Ashulia returns to life

 

This file photo shows garment workers swarming to their factories at Ashulia. 

Four days into the deadly fire at a garment factory, Ashulia has returned to life as workers of apparel factories rejoined work Thursday morning.
At least 111 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the devastating fire that raged through Tazreen Fashion Ltd at Nishchintapur in Ashulia on Saturday night.
The workers staged protest and resorted to vandalism in Ashulia following the fire incident that halted production at most of the garment units in the area since Sunday.
But, all the factories suspended their production on Wednesday fearing violent protests.
Thousands of workers returned to their workplace on Thursday morning and no untoward incident took place, a commercial officer of a garment factory told The Daily Star seeking anonymity.
Workers have been demanding punishment to owners of Tazreen Fashions Ltd and its officials holding them responsible for the fire and casualties.
They are also demanding safety at their workplaces.
Nine deaths were recorded on Saturday while 102 more bodies were found on the following day.
Among the deceased, 53 workers, whose bodies were burnt beyond recognition and unclaimed by anyone, were laid to rest in Jurain Graveyard in the capital on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) along with forensic doctors collected samples from the unidentified bodies to ascertain identities through DNA tests

PM hands over research fellowship fund

Dhaka, Nov 29  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged scientists and researchers to make sure that the ordinary people get the benefits of science and technology.
"People want new inventions from you, so that it can help them move forward," she told a gathering of scientist and researchers at Osmani Memorial auditorium in the morning.
The PM was handing over cheques for fellowship, NTC fellowship and special grants to students and researchers for research in science and technology.
Hasina alerted researchers to keep an eye on demands of the people and the international market.
"Our government will always be with you. We are ready to provide all the assistance."
The PM said she expected the scientists and researchers would dedicate their labour and intelligence to fulfil the aspirations of the people.

Ameer on 10-day remand

Ameer Hossain, the ringleader of Parag Mondol abduction case, was placed on a 10-day remand by a Dhaka court on Thursday.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Tajul Islam passed the order when Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge (Investigation) of South Keraniganj Police Station and also the investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court and sought a 12-day remand for him.
Ameer was arrested on November 24 at Tongi in Gazipur after a 'shootout' with Detective Branch of police when he sustained severe injuries. He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Parag Mondol, a six-year-old student of KG-1 of Heed International School, was abducted by criminals at Shuvadda Paschim Para in Keraniganj on November 11.
Parag was found after three days of his abduction on November 13 at Atibazar in the locality.

Sircar, Akhtar Hamid get bail

 

(L-R) Former speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar and former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui

A Dhaka court on Thursday granted bail to former speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar and former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui in four graft cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Judge Mohammad Zahirul Haque of the Senior Special Judges' Court in Dhaka granted them bail after they surrendered before the court in the morning and sought bail in the cases.
The court fixed January 10 for passing an order on whether it would take the charges into cognisance.
The ACC on December 28, 2010 filed the cases with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station.
The anti-graft watchdog pressed charges against Jamir Uddin and Akhtar Hamid on November 7 and 8 this year respectively.
According to one case statement, Jamir Uddin drew around Tk 27.86 lakh in the name of treatment abroad. He approved the amount for himself abusing his power as the speaker. He was aided and abetted by Ashraful Islam, the then chief accounts officer of the Parliament Secretariat.
Now a BNP lawmaker, Sircar has been charged with abuse of power also in two cases filed against BNP leader Khandaker Delwar Hossain and Akhtar Hamid for drawing around Tk 6 lakh and Tk 1.21 lakh in the name of overseas treatment.
Another case statement says Delwar moved furniture worth Tk 6.09 lakh from the chief whip's official residence to his own house. He did that on Sircar's approval, which was unlawful.

4 'outlaws' beaten dead in Pabna

Four suspected outlaws were beaten to death in Faridpur upazila of Pabna early Thursday.
One of the deceased was identified as Mohammad Khalil, a leader of Janajuddha faction of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML).
Quoting Jahangir Hossain Matabbar, superintendent of police of Pabna, our Pabna correspondent reports that locals of Demra area learnt about the presence of the outlaws in the area and sensing danger organised themselves and encircled the outlaws around 8:00am.
Sensing danger, the outlaws started running and the villagers also chased them.
At one stage, the mob managed to capture the Janajuddha activists, locally known as Tola Party, and beat them.

Khalil died in Kaliani village while two were killed in Harodanga village and one succumbed to his injuries in Bikaliani village.

Ricky Ponting announces his retirement from Test cricket

 

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the third Test against South Africa.
The 37-year-old, who is the second highest run scorer in Test history after Sachin Tendulkar, will play his 168th Test in Perth on Friday.
"I haven't been performing consistently over the last 12 to 18 months," he said. "I believe now is the right time.
"This is a decision not made by the selectors, it was made by me."
Ponting has scored 13,366 runs at an average of 52.21 in his career, but he has struggled for form in the current series with South Africa.
He scored just 20 runs in the two drawn Test matches and, despite receiving the support of Coach Mickey Arthur, he decided to make way.
The Tasmanian admitted that his recent poor form had prompted the decision to call time on an international career that began in 1995.
"It's a decision I thought long and hard about. It was based on my output and my results in this series so far. It hasn't been what I expect of myself and certainly not the level required of a batsman in the Australia team," he said.
"I've said all along that I would continue to play as long as I could continue to make a contribution to wins, and I think over the last couple of weeks my performance has not been good enough to do that," he added.
"I've given cricket my all, it's been my life for 20 years, there's not much more I can give."
Australia captain Michael Clarke was close to tears as he paid tribute to his predecessor, who stepped down from the Test captaincy last year and retired from one-day cricket in February,
"The boys are obviously hurting at the moment. He's been an amazing player for a long time," Clarke said.
Ponting took over the one-day captaincy in 2002 and replaced Steve Waugh as Test captain in 2004. He went on to become Australia's most successful skipper with 48 Test wins.
After defeat in the 2005 Ashes series in England, Ponting led Australia to a 5-0 whitewash in the return series in 2007, topping the run charts with 576 runs at an average of 82.28.
Two more Ashes defeats followed in 2009 and 2010-11, and Ponting gave up the Australian captaincy after a quarter-final World Cup defeat to India in March 2011.
In the one-day game, Ponting guided Australia to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007, having won the trophy as a player in 1999.
Ponting plans to continue playing for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield competition and the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, and will play for the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka later in the summer.

Countrywide road blockade Dec 9

 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, inset, addresses a rally at Nayapaltan in the capital Wednesday afternoon. 

The BNP-led 18-party alliance will observe a road blockade programme on December 9 across the country demanding restoration of the caretaker government system, Khaleda Zia said on Wednesday.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda announced the programme at a grand rally in front of the party central office at Nayapaltan in the capital.
She also vowed to call non-stop hartal and strike for holding the next national election under a caretaker government.
"Don't try to stop our democratic programmes, we will go for tougher movement if needed," the opposition leader in parliament said urging the people to join the ongoing anti-government movement to uphold the independence and sovereignty of the country.
Khaleda alleged that the government failed to construct the Padma bridge due to its corruption.
"What is the necessity of that government which does not implement its pledges," the BNP chief said.
She said the government should arrange a fair and neutral election accepting the non-party government system.
The opposition leader further claimed that the government has no achievement in last five years. "It did not do any work for the development of the country," she said.
In her address, Khaleda sought public support for another term in power to serve the nation, pledging a facelift of the country through massive development works.
“Give me one last chance. I will give the country a facelift through massive development works. If I fail, I will never come to you and I’ll accept any punishment,” she vowed.
Khaleda will lead a mass campaign in the capital on December 26 while the other top leaders of the alliance will lead mass campaign in divisional cities.
Earlier, the opposition leader reached the venue and stepped up on the dais at about 3:15pm.
After the rally began around 2:00pm, a number of 18-party leaders including Mojibur Rahman, assistant secretary of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Sheikh Shawkat Hossain Nilu, chairman of National People's Party, addressed the audience.
They warned of a dire consequence if the government does not stop repression on their leaders and activists.
Thousands of activists of the 18-party alliance occupied a large part of the city spilling over the venue, halting transport movement at Fakirerpool, Nayapaltan and Kakrail intersections and Rajarbag Police Lines area.
Supporters carrying banners and festoons of the 18-party rushed to the venue from different parts of the city in processions.
The crisis-riddled Jamaat-e-Islami is dominating today's rally by gathering its huge number of activists.
The rally was organised by the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance for mounting pressure to the government for restoring the caretaker government system.
Today's showdown is the BNP-led 18-party alliance's third one in the last nine months and the first since July.
The 18-party got permission for the rally from Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Tuesday.
Last month, the alliance had announced to hold the mass rally in the capital on November 22 but later they shifted the programme to press home their bunch of demands including the one for restoring caretaker government and holding next general polls under it.
While addressing thousands of supporters in the March 12 rally, the BNP chief gave the Hasina administration a 90-day ultimatum to announce the restoration of the caretaker system.
In the June 11 rally, she gave another ultimatum to the government and threatened to announce tougher agitation programmes like hartal, blockade and mass sit-in after Eid-ul-Fitr if the government failed to meet their demands.

