.
'About 25 tanks and troop carriers entered Hula and carried out military operations,' another activist, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said earlier.
Security forces also carried out sweeping arrests in several district of Deir Ezzor, according to Rihawi.
While the pope joined an international chorus of concern over the bloodshed, Assad on defended his security forces' deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests as the 'duty of the state' to confront 'outlaws.'
'Syria is on the path to reforms,' he said, quoted by state news agency SANA.
'To deal with outlaws who cut off roads, seal towns and terrorise residents is a duty of the state which must defend security and protect the lives of civilians,' he said.
His statement came a day after a personal appeal by the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, for Assad to halt the bloodshed. Ban in a telephone call 'expressed his strong concern and that of the international community at the mounting violence and death toll in Syria over the past days,' UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said late Saturday.
The secretary general 'reflected to the Syrian president the clear message sent by the (UN) Security Council and urged the president to stop the use of military force against civilians immediately,' Nesirky said.
Ban's call followed a pledge by the US, French and German leaders to consider new steps to punish Syria after security forces killed more than 30 people on the first Friday of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting.
In contrast to Assad's reference to outlaws, Pope Benedict XVI called Sunday for an adequate response to the 'legitimate aspirations' of the Syrian people.
'I am following with deep concern the dramatic and increasing episodes of violence in Syria that have led to numerous victims and grave suffering,' the pontiff said in a weekly address to pilgrims outside Rome.
Hundreds of tanks and armoured cars have been deployed in Deir Ezzor, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding many residents had fled in fear of the assault on the largest city in east Syria.
'Shelling has been heard in several areas' of Deir Ezzor, said Abdel Rahman, adding a sweeping campaign of arrests followed with 'dozens' of people being taken into custody.
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, which has been organising democracy protests on the ground, said the army had entered nine areas of Deir Ezzor, which was rocked by 'very strong explosions.'
Syria's government has sought to crush the democracy movement with brutal force, leaving at least 2,038 people dead, including 389 members of the security forces, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory.
On Saturday, security forces in Damascus arrested prominent opposition figure and former political prisoner Walid al-Bunni and his two sons, said Abdel Rahman.
The foreign minister, Walid Muallem, said earlier the same day that elections to a new parliament would be held by the end of 2011, as he met with ambassadors posted to Damascus.
'Syria will hold free and transparent elections that will give birth to a parliament representing the aspirations of the Syrian people,' Muallem said.
The foreign minister stressed 'the commitment of the Syrian leadership to the continued reform process and implementation of measures announced by president Assad.'
The embattled president issued a decree on Thursday allowing opposition political parties.
In April, he ordered an end to five decades of draconian emergency rule and abolished the feared state security courts, while in June he said talks could lead to a new constitution and end his Baath party's monopoly on power.
But the concessions have been largely dismissed by the opposition as too late and a ploy to appease protesters.
The Syrian protesters have been calling for greater freedoms since mid-March, inspired by Arab uprisings that ousted the autocratic leaders of Tunisia and Egypt at the start of the year.
Assad's regime has become increasingly isolated, with allies like Turkey and Russia calling for an end to the bloody crackdown.
Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu is to visit Syria on Tuesday with the message that Ankara 'has run out of patience' with the ongoing violence, the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Source : New Age
The government has no information on how and for what purposes the United Nations Development Programme spends funds in Chittagong Hill Tracts and it does not even know what the organisation was doing actually there, a parliamentary panel observed on Sunday.
The parliamentary standing committee on the planning ministry recommended monitoring of all the projects funded by the UNDP in the hill districts to ensure 'transparency.'
The panel also asked the ministry to ensure that the prime minister, the finance minister, the foreign minister and other ministers concerned are informed of the development of the projects.
The recommendations followed the recent row between the Bangladesh government and UN bodies over giving 'indigenous' status to national minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Bangladesh government's reservation about a report prepared by a UN rapporteur which, according to Bangladesh government, was prepared going beyond the jurisdiction of UN bodies.
'The government does not know what the UNDP is actually doing in the hills. It also has no information on how and for what purposes the UN body is spending money there,' said Oli Ahmad, the chairman of parliamentary standing committee on the planning ministry.
'A number of UNDP-funded projects are on in the hill tracts but there is no mechanism to ensure their transparency. Everyone should know how much funds are coming and where they are being spent,' he said.
'We are not certain whether the money is used for the wellbeing of the hill people or for anything else. The secretary to CHT affairs ministry told us that he had called in the UNDP officials and sought a clarification but they failed to give a clear picture. If this is the situation with him, we can imagine the rest… So we have recommended that the prime minister, the finance minster and other ministers concerned should be informed of the development of the projects,' he said.
Under the circumstances, the committee asked the planning secretary to inform the prime minister and other ministers concerned of the 'real situation' of UNDP-funded projects in the hills.
