The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Election Commission yesterday sent letter to BNP Acting Secretary General Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed inviting the reformist faction of BNP to sit for dialogue on electoral reforms, ending all speculations.

The development pushed the anti-reform faction led by BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain, who was appointed by its Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia immediately before her arrest on September 3 removing Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, on the sidelines.

The Election Commission (EC) sent the letter to Major Hafiz following decision of a meeting Commission earlier in the day. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda presided over the meeting attended by Election Commissioners Brig Gen (retd) Shakhawat Hossain and Sohul Hossain. The Election Commission resolved that BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was deprived of 'natural justice' since he was sacked without giving a personal hearing, which he deserves as per the party constitution.

EC Secretary M Humayun Kabir disclosed this yesterday afternoon at a press conference at the EC Secretariat.

In a written statement on behalf of the EC, he said, "The Commission has unanimously decided to send invitation letter to BNP Acting Secretary General Hafizuddin Ahmad, Beer Bikram, to join the dialogue scheduled for November 22,"

"The Commission thinks that the decisions taken by the BNP National Standing Committee on October 31 is appropriate after examining the party constitution," he added.

CEC Dr ATM Shamusl Huda earlier said the Commission would take a decision as to which faction of the BNP it would invite to the dialogue after examining the party constitution.

Accepting the letter, Major Hafiz told journalists that they would participate in the EC's dialogue on November 22 and extend all necessary cooperation to the EC for holding a free, fair and credible elections and electoral reforms.

Meanwhile, pro-Khandaker Delwar acting office secretary of the BNP Rizvee Ahmed yesterday claimed, "Party Chairperson Begum Zia in a message through her legal counsel Advocate Shamusr Rahman Shimul Biswas said Khandaker Delwar Hossain is the legal Secretary General of the BNP."

In a related development, BNP Acting Chairman M Saifur Rahman last evening thanked the EC for inviting party Acting Secretary General Major Hafiz to the dialogue on electoral reform.

Briefing journalists at his Gulshan residence, the former Finance Minister said the BNP would take preparation for contesting the upcoming general election and work for the progress of the country unitedly sinking all differences.

"Begum Zia is our leader and there should not be any confusion about it. We want that all our leaders and workers would work together for the coming elections," said Saifur Rahman, who presided over the October 31 meeting of the BNP National Standing Committee.

BNP Standing Committee Dr RA Ghani, who was present at the October 31 meeting that appointed Major Hafiz as Acting Secretary General, yesterday said that meeting and its decision was not valid, as its was not convened by the party Chairperson.

The statement of the Election Commission said the EC received letters from the two factions of the BNP and added saying, "In the light of the provisions of the party constitution, the Election Commission 'intensively reviewed' all the letters and the enclosed documents received from the rivals (groups) in the party."

Citing the BNP declaration and 5(c) provision of its constitution (amended till November 30, 1995), the statement also reads: "In case of necessity, if the Standing Committee meeting can not be called, the party Chairperson, if thinks punishable, can take any punitive step immediately against any member and can also withdraw previously taken punitive step under his or her jurisdiction."

"But, the approval of the National Standing Committee would have to be taken in all cases as soon as possible. The Chairperson or the Standing Committee, if thinks fit, can give the alleged person an opportunity of personal hearing prior to taking the punitive step," the provision goes on.

However, the EC said it was visible that the party Chairperson had considered only one side of the provision while taking her decision.

"Under the same provision, the rule of giving the alleged person an opportunity of personal hearing was ignored in this case. In this process, the Commission thinks, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was deprived 'natural justice' that he deserved as per the Constitution," the EC observed.

"Though the above-mentioned provision was ignored, the Commission thinks that following the section, which says, ' the approval of the National Standing Committee shall have to be taken in all cases as soon as possible' is inevitable to ensure such kind of punitive step," the EC statement pointed out.

The EC also observed that it thinks that the aforesaid obligatory provision was apparently followed in the BNP Standing Committee meeting held on October 31.

It also pointed out that among the living 14 members of the Standing Committee, three are currently in confinement and two did not join the meeting. The meeting was attended by a total of seven members, which "fulfilled the quorum".

AP, Islamabad

Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.

Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and is also head of Pakistan's army, suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his re-election as president was legal. He ousted independent-minded judges, stripped media freedoms and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.

