BNP calls hartal for Thursday,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

BNP has called a countrywide hartal for Thursday protesting a Dhaka court order that rejected the bail petitions of its leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 others and sent them to jail in an arson case.

BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan announced the hartal Wednesday evening at a press conference at the party’s central office at Naya Paltan in the capital.

Earlier in the afternoon, a Dhaka court rejected the bail appeal of 33 leaders and activists of 18-party alliance and ordered sending them to jail in an arson case filed for torching a vehicle near the Prime Minister's Office during hartal on April 29.

Fakhrul, 32 others sent to jail 10 hurt as pro-BNP lawyers and 18-party men clash with police; 2 vehicles torched

BANGLADESH NEWS

Thirty-three top 18-party alliance leaders including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir landed in jail on Wednesday after their bail petitions were rejected in an arson case.

At least 10 people including pro-BNP lawyers and 18-party leaders and activists sustained injuries as they clashed with the law enforcers following the court order.

Meanwhile, miscreants torched two vehicles -- one in Karwan Bazar and another at AGB Colony in Motijheel of the city after the leaders were sent to jail.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Erfanullah sent the accused leaders to jail around 1:45pm.

Earlier, the accused leaders surrendered before the court around 9:30am following the direction of a third bench of the High Court and filed two separate petitions for bail.

The pro-BNP lawyers and the BNP leaders and activists who gathered in and outside the court following the surrender of the 18-party leaders burst into rages when the court passed the order.

They also chanted slogans demanding the unconditional release of their leaders and activists and against the government.

At one stage, police charged batons on the agitating demonstrators to take the situation under control, leaving 10 people injured.

Of the injured, advocate Hossain Ali Khan, a pro-BNP lawyer, was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital from National Medical College Hospital as his condition deteriorated.

Earlier, police picked up 11 BNP and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists at the court area on charge of creating chaos, said Khurshid Hossain, deputy commissioner of Lalbagh zone.

A total of 45 leaders and workers of 18-party alliance, including BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul, Mirza Abbas and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed; and Liberal Democratic Party President Oli Ahmed were made accused in the case for torching a vehicle near the Prime Minister's Office during hartal hours on April 29.

Of the accused, four 18-party leaders and activists including Jamaat-e-Islami acting ameer Mokbul Ahmed did not surrender before the court, a BNP leader told .

On the other hand, police earlier arrested BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed and six others in the same case.

They are now in jail custody while another accused, BNP lawmaker barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon, had secured bail till May 20 from a trial court.

Security has been strengthened in and around the court premises prior to the surrender of the opposition leaders.

ARSON CASE

Tejgaon police filed a case against a number of leaders and workers of 18-party alliance, including Mirza Fakhrul, Mirza Abbas and Oli Ahmed, hours after a vehicle was set ablaze near the PMO during hartal hours on April 29.

The same day, Ramna police filed another case against top leaders of the alliance for exploding a 'bomb' at the Bangladesh Secretariat that day.

After the cases were filed, the top BNP leaders accused went into hiding and turned up at the High Court on May 7 to seek bail.

But a two-member HC bench delivered dissenting orders on seven bail petitions.

Meanwhile on May 10, detectives pressed charges against 45 leaders and activists of BNP-led 18-party alliance, including the BNP acting secretary general in the case.

DISSENTING ORDER

Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, senor judge of a High Court bench, granted anticipatory bail to the accused until police submits their reports on the cases. He issued seven separate rules upon the government to explain in four weeks as to why the petitioners should not be granted regular bail.

Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder, the other judge, however, directed the politicians accused to surrender before the magistrate's court concerned within seven days and ordered law enforcers not to harass or arrest them during the period.

Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain sent the case to a third HC bench on May 10 for its final disposal.

The third bench on Sunday ordered the 37 accused to surrender before the trial court.

Accordingly, they surrendered before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

8 vehicles set afire, 5 held,Dhaka-Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

At least eight vehicles were torched in the capital and in Savar until Wednesday evening after 33 leaders and activists of BNP-led 18-party alliance were sent to jail in connection with an arson case.

Police meanwhile arrested five people on charge of torching a bus in the capital’s Shantibagh area in the evening.

Seven buses and a taxi cab were set on fire in different parts of the capital including Karwan Bazar, AGB Colony in Motijheel, Panthapath, Mirpur, Shantibagh and Gopibagh while the report was filed at 8:15pm.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman, in-charge of Media and Community Service of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, confirmed the arrest of five people in connection with setting fire to a bus at Shantibagh.

In Savar, unidentified miscreants set fire to a bus in front of the National Memorial around 6:30pm and vandalised several others.

Earlier around 1:45pm, a Dhaka court sent 33 leaders and activists of 18-party alliance to jail rejecting their bail petition in an arson case filed for torching a vehicle near the Prime Minister's Office during hartal on April 29.

At least 10 people including pro-BNP lawyers and 18-party leaders and activists sustained injuries as they clashed with the law enforcers in and around the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Dhaka to protest the court order.

