Internet Edition. July 25, 2008, Updated: Bangladesh Time 12:00 AM |
Internet Edition. July 25, 2008, Updated: Bangladesh Time 12:00 AM |
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Music festival begins
Artistes rendering songs on the opening of 3-day long 'Music Festival' at Shilpakala Academy in the city on Thursday. NN photo Staff Reporter Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Bangladesh music festival coordination committee jointly organised a three-day music festival beginning yesterday in the city. About 25 musical groups will present the country's culture through solo music and group music in the festival. Artiste Ajit Ray inaugurated the festival at the academy's auditorium, while eminent academician Prof Khan Sarwar Murshid and Secretary of the Cultural Affairs Ministry Sharful Alam were present as chief guest and special guest in the function. President of Samgit Samonnoy Parished Tapan Mahmud, General Secretary Mahmud Selim, Asaduzzaman Nur, M Hamid, Golam Kuddus and Mannan Hira spoke on the occasion with Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam in the chair. Today's different programmes including open discussion on practice of the country's music would begin from 5-30 pm at the premise of the academy. Pro-reform BNP cries for unity under Khaleda M. Syfullah Future of pro-reform BNP leaders is mired in uncertainty, as they seem to have no hope of survival unless they forge unity with the mainstream BNP led by Begum Khaleda Zia. The reformist faction has virtually gone into hibernation following the comment of its acting chairman M Saifur Rahman on the eve of his departure abroad a few months ago. Saifur Rahman said Begum Khaleda Zia is only the Chairperson of the BNP. None but Begum Zia's BNP would be acceptable to the people, he added. Lt Gen Mahbubur Rahman, a leader of the BNP reformist faction said yesterday over phone that unity in BNP is essential. "We are waiting for the unity, participation in the dialogue and contesting the national election unitedly. We responded for the unity without condition attached, " he added. "We think time is ripe for forging unity as Awami League is stronger than BNP so far as unity of the party is concerned. BNP should go to the election under a united platform," he noted. He also demanded the release of Begum Zia and her son Tarique Rahman for better medical treatment abroad. Mahbubur Rahman made it clear that they would not go to the election separately. He said election was the pre-condition to overcome the crisis facing the country at the moment. When contacted over cellphone, Brig Hannan Shah, adviser to the BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, said the issue of unity of the two factions of BNP now remains stuck up because of BNP secretary general Khandoker Delwar Hossain. He said obstacles in the way of unity will be removed with the release of Begum Zia and hoped that she would be set free within couple of days. But so far, no instruction on the unity has come from Khaleda Zia, he added. Before her arrest, Begum Zia expelled incumbent BNP Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan from the party and nominated Khandoker Delwar Hossain as secretary general of BNP on September 3 last year. Afterwards, leaders of the reformist faction made Saifur Rahman and Maj Hafiz acting chairperson and secretary general of the BNP at a meeting on October 29, 2007. At the one stage BNP reformist faction tried to join dialogue with the Election Commission and the Government and to participate the general election claiming their faction as the mainstream of the BNP. Now the reformist faction has become totally silent and waiting for the unity. Uncertainties on priority project: Single bid for 450 MW Bibiyana power plant UNB, Dhaka When the country has been experiencing nagging power crisis, the government yesterday received only a single bid for the 450 MW Bibiyana power plant. Power Ministry officials said that the receipt of single bid has ultimately put the priority project into uncertainties about its implementation within the stipulated timeframe of 2011. Out of three pre-qualified bidders, only the Powertek Berhad of Malaysia has submitted its technical and financial offers, under a joint venture with Germany's Siemens and South Korea's Kepco. But two other pre-qualified bidders-USA-based AES Corporation and Chevron Corporation-refrained from submitting their final bids. Normally, when the government receives single bid for any project, it goes for re-tendering of the project to ensure competitiveness in the cost and price offer. This is a time-consuming and lengthy process. However, it's not clear immediately what the government will do in this particular 450 MW power project. Power Cell, a reform implementation wing of the Power Ministry, invited international tender to install the Bibiyana power plant project under the private sector sponsorship. Power Cell director general Abdul Jalil said though his agency has received a single bid, it would move forward with the project as per government procedure. "We'll complete the tender process though there is a single bid. There is no problem to consider their proposal as they have qualified previously for the project," he told UNB. But Power Ministry sources said the government may not finally allow the Power Cell to move on with the project since a single offer was received. An experienced senior official of the Ministry cited a similar incident in the case of 450 MW Sirajganj power plant project, where the government had to finally cancel the project "because of a single bid" received by the Power Cell in 2004. At that time, an Indian company Esser power under a joint venture with a local firm, submitted a single bid. Its power tariff was found to be much higher for the Sirajganj project. An official press release of Power Ministry, however, said, as per "the rules of the tendering process, an evaluation committee headed by the DG of Power Cell will evaluate the bid proposal submitted by the Powertek… to determine if it is responsive to the government's request for proposal for the project". About non-submission of bid for the Bibiyana project, AES Corporation, which earlier established two largest power plants in the country - 540 MW Meghnahat and 360 MW Haripur - has given a clarification. But, Chevron Corporation