Though public anger was mounting in the nation of 160 million people, which has been under military rule for much of its 60-year history, demonstrations so far have been limited largely to activists, rights workers and lawyers. All have been quickly and sometimes brutally stamped out.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

At a news conference in the West Bank on Monday, Rice urged Musharraf to follow through on past promises to "take off his uniform."

"I want to be very clear," she said, as a team of U.S. defense officials postponed plans to travel to Islamabad for talks Tuesday because of the crisis. "We believe that the best path for Pakistan is to quickly return to a constitutional path and then to hold elections."

Britain also said it was reviewing its aid package to Pakistan, and the Dutch government suspended its aid on Monday.

Musharraf reiterated to foreign ambassadors Monday that he was committed to complete the transition to democracy, though, under a state of emergency, elections scheduled for January could be pushed back by up to a year, according to the government.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government, under mounting pressure from Western allies after declaring emergency rule, has decided to hold a general election by mid-January, the government's top lawyer said on Monday.

Attorney-General Malik Abdul Qayyum said Pakistan's National and provincial assemblies will be dissolved in 10 days' time.

Critics say Musharraf imposed emergency rule in a last-ditch attempt to cling to power.

His leadership is threatened by the Islamic militant movement that has spread from border regions to the capital, the reemergence of political rival and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, and an increasingly defiant Supreme Court, which has been virtually decimated in the last two days.

Since late Saturday, between 1,500 and 1,800 people have been detained nationwide, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. They include opposition leaders, lawyers and human rights activists who might mobilize protests.

At least 67 workers and supporters of Bhutto - who has held talks in recent months with Musharraf over an alliance to fight extremism - had been arrested, said Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Lawyers - who were the driving force behind protests earlier this year when Musharraf tried unsuccessfully to fire independent-minded chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry - attempted to stage rallies in major cities on Monday, but were beaten and arrested.

Chaudhry was removed from his post on Saturday, just as the Supreme Court was preparing to rule on whether Musharraf's Oct. 6 re-election. Opponents say he should be disqualified because he contested the vote as army chief.

In the biggest gathering Monday, about 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore. As lawyers tried to exit onto a main road, hundreds of police stormed inside, swinging batons and firing tear gas. Lawyers, shouting "Go Musharraf Go!" responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches.

Police bundled about 250 lawyers into waiting vans, an Associated Press reporter saw. At least two were bleeding from the head.

In the capital, Islamabad, hundreds of police and paramilitary troops lined roads and rolled out barbed-wire barricades on Monday to seal off the Supreme Court.

Only government employees heading for nearby ministries were allowed through. Two black-suited lawyers whose car was stopped by police argued in vain that they should be granted entry. They were eventually escorted away by two police cars.

A few dozen activists from hard-line Islamic parties gathered nearby, chanting slogans including "Hang, Musharraf, hang!"

As well as calling for protests, lawyers' groups have vowed to boycott all court proceedings held in front of new judges sworn by Musharraf.

Rana Bhagwandas, a Supreme Court judge who refused to take oath under Musharraf's proclamation of emergency orders, said he has been locked inside in his official residence in Islamabad and that other judges were being pressured to support the government.

"They are still working on some judges, they are under pressure," Bhagwandas told Geo TV in a phone interview.

Authorities have imprisoned or put under house arrest key Musharraf critics, among them Javed Hashmi, the acting president of the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; cricket star-turned politician, Imran Khan; Asma Jehangir, chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan; and Hamid Gul, former chief of the main intelligence agency.

Pakistan's largest religious party Jamaat-e-Islami reported that more than 500 of its workers and supporters had been detained since Sunday, including its leader, according to senior members of the party and police.

Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum said Sunday a new panel of Supreme Court judges would rule "as early as possible" on Musharraf's eligibility for a new five-year presidential term.

Staff Reporter

Arrested yaaba don Mahbubur Rahman Joinal, MD of Hotel Purbani and his mistress yaaba queen Zannatul Ferdous Akhi alias Nikita started to give important information about the dangerous drug to the Rapid Action Battalion.

At a press conference at the RAB-3 office at Tikatuli Col Sultan Ahmed Nurani said this to journalists, while describing details of their operation of arresting them.

He said RAB got few names of yaaba dealers and drug peddlers, but he did not disclose any further about them for the interest of investigation.

RAB is investigating whether Joinal has any diamond smuggling connection.

Earlier, RAB questioned Joinal and Nikita yesterday after their arrest from the court premises and got interesting information about their lavish life style.