Malaysia agrees to recruit Bangladeshi workers

BANGLADESH NEWS

Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur in principle agreed recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia under government arrangements to reduce the cost of sending workers and end their abuses.

“Under this process, those seeking jobs in Malaysia will be registered with the government. Malaysia then will facilitate recruitments by their employers,” Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said at his ministry on Wednesday.

The minister, who returned from Malaysia early Wednesday, said under such arrangements, the cost of sending workers to Malaysia would not be more than Tk 50,000. However, if any employer bears the airfare, the cost would be limited to Tk 30,000 to 35,000.

The minister held meetings with Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam.

They all said they are very interested to recruit workers from Bangladesh, but want a totally transparent process where there will be no middlemen and migrants will not have to pay high cost to go there, Mosharraf Hossain said.

Stating that many of the irregular foreign workers in Malaysia were victims of human trafficking, he said, “Malaysia is very concerned about human trafficking. They want to improve their status.”

“Malaysian home minister clearly said it is the dajjals (brokers), both in Bangladesh and Malaysia, who are creating problems. They are embarrassed about it,” the minister said.

Mosharraf Hossain said 2.67 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia were irregular. It happened because they overstayed there to recover the money they spent to go there. The cost of going in Malaysia in 2007-08 was very high. Also, brokers used ill practices to hire workers more than required, which is why many were jobless and were on the streets, he noted.

He clarified that the government does not want to do business by sending workers to Malaysia, but at the same time it cannot sit idle if the private agencies and brokers create troubles for the workers that lead to exploitation.

Suranjit announces his comeback,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Three days after a departmental probe body has given Suranjit Sengupta a clean chit in the railwaygate scam, he said on Wednesday he is coming back to politics.

"I will return to politics, will take the responsibility of serving the people," the embattled minister disclosed it to the media during a press briefing at his Zigatola residence.

The former railway minister's announcement came just a month after his statement that he would stay away from politics until he came 'clear' through investigation terming it a "break" in his political career.

On query whether he will take charge of the Railway Ministry if he is requested for, he said he had never failed to carry out his responsibility and will not.

During the Wednesday's press briefing, Suranjit came down heavily on the media for not giving him opportunity to prove his innocence based on 'benefit of doubt'.

Suranjit claimed that he deserves the opportunity of 'benefit of doubt' as he has a 55 years clean political career and people considered him as an honest politician.

The seven-time parliamentarian from Sunamganj in the northeast region also claimed that during his long political career, he fought against militancy and terrorism taking risk of his life.

On the cash haul, he said, "Now it is clear, the money belongs to whom and who has deposited the money to bank."

Suranjit stepped down from his position on April 16 nearly five months into his taking over as railway minister following the recovery of Tk 70 lakh from the microbus of his assistant personal secretary.

On April 9 night, Omar Faruq Talukder's microbus driver Ali Azam drove the vehicle carrying Faruq, and two railway officials Yusuf Ali Mridha and Enamul Huq to the Border Guard Bangladesh headquarters in the capital. The driver shouted at the guards that there was illegal money in the microbus.

BGB personnel searched the vehicle and found Tk 70 lakh, reportedly collected from new recruits in railway's east zone, stashed in the vehicle. They detained the four but released them the next day after verifying their identity.

Faruq was sacked, and railway general manager (east zone) Mridha and its divisional security commandant Enamul Huq were suspended following the incident.

Taking responsibility for the incident, Suranjit stepped down as railway minister on April 16. But the government retained him as a minister without portfolio.

During his nearly 30 minutes briefing starting from 10:20am, Suranjit also ridiculed the media for involving his son Soumen Sengupta with the cash haul.

He said after the submission of departmental probe report, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) now became clear about the source of Tk 5 crore with which Soumen has obtained an interconnection exchange licence from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

The minister without portfolio said, "My son like other participants applied for the BTRC licence and got it."

The veteran Awami League leader also urged the media to act in responsibly and impartially.

He also claimed that he had earlier decided to stay away from politics for the sake of a fair investigation and to set an example in the history of the country.

On query if the departmental body has the jurisdiction to probe his involvement with the Tk 70 lakh scam, he said the committed was formed to investigate the overall scam and it did not find his involvement with the scandal.

The two-member departmental probe body which did not find Suranjit's link with the railwaygate scam was actually formed to investigate the alleged involvement of two high officials of the railway ministry.

Body formed to review Grameen Bank operation,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The government has set up a four-member commission to review the entire operation of Grameen Bank and its associated organisations.

The commission will look into the "purposes, legal status and operations" of Grameen Bank and its related organisations, the Banking and Financial Institution Division said in a notice on Wednesday.

The committee, led by former secretary Mamunur Rashid, will report to the Banking Division in three months, the notice added.

The action of the government came barely a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's two-day visit to Bangladesh when she said the US government would not endorse any action of the Bangladesh government to undermine the achievements of the Grameen Bank.

