Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) will now probe Aminbazar killing case:High Court

BANGLADESH NEWS

The High Court on Tuesday directed the government to transfer the investigation into Aminbazar's six-students killing case to Rab from the Criminal Investigation Department.

Acting on a petition filed by the parents of the deceased students, an HC bench also ordered the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) to complete the investigation within four months.

A mob of several hundred villagers bludgeoned the six students to death at Keblarchar of Baradeshi village when they went there in the early hours of July 18, 2011.

Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Haque Tutul told The Daily Star that the High Court on Tuesday ordered the inspector general of police (IGP) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner to transfer the investigation responsibility of the case to Rab within 7 days after getting the copy of the order.

The parents of the victims filed the petition with the HC bench today.

In the petition, they appealed to the HC to transfer the investigation responsibility of the case to the Rab saying that the CID had failed to investigate the case.

High Court on June 17 ordered the CID to complete the investigation within a month, the petition added.

An HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Abdur Rob passed the transfer order.

After HSBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank under US focus,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

In a rare move, New York's top bank regulator threatened to strip the state banking licence of Standard Chartered Plc, saying it was a "rogue institution" that hid $250 billion in transactions tied to Iran, in violation of US law.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has said the British bank "schemed" with the Iranian government and hid from law-enforcement officials some 60,000 secret transactions to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in fees over nearly 10 years.

At the same time, it exposed the US banking system to terrorists, drug traffickers and corrupt states, the department said on Monday.

The loss of a New York banking licence would be a devastating blow for a foreign bank, effectively cutting off direct access to the US bank market. Standard Chartered processes $190 billion every day for global clients, the New York bank regulator said.

In an unusual look inside a bank, the regulator described how Standard Chartered officials debated whether to continue Iranian dealings.

In October 2006, the top official for business in the Americas, whom the regulator did not name, warned in a "panicked message" that the Iranian dealings could cause "catastrophic reputational damage" and "serious criminal liability."

A top executive in London shot back: "You f---ing Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we're not going to deal with Iranians." The reply showed "obvious contempt for US banking regulations," the regulator said.

Standard Chartered is the third British bank to be ensnared in US law-enforcement probes this summer. Barclays Plc agreed to pay $453 million to settle US and UK probes that it rigged a global benchmark in June.

A month later, a US Senate panel issued a scathing report that criticised HSBC Holding Plc's efforts to police suspect transactions, including Mexican drug traffickers.

In a statement Standard Chartered said the bank "does not believe the order issued by the DFS presents a full and accurate picture of the facts."

The bank said it shared with US agencies an analysis that demonstrated it "acted to comply, and overwhelmingly did comply" with US regulations. Standard Chartered put the total value of Iran-related transactions that did not follow regulations at under $14 million.

"The group was therefore surprised to receive the order from the DFS, given that discussions with the agencies were on-going," Standard Chartered said. "We intend to discuss these matters with the DFS and to contest their position."

DFS declined further comment.

The Iranian Embassy in Washington was not immediately available to comment. The Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces US economic and trade sanctions against targeted countries, declined to comment.

Standard Chartered, a financier in emerging markets, is the sixth foreign bank since 2008 to be implicated in dealings with sanctioned countries such as Iran in investigations led by federal and New York law-enforcement officials.

Four banks -- Barclays Plc, Lloyds Banking Group, Credit Suisse Group and ING Bank NV -- have agreed to fines and settlements totalling $1.8 billion. HSBC Holdings Plc currently is under investigation by US law enforcement, according to bank regulatory filings.

The New York regulator, headed by former prosecutor Benjamin Lawsky, ordered Standard Chartered to explain why the bank should not lose its state license and the ability to process dollar transactions. Lawsky also ordered the bank to bring in an outside consultant to monitor its transactions.

"Standard Chartered Bank operated as a rogue institution," Lawsky said in the order.

In an unusual move, the regulator also found fault with an outside consultant -- Deloitte LLP -- because the firm "apparently aided" the bank in its deception.

A report by Deloitte had "intentionally omitted critical information" when submitted to regulators, it said. A Deloitte spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Deloitte was hired to conduct a review after Standard Chartered in 2004 was ordered by New York and federal regulators to correct anti-money laundering lapses. The review, known as a "look back," was supposed to identify suspicious transactions between 2002 and 2004.