Nikta is a daughter of an employee whose monthly income is only Tk 7,500 but she used to lead a very lavish life. She changed her skin by plastic surgery costing Tk 70 lakh and to maintain her skin she needs Tk 60,000 per month. She had two permanent servants to massage lotion on her skin. RAB said the dresses and shoes Joinal and Nikita used to wear were of most costly brands.

In a family trip to Cox's Bazar Tk two lakh of Joinal got wet while taking bath in the sea. Col Nurani said this gives an idea of their lavish life style.

Zannatul Ferdous Akhi alias Nikita is not the wife of Joinal. They were engaged to be married.

Nikita was wife of MP of Kushtia-3 Sohrab Uddin of BNP. They got married in 2004. But only after two months Nikita got introduced to a young expatriate from Korea over Internet and fell in love with him.

The young man sent Tk one lakh per month and loved Nikita very much. In 2006 Nikita divorced MP Sohrab and got engaged to the Korean expatriate, but on the day of the engagement Nikita met Joinal and was attracted by his wealth and power.

Nikita then established relationship with Joinal for which the Korean expatriate tried to commit suicide but survived after fighting the death for 127 days.

At a stage Nikita and Joinal decided to marry each other and in the engagement of their marriage Joinal gave an engagement ring worth Tk 15 lakh. After the engagement of Nikita and Joinal, sister of Nikita, Pushpita got married with industrialist MNH Bulu. Joinal bore all the expenses of the marriage of Pushpita. Joinal bought a Tk 15 lakh ring for Pushpita's engagement.

After Pushpita's marriage Bulu arranged a family trip to the Cox's Bazar chartering an aircraft of GMG airlines. But Nikita refused to go with all the family members, as she is the mistress of Purbani MD Joinal. On the next day Joinal and Nikita went to Cox's Bazar hiring the aircraft only for the two. In Cox's Bazar the family members stayed at normal rooms of Hotel Sea Gull but Joinal and Nikita stayed at the presidential suite of the hotel, the rent of which is Tk 27,000 per night.

Few days ago Nikita and Joinal went to Tokyo where they spent Tk 1.5 crore in their 11-day visit.

RAB-3 wing Commander Col Nurani said Joinal could not give salary to his employees in the hotel Purbani but lived such a lavish life. RAB would investigate the source of his illegal income and would detect other yaaba dealers with the help of the arrested two.

It may be mentioned that RAB-3 arrested Joinal and Nikita from the court premises on Sunday evening after a long operation.

Suspected yaba-baron Amin Huda and his associate Ahsanul Haque Hasan were again taken on a two-day remand each in two cases involving clandestine trade in the dangerous drug, as a hunt continued through the city.

After completing 8 days on remand given on October 27, police took them to the court of additional CMM Shawkat Ali Chowdhury Monday and prayed for a further 5-day remand each in the two cases filed against them with Gulshan police station under the Special Powers and Narcotics Acts.

Huda, nephew of business-tycoon Aziz Mohammad Bhai, and Ahsan were given to police remand by magistrate Mshawkat Ali Chowdhury at about 3:30pm after rejecting prayer for 10-day remand in both the cases.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a raid on the Gulshan residence of alleged Yaba dealer Shafiqul Islam Jewel early Monday seized huge Yaba tablets, phensidyl syrup, porno CDs and a luxurious car.

RAB sources said they arrested the notorious Yaba dealer, locally known as 'Yaba Jewel', on Sunday evening. Acting on his confessional statement, they raided the residences of Jewel and his sister at Niketan residential area at about 4am.

Staff Reporter

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Mohammad Abdul Mazid yesterday hinted at unfreezing billion-dollar accounts to restore confidence of tycoons and smooth functioning of their business.

The newly appointed NBR chairman told this at a press briefing following a meeting with the leaders of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). He assured the business delegation not to harass anybody without any valid reason. The NBR chief, however, said that suing the tax dodgers would go on and he would continue his organisation's utmost efforts to fulfil the revenue target.

"We want to surpass the target, not only touch the target," he said. "And for that we will take two types of initiatives. One is revenue collection and restore (businessmen's) lost confidence in us, and the other is research and development in the revenue sector."

The NBR chairman also said that his organisation would hold dialogue, workshop and discussion meeting with the stakeholders regularly to take good decision that could be implemented. "I will not take any decision that can't be implemented."

