Hiding is a political tactic: BNP

DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka, May 04  A BNP policymaker has said their senior leaders, who are facing cases over shutdown violence, went into hiding as a 'political tactic' not 'in fear of arrest'.

The opposition party's standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said they went into hiding following party decision and were taking preparations to organise anti-government agitation.

"There has been campaign as if they are hiding in fear of arrests. But this is not true. The leaders are away for a while as part of a political tactic," Nazrul said at a human-chain programme on Friday.

"The government has filed false cases as part of its blue print to arrest our leaders. They have even kept the court off limits for days," he alleged.

The decision came as the leaders' arrest at this moment might harm the anti-government agitation, he explained.

Police filed two separate cases on Apr 29 accusing senior leaders of the BNP-led opposition alliance for torching a vehicle in front of the Prime Minister's Office and hurling crude bombs at the secretariat during the countrywide general strike.

BNP and its allies enforced five days of shutdowns last month protesting disappearance of party leader M Ilias Ali, who went missing past midnight on Apr 17.

BNP's one of the joint secretaries general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was arrested and sent to jail in connection with the violence case. Another BNP leader Mahbub Uddin Khokon secured ad-interim bail from the High Court. But the other accused leaders have not been seen after filing of the case. A HC bench felt embarrassed to hear their pre-arrest bail petition.

Rajshahi University ex-student forum also formed another human chain in front of Jatiya press club on Friday to demand Rizvi's release.

BNP has been blaming government for the violence during shutdowns and for the disappearance of Ilias. The government refuted the allegation and blamed BNP alleging Illias disappearance was a 'drama staged by them'. 

14 Women Return After Jail Terms in India

DHAKA NEWS

Benapole, May 4  Fourteen Bangladeshi women, who went to India in search of jobs and were detained by the Indian police, have returned home after languishing about two years in a jail in the neighbouring country's Maharashtra state.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) handed them over to the policemen at Benapole check-post in Jessore district on Friday morning.

The returnees are 'Lima' (22), 'Sweaty' (20), 'Shefali' (24) and Shefali's two-year-old child Abdullah of Jessore district; 'Fazila' (22), 'Baby' (19), 'Ruma' (23) and 'China' (25) of Narail; 'Aklima' (21) of Gazipur; 'Shefali' (25) of Jhenaidah; 'Tania' (23) of Satkhira; Shamsunnahar (26) of Barisal; 'Dularani' (22) of Patuakhali and 'Shakila' (21) of Madaripur districts.

Tania told bdnews24.com that they went to India two years back with the help of touts hoping to get better jobs and were arrested by the Maharashtra police.

They all were sent to a Pune jail through the court.

Benapole check-post immigration officer-in-charge Quamruzzaman  that an Indian NGO 'Rescue Foundation' helped the 14 women get release from the Pune jail and kept them under its supervision.

Their return was facilitated following correspondences between the two countries with the initiatives of 'Rescue Foundation' and Jessore-based NGO 'Rights'.   

None but PM knows whereabouts of Ilias: Moudud

DHAKA NEWS

BNP leader Moudud Ahmed on Friday said that none but the Prime Minister knows the whereabouts of BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

He made the remarks while addressing a discussion Bangladesh Combined Professional Council, a pro-BNP forum of professionals at Jatiya Press Club.

Moudud, also the BNP standing committee member, termed the present government ‘imbalance and devoid of any feelings and said it has taken foolish tactics to foil different movements of the opposition.

Presided over by the professional council convener Mahmudur Rahman, also acting Editor of the vernacular daily Amar Desh, the discussion was addressed, among others, by Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, Chashi Nazrul Islam and Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.

Supreme Court Bar Association president Zainul Abedin and journalist Abdul Awal Thakur presented keynote papers at the discussion.

Bangladeshi killed in Taliban attack

BANGLADESH NEWS

An official of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (Brac) was killed in a militant attack in the western province of Ghor in Afghanistan on Thursday.