which was initially very aggressive to bid for the Bibiyana power project did not give any clarification for its withdrawal from the race. The Power Cell director general said that AES has informed that due to sharp rise in power plant equipment price, it has been unable to offer an "affordable" cost and power tariff for Bangladesh in setting up the project. As per terms and condition of the Bibiyana project, the private sponsor will install the project on build-own-operate (BOO) basis and the government will purchase electricity from it for a 22 years period. ACC finds corruption in two R&H projects UNB, Dhaka The Anti-Corruption Commission unearthed gross corruption and irregularities in two road projects implemented by the Roads and Highways department, as the anti-graft watchdog now continued prying into institutional misdeeds. A special ACC team constituted to look into corruption in the Roads and Highways department has so far found out about Tk 29 crore having been misappropriated in two projects, where roads looked ruptured in no time after their construction. ACC director general (admin) Col Hanif Iqbal revealed this in the Commission's regular press briefing yesterday afternoon. The projects are Bonpara-Hatikamrul toll road on the Jamuna Bridge highway in the northwestern region of the country and Dhaka Bypass Road under Gazipur, Dhaka and Narayanganj districts. The 55-kilometre-long Bonpara-Hatikamrul road was constructed over December 1, 1998 to December 31, 2002 at a cost of Tk 310.24 crore. The World Bank financed the construction of the road intended to ease road communications to greater Rajshahi and Kushthia districts crossing over the multipurpose bridge over the mighty river Jamuna that had cut Bangladesh into two for time immemorial. The ACC special team came to know from media that within 2-3 years after the construction, there were cracks in different places and carpeting disintegrated, putting passengers' life at risk. "At present, the road is unsuitable for traffic," it is reported. During the investigation, it was unveiled that construction materials were not used as per the specifications and low-quality materials used instead. "Instead of sand available through dredging, local earth was used in construction. But, the contractors received the price of sand, resulting in misappropriation," according to the probe finding, which came in the changed context, now that a purge has been underway across the country in the interim period. The special team so far has discovered that contractors and supervising individuals in connivance with each other have misappropriated about Tk 25 crore. Upon completion of the investigation by the team, actual amount of money and involved persons would be detected and initiative would be taken for legal actions against those involved in corruption and irregularities, the journalists were told. About Dhaka Bypass Road, the 48-kilometre project covering Gazipur, Dhaka and Narayanganj districts, was implemented over 1997-2006 at a cost of Tk 290 crore. The road was intended to ease nagging traffic congestion in the capital. Within few days of completion of the road, it developed big cracks in different places and the carpeting disappeared in many places. And, currently the road has become suitable for traffic while the city commuters sweat being caught in snarl-ups. Like the Bonpara-Hatirkumrul road, the special ACC team has unraveled that the road was not constructed following the specifications and low-quality construction materials were used. It was found that the Public Procurement Regulation Act was not properly followed in constructing the road. The team has so far estimated that the contractors in connivance with the Roads and Highways officials have misappropriated about Tk 4 crore. After completion of their investigations, the ACC special team would be in a position to determine specifically as to how much money has been misappropriated and to identify those involved in the malpractice. Responding to a question, Col Hanif Iqbal told the briefing that, hopefully, cases would be filed "very soon" against those involved in the wrongdoing. He also said it would be worked out as to how specifically separate cases would be filed. Asked if any minister of that period was involved, Hanif said, "I would not name any names at this stage. Names will come out after the completion of the investigation." In reply to a query, he said where necessary, the special ACC probe team used neutral specialists to carry out their investigations. GP to raise $300m from share market Staff Reporter Grameenphone, the biggest mobile phone operator in the country, is going to float huge shares in the capital market shortly. The board of the telecom giant yesterday approved plans to raise US$ 300 million through initial public offering (IPO), half by floating shares on the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses and the other half by selling pre-IPO shares. The move will be the biggest in Bangladesh's history and comes as stocks on both of its two main bourses have been plunging. Last year privately owned Shahjalal Islami Bank raised $13.4 million, currently the biggest IPO in the country. Grameenphone's 62 percent is owned by Norwegian telecom company Telenor and 38 percent is owned by local Grameen Telecom. Grameen Telecom, owned by micro-finance giant Grameen Bank, was set up by 2006 Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus. The conglomerate plans to file by the end of this month a formal application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other authorities to list its shares on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, the statement said. It also aims to sell another $150 million worth of shares before its IPO. "We are hopeful that Grameenphone's inclusion in the country's bourses will further highlight the potential of capital markets as an important engine of economic growth," Grameenphone CEO Anders Jensen said. "It will also enable the people of Bangladesh to share the success of the company." Citigroup Inc. will manage GrameenPhone's IPO. The company has more than 20 million of Bangladesh's 44 million cellular subscribers. Meanwhile, Telenor reported second-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates and cut its sales target for this year yesterday as customers in Asia