7 JMB men get 10 years jail for serial blasts

A Rajshahi court on Wednesday handed down 10 years rigorous imprisonment to seven activists of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in connection with a serial bomb blasts case in 2005.
The court also fined them Tk 10,000 each, in default, to suffer further six months in jail.
Among the convicts, Tariqul Islam, Shafiullah, Abu Isa and Johurul Islam were present at the court when Ekramul Haque Chowdhury, judge of the Speedy Trial Tribunal, delivered the verdict in a crowded court, reports our Rajshahi correspondent.
The other convicts Korban Ali, Enamul Hoque and Amanullah are on the run.
On August 17, 2005, a series of bomb blasts took place across the country including different spots in Rajshahi city.
The accused were convicted in the case filed with Rajpara Police Station in 2005.
They were found guilty of exploding bombs on Rajshahi Judges Court premises, in front of advocate bar and Deputy Commissioner's office and Laxmipur intersection on August 17, 2005.

WB team will advise WB, co-financiers on ACC probe

WB external panel due on Dec 1

 

In this October 14 photo, the World Bank country director along with a three-member external panel of the global lender leaves the Anti-Corruption Commission office.

The external panel of internationally-recognised experts which is scheduled to come on December 1 will advise the global financer and co-financiers of Padma bridge project on the adequacy of the Anti-Corruption Commission's investigation.
“The external panel of internationally-recognised experts will advise the World Bank and co-financiers on the adequacy of the government’s investigation,” said Ellen Goldstein, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh.
In anticipation of the panel’s second visit to Dhaka, the Padma bridge co-financiers gathered in Manila for preliminary discussions on revising project implementation arrangements, the press statement added.
Adequate progress in investigating corruption evidence is necessary to allow project implementation to move forward.
The panel will arrive on December 1 for its second visit to assess whether the ACC has made progress in launching an investigation into evidence of corruption in the Padma bridge project, said a press release of World Bank's Dhaka office on Wednesday.
“The people of Bangladesh know that the Padma bridge will transform the economy of the southwest and reduce poverty more rapidly. They want to see the project implemented free of corruption that takes money out of the hands of the poor,” said Ellen Goldstein.
The original $1.2 billion World Bank credit for the bridge was cancelled on June 29 due to an insufficient response by Bangladeshi authorities to evidence of a conspiracy of corruption involving senior public officials.
The panel was formed after the government requested the WB to reconsider the financing of the Padma bridge.
The panel made its first visit to Bangladesh in October to acquaint itself with efforts to date by the ACC, as well as Bangladeshi law and legal processes on conducting investigations.
Following the panel’s first visit, the World Bank Integrity vice-presidency provided the ACC with additional information on November 13.
The panel discussed how it would work with the ACC, and encouraged the commission to progress from preliminary inquiry to a deeper investigation of corruption evidence.
The World Bank announced the appointment of the panel on October 5, 2012.
The three-member panel is chaired by Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The two other panel members are Timothy Tong, former commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China; and Richard Alderman, former director of Britain’s Serious Fraud Office.

RMG workers go berserk in Ashulia, 20 hurt

Production at most units suspended for today; workers vandalise several RMG units; Ashulia-Baipail road blocked

 

Angry garment workers resist a CNG-run three-wheeler from plying in Ashulia on Wednesday during their protest demanding punishment of those responsible for Saturday's fire that claimed the lives of 111 people.

Production at most of the readymade garments factories in Ashulia zone was suspended for Wednesday as workers ran amok and clashed with police demanding justice and safety at workplace.
At least 20 people were injured during the clash that started around 9:30am, four days after a fire tragedy at the Tazreen Fashions Ltd at Nischintapur in Ashulia had claimed the lives of 111 workers.
The marauding workers also vandalised a number of factories including a unit of Azmat Group in Amtola and torched two motor cycles there.
Transport movement on the Dhaka-Tangail highway and Ashulia-Baipail road remain suspended following the vandalism and clash, said Moktar Hossain, deputy directory of Industrial Police in Ashulia.
Authorities of most of the garment factories suspended their production for today (Wednesday) fearing further vandalism, Moktar said.
Police had to fire several rounds of teargas shells and the incidents of chase and counter-chase were going on when this report was filed around 12:30pm.
Police said the clash ensued when around 20,000 workers of a garments unit of Ha-Meem Group came out of their factory around 9:30am following an electric short circuit on its premises. They immediately started demonstrating.
Panic seized the workers as the memory of the devastating fire of Tazreen Fashions Ltd is still fresh in their minds and the building of Ha-Meem group is adjacent to the fire-devastated factory.
Few minutes later, workers of some nearby factories also joined the Ha-Meem workers and they blocked the Ashulia-Baipail road around 9:40am.
During the demonstration, the agitated workers swooped on some roadside factories, which were continuing their production.
Later, the workers marched towards Dhaka-Tangail highway around 10:30am and blocked it.
They also pelted brick chips and vandalised window panes and gates of those garments units and torched the motor cycles inside the factory of Azmat Group around 11:40am.
On information, police rushed to the spot and tried to resist the workers that led to the clashes at different points on the road.
Nuruzzaman, a driver of Sharmin Garment Factory which also came under attack, said among the workers he saw at least 20 people wearing lungis, an indication that outsiders joined the aggrieved workers.
They did not look like garments workers, he told our reporter who was on the spot.
Meanwhile, two Ha-Meem group workers fainted in fear of fire after an electric short circuit occurred at the seventh floor of the factory.
The duo was taken to the medical and child care centre of Ha-Meem Group adjacent to the factory building where they received treatment.

3 Tazreen officials on 5-day remand

 

Police produce three Tazreen Fashion Ltd officials -- Md Al-Amin (L), Md Hamidul Islam Lavlu and Md Dulal Uddin (R) -- of during a press briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police Media Centre in the city Wednesday.

A Dhaka court on Wednesday placed three officials of fire-devastated Tazreen Fashion Ltd on a five-day remand in a case filed for the deaths of 111 workers in a devastating fire at the factory.
Ashulia police Wednesday night arrested the officials -- Md Dulal Uddin, 37, administrative officer; Md Hamidul Islam Lavlu, 32, store in-charge; and Al-Amin, 27, security supervisor; of Tazreen Fashion Ltd -- in the capital and Ashulia.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Wasim Sheikh passed the order after Mostafa Kamal, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Ashulia Police Station and also investigation officer in the case, produced them before the court seeking seven days' remand for each.
In the forwarding report, the investigation officer said three officials, who usually control the garment workers, padlocked all the collapsible gates when the fire broke out at the factory on Saturday.
If the accused acted responsibly, the victims and others survivours could have escaped the accident without any trouble, the IO said.
So, 111 workers died due to their negligence and that's why they need to be remanded to find out the vital clues about the incident and whereabouts of other persons responsible for incident, he added.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Dhaka District Police Habibur Rahman, at a press briefing, said the three officials were arrested for resisting the workers from leaving the factory, padlocking the collapsible gates of the staircases and providing wrong information to the workers when the fire broke out.
The briefing was held at Dhaka Metropolitan Police Media Centre where the trio was produced Wednesday morning.
The arrestees were not allowed to talk to journalists.
The SP said Ashulia police arrested Dulal from his sister-in-law's (wife's sister) house at Banasree of Rampura in the capital.
Police raided the Uttar Badda residence of Tripti, a nephew of Tazreen factory owner Delwar Hossain, and arrested Hamidul, said Habibur.
Al Amin however was arrested in Ashulia, he added.
After the incident, the workers alleged that some officials obstructed the exit of workers after the fire alarm on Saturday saying that nothing had happened.

Subrata Bayen held in India

Kolkata, Nov 27  Kolkata Police on Tuesday arrested one of top criminals of Bangladesh, Subrata Bayen, alias Fateh Ali.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ranjit Kumar Panchnanda briefed journalists about the arrest at a news conference.
According to him, Bayen was picked up from a house in central Kolkata's Bowbazar just after midday.
"He was arrested with some weapons and there was a lot of foreign currency in his possession," Panchnanda said.
He said Bayen would be interrogated over his recent visits to China .
Earlier this month, Bayen is said to have tunnelled his way out of a Nepali jail.
Bayen's name figured in the list of top 23 crime lords that Bangladesh had handed over to India for action in view of reports that they were operating from India.