The government fixed a target of Tk 43,850 crore from the revenue sector for the current fiscal year. In the first quarter, the NBR collected Tk 9,301.05 crore against the target of Tk 9,051.46 crore.

Of the total, Tk 4080.08 crore came from imports, Tk 3,218.39 crore from VAT, 1,879.97 crore from income tax and Tk 122.61 crore from other heads.

The growth in the revenue sector in the first quarter of the fiscal is 21.33 per cent.

DCCI president Hossain Khaled, in the meeting, urged the chief revenue collector to take steps for revival of confidence in the business sector which is yet to be regain even after the administrative change in NBR.

"To restore confidence will take time… once lost it takes a while to get back confidence," Hossain Khaled told journalists after the meeting.

But he praised the government initiative for reforms in the business sector, such as forming Bangladesh Better Business Forum, to restore confidence among the businesspeople.

The DCCI president said that due to various reform programmes in the country, the businesses might face some adverse impact for the time being. "But this must be kept at a tolerable level."

BSS, Dhaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has completed preliminary investigation into the allegations of corruption against 11 persons, including Mayor of Dhaka Sadek Hossain Khoka, and Awami League presidium members Tofail Ahmed and Sajeda Chowdhury.

The ACC published names of 35 corruption suspects in the fourth list on October 4 and started the preliminary enquiry into the allegations against the 11 persons.

Director General (Admin) of the ACC Col Hanif Iqbal said yesterday that concerned enquiry officers (EOs) have submitted their reports to the commission, which are now being scrutinised.

After completion of the scrutiny, the ACC would take next steps against the corruption suspects, he said while briefing reporters at the ACC headquarters in the city.

The ACC DG said the preliminary investigation into the allegations against the rest 24 persons of the fourth list would be conducted gradually on the basis of the capacity of the ACC. He said the commission cannot start enquiry into the all allegations at a time due to shortage of manpower and other capacities.

Col Hanif said the investigation officer (IO) has submitted the report on the GATCO case against former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia and 12 others.

But, he denied the press report that the IO has recommended for implicating eight former ministers and eight secretaries in the case.

"I cannot recall any such recommendation made by the IO. The matter is still under process. The report of the case is now under scrutiny," he said while his attention was drawn about the report.

"You may get information from many sources that may be right or wrong. But so far I am concerned, all information must be official, objective and true," he added.

Col Hanif said the chairman of the ACC would launch his social motivational campaign against corruption in the southern parts of the country on November 19.

During the visit, the ACC DG said the chairman will visit Barisal, Shariatpur and Madaripur, and join views-exchanging meetings with cross sections of people.

The ACC chairman would also establish coordination between refurbished divisional offices and field-level offices in the region as per the new organogram.

Under the new restructuring programme, the ACC has reduced the number of its district offices from 54 to 22. As per the plan, six divisional offices, which would be reorganised under the new organogram, would coordinate with the district offices.

He said senior and efficient officials from the headquarters would be transferred to the divisional and district offices to expedite the activities of the ACC across the country.

Replying to a question, the ACC DG said the transfer would be made for administrative purposes and necessity of the commission, so that it can function actively even outside Dhaka.

Col Hanif said the ACC filed a case yesterday against Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury Rabiul, assistant personal secretary (APS) of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, on charge of acquiring huge wealth beyond his legal incomes.

Referring to the recent visit of Transparency International (TI) Chair Dr Huguette Labelle in Bangladesh, he said Dr Labelle discussed the programmes being implemented in Bangladesh with the cooperation of the Bangladesh chapter of the TI.

He said the TIB is providing support for the ACC to create public awareness, mass communication and capacity-building. Under the programmes, a two-week course has been taken for the officers involved in the enquiry and investigation into the cases, he said.

Staff Reporter

Adviser for the ministry of LGRD Mohammed Anwarul Iqbal said the cost of cyber crime was a burden on the developing countries and a law was necessary to combat the crime.

Quoting International Law News the adviser said cyber crime had grown to be larger than illicit drug sales worldwide and the analysis estimate that online fraud fetches 105 billion US dollars in 2007 alone.

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the first Regional Cyber Crime Seminar 2007 at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel yesterday.

The three-daylong seminar will be participated by experts from Australia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Nepal and host Bangladesh under the Police Reform Programme of the UN and support of the Australian Federal Police.

The adviser said cyber crime, as a transnational crime, is a global issue with a global impact and seminar of this kind would help the experts to combat the crime.