Mohiuddin was killed when the Taliban stormed the Brac office in Chaghcharan, the provincial capital, just before dawn, acting police chief, Col Murtaza Musleh, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Another Bangladeshi managed to flee the scene, he said, adding a wounded attacker was arrested after the incident.

The detainee told police five insurgents, involved in the attack, wanted to kidnap the Bangladeshis.

The militants sought to swap the foreigners for their detained associates, according to escapee, Samiul Haq, who said: "The office head was killed on the spot, but I succeeded in fleeing soon after the assailants entered the building."

He added an Afghan worker of the organisation, who was sharing the room with the office head, escaped unhurt in the assault. The office is situated about 500 metres from a guesthouse of the intelligence department.

Meanwhile, a Brac team had been sent to Ghor from Kabul to evacuate its staffers, an official of the development organisation in Dhaka told  Friday afternoon.

Mohiuddin had been working in the community-based livelihood improvement project of Brac in Ghor since 2009, the non-government organisation says in a press release.

Brac served millions of poor people with a focus on ensuring women empowerment in the country by carrying out development projects in Afghanistan since 2002, the release adds.

Okada Stresses anti-graft Measures

DHAKA NEWS

Japan expects that the Bangladesh government will implement the anti-corruption measures so that Japanese tax payers' money is utilised properly in development assistance programmes.

Katsuya Okada, deputy prime minister (DPM) of Japan, told this to reporters at a press briefing at Hajrat Shahjalal International Airport on Friday prior to his departure from Dhaka for Colombo warping up his two-day visit.

About Japanese funding in construction of Padma Bridge, Okada reiterated Japanese commitment to provide fund in the project. But he suggested Bangladesh to negotiate with the World Bank, coordinator of the project, to settle the issue immediately.

He further said Japan would also talk with the World Bank to resolve the issue.

Replying to question about Japanese funding in the Metro Rail project, he said, “The project is still under consideration and we are examining and sorting it.”

The Japanese DPM termed the existing bilateral relations between the two countries excellent and hoped that the ties would further deepen. He assured that Japan would continue its support to Bangladesh in its development endeavours.

He highly appreciated the people of Bangladesh for standing beside Japan after the devastating earthquake and Tsunami last year.

Earlier in the morning, Okada had breakfast meeting with business community at Sonargaon Hotel. He also visited a Japanese Matsuoka Apparel Factory at Ashulia.

“Bangladesh is a raw diamond. If it is polished it will be real diamond", Okada said quoting the factory manager.

Minister for Food and Disaster Management Muhammad Abdur Razzaque briefly spoke at the press conference and saw off the Japanese DPM. Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Shiro Sadoshima and Chief of Protocol Khondker M Talha were present.

Hillary to Meet Khaleda Saturday Evening

DHAKA NEWS

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is due to arrive in Dhaka early Saturday afternoon, will have a meeting with Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia in the evening.

Hillary will call on the BNP chairperson at her Gulshan residence at 8:30pm to discuss different bilateral issues, Khaleda's press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan Sohel told  Friday afternoon.

He said the tour is very important as the United States is a big development partner of Bangladesh.

The US Secretary of State will make this stop over in Bangladesh between her trip to China and India.

In Dhaka, Secretary Clinton will meet with senior government officials and civil society representatives to review robust US-Bangladesh cooperation across the full range of political, economic, and security matters, according to an announcement of the US State Department on April 27.

It said Hillary would visit Bangladesh and India on May 5-8 after important meetings in China on May 3-4.

This will be her first visit to Bangladesh as the Secretary of State. She visited Bangladesh in 1995 when she was the US first lady.

She would be in Dhaka on May 5 and make stops later on in Kolkata and New Delhi “to review progress in the strategic partnership” with India, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland told the media in Washington DC on April 27.