ACC finds 'evidence of corruption conspiracy'

Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Ghulam Rahman on Tuesday said they have found evidence of corruption conspiracy in the Padma bridge project.
"Attempts of bribery were made regarding the appointment of a consultant for the project," he told journalists while leaving his office at the city's Segunbagicha in the afternoon.
An investigation team of the ACC will submit a report in this regard on December 3, said the chairman adding that they will take legal actions after that.
He also said an external panel of the World Bank, which visited Bangladesh in October, will again arrive in Dhaka on December 2 or 3 for reviewing the progress in the investigation into the alleged corruption in the project.
The WB cancelled its $1.2 billion funding of the $2.9 billion project in June this year over corruption allegations. The lender, however, decided to revive its loan on September 21 after the Bangladesh government agreed to its terms and conditions.
A three-member external panel, assigned to assess the conduct of the ACC probe into corruption allegations in the project, visited Dhaka in the middle of October.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, headed the panel.

BNP gets verbal permission for Paltan rally

Police on Tuesday gave the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance 'verbal permission' to hold Wednesday's grand rally in front of BNP's central office at Nayapaltan in the capital.
Talking to The Daily Star Tuesday afternoon, Abdus Salam, member secretary of city unit BNP, said they got verbal permission from Dhaka Metropolitan Police but yet to get permission in written.
Earlier at noon, BNP Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka at a press conference at the BNP head office claimed they were yet to get permission from the DMP authorities to hold the rally.
The former Dhaka City Corporation mayor also vowed to hold their scheduled rally at any cost. “We must hold the rally—no matter we get permission or not.”

Court orders confiscation of Destiny properties

A Dhaka Court on Tuesday ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission to confiscate all the movable and immovable properties of Destiny Group.
Destiny Group Chairman Mohammad Rafiqul Amin, his wife Farah Diba, Destiny 2000 Limited Chairman Mohammad Hossain and all the associate organisation of group including its Tree Plantation Project will come under the order.
Judge Mohammad Zahirul Haque of the Senior Special Judges' Court of Dhaka passed the order after the anti-graft body filed two separate petitions before the court seeking its permission in this regard.
ACC Deputy Director Mozahar Ali Sarder and its Assistant Director Toufiqul Islam filed the petitions.
Top Destiny Group officials are currently facing charges that include money laundering and transferring company funds to personal accounts.
The anomalies first came to light after a Bangladesh Bank probe in March found Destiny's cooperative arm engaged in illegal banking.
Other agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, cooperatives department and commerce ministry, also stepped in to look into the matter.
The commerce secretary said the Destiny Group was not being banned as directly a few lakh people, indirectly even more, are involved with the company.
On October 11, the Senior Special Judge's Court ordered sending three top Destiny bosses, including Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-Ar-Rashid and Rafiqul Amin, to jail in two cases of money laundering.
After the central bank requested the ACC to look into the Destiny scams, the watchdog on July 31 filed cases against the group's 22 top officials over the Tk 3,285.26 crore laundering.
The ACC on August 13 and September 12 filed appeal petitions with the Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka for cancellation of the bail.
On September 27, Judge Md Zahirul Haque of the court cancelled the bail of 22 Destiny officials, including the trio. He ordered them to surrender before the court, which has jurisdiction to deal with money laundering cases.
A probe committee on October 9 suggested the government to take over control of the assets of controversial multilevel marketing company Destiny Group.
The Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSCF), who led the probe, submitted the report to the commerce ministry.
The probe, however, did not find accounts of Tk 3,800 crore.
It found evidence of money laundering by the group, which agreed with the central bank findings submitted six months ago.
The report came six months after a Bangladesh Bank report that detected transfer of huge public funds into the personal accounts of Destiny directors and its management committee members.
In March, the central bank report found that Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society, a sister concern of Destiny Group, as of December 31, 2012 had collected nearly Tk 2,000 crore in deposits and share capital from people.
The central bank investigation found that the company was involved in banking activities -- from deposit collection to lending -- illegally.

Suranjit's APS gets temporary bail

 

Omar Faruque Talukdar

A Dhaka court on Tuesday granted bail to Omar Faruque Talukdar, the sacked assistant private secretary (APS) of former railways minister Suranjit Sengupta till the first day of a vacation court.
The court will go on annual vacation from November 29 till December 31.
Judge Mohammad Zahirul Haque of the Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka passed the order after Faruque surrendered before the court seeking bail in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
On April 15, Faruque was sacked and Railway General Manager (East) Yusuf Ali Mridha and Dhaka Division Security Commandant Enamul Huq were suspended in connection with the railwaygate scandal.
Former railways minister Suranjit Sengupta announced this at a press conference five days after the seizure of Tk 70 lakh from the microbus of his APS by BGB members on April 9.
The vehicle was on its way to Suranjit's Jigatola residence in the capital with Faruque, Mridha and Enamul on board, and the amount was reportedly part of the bribe money collected from the prospective job seekers.
Sources had earlier told The Daily Star that the driver, Ali Azam Khan, drove the vehicle into the BGB Pilkhana headquarters having been refused Tk 5 lakh as share of the amount.
The minister's press conference also came hours after Mridha told a two-member probe body in a written statement that he along with Faruque and Enamul was going to Suranjit's house that night.
Earlier on April 11, Faruque deposited Tk 70 lakh in his account with Mercantile Bank's Dhanmondi branch.
Suranjit, who became minister of the newly-formed railway ministry in December last year, has been facing serious criticism over the scam.

Ensure workers safety, PM tells businessmen

 

Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged the businessmen to ensure the safety of workers while setting up industries and factories.
"When you set up buildings, do not block any waterbody," the PM said adding "The fire that raged though the Ashulia garment factory Saturday evening could not be doused immediately due to absence of any water source near the factory."
She was inaugurating the fifth textile fair 'Texbangla 2012' at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association organised the three-day fair.
A number of committees have been formed to investigate the Ashulia garment fire incident that killed 111 workers and the committees were asked to submit their reports immediately, the prime minister said.
"Action will be taken on the basis of those reports," she said.
In her speech, the prime minister said special economic zones will be launched at the seven divisions gradually so that the foreign investors can invest more.
About maritime boundary with Myanmar, she said the government will invite tenders to explore oil and gas in Bay of Bengal soon.
She also hoped that the maritime boundary issue with India will be resolved by 2014.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith and outgoing president of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries Abul Kalam Azad were, among others, present on the occasion.

Ashulia fire offenders to be brought to book: MKA

 

Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir on Tuesday said those responsible for Ashulia garment fire incident will be brought to book.
All the previous major accidents in the garment factories of the area will also be probed, the home minister told reporters during a visit to the fire-devastated factory at Nischintapur in Ashulia.
The fire killed 111 at Tazreen Fashion Ltd as Saturday evening.
During his visit around 10:30am, the home minister went round different sections of the eight-storied factory building.
Talking to the press, MK Alamgir said stern action will be taken against those responsible for the incident.
The government will take all-out measures including giving compensation to the families of the deceased, he added.
The home minister also talked to the owners of some garments in the locality.
Home Secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed, senior police officials and leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Awami League were present.
Meanwhile, workers of different garment factories here brought separate processions and held wayside meetings at different places of Ashulia in the morning marking the mourning day today (Tuesday).
Speakers at the meetings demanded ensuring safety of the workers at their work places and compensation to the families of the deceased workers as well as proper treatment for the injured ones.

Aggrieved workers block highway for 30 minutes

 

Several thousand garment workers are staging a protest in Ashulia demanding punishment of those responsible for Saturday's fire that claimed the lives of 111 people.

The readymade garment workers who lost 111 colleagues and relatives during Saturday's fire, blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway for half an hour since Tuesday morning.
The workers have been demanding the punishment of the owners of Tazreen Fashion Ltd, the garment factory, where the tragedy occurred Saturday evening.
Over 1,000 workers carrying black flags under the banner of 'Ghoshbag Garment Workers' sat on the highway around 11:00am when police barred them from going towards the fire-devastated building.
Police resisted the agitating workers at Nishchintapur as Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir was visiting Tazreen Fashion Ltd, the scene of the occurrence, where 111 workers died during Saturday's fire.
A heavy traffic jam was instantly created as the demonstration halted traffic movement on the highway, witnesses said.
Traffic movement resumed around 11:30am when police opened the road for the workers after the home minister left the place.
Earlier around 9:45am, the aggrieved workers staged demonstration and brought out processions on Ashulia-Jamgarah road.
At least 57 bodies were charred beyond recognition as the fire raged through the eight-storey factory on Saturday evening.
The 18 units of fire service toiled more than 11 hours to put out the blaze.
The charred bodies were kept at Dhaka Medical College morgue and samples were collected from the bodies for DNA test on Monday.
The unidentified bodies will be buried today at the Jurain graveyard in the capital.