In recent years cyber crime is a phenomenon that is well known in the technologically developed countries where computer hackers break passwords and leak important information of person, organisation and even state. Hackers also attack banks and take away money by breaking passwords.

In Bangladesh the range of cyber crime is still not alarming but the number of Internet users are growing rapidly, so it poses a great threat to the country as already reports of pornographic sites were found.

Abdul Karim, secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Douglas Foskett, Australian High Commissioner to Dhaka, Larry Maramis, Deputy Country Director, UNDP Bangladesh, Naba Bikram K Tripura, Additional Inspector General and National Project Director of the Police Reform programme and Hubert Staberhofer, Programme Manager, PRP were present at the ceremony.

Staff Reporter

Former BNP MP Salahuddin Ahmed's wife Mrs Shamsunnahar and son Imran Ahmed were yesterday awarded eight years of jail sentences each in two separate tax evasion cases filed by National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Judge Amal Kumar Roy of Special Judge Court-2 situated at parliament complex in the city delivered the judgement.

The court also ordered to confiscate their wealth amounting to Tk 8.26 crore and deposit it to the public exchequer.

At the same time, the court fined the convicts Tk 2.27 crore. In default, they will have to suffer one year of more jail sentence.

The convicts were awarded five years of rigorous imprisonment for concealing the information of their wealth in the income tax return submitted to the NBR and three years of jail sentence in providing false information.

The court, however, said the judgement would be effective from the day of the arrest or surrender of the convicts.

In another case of NBR, Imran Ahmed was fined Tk 2.05 crore, in default, he will have to suffer six months in jail.

Both the convicts have been absconding since the cases were filed against them by the NBR. SM Ibrahim, additional commissioner of taxes, filed the cases with the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court on September 16 last.

The case against Salahuddin's wife Shamsunnahar in brief is that she did not mention anything about her lands, flats, private cars, investments in the share markets and deposits in the banks in her income tax returns from the fiscal year 2002-2003 to the fiscal year 2006-07. During these years, she concealed the information of wealth of Tk 97.50 lakh and evaded income tax amounting to Tk 21.32 lakh. A total of 13 witnesses submitted depositions to the court.

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh Bank yesterday asked commercial banks to raise their capital to Tk 200 crore by June 2009, in compliance with the Bank Company (Amendment) Act, 2007.

The banks will have to increase half of the capital of Tk 100 crore by June 2008 and the rest by June 2009, said a circular issued yesterday.

The Council of Advisers in July last, approved the draft of the Bank Companies (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 updating the Bank Companies Act 1991 in order to streamline the banking sector.

The bankers at that time said that immediate implementation of this rule will be impossible for small banks as the paid-up capital of bank has been doubled to Tk 200 crore from earlier Tk 100 crore.

"If this provision is implemented immediately, small banks will not be able to exist. Small banks will be forced to be merged with bigger ones," one of the bankers told this correspondent.

However, the statement on the objective of the amended law left a space for the weak banks to heave a sigh of relief. It said, "Bangladesh Bank, in consultation with the government, if necessary, can change the amount through government gazette notification."

Yesterday, the central bank issued a circular giving the guideline for banks to comply with the capital requirement.

The central bank further asked commercial banks that they would have to increase the capital to that extent, even beyond Tk 200 crore, equal to their respective risk weighted capital requirements.

Meanwhile, in a separate circular yesterday the Bangladesh Bank instructed commercial banks to comply with the amended clauses regarding directorship and the chief executive officer.

According to the amendments, the board of directors of a commercial bank will consist of no more than 13 directors and their tenures will be restricted to two consecutive terms (three-year term each).

A family having above 5.0 per cent shares in a banking company would be entitled to have not more than two directors on its board, and a family having less than 5.0 per cent shares would be able to hold one post of director.

Parents, husband and wife, children, brothers and sisters and their dependants would be considered members of a family.

Pulack Ghatack

In the wave of unnatural price fluctuation, trading of the shares of Rupali Bank were stopped again yesterday on both the bourses of Dhaka and Chittagong.

The stock exchanges will continue to observe the real situation about selling of 93.6 per cent government's shares of the bank and the trading on the bourses will not resume until the issue of handing over the bank to a foreign buyer is not resolved, sources concerned said.

Authorities of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchanges (CSE) took the move after consulting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) apprehending that innocent investors may be victimised by shrewd gamblers.

The prices were going sky high and were plunging to deaf sea now and then, due to confusing news recurrently spread by some important personalities over sale of the 93.6 per cent government share of the bank.