A highly placed source at the Prime Minister's Office on April 27 , “Hillary will pay a brief visit and will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”

Sources said the United States is eager to go for a “strategic partnership dialogue” with Bangladesh, which would create a regular forum to discuss issues like counterterrorism, economy, food security, global climate change and energy.

The US government has also been upbeat about strengthening relations with Bangladesh due to its growing economy, strategic importance and the moderate Muslim majority country's opposition to extremism.

Ex-Rab official denied bail in robbery case

CHITTAGONG NEWS

A Chittagong court on Friday denied bail to sacked Lt Col Zulfiqar Ali Majumder, the former commanding officer of Rab-7, in a robbery case and sent him to jail.

Judicial Magistrate Abu Salem Mohammad Noman passed the order following a bail petition filed by Zulfiqar’s lawyer Iftekhar Samiul Chowdhury saying that the name of his client was not in the first information report (FIR) of the case.

The court also fixed May 7 for hearing a remand prayer of Zulfiqar as police did not bring necessary documents of the case to it.

Earlier, Inspector Abdus Samad of Anwara Police Station, also the investigation officer of the case, produced Zulfiqar before the court at 3:50pm with a seven-day remand prayer.

Police early Thursday arrested Zulfiqar for his alleged involvement in robbing Tk 2.07 crore from a shrine in Chittagong six months ago.

He was picked up from one of his relatives' house on Daktarer Goli in the capital's Moghbazar area around 4:00am on Thursday, said police.

He went into hiding after Bangladesh Army fired him on Monday.

Facebook value set at up to $95bn

DHAKA NEWS

Facebook has set the share price for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at between $28 and $35 per share, valuing the company at between $85bn-$95bn (£52bn-£59bn).

The IPO is set to be the largest ever for an internet firm, bigger than Google's valuation of $23bn in 2004.

IPOs are when companies list shares on the stock market for the first time.

Facebook is set to list on the Nasdaq and would rival Amazon's and Cisco System's current market values.

It is thought that Facebook will start promoting the share offering on Monday. Its shares are expected to start trading under the symbol "FB" on 18 May.

More than 10percent of the business is being sold, which is expected to raise about $12bn for the company.

The eight-year-old social network has 900 million users worldwide and made a profit of $1bn last year.

Mobile growth

There is expected to be a huge take-up, though some investors have voiced concerns about the company's longer-term growth.

Last week, Facebook reported its first drop in revenue between quarters for two years.

But during a video presentation on Thursday Facebook executives sought to allay those concerns, pointing to mobile as an area for growth that the company will invest heavily in.

Last month Facebook said it would buy the fast-growing mobile phone photo sharing app Instagram for $1bn, its largest purchase ever.

Zuckerberg-controlled

The higher valuation still falls short of the $100bn that had been talked about for Facebook.

But it is not uncommon for IPO price ranges to move up if there is strong investor demand for the stock.

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will remain in control of the company even after the IPO, controlling more than 57.3 percent of the voting power through shares he holds and through voting agreements with other stockholders.

He will own 31.5 percent of Facebook's outstanding stock. At the top end of the price range, this would make his holdings worth $17.6bn.

Such a value would put him at about number 33 on Forbes' list of the world's richest people.

Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada meets Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

BANGLADESH NEWS

Bangladesh is a country of potential and will go a long way if its potential can be properly utilised, Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada said

yesterday.

The visiting Japanese leader made the remark during a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in Dhaka.

Okada said the Japanese investment in Bangladesh is increasing, but the problems of electricity, gas and administrative procedure are creating impediments to the investment.

In response, the prime minister said the government has been working to resolve the problems and sought investment from Japan in Bangladesh's power sector.

About corruption, Hasina said her government will show zero tolerance to corruption and it has strengthened the Anticorruption Commission.

PM's Press Secretary Abdul Kalam Azad briefed reporters after the meeting.

Hasina sought Japanese investment in special economic zones saying her government is trying to overcome the power and energy crises.