But at one point, Standard Chartered asked Deloitte to "delete" references to certain improper Iranian transactions, according to the New York order.

In a subsequent email, a Deloitte partner said the firm had "agreed" to the request because it was "too politically sensitive for both (Standard Chartered) and Deloitte. That is why I drafted the watered-down version."

In 2007, that report enabled Standard Chartered to show regulators it had corrected flaws in its anti-money laundering systems.

In a statement on Monday, Deloitte said its financial advisory service division "performed its role as independent consultant properly and had no knowledge of any alleged misconduct by bank employees. Allegations otherwise are unsupported by the facts."

Lawsky's investigation is extraordinary because probes into how banks carried out transactions tied to Iran primarily have been led by the district attorney's office in Manhattan and the US Justice Department.

His probe is another sign that the regulator intends to join the New York attorney general and Manhattan district attorney in being a top financial watchdog. The DFS was created in October 2011, effectively assuming oversight of two former banking and insurance regulatory agencies that were abolished.

Probes by the Manhattan district attorney and US Justice Department date to 2006 and have targeted some nine banks. Britain's Barclays agreed to pay $298 million in 2010 after admitting it processed payments for clients tied to Cuba, Sudan and other countries. Lloyds and Credit Suisse agreed to pay settlements of $350 million and $536 million.

In June, ING agreed to pay $619 million to settle allegations that it, too, violated US sanctions against Cuba, Iran and other countries. It was the biggest fine levied against a bank for sanctions violations.

The Justice Department, working with the FBI in New York, is also investigating Standard Chartered's activities for violations of US sanctions.

Standard Chartered, founded in 1853, is headquartered in London, but it specialises in financing in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Lawsky said Standard Chartered moved money through its New York branch on behalf of Iranian financial clients, including the Central Bank of Iran and state-owned Bank Saderat and Bank Melli, that were subject to US sanctions.

Monday's order alleged that Standard Chartered removed codes on money transfers and altered message fields, inserting phrases such as "NO NAME GIVEN" to hide the nature of the transactions.

At the centre of concern were alleged "U-Turn" transactions, involving money moved for Iranian clients among banks in Britain and the Middle East and cleared through Standard Chartered's New York branch, but which neither started nor ended in Iran.

Such transactions were permissible until November 2008, when the Treasury Department prohibited them on concerns that they were being used to evade sanctions, and that Iran was using banks to fund nuclear and missile development programs.

The New York order also alleged that even as some banks exited the U-Turn transactions, Standard Chartered hustled to "take the abandoned market share." In a December 2006 memo titled, "Project Gazelle, Report on Iranian Business," bankers discussed how to increase "wallet share" with Iranian clients.

Standard Chartered's stock fell 8 percent in the final 15 minutes of trading in London amid reports of the US probe on Monday. Standard Chartered shares closed down 6.2 percent at 14.70 pounds ($22.91).

Chairman John Peace, CEO Peter Sands and Finance Director Richard Meddings could not be reached for comment, and the bank declined to comment beyond its brief statement. 

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir:ask Election Commission (EC) Don’t hold polls under party Government,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

DHAKA: BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the election commission (EC) will make a mistake if it decides to hold the upcoming national elections under a party government.

He said, “Elections under a party government would not be allowed in Bangladesh. It is not possible.”

He came up with the remarks after placing wreath on BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman’s grave marking the 23rd founding anniversary of Doctors’ Association of Bangladesh (DAB) on Monday.

Fakhrul said, “We are appreciating EC’s decision of not using EVM system in the polls.”

Regarding the issue of restoring caretaker government system, he said, “The demand of restoring CG system now became the demand of people. Further talks with the government possible only if the demand will be met.”

Regarding Grameen bank issue, the opposition leader said, “The bank has its own entity. But, the government is plotting to destroy the bank.”

Meanwhile, he expressed his hope that the government will not take any negative step that could affect the bank.

71th Death Anniversary of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

DHAKA: The 71th death anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was observed Monday, the 22nd of the Bengali month of Shraban, with elaborate programmes reflecting a rich literary life spanning over 60 years.

Bangladesh and India observed the day with chalk out different programmes.

Different government and socio-cultural organizations chalked out special programmes to mark the occasion.