Ashulia fire death toll now 111

Dhaka-Tangail highway blocked for 2 hrs; most garment units closed for Monday; police suspect fire incident as preplanned, filed case against anonymous miscreants

 

Fire brigade officials on Monday searching the factory where a fire breaks out in Ashulia Saturday evening.

The death toll from Ashulia readymade garment factory fire rose to 111 on Monday, two days after the incident.
Meanwhile, several thousand garment workers staged a rowdy protest in Ashulia on Monday morning demanding punishment of the people responsible for Saturday's fire.
Vehicular movements on the Dhaka-Tangail highway remained suspended for two hours since the morning following their demonstration, witnesses said.
In the meantime, police suspected that the fire incident was a premeditated one.
Some unidentified criminals might set fire to the factory in a pre-planned way and that's why police filed a case against several unknown persons, said Badrul Alam Sheikh, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station.
In the wake of the situation, most of the garment units in Ashulia zone have been declared closed for Monday to avoid any untoward incident, police sources said.
Khairul Islam, a sub-inspector of Ashulia police, filed the case Sunday night, the OC said.
"As part of investigation, we have already started collecting samples and taking deposition from the witnesses," he added.
The culprits will be arrested and charge-sheeted if police get any evidence of sabotage, the OC added.
Witnesses said thousands of workers of the fire-ravaged Tazreen Fashion Ltd and its nearby factories took to the streets around 9:30am.
They also blocked roads in Jamgarah, Narsinghapur, Nischintapur and Jirabo areas, halting transport movement, an official of Tazreen Fashion Ltd said.
Later, they withdrew the barricades around 11:30am.
Additional contingent of police have been deployed in and around the area to avert any untoward incident.
The workers on Monday said they wanted to know the exact death toll in the fire that raged through the garment factory at Nischintapur near Dhaka Export Processing Zone in Ashulia on Saturday evening.
The fire came under control around 5:55am Sunday.
On Saturday night, nine deaths were recorded while on Sunday 102 more bodies were found.
Firemen called off their operation in the afternoon of Sunday.
In the night of Saturday police, fire-fighters and witnesses said those killed in the incident did not suffer burns, but they died after jumping off different floors of the eight-storey Tazreen Fashion Ltd at Nischintapur in a bid to escape the blaze that started on the ground floor around 6:50pm.
The charred bodies of 102 workers were found inside the building after the fire was extinguished on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Siddiqur Rahman, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told The Daily Star that the BGMEA will provide Tk one lakh to each of the victim's family.
Delowar Hossain, managing director of the factory, said around 300 workers were inside the building during when the fire broke out Saturday evening.

Akram elected FBCCI President

Dhaka, Nov 26 Standard Bank Ltd Chairman Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed was elected uncontested President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on Monday.

Ending hours of drama that continued since morning, the newly elected and nominated directors of the top industry lobby extended their support to Ahmed, the lone candidate for the top post.
Ahmed is also a Member of the ruling Awami League Advisory Council.
For the two Vice-President posts, Monowara Hakim Ali and Helal Uddin are contesting from Akramuddin Ahmed-led panel while Abdul Haque and Golam Mostafa Talukder from former FBCCI President Annisul Huq-led panel.
As Haque and Talukder demanded that the election to the two posts be held in secret ballots, the Election Board is discussing the issue with the voters. The election to the two Vice-President posts will be held after the issue is resolved.
Akramuddin-led panel swept the biennial election of the apex trade body on Sunday, securing 20 of the 30 director posts at stake.
The government-backed panel claimed 11 posts out of 15 from the Chamber Group and nine of 15 from the Association Group to win the next term from 2012-14.

RMG industry 'under buyer scanner'

Dhaka, Nov 26 The fire in the multi-storied Tazreen Fashions has dealt a big blow to the image of Bangladesh as the readymade garment industry is under scrutiny of global buyers, economist Debapriya Bhattacharya believes.
"The incident is not good for Bangladesh's image," he said at the launch of UNCTAD's LDCs (Least Developed Countries) Report 2012 at the Centre For Policy Dialogue (CPD) office on Monday.
A devastating fire that swept through Tazreen Fashions in the Ashulia industrial belt near capital Dhaka on Saturday has left at least 110 people dead.
"We have to carefully watch if there is any downward change in the buying orders and attitude of consumers towards Bangladeshi products," he added.
The CPD Distinguished Fellow said such incidents would happen again unless full-fledged trade union was not introduced in the factories.
"The readymade garment sector is passing through a transformation of high wages for better productivity to produce high-end products but such type of incidents will make things complicated."
The GSP hearing at US Congress would weaken the case of Bangladesh due to this type of incidents, Bhattacharya said.
US-based labour organisation AFL–CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) has put forward a motion before the Congress to scrap generalized system of preference (GSP) for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh exports about $100 million worth of products under the GSP facility.
CPD Executive Director Mostafizur Rahman said two committees have been formed to investigate the matter and they should produce concrete report to address such incidents.
"We have seen probe committees before but no action was taken. This time it (the incident) should not have happened," he added.
The incidents happened when Bangladesh was trying to retain the second position as RMG exporters and global buyers came to Dhaka to buy more, he said.
"Everybody is observing how the government addresses the incident," he added.

Ashulia tragedy: DNA tests underway

 

The bodies of Ashulia factory fire keep at the ground of nearby Nischintapur Primary School on Sunday.

Forensic officials on Monday collected sample for DNA test of 59 workers who were charred beyond recognition in Ashulia garment factory fire on Saturday.
Hospital sources said officials of forensic laboratory of Criminal Investigation Department; and Forensic and DNA departments of Dhaka Medical College collected the samples from the remains of the bodies.
The bodies are now kept at Dhaka Medical Hospital Morgue.
The bodies will be buried at Jurain Graveyard after completion of sample collection, the morgue sources said.
The forensic officials will later collect samples from the relatives, who will come to the hospital to identification of the bodies.
The death toll from Ashulia readymade garment factory fire rose to 111 on Monday, two days after the incident.
Of the deceased, the relatives and family members identified and took away the bodies of 52 workers.

Nation to mourn Ashulia-Ctg tragedy Tuesday

All RMG units across the country will also be closed for the day; Cabinet okays bill to double the fine for smoking in public places.

 

L-R: Photo shows a fire that breaks out at a RMG factory in Ashulia Saturday, leaving 111 people dead and the portion of damaged flyover that collapses on same day in Ctg, claiming the lives of at least 12 people. 

The government has announced national mourning day for Tuesday in memory of the people killed in garment factory fire in Ashulia and flyover collapse in Chittagong.
It also announced a one-day vacation at all ready-made garment factories across the country for Tuesday.
The decision came at the weekly cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
At least 111 people were killed and 100 injured in a devastating fire at Tazreen Fashion Ltd at Nischintapur on the capital's suburb Ashulia on Saturday.
On the other hand, 12 people were killed and 15 injured when the concrete girders of an under-construction flyover at Bahaddarhat in Chittagong collapsed on a kitchen market on Saturday.
Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that the cabinet also adopted a condolence motion on the deaths.
It also prayed for the salvation of the departed souls and expressed deep condolence to the family members of the victims.
The national flag will be hoisted half-mast at all government and non-government offices and organisations on Tuesday in memory of the victims.
Special prayer will be offered at all mosques across the country for the salvation of the departed souls.
Besides, prayer will also be held at other religious establishment including temples, churches and pagodas seeking eternal peace for the victims.
Replying to a query, the cabinet secretary said investigation is going on whether there was any negligence of the owners of the garment factory in the fire.
The team will also investigate about exit stair of the factory.
He said that action will be taken according to the investigation reports.
The cabinet also decided to provide financial assistance to the family members of the deceased.
The amount of the financial assistance will be decided by the PM and treatment for the wounded people will also be arranged by the government.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to extend job retirement age for the freedom fighters from 59 to 60.
Earlier on February 3, 2010, the Parliament passed a bill extending the service age of the freedom-fighter public servants by two years to 59 from 57.
Later on December 27, 2011, President Zillur Rahman promulgated an ordinance to make effective the cabinet decision of increasing the retirement age of public servants by two years to 59.
It also approved the final draft of “Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2012” making doubled the fine of smoking in public places.
The fine will be now Tk 100 from Tk 50 for smoking in public.
It also approved in principle Bangladesh Pure Food (Amendment) Act 2012 aiming at ensuring food safety.