The committee at its meeting stressed the need for the development of backward small groups in the hills and recommended initiation of separate programmes for them.
'Population of the rest of the communities - but the three to four major communities such as the Chakmas, the Marmas and the Tripuras - are so small. So we recommended initiating separate programmes for them as they have little bargain power,' Oli said.
The 37th meeting of the committee made the recommendations as it discussed the development of the projects being implemented under the CHT affairs ministry.
The meeting also discussed projects under the agriculture and the LGRD and cooperatives ministry.
Oli said that the committee had asked the agriculture ministry to work out a well-coordinated plan on the use of toxics in food items including formalin in fruit, vegetables and fish.
He said that the committee had also discussed the 'one household, one farm' project of the LGRD and cooperatives ministry and called for incrased oversight of the project.
'The project left a positive impact on the country's economy. A large chunk of public fund is involved in it. It needs to be monitored whether the beneficiaries are spending the fund properly,' he said.
He said that it could not be acceptable that the beneficiaries would withdraw funds and not spend it on the purpose it was given for. 'We have suggested keeping a provision of taking back the funds if it is misused,' he added.
The committee also suggested monitoring of the construction of roads in rural areas and recommended repairs of the potholed and cratered roads immediately.
Committee members Enamul Huq of the Awami League and ANM Shamshul Islam of the Jamaat-e-Islami attended the meeting. Senior officials of the ministries concerned were present.
Source : New Age
The ruling Awami League on Sunday asked the Election Commission to initiate steps to bring the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies to its dialogue before taking a decision on crucial electoral reforms.
The AL at a dialogue with the commission neither made any specific proposals nor gave it the nod to the commission's electoral reform plan that included introduction of electronic voting machines and a law for appointment of election commissioners.
'We hope the commission will be able to bring all political parties to its dialogue if it gives a little more effort,' AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said at the dialogue.
But the high-powered AL delegation attending the talks did not give its views on the EC's reform proposals telling the commission that the party would make its suggestions later.
The ruling party, however, hoped the Election Commission would again present the nation with a free and fair election in 2014 like that of the 2008 general election which the AL swept with two-thirds majority.
As part of the commission's move to hold a series of dialogues with registered political parties to take their opinions on some proposed electoral reforms, including introduction of electronic voting machine, enactment of laws outlining the criteria for appointment of election commissioners and to make the electoral laws time befitting.
A 19-strong delegation headed by AL presidium member and deputy leader of the house Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury held talks with the commission for over one and a half hours.
AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, presidium members Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Yusuf Hossain Humayun and Obaidul Quader, advisory council members, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, AMA Muhith, Rahmat Ali, Alauddin and joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif were in the delegation.
Chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda and his two deputies represented the commission.
The commission explained how and why it was going to bring about the electoral reforms, including introduction of EVM, a proposal the main opposition has all along opposed.
Though the AL team did not put forth any specific proposals on the EC's reform plan, it was apparently positive towards the initiatives.
During the discussion, Suranjit, Sheikh Selim, Amu and Tofail tried to give their views on some issues, but Syed Ashraf often interrupted them saying the party would give its decision later.
When the AL team wanted to know from the commission whether there were similar laws and systems in other countries which the EC was planning to introduce, the commission replied in the positive.
When AMA Muhith, also the finance minister, welcomed the plan to introduce EVM in polls, Syed Ashraf asked the commission to launch a campaign to introduce the new technology to the voters.
'The people do not want to adopt a new technology overnight,' he said.
When Obaidul Quader asked what steps the commission was taking to bring the BNP to the dialogue, the commission claimed it had employed all means possible to persuade the main opposition to attend the dialogue.
Syed Ashraf hoped the commission would be able to bring the BNP to the talks.
Wrapping up the dialogue, Syed Ashraf said, 'We came here to listen to your [commission] explanations about your proposals. Each of the proposals is logical. We will meet you again with our views.'
The CEC told the AL team that as empowered by the constitution, the commission could do whatever it thought was necessary to conduct a free, fair and neutral election.
'We are holding the dialogue with the political parties as a matter of courtesy. No one can prevent us from doing what we think is necessary for conducting free and fair polls,' he said.
The CEC reiterated that the commission would use EVMs in the local government polls in Narayanganj and Comilla.
The talks with the governing AL wrapped up the commission's series of dialogue with the registered political parties that began on June 7.
Seven political parties, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party skipped the EC's dialogue.
Source : New Age
The production sharing contracts hat the government has signed with foreign companies to explore and extract oil, gas and mineral resources breach the constitution as confidentiality clauses in the contracts stop people from accessing information on the ongoing process of exploration and production, according to some legal experts.
Article 26 of the PSC 2008, signed with the ConocoPhilips requires that all data and information which its collect in the course of its exploration and production work including information on all costs that the company incurs should be kept confidential.
The contracts provides just two exceptions to this prohibition.