Tagore dominates the Bangla literary scene with copiousness of works: over 10,000 poems, nearly two dozen plays and playlets, 12 novels, over 100 short stories, more than 6,000 songs and a mass of prose works on literary, social, religious, political and other topics.

Add to these his English translations, paintings, travels and lecture-tours in Asia, America, and Europe, and his activities as an educationist, as a social and religious reformer, and as a politician.

Tagore was the only litterateur who penned anthems of three nations--Amar Sonar Bangla, the Bangladeshi national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, the Indian national anthem, and Namo Namo Matha, the Sri Lankan national anthem.

As author of Gitanjali with its ‘profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verses’, he was the first non-European and the first Bengali-speaking person to be awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

Tagore modernized Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation.

His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: the Republic of India`s Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla. The composer of Sri Lanka’s national anthem: Sri Lanka Matha was a student of Tagore, and the song is inspired by Tagore’s style.

The youngest of 13 surviving children, Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Kolkata of parents Debendranath Tagore (1817-1905) and Sarada Devi (1830-1875). His ancestral home was in Pithabhog village under Rupsha upazila of Khulna, then part of British India; now Bangladesh.

To mark the day, Bangla Academy held a solo lecture and cultural function in its seminar room at about 3:00 pm on August 6. Mizarul Quayes will deliver the lecture titled `Three women figure in Rabindranath’s drama’.

Director-General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan delivered the welcome address, while Academy Chairman Professor Anisuzzaman presided over the function.

Shilpakala Academy, Chayanat, private Television Channels observed the day with arrange of discussion-sing song and dance.

Joint River Commission's (JRC) to protect riverbanks on Sylhet border unfinished,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The Joint River Commission's (JRC) project for protecting riverbanks on the Sylhet-Assam border and saving the country's territory from depletion has remained mostly incomplete although its three-year schedule ended on 30 June this year.

Only Tk 7.6 crore was given in three years against the total sanction of Tk 21 crore for the project.

"The project is extremely important for saving the country's border as a 26-kilometre stretch along the midstream of Surma and 30 kilometres on Kushiyara is officially considered the border line with India. Continuous erosion on the Bangladesh sides of the rivers is causing depletion of our territory," said Shailen Chandra Paul, executive engineer of Water Development Board (WDB) in Sylhet.

During the last 20 years Bangladesh has lost at least 150 acres of land at Amolshid point, where the Indian Barak River, bifurcating as Surma and Kushiara, enters Bangladesh.

With recurrent erosion on Amolshid point of the rivers due to strong current during monsoon, new patches of landmass has appeared on the Indian side where Indian Border Security Force has constructed observation towers.

“If measures are not taken, erosion on other points like Haidrabond, Sharifganj, Bhuiyarmura and Bhoktipur would take serious turn just with the start of receding water when erosion is usually triggered by strong current,” said the WDB official.

Although the three-year project was officially launched in 2009-2010, it took the authorities a year to hand over the first installment of Tk 2.75 crore. It was followed by another installment of only Tk 4.85 crore in 2011-2012, officials informed.

Now two-year extension is being considered for completing the works, said Abdul Kalam Azad, superintending engineer, WDB, Sylhet, told this correspondent.

Late funding along with the contractors' lack of interest due to remote location of the project work and uncertainty in payment caused delay in the work, officials said, adding that the delay will surely lead to cost escalation and further loss of our territory, said an official.

WDB Executive Engineer of Sylhet Shailen Chandra Paul said, "Works were hampered mainly due to poor response from contractors. As for example, tender was called recently for the third time for Tk 4 crore JRC's protection work at Haidrabond on Kushiyara riverbank.

The works will be taken up when the ongoing monsoon is over, he said.

In two years, WDB did some work to partially build the Kushiara dyke but it is only 3.5 and a half kilometres long against the targeted 12 km. Due to delay in implementation of the project, erosion took its toll at places reducing the country's territory on the border areas, sources said.

But on the other side of the border, the Water Resources Division in Assam has already completed necessary protection works.

The whole programme was earlier finalised at a joint meeting of officials of the WDB, Sylhet region, and the officials of the Water Resources Division of Karimganj, Assam. Besides, the year-wise work plan was exchanged at an additional chief engineer-level meeting at WDB Rest House at Zakiganj borders in October 2010.