Unclaimed body burial pushed to Tuesday

Dhaka, Nov 26 The Dhaka district administration on Monday decided to wait one more day to bury the 58 unclaimed bodies of garment workers burned alive in the worst-ever factory fire at Ashulia.
The bodies were set to be buried at Jurain graveyard once their DNA samples were preserved at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on Monday.
But Dhaka district's Executive Magistrate Abdullah Al Mamun said they would wait another day for relatives to identify the bodies.
"The bodies will be kept at the morgue (DMHC) until 10am on Tuesday on humanitarian grounds following a government order. Bodies will be shown to those coming in search of their loved ones," said Mamun.
He said a man named Abdus Sattar identified his wife's body after DNA sample was taken around 4pm. Sattar was then handed the body of 'Morzina'.
Of the 60 bodies kept at DMCH on being retrieved from Tazreen Fashions on Sunday, relatives took the body of another worker named 'Munni' on Sunday night, said Dhaka district's Additional District Commissioner Abul Fazal Meer.
DNA sampling of the rest 59 bodies began at 1pm on Monday.
The body of Masuma Akter was identified by her husband Humayun Kabir around 6 pm.
Currently, there are 57 bodies at the DMCH morgue. At least 110 workers of Tazreen Fashions were burnt alive after a fire swept through the factory on Saturday evening.
On Sunday, the administration decided to task Anjuman Mofidul Islam with the burial of 58 unclaimed bodies immediately after their recovery.
But the decision was changed and the administration decided to wait until Monday.
ADC Meer said unclaimed bodies will be buried at Jurain graveyard under numbers corresponding to their DNA samples.
The DNA samples and the grave identification number will be used to let relatives of the victims know where their loved ones are buried.
On Monday, six families thronged DMCH looking for their dear ones and bodies were being showed to them for identification.

Parag abduction mastermind held after ‘shootout’

He admitted to DMCH with severe injuries; 3 cops also hurt in 'shootout'; Ameer's wife, house maid also held; his son under police custody; wife admits his hand in the abduction

 

Injured Ameer Hossain, who was arrested after a shootout, is seen lying on a hospital trolley at Dhaka Medical College Hospital Saturday morning. He is the principal accused of Parag Mondol abduction case

Muktar Hossain Ameer, the ringleader of Parag Mondol abduction case, was held Saturday morning at Tongi in Gazipur after a 'shootout' with DB police where he sustained severe injuries.
Ameer was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital following the 'gunfight'.
Detectives also arrested Ameer’s wife Beauty and their housemaid Rumi, 13, from the spot.
Beauty admitted that her husband was involved in the abduction of Parag, DB high officials said during a press briefing at its head office in the capital.
Police also kept Ameer's two-and-a-half-year-old boy under their custody.
Sanwar Hossain, senior assistant commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) of police, who led the team in the drive claimed that three police personnel also sustained injuries during the 'shootout'.
In the wee hours of Saturday, Detective Branch of police however claimed that Ameer was killed in a ‘shootout’ with DB police in Tongi.
Meanwhile, Monirul Islam, deputy commissioner of DB (south), and Habibur Rahman, superintendent of police of Dhaka district, during a joint press briefing in the afternoon claimed that no ransom were paid for releasing Parag.
Armed criminals abducted six-year-old Parag, shooting his mother, sister and their driver near their house in Shubhadda Paschimpara in Keraniganj while they were about to board their car for going to school on November 11 morning.
The class-I student was freed after three days after reportedly on payment of a ransom of Tk 50 lakh.
Police and Parag's family however denied paying the ransom repeatedly.
Quoting Rajbari police the media earlier reported that Ameer was arrested at Manikganj district on Tuesday night.
It all started around 3:45am Saturday when a team of DB police led by Sanwar raided a house in Tilargati-Singbari area of Tongi in Gazipur and an incident of ‘shootout’ occurred between them and Ameer, said Saidur Rahman, an inspector of DB police.
The DB had information that Ameer was hiding at the house and they repeatedly knocked at its door.
As nobody opened the door, they tried to break open the door, the inspector said.
But Ameer, sensing the presence of law enforcers, opened fires on them, forcing them to retaliate, he added.
Later, police recovered Ameer lying on a pool of blood in the room and considered him dead as two bullets hit at his chest and head, Saidur added.
Later, they sent the body to Tongi Upazila Health Complex.
At one stage, Ameer who remained motionless for nearly three hours regained consciousness around 7:00am and started to groan at the health complex, a Tongi police official said.
They rushed him to DMCH. Ameer is now undergoing treatment there, the police official said.
Ameer's wife, their son and housemaid surprisingly remain unhurt during the 'shootout'.
Police also recovered two pistols and 85 bullets from the spot.
During the DB briefing, the law enforcers also denied the media claim that the ransom was paid for releasing Parag.
If Parag was kidnapped for ransom, the aim of the abductors were not fulfilled as pressure was created on them (abductors) detaining their relatives for releasing the school boy, the DB high-ups said.
On queries why they at first declared Ameer dead, Masudur Rahman, media and public relation in-charge of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said, after the 'shootout' they considered Ameer dead as he remained motionless for nearly three hours.
When they sent the body to the health complex, the duty doctor found him alive. Later, they sent Ameer to DMCH.
The injured policemen are: a DB inspector Mezbah Uddin Ahmed, and two DB Sub-inspectors -- Azizul Haque and SI Mohammad Monirul Haque.

Highway blocked during Phulbari hartal

 

The protesters set fire to a tyre at Dhaka intersection on Dhaka-Dinajpur highway in Phulbari upazila of Dinajpur during a daylong hartal Saturday morning

Several thousand of people blocked the Dinajpur-Dhaka highway at different points in Phulbari upazila of Dinajpur since Saturday morning as part of a daylong hartal enforced by oil, gas protection committee.
Transport movement on the highway remained suspended since 6:00am following the blockade, reports our Dinajpur correspondent.
The agitated people also torched tyres at different points on the highway.
Train movement also remained suspended for half an hour from 10:00am as the pro-hartal activists blocked railway tracks felling trees near Phulbari Railway Station, which links a number of districts of northern and southern regions with Dhaka and other parts of the country.
The train movement resumed when the agitators removed the trees from the tracks on request of local police.
National Committee for Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Port and Power Protection called the hartal in face of the section 144 imposed by the government to foil their meeting, which was scheduled for Friday afternoon protesting the government decision to let Asia Energy resume its survey in coal mine area.
All educational institutions, business establishments and most shops remain closed in the upazila since morning.
Additional police have been posted at different points in the upazila to avert any untoward incident, said Biman Karmakar, assistant superintendent of police of Dinajpur.

Shakib-Nasir struggling to uphold Tigers

WI declare at 648

 

Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain are trying to uphold the Tigers after their five wickets lose in the early innings on the fourth day of the final Test against West Indies in Khulna on Saturday.
Bangladesh put 152 on the scoreboard in the final session of the day at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium when the report was filed around 3:45pm.

Tigers are still 109 runs behind West Indies first innings score.
Shakib Al Hasan scored his eleventh Test fifty in the final session of the day. He is on 56 off 74 balls with six boundaries.
Nasir Hossain is batting on 33 off 67 balls with five boundaries.
Shakib-Nasir pair added 72 runs to the innings total.
Nazimuddin, Tamim Iqbal, Naeem Islam, Shahriar Nafees and Mushfiqur Rahim are the batsmen went back to the pavilion.
Tamim scored 28 off 33 balls with four boundaries before Tino Best bowled him out. Naeem Islam was also bowled out by Best at 2. Shahriar Nafees was caught at slip in Best's delivery after scoring 21 off 30 with four boundaries. Spinner Permaul bowled Mushfiqur at 10. Early in the second innings Nazimuddin was trapped LBW in Fidel Edwards delivery without scoring a run.
Visiting West Indies declared their first innings at 648 with a lead of 261 runs on the fourth day of the Test match.
Shakib Al Hasan picked up four wickets of Ramdin, Sammy, Permaul and Narine on the morning session of the fourth day and became the highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in Test cricket with 102 wickets.
Spinner Sohag Gazi bagged three wickets for Bangladesh in the first innings.
Unbeaten Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored 150 off 282 balls with twelve boundaries and a six. He picked up his 26th Test match century on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, Caribbean batsman Marlon Samuels scored his career best double century knock of 260 runs off 455 balls with 31 boundaries and three sixes.
Darren Bravo scored 127 off 288 balls with ten boundaries in the first innings.
West Indies finished the third day's play on 564.
Debutant Abul Hasan made a century on first day of the second Test and became the second player in Test cricket history to score a century in number ten position on debut.
Caribbean pacer Fidel Edwards bagged six wickets against 90 runs in the first innings of the match.
Tigers need to win the match to level the series.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh Captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and elected to bat first.
The hosts made two changes in the team that lost the Mirpur Test by 77 runs.
Nazimuddin replaced Junaid Siddique at the top of the order and Abul Hasan came in for Shahadat Hossain in the pace attack.
West Indies made one change, leaving out Ravi Rampaul and brining in Fidel Edwards. Rampaul was sidelined by a groin injury.
The state-owned Bangladesh Television and satellite TV channel Channel 9 are telecasting the match live.
West Indies cricket team arrived Dhaka on November 5 on a month-long tour to play a full-fledged series against host Bangladesh.
During the month-long tour, the ICC World T20 winners will play a lone T20, five one-dayers.
The first and second one-dayers will take place in Khulna on November 30 and December 2 respectively.
The remaining one-dayers will be held in Dhaka on December 5, 7 and 8 respectively while the Twenty20 game will be held on December 10 in the capital.
Squad:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Nazimuddin, Shahriar Nafees, Naeem Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Nasir Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Sunil Narine, Fidel Edwards, Veerasammy Permaul, Tino Best.