Online tax payment from May 26

BANGLADESH NEWS

Chittagong, May 15 People would be able to pay tax online starting May 26, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed said on Tuesday.

Starting September, people would also be able to apply for Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) online, he also said while speaking at a pre-budget discussion with Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

On the relation between the national budget and NBR, he said: "Budget-making is a political decision. NBR just plays some role in the process."

"I hope the next budget would reflect the businessmen's aspirations," he added.

The NBR chairman also said collection of revenue had exceeded the target ever since the incumbent government assumed office.

A process to automate the Chittagong port was underway, he informed. 

Europe crisis hits Bangladesh exports

BANGLADESH NEWS

Dhaka, May 15 Bangladesh's exports in April fell 7.13 percent from a year earlier to $1.89 billion, the Export Promotion Bureau said, more evidence that the euro zone debt crisis is affecting the country's economy.

April was the second straight month of declining exports. In March, exports fell 7.23 percent to $1.98 billion.

Due to reduced orders from Europe, business leaders said Bangladesh is unlikely to achieve its target for exports of $26.5 billion in the fiscal that ends June 30. That target is 15 percent higher than the record $23 billion in exports in the last fiscal year.

Total exports for July-April, the first 10 months of the financial year, were up 8.4 percent from a year earlier, to nearly $19.8 billion.

In July-April, earnings from key readymade garments rose 9.6 percent from a year earlier to $15.5 billion.

In recent years, Bangladesh's economy and exports have been boosted by a dramatic shift in garment orders from China to lower-cost Bangladesh.

Garment export is one of country's key drivers, along with remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas.

Europe and the United States are Bangladesh's main export destinations, accounting for losses to 70 percent of its overseas sales of garments.  

Bomb materials seized from LDP office: cops,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Chittagong, May 15  Police detectives claimed to have recovered on Tuesday raw materials used to make bomb from the Chittagong office of the Liberal Democratic Party, an ally of the main opposition BNP.

The unassembled bomb components, including two kilograms of powdered iron, 12 rolls of black tape, half kg gunpowder and 30 empty cans of chewing tobacco, were found at LDP's Nandankanan office on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch A K M Tanvir Arafat told bdnews24.com.

The detectives broke locks to enter the offices of Chittagong district's north and south units of LDP around 11:15pm, he said.

"There was a plan to create anarchy," he said.

An LDP activist Idris Ali was detained from the area after the drive that followed a tip-off, Arafat said. "He used to man the office."

Earlier in the day, LDP President Oli Ahmed said at a discussion in Dhaka that the BNP-led 18-party alliance would 'finish a game started by the government'.

"The prime minister thinks that the game is over as cases have been filed. But the game is not over yet; it has just begun. We'll end the game," he said.

He said the cases against top opposition leaders over violence during a shutdown were baseless.

The LDP chief instead blamed the government for blasts during hartal hours.

"They (ruling Awami League) themselves exploded cocktail bombs and lodged cases against opposition leaders," he said.

A vehicle had been torched in front of the PMO and crude bombs were hurled at the Secretariat during the countrywide shutdown on Apr 29 protesting the 'disappearance' of one of the party's organising secretaries, M Ilias Ali.

Police had filed two cases at Tejgaon and Shahbagh accusing a number of top opposition leaders. The accused leaders are on bail now. 

Govt miscalculated power demand: Finance Minister A M A Muhith,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Dhaka, May 15 Finance Minister A M A Muhith has admitted that the government made a mistake in assessing the demand for power.

"We made the mistake in calculating the actual electricity demand," he told a pre-budget discussion at a city hotel on Tuesday. "When we estimated the demand to be 5,000MW, it stood 3,000MW ahead of that," he said.

"We had set a target to generate 7,000MW power within 2015. But now we will need to produce 9,000MW," the finance minister said.

Private TV channel Maasranga and the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries had jointly organised the discussion.

The government has been facing widespread criticism over the power crisis. Although 3,000MW has been added to the national power grid over the past three years of the Awami League-led government, load-shedding remains a recurring phenomenon on account of the demand exceeding the supply.

According to the Power Development Board, the country produced 5,100MW on Monday, while the demand on the day was 6,100MW.

'Agri subsidy to continue'

The finance minister said the amount of subsidy for the agriculture sector in the budget for 2012-2013 fiscal would remain the same as in the current budget.

"We'll have to give the agriculture sector Tk 60 billion by way of subsidy. It will remain unchanged in the next budget," he said.

Former Agriculture Advisor to the Caretaker Government C S Karim said, "Production will get affected if farmers do not get fair price for their produce. Its effect will be much more dangerous than that of power or fuel crisis."

He suggested the government not to export rice for now.

Inflation

Muhith also admitted that 'excessive' bank loans taken by the government had impacted inflation.

"It is right that we have taken lots of loan from banks. It impacts inflation," he said.

"But," he added, "inflation is basically caused due to hike in prices of fuel oil and other commodities in the international market."

He also talked of devaluation of taka against US dollar as one of the reasons pushing inflation.