"We have halted the trading of Rupali Bank shares to stop the volatile movement in its prices," said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive of the DSE told The New Nation yesterday.

Trading of the bank's shares was scheduled to begin on the spot market- where transactions take place in cash deals-from Monday ahead of its book closure starting Nov 15.

The DSE halted the trading of Rupali shares for two days last week, on Oct 30-31, due to unusual fluctuations in its share price.

Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saudi, the winner of 93.6 percent stake in Rupali Bank, is dallying for years in finalising the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the government.

On October 9, the share price in Rupali Bank on the DSE soared by 57.26 percent, just in a day on the latest news that the state-run bank's future owner Prince Bandar will finalise the deal with the government by November.

Opening at Tk 2086, the share of the bank rose as high as Tk 3150 before the Dhaka Stock Exchange halted the trading to examine whether there is any malpractice behind the abnormal price hike.

But the stocks plunged the following day as the Privatisation Commission set November as the final deadline to sign the sale and purchase agreement, which comprises about 94 percent of the bank's shares at $458 million.

The share price rose again on reports that representatives of the Saudi prince had met army chief Moeen U Ahmed.

The DSE chief said prices of Rupali Bank were fluctuating based on newspapers reports. "But we need confirmation. We have yet to receive any confirmation."

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh yesterday formally requested India to withdraw its export ban on essential commodities, including rice, pulse and onion. The request was made on the fifth meeting of Bangladesh-India Joint Working Group (JWG) that began in Dhaka yesterday.

The JWG meeting will discuss issues, including removal of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers to trade between the two countries.

Senior trade officials from the two countries will also deliberate on issues relating to trade facilitation and infrastructure, and

recommendations by the two apex trade bodies--FBCCI and FICCI--during the meeting that began at the Commerce Ministry conference room at Bangladesh Secretariat.

"We requested the Indian delegation to remove the ban on export of some essential commodities imported to Bangladesh," a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce who attended the meeting told The New Nation yesterday.

Earlier, the Ministry of Commerce made the same request to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka urging to take necessary steps to remove the ban on export of rice, pulse and onion.

The official said Bangladesh would discuss the issues of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, customs, ports and border trade with India at the JWG meeting to augment bilateral trade between the two countries.

Commerce Ministry sources said India has banned exporting rice to Bangladesh market since October 10 last, onion from about a month ago and pulse since 2006 'temporarily' on the ground of increased domestic demand.

Such ban created an abrupt shortfall in supply of such items resulting in price hike as the local importers are largely dependent on India to import essentials due to geographical proximity.

Currently rice is being sold at Tk 26 and above per kg, pulse over Tk 75 per kg and onion over Tk 60 per kg witnessing 40 per cent to 100 per cent rise in their prices during the span of last couple of months.

Regarding the imposition of export ban of essential commodities, an official said, "Any country can impose ban on export of essential commodities to other countries as per the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations as the global trade watchdog has relaxed the statutes over trade of agro-products."

But before imposing such a ban, the exporting country must have to notify the importing country on the products which would be banned for export, he said.

'Before imposing ban on export of rice, pulse and onion to Bangladesh, India did not notify it,' the official further said.

Sources at the Ministry of Commerce said Bangladesh would urge its Indian counterpart to remove non-tariff barriers on the Bangladeshi products like nuts, Jamdani sarees and toiletries products.

Bangladesh will also seek entry of its trucks inside Indian territory in the border area to facilitate bilateral trade.

Currently Indian trucks can enter half-a-kilometer into Bangladeshi territory from the border.

It will also seek improvement of land port facilities on the Indian side at Benapole and Banglabanda land ports.

Bangladesh has already improved the land port facilities at both these land ports.

The joint trade group will also take stock of the progress of initiatives taken so far to facilitate trade between the two countries.

Bangladesh Commerce Ministry joint secretary Abdul Wahab Mian and Indian Commerce Ministry joint secretary Rajeev Kher are leading their respective sides at the meeting, which is a continuation of joint efforts to address bilateral trade issues.

The last meeting of the group was held in Agartala in July last year.

During the deliberations on trade barriers, India will put forward nine technical barriers to trade, including ban on export of cotton yarn, milk powder, rice and sugar from India through land route.

Bangladesh listed 14 issues of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers for discussion with its counterpart, including ban on export of pulse, onion and rice from India.