Get ready to take leadership, PM urges Scouts

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday asked the youths to take appropriate preparations to be able to assume the leadership of the country.

“Take appropriate preparations, you’ve to take the positions where we are now. I want you to be here soon,” she said while inaugurating the two-day 24th Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Conference at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the city.

Chairman of World Scouts Committee Simon Hang-Boch Rhee, President of Bangladesh Scouts Md Abdul Karim, Chief National Commissioner of Bangladesh Scouts Md Abul Kalam Azad and Chairman of the Conference Organising Committee Habibul Alam, Bir Pratik, also spoke on the occasion.

A statement of Filipino Vice President and Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Scouts Jejomar C Binay was read out at the function.

Sheikh Hasina also urged the Scouts to play an important role in turning Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021.

She said: “Our aim is to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by the year 2021. We’ve been working to establish Bangladesh as the most peaceful nation in South Asia by eradicating poverty and the Scouts will have to play an important role in this regard.”

FBCCI voter comes under attack

 supporter of Ganatantrik Parishad panel came under attack when he was going to cast vote in the biennial election of the country's apex trade body FBCCI in Motijheel Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, election board of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has extended the voting time by half an hour till 5:00pm due to heavy rush of voters.
Witnesses said a gang of 15 to 20 unidentified people swooped on Md Amiruddin Bipu, director of Bangladesh Paper Merchant Association, around 12:40pm and beat him indiscriminately when he was entering FBCCI building.
They also tore down his panjabi during the attack, the witnesses said.
On duty law enforcers rescued Bipu but did not detain anyone in this connection.
Bipu was entering the polling centre along with former FBCCI president Annisul Huq, who is supporting Ganatantrik Parishad panel. Annisul, however, is not contesting the election.
After the attack, Annisul told reporters that they were not taking the attack seriously as such incidents take place in elections.
The voting began at 9:00am, which was scheduled to continue until 4:30pm without any break. But the election commission later announced that it was going to take a half an hour break from 3:45pm and would continue the voting till 5:00pm.
This year, a total of 1,608 voters from the association group and 390 voters from the chamber group will cast their votes to elect 30 directors from both groups.
A total of 63 candidates are contesting for the posts of 30 directors (15 from chamber group and 15 from association group) under the banner of two panels for the 2012-14 term election.
In the electoral process, 30 elected directors along with 18 nominated directors (nine from chamber group and nine from association group) would choose the president for two years' tenure.
Of the two panels, Chairman of Standard Bank Ltd Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed is leading his own panel.

20.41 lakh Singapore dollars laundered by Koko recovered

 

Arafat Rahman Koko

The ACC has recovered 20.41 lakh Singapore dollars siphoned off by Arafat Rahman Koko, youngest son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, from Singapore.
Ghulam Rahman, chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, made the disclosure at a regular press briefing at its Segunbagicha headquarters Thursday afternoon.
The ACC boss said the money, sent back by the Singapore authorities, was deposited on Thursday to the stolen recovery account of the anti-graft watchdog at Ramna Corporate Branch of the Sonali Bank.
Talking to The Daily Star, Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a counsel for Koko, termed the money recovery as a politically-motivated incident.
In 2008, the ACC revealed that Koko has foreign currencies worth around Tk 11.43 crore deposited in a Singapore bank but he concealed its information in his wealth statement submitted to the anti-graft watchdog.
With the help of Singapore government the ACC had come to know that Koko has 20.61 lakh Singapore dollars and 2.61 lakh US dollars.
It also informed that the son of the former prime minister owns a firm named ZASZ Trading and Consulting Pvt Ltd in Singapore jointly with a Singapore national, who is Koko's paid service agent.
The ACC had told journalists that whole amount was deposited in the joint account of that firm at different times in 2005.
HOW MONEY WAS TRANSFERRED TO KOKO'S ACCOUNT
According to Singapore government's information given in 2008, Koko registered the trading and consulting firm in that country with the help of a few associates and the Singaporean service agent on April 10, 2004.
China Harbour Engineering sent to the firm's account 9.20 lakh SGD and 8.30 lakh SGD on May 6 and 31 and another 8.29 lakh SGD on August 1 in 2005. The ZASZ received another 3.03 lakh SGD from another source on October 6 the same year.
Singapore government's information says Koko transferred 8.30 lakh SGD from the account of ZASZ to another place on July 29, 2005.
The Singapore government informed the ACC about the matter through its Attorney General's Office following Bangladesh government's request for mutual legal assistance.
The Bangladesh government sent the request under the UN Convention against Corruption to help find information regarding wealth amassed through illegal means and corruption and restrain use of that money by identifying the corrupt person.

20 JCD men hurt in BCL attack in Kushtia

 

Policemen block political activists on NS Road in Kushtia town on Thursday.

At least 20 activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) were injured when Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) attacked their rally in Kushtia Thursday.
The BCL men also attacked BNP district office and ransacked it.
According to police, JCD Kushtia district unit led by its district convener Kamal Uddin, brought out a procession around 4:00pm while BCL also brought out another rally on NS Road in the town.
The BCL men chased and attacked the JCD procession when their procession came face to face at Thana crossing around 4:30pm.
The unruly BCL activists used brick bats, bamboo sticks and iron rod injuring at least 20 JCD activists.
When the JCD leaders and activists took shelter at district BNP office, the BCL men attacked the BNP office and ransacked three motorcycles and furniture of the office.
Police from Kushtia Model Police station rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
“The BCL men attacked our rally unprovoked and mercilessly beat up our activists,” said JCD secretary Kamal Uddin.
“They (JCD men) threw abusive words naming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when they were crossing our rally that provoked our activists,” Abdullah Al Mamun, general secretary of Kushtia district unit BCL who led
the BCL rally told the Daily Star.

'I helped Hall-Mark'

Dhaka, Nov 22 A former Deputy-Director of Sonali Bank on Thursday confessed to a Magistrate in Dhaka that he had helped Hall-Mark Group take Tk 2.08 billion in loan using false documents.
Azizur Rahman admitted his involvement in a confessional statement at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Keshab Roy Chowdhury.
Rahman was a former Deputy Director of the largest state-owned bank, which came under spotlight after an Anti-Corruption Commission report unearthed a huge scam involving the bank and the rogue group.
ACC's lawyer Mahmud Hossain Jahangir told bdnews24.com that the former bank official made the confessional statement under section 164.
Rahman gave the three-hour statement from 2pm. The ACC filed the case with Ramna Police Station.
He was later sent to jail, pending further proceedings.
According to case details, the group had embezzled around Tk 2.08 billion from the state-owned bank's Ruposhi Bangla branch showing false papers of Anowara Spinning, a subsidiary of the group.
Earlier, Rahman was under a total of 24 hours of remand in three separate cases.
On Nov 14, Hall-Mark Group's Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud and Manager Tushar Ahmed gave confessional statements to the court.
On Oct 4 the ACC filed 11 cases against 27 people including the controversial group's MD and Sonali Bank's former MD Humayun Kabir.
The lists of the accused include 20 officials from the bank and the rest from Hall-Mark Group.

More than 500 sued over student clash

 

This November 21 photo shows Jagannath University students torching cars and motorbikes during a clash with Kabi Nazrul Government College in Old Dhaka.