First, the company is allowed to provide information so that its 'employees, affiliates, consultants, sub-contractors or others' can work efficiently in undertaking petroleum operations but even then the company must obtain confidentiality undertakings from them.
The second exception relates to Petrobangla which is allowed to disclose certain information if the contract area is 'relinquished' by the company.
Legal experts claimed that such a provision is a violation of the constitution.
The constitution recognises the citizens as the ultimate owner of the country's mineral resources but the contract is preventing people from knowing the details of how the resources are being explored, extracted and sold, they told New Age.
'This is totally inconsistent. People have the right to know everything that the government and international oil and gas companies are doing with their resources,' said Abdullah-Al-Faruque, a teacher of law in Chittagong University.
Dhaka University law teacher Asif Nazrul said that it was against good governance and the rule of law not to publish this kind of information
He said that the refusal of the government to provide such information to the public could be challenged in the High Court as it contradicts the constitutional provisions.
Till now Bangladesh has signed 12 PSCs with foreign companies.
Asif and Abdullah referred to Article 143 (1) of the constitution, which states that 'all minerals and other things of value underlying any land of Bangladesh … [or] underlying the ocean within the territorial waters, or the ocean over the continental shelf, of Bangladesh…' shall be 'vested in people of Bangladesh.'
They also pointed to Article 7(1) which stipulates, 'All powers in the Republic belong to the people, and their exercise on behalf of the people shall be effected only under, and by the authority of, this constitution.'
The articles clearly state that people of the country are the owners of the country's mineral resources, contended Asif and Abdullah.
All bits of information which are made confidential in the contract is a matter of public interest and the Right to Information Act 2009 ensures access of citizens to such information, Asif said.
On July 19, the Energy Division rejected an application by New Age seeking a copy of the production sharing contract which the government had recently signed with ConocoPhillips, the gas purchase and sales agreement and side letter agreement signed with Santos, and the PSC and the GPSA signed with Chevron.
Experts and activists have for 15 years been demanding the publication of all production sharing contracts, gas purchase and sales agreements and supplementary agreements between the government and Petrobangla with foreign companies.
The energy ministry has not placed any signed contract in the parliament although the parliamentary standing committee on the power, energy and mineral resources ministry has on several occasions said that signed PSCs would be placed in the parliament.
Source : New Age
Investors of the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Sunday staged a demonstration, the third since Tuesday, following yet another steep plunge in share prices on the day, a trend that had swept through the last week.
The benchmark general index of the DSE, or DGEN, on Sunday, shed 139.74 points, or 2.23 per cent, to close at 6,120.16 points. The index had lost 590 points in the past 10 trading days.
The turnover of the bourse also dropped to the one-month low of Tk 560.67 crore from that of Tk 618.68 crore on the previous trading day.
Trading on the DSE started in a negative note on the day, with the DGEN making a 90 degree nosedive, losing 122 points in just five minutes of trading. Although the market tried to pull through in the next 15 minutes, it lost 185 points by 11:30pm.
At 12:05, when the DGEN lost around 170 points, investors came out of different brokerages on the street in front of the DSE building at Motijheel in the capital. They formed a human chain in front of the entrance to the bourse.
Investors on the day were most angry with finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith for the remark he had made on Saturday. He said gamblers, not investors, were dominating the capital market.
The demonstrators termed the finance minister a mentally retarded person and demanded his immediate resignation.
'If he makes such comments while occupying a key chair, it only proves he is not worthy to run a ministry,' said one of the demonstrating investors.
They also chanted slogan against Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and DSE president Shakil Rizvi for their failure to stabilise the market and for infusing the investors with panic. At around 1:30pm, after the market had closed for the day, more investors joined the demonstration. They blockaded the road, stopping all vehicular movement between Shapla Square and Ittefaq Crossing, and took out a procession that paraded up and down the road section a few times.
After the procession, they held a brief meeting, where they announced a programme of marching from the DSE to the SEC, laying seize to the SEC building, and submitting a memorandum to the commission chairman today.
DSE investors in last week took to the streets twice, protesting the free fall in share prices.
Market operators said many investors, who had incurred huge losses during the January's market crash and passed the subsequent depression till June, were becoming more and more panicky by the day.
They said many investors refrained from trading from the fear that another round of debacle was in the offing.
'The turnover indicates that the investors are not participating in trading. May be the manipulators are active in the market,' said an equities market analyst.
The current bear run began on July 25 with a market correction, following the government decision to offload more shares of state-owned enterprises in the market. Poor corporate disclosures made by listed companies and the tight monetary policy adopted by the Bangladesh Bank also fuelled the fall at the time.
The situation aggravated on Monday, following the announcement made by the SEC that it would file cases against the suspected market manipulators who might have been behind the January's stock market crash.
Of the 253 issues traded on Sunday, 24 advanced, 220 declined, and nine remained unchanged.
Source : New Age