Three cases were filed against at least 500 people late on Wednesday in connection with Wednesday's clashes between the students of Jagannath University and Kabi Nazrul Govt College at Old Dhaka.
A teacher of Kabi Nazrul Govt College, whose name could not be known immediately, filed two cases against at least 500 unknown persons with Sutrapur Police Station for torching vehicles and vandalism at the campus.
Shah Alam, a sub-inspector of the police station filed the third case accusing 500 to 600 unidentified people on charge of preventing policemen from discharging their duties.
At least 30 people, including students, teachers and policemen, were injured, five cars and seven motorbikes torched during the clashes at Kabi Nazrul Govt College campus over a trifling matter.
The authorities of Kabi Nazrul Islam Govt College and Jagannath University formed two separate committees to probe the incident.
Police high officials and leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League units at both institutions claimed that Islami Chhatra Shibir men carried out the attacks and vandalism taking advantage of the situation.

Why Ameer, Jewel not be arrested: HC

The High Court on Thursday asked the government to explain in a week why it should not be directed to arrest Ameer Hossain and Jewel, the two key accused in the Parag Mondol abduction case.
Parag Mondol, the six-year-old boy kidnapped on November 11 in Keraniganj on the capital's outskirts, while he was attempting to go to his school with his mother and sister.
He was found at Atibazar in Keraniganj three days after his kidnapping.
The HC came up with the rule on Thursday following a petition filed by Nazim Ahmed, editor of the weekly Shoptoporno.
Referring the writ, Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder told the court that the members of the law enforcement agencies arrested Al-Amin, a close aid of Ameer, along with a motorcycle on Tuesday night but they did not disclose it.
Rather, they claimed that they were trying their best to arrest Ameer and Jewel, the deputy attorney general said.
Members of law enforcing agencies are hopeful that they would be able to arrest the accused within a short time, said the deputy attorney general quoting police.
Nazim filed the petition on November 21 saying that police arrested six persons in connection with Parag abduction case.
Three of them admitted the crime and disclosed the name of Ameer and Jewel as the mastermind of Parag abduction, the editor of the weekly said.
Nazim in the petition said that the law enforcing agencies remained silent about the arrest of Ameer, the ringleader of the abduction, and Jewel. If the situation continues, the similar crime may happen in the country, the petitioner added.
He prayed to the court to issue necessary directives upon the law enforcement agencies to arrest the duo for the interest of the country's general people.
Otherwise, the law and order situation will be deteriorated, he added.
Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Farid Ahmed came up with the rule while advocate Eunus Ali Akond appeared for the petitioner.
The HC earlier directed the government to provide security to Parag and his family members until further order.
On Wednesday, sources in Rajbari police said the Detective Branch of police arrested Ameer Hossain along with Jewel from Rajbari Tuesday night.
But there has been confusion over the arrests as Dhaka Metropolitan Police denied arresting Ameer. The Keraniganj police also declined to comment on the arrests.

Suicide bomber kills 13 in Pakistan

Rawalpindi, Nov 22 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 13 people at Shi'ite processions in the city where Pakistan's army is headquartered on Wednesday night, highlighting the country's security challenges a day before it hosts leaders from Egypt, Iran and other developing nations.
Local television stations said 13 people were killed but police put the death toll at eight. Twenty-five people were wounded, including children.
The blast ripped a hole in the walls of a Shi'ite mosque in the city of Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad. Body parts were scattered at the scene.
Hundreds of worshippers, beating their heads and chests, kept marching, even though other explosive devices were found at the site.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack which occurred hours after two bomb blasts killed at least three people near a gathering of Shi'ites in Pakistan's commercial hub and biggest city Karachi.
Hardline Sunni militant groups linked to al Qaeda have in recent months stepped up attacks against Pakistan's minority Shi'ites, whom they regard as non-Muslims.
Pakistan's military, one of the world's biggest, has failed to break the back of a persistent insurgency despite launching several offensives against their strongholds in the northwest near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan hosts a summit of eight developing nations on Thursday. Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria and Bangladesh are expected to discuss ways of boosting trade and investment at an event which Islamabad hopes will improve its standing. Some presidents have already arrived.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attacks were designed to hurt Pakistan's image and create the impression that its U.S.-backed government is incapable of establishing stability.
"We are trying to build relationships, get investment in Pakistan and these groups are trying to derail the process," he told Reuters.
Pakistani authorities are bracing for what could be a bloody weekend, the climax of the Shi'ite mourning month of Muharram. Radical Sunni groups have staged high-profile attacks on that occasion in the past.
Thousands of security personnel are expected to be deployed in a bid to avoid attacks. About 50,000 people are expected to march through the streets of Islamabad on Saturday.
Muharram marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala where the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and his family members were killed.
Earlier on Wednesday, a bomb blast killed three soldiers and two civilians in the Pakistani city of Quetta, security officials said.
The bomb, attached to a motorcycle, exploded near a security vehicle escorting school children, they said. Sixteen people were wounded. A Reuters reporter saw the bodies of three soldiers under the vehicle as it burned.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Baluchistan, Pakistan's biggest but poorest province which borders Afghanistan and Iran, and where several militant groups are active.

Cotton depot fire under control

The fire that broke out at a cotton depot in the capital's Jatrabari area Thursday morning has been brought under control.
No casualty was reported in the fire.
On information, five fire fighting units rushed to Rayerbagh, the scene of the fire, and managed to bring the blaze under control after a hectic effort of nearly one hour, duty officer of the fire service control room said.
Reason behind the fire that originated around 11:20am could not be known immediately.

No action against TIB: Inu

Dhaka, Nov 20 Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Tuesday said the government will not take against action Transparency International, Bangladesh for publishing the report which he said has 'slighted' Members of Parliament.
Inu made the comment while answering a question in Parliament, a day after MPs berated the Berlin-based anti-graft watchdog's Bangladesh chapter.
He, however, said TI's head office will be notified about the government decision to reject the report.
A TIB study published on Oct 14 said that 97 percent MPs were involved in 'negative activities', evaluating works of 149 MPs – 136 from ruling Awami League and 13 from the opposition, including 27 ministers and state ministers.
Opinions of the people from half the Parliament seats were taken for the study.
On Monday, MPs asked the Speaker to call TIB's high officials including Executive Director for an explanation. They also demanded that activities of the organisation be banned.
"There is no necessity for taking any action (against TIB), the people will decide on their own," said Inu as he replied to the question asked by MP Fazilatunnesa Bappi.
"We are rejecting the report and we will inform the headquarters of Transparency International about it so that they publish a full-fledged report," Inu added.
The minister examined the report earlier and said TIB's assessment on the activities of the MPs was not 'objective' and did not follow 'proper process'.
TIB had to send its report to the ministry and answered over 30 questions it had asked.
"Overall it can be said the research was conducted on some specific negative ideas," Inu added.
The ruling party lawmakers also came down hard on TIB for drawing such a conclusion by taking opinion of only 600 people in a country of 150 million. They said publication of such a report a year ahead of next election may have other intentions.

Tarique leads an honest life: Khaleda

 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Tuesday visits a painting exhibition on the occasion of Tarique Rahman's birth day in the capital.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Tuesday said her elder son Tarique Rahman leads a very honest life and is not involved in any sort of corruption.
"All allegations of corruption against him were nothing but propaganda," said the leader of the opposition in parliament.
She was addressing a discussion on the occasion of Tarique's birth day at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh auditorium in the capital.
"Tarique has no wealth of his own," the former premier added.
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, a student body supported by the main opposition party, organised the programme.

PM assures support to jute research

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses a seminar at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday assured the scientists engaged in jute research of giving all necessary support from her government and hoped that they would be able to invent drought, saline and cold tolerant variety for sustainable harvesting of the cash crop round the year.
"As our scientists have showed their talent in unveiling the genome sequence of jute, I firmly believe that they will be able to invent high yielding jute variety able to cultivate round the year and mitigate diseases and pests," she said.
The prime minister was inaugurating a two-day international seminar on 'High Yielding Jute and Jute Seeds Production and Modern Jute Retting Procedure' at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.
Hasina said her government is encouraging diversified use of jute and establishment of modern jute industries aimed at making the jute and jute products as the highest foreign exchange earning sector of the country.
Referring to huge expansion of the use of the environment friendly natural fiber in day-to-day life of global people, she said it's very much encouraging for us.
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury and Jute and Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui attended the function as special guests while senior secretary of the Ministry of Jute and Textile M Ashraful Moqbul was in the chair.
Director General of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute Dr M Kamal Uddin gave a presentation on technical session of the seminar and Director General of Department of Jute M Nasir Uddin, project director of the "High Yielding Jute and Jute Seeds Production and Modern Jute Retting Procedure" Dr Mangal C Chanda, spoke among others, on the occasion.
The prime minister said country's state owned jute mills for the first time after 1982 could gain profit and after 30 years the mills accrued net profit of Taka 20 crore in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
"Average daily production of state-owned jute mills was 357 tonnes at the time of present government taking office and at present the capacity rose to 700 tonnes," she added.
Hasina said Bangladesh is blessed with fertile soil and weather to produce good quality of jute historically making the fibre as our national heritage.
"To make the heritage sustainable and development of the cash crop, the present government has undertaken the Tk 169-crore project," she said adding farmers are being distributed fertiliser, pesticide and other agricultural components free of cost in addition to high yielding jute seeds under the project.
She said around 20,000 selected jute farmers were given training under the five-year project on the modern techniques of producing high yielding jute and jute seeds and high technology of jute retting particularly ribbon retting procedure.
Pointing out the attachment of Awami League with the development of country's jute sector, the prime minister said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman established separate ministry for jute and nationalised the jute mills for overall survival of the jute sector after independence.
In 1974, Bangabandhu also established Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) under which many programmes had been taken for development of jute, recognized as our 'golden fiber', she said.
But, after killing of Bangabandhu in 1975, all those development programmes of jute sector became stalled, and in due course, the BNP-Jamaat alliance government closed down a number of leading jute mills including the Adamjee Jute Mills, the biggest mills in Asia, in 2002.
"They (BNP-Jammat) closed down eight jute mills one after another forcing many jute farmers to burn down their produces as they failed to sell those and recover the production costs," she said.
Hasina said BNP-Jamaat government killed 18 workers and 17 farmers for their movement to press home their various demands. The sufferings and frustration of the farmers crossed all limits," she added.
Highlighting the present government's initiative for revitalisation of the jute sector, the prime minister said, "the sector is now on the revival track".
Khalishpur Jute Mills, Peoples Jute Mills in Khulna already resumed operation while Quomi Jute Mills in Sirajganj has been refurbished as National Jute Mills, she mentioned.
Operations in three more jute mills went for experimental production and these mills will be inaugurated officially very soon, she said.
The prime minister said, "jute is a valuable natural resource of Bangladesh and we have to ensure its best and diversified use."

'2,500 Jamaat, Shibir men arrested'

Gazipur, Nov 20 Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir on Tuesday said at least 2,500 leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir were arrested across the country until now on charges of attacking and clashing with the police.
He gave the figure to the media after visiting the Safipur Ansar VDP Academy in Gazipur's Kaliakoir.
"The state has initiated all sorts of measures to stop Jamaat and Shibir. At least 2,500 miscreants have been arrested," Alamgir said.
Jamaat and Shibir leaders and activists have been demonstrating, vandalising and attacking police personnel in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere since the beginning of this month demanding release of the party's top-brass put on trial on charges of committing war crimes in 1971.
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed's convoy was also attacked by Shibir activists at Dhaka's Karwan Bazar last week. Shibir activists also reportedly set a police official on fire in Joypurhat.
Amid countrywide assault and vandalising, the police have been detaining numerous Jamaat and Shibir supporters. However, Jamaat says their men were arrested over 'false' cases while police obstructed their programmes.
Alamgir on Tuesday said cases had been lodged under Speedy Trial Act against at least 350 arrestees. "We hope those who are happy to create this kind of anarchy will stay away from doing so after these arrestees are tried."
He also claimed Jamaat and its student wing were linked with the attacks and vandalising on Buddhist households and temples in Cox's Bazar's Ramu in September.
The Home Minister also spoke about the Rohingya issue. "Rohingyas are not just Rohingyas, they must be called 'Myanmar's Rohingyas'."
He also thanked US President Barack Obama for his call on Monday on Myanmar to recognise the Rohingyas as citizens and give them social acceptance.
Alamgir also addressed the officials of Ansar at the Officers Mess at Safipur Ansar VDP Academy on Tuesday after his visit.
He observed that the Ansar members were playing an important role to maintain law and order and told the officials that the government was considering the issue of providing security allowance for them.
Ansar VDP Director General (DG) Brig Gen Jahidur Rahman, Additional DG Gen Rezwanul Haque Chowdhury, Gazipur district Deputy Commissioner Nurul Islam, Superintendent of Police Abdul Baten and Kaliakoir Upazila Executive Officer Habibur Rahman were also present, among others, during the Home Minister's visit.

Bangladesh among fastest growing countries: Muhith

 

Finance Minister AMA Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday claimed that Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing countries in the world since 2008.
"The GDP growth in Bangladesh is the highest after China, Brazil, Singapore and Turkey," the minister told journalists at his secretariat office in the capital in the morning.
Bangladesh has achieved 25.5 percent growth in the last three and a half years, he added.
But this achievement does not get proper publicity in the media, he claimed.
"Whatever I say, only the negative and the weak parts of my speech are published in the media," he alleged.

Dipu Moni skipping Islamabad D-8 meet

Dhaka, Nov 20  Foreign Minister Dipu Moni is not attending the council of ministers' meeting of Developing 8 (D-8) due to be held in Islamabad on Nov 21.
"The minister is not going to Pakistan to attend the D-8 Foreign Ministers' meeting. She will leave for Russia on Nov 22 and will come back on 26," Foreign Ministry's Public Relations Officer Mohammad Manirul Islam Kabir told bdnews24.com.
However, he did not say the reason for the Foreign Minister to skip the D-8 foreign ministers' meet in Islamabad.
The D-8 summit meeting will be held on Nov 22 while council of ministers meeting on Nov 21, according to schedule.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also not attending the summit due to schedule conflict and she is sending her International Affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi to attend the meeting.
"I will be leaving for Pakistan today and will attend the summit meeting on behalf of the Prime Minister," Gowher Rizvi told the bdnews24.com.
Earlier on Nov 9, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar came to Dhaka on a short visit to formally invite Hasina to attend the summit.
During, the Pakistani minister's visit to Dhaka, the government had urged her that Pakistan offer unconditional apology for the genocide its troops had committed during Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971.
But Khar responded to the demand by advising Bangladesh to look forward and forget the past.

48 Jamaat-Shibir men held in Narayanganj

2 cases filed for Monday's vandalism

 

This November 19 photo shows activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir hurling brick chips targeting policemen in Rail Gate

Police in an overnight drive on Monday arrested 48 leaders and activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir for the vandalism in Narayanganj city.
Meanwhile, police filed two cases with Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station Monday night on charges of attacking law enforcers, vandalizing police van and setting it on fire, reports our Narayanganj correspondent.
Jamaat district Ameer Maulana Mainuddin, its finance secretary Jubaid and Shibir president of Rupganj upazila unit Mohammad Ali are among the arrestees.
On Monday, Shibir activists attacked police, vandalised at least five vehicles and set fire to a police van in Rail Gate-2 area in the city, leaving 10 people including three policemen injured.
Later, Atiar Rahman, a sub-inspector of Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station, filed a case against several people for vandalizing police vehicle and setting it on fire.
In the case, he named of 25 people including district Shibir president Nasirullah.
The SI filed the other case naming 38 people including Mainuddin for attacking police and preventing them from discharging their duties.
After the cases were filed, police conducted the drive at different parts and arrested the 48 leaders and activists.
Mainuddin was arrested at his Haziganj residence in the city, Jubaid at Painadi in Sadar upazila and Ali, also a teacher of Murapara College, at Murapara in Rupganj upazila.
Sheikh Nazmul Alam, superintendent of police of Narayanganj, said the Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists were arrested for their alleged involvement with the Monday's vandalism.
Police are continuing its drive to arrest the rest of the accused, the SP said.

Khaleda seeks another chance

 

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia addressES a rally at Bell's Park in BarisaL on Monday.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Monday again reiterated her party’s demand for restoring caretaker government system for holding the next general election and said no other formula would work.
“Give me one more chance, I promise I will change the picture of Bangladesh by massive development activities. If I fail to do so, I am ready to accept any punishment, you (people) grant," she said.
The leader of the opposition in parliament was addressing a rally at Bell's Park in Barisal.
“People are with us, we will create such a situation that the government will have nowhere to escape. No election will be allowed under the present government and incumbent prime minister," she said.
Calling the Awami League-led grand alliance "grand thief", the former prime minister said the Awami League was a party of fascists and thieves.
Referring to Monday's incident at Islamic University in Kushtia where Bangladesh Chhatra League activists injured 25 teachers of the university, Khaleda said none of the attackers were arrested.
Activists and supporters of BNP and its like-minded parties rushed towards the venue with banners and placards since morning, giving the city a festive look.