spend less and currency swings hurt sales. Operating profit at GrameenPhone dropped 85 percent, hurt by lower prices and a provision related to a possible violation of international call termination rates, Telenor said. Telenor cut its 2008 revenue growth target to around 3 percent from 5 percent, but said strong performance of deconsolidated Ukrainian unit Kyivstar would keep the group's underlying revenue growth unchanged at around 6 percent. Telenor said soaring food and energy costs have squeezed consumers' budgets particularly in relatively poor countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand. In local currency terms, Telenor's average revenue per user slumped by 14 percent year-on-year in Pakistan, 17 percent in Thailand and 24 percent in Bangladesh. "We do not believe these problems are short-term t as they are fundamentally linked to adverse economic conditions which are difficult to escape for both Bangladesh and Pakistan, two of the main growth drivers of the company," Dexia Bank said. According to the DJ Stoxx telecoms index shares in Telenor were the biggest losers with a 3.4 percent drop on Wednesday. Zia Orphanage case: Sharfuddin Ahmed arrested UNB, Dhaka Sharfuddin Ahmed, one of the main accused in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, was arrested yesterday by the Anti-Corruption Commission and handed over to Ramna police station. "Sharfuddin, one of the main accused in the case, was sum moned yesterday to the ACC for questioning. He could not provide satisfactory answers," ACC deputy assistant director Harunur Rashid, the investigating officer (IO), told UNB. "Therefore, in the interest of investigation he was arrested and handed over to Ramna police station," he added. On July 3, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case against detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, Sharfuddin and four others on charge of embezzling over Tk 2.10 crore in the name of a charity named Zia Orphanage Trust. The misappropriated money was meant for spending on welfare of the country's orphans. The four other accused in the case are former BNP lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque, Syed Ahmed alias Sayeed Ahmed, Gias Uddin Ahmed and Mominur Rahman, a nephew of the late President Ziaur Rahman. The IO said Sharfuddin is one of the main accused, as the misappropriated money was withdrawn from his bank account. Khaleda and Tarique were separately questioned on Wednesday in connection with the case. Khaleda was questioned at the makeshift prison while her son was quizzed at the prison cell of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. Hearing on GATCO graft case adjourned till Aug 5 BSS, Dhaka A Special Court here on Thursday adjourned the charge hearing on the GATCO graft case against former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and others till August 5. Judge Shahed Nuruddin set the new date when the defence counsels informed him that the High Court division on July 15 had stayed the proceedings of the case on a writ petition filed for Begum Khaleda Zia. The Court asked them to place the High Court order in the next date. Earlier, former ministers Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, M Shamsul Islam and others, now detained in jail, were produced before the Court. But Begum Khaleda Zia was not produced before the Court as she was reported sick. Former ministers Motiur Rahman Nizami and MK Anwar, released on bail from the High Court, appeared in the court. Advocate Taherul Islam Touhid appeared in the Court on behalf of Arafat Rahman Koko as the Court exempted him from personal appearance. The remaining seven accused persons including former Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman were mentioned as absconding in the case. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lodged the case on September 2 last year with Tejgoan thana against Begum Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko and 11 others. After investigation, ACC submitted chargesheets against 24 persons including 13 accused in the FIR. They were accused for giving the contract of container handling in Chittagong Port and Kamalapur ICD in Dhaka to "inexperienced and incompetent" Global Argo-Trade Company Limited (GATCO) violating the bidding rules that caused a loss of Taka 14.56 crore to the state. Food Ministry can import food urgently without amending PPR UNB, Dhaka Food Ministry can import food-grains on an emergency basis without amending the present Public Procurement Regulations (PPR) 2008 to tackle the upswing of food prices in the country. The Economic Affairs Committee of the caretaker government in a meeting with Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam in the chair yesterday gave the opinion as the Food Ministry sought amendment to clause 83 (1) of the PPR for urgent import of grains as the holy Ramadan knocks at the door. Sources said that the Food Ministry requested the Economic Affairs Committee to reduce the time to 15 days from 42 days for tendering the import of food-grains while from 28 days to 10 for re-tender. But the high-powered Economic Affairs Committee gave it a clean chit saying that under the clause 85 of the PPR 2008 the Food Ministry could import food to meet emergencies without needing to through the dilatory tendering process. The committee also decided to rethink the resumption of operation of Chittagong Chemical Mills Ltd, North Bengal Paper Mills Ltd and Khulna Newsprint Paper Mills after getting back the three laid-off vital industrial units from the Privatization Commission. Earlier, the government has handed over these three mills to the Privatization Commission to privatize them, throwing the paper mills into limbo and rendering the country dependent on costly paper imports. The meeting agreed to give 75 percent costing of repairing bailey bridges to the Chittagong Dry Dock Ltd. The dry-dock company requested the government to pay the advance bill as it was suffering for liquidity crisis. Four to die in double murder case in Rajshahi BSS, Rajshahi A Trial Tribunal here on Wednesday sentenced four persons to death in a sensational double-murder case of Godagari of the district. Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge ATM Mezbauddowla found the convicts guilty under section 302/34 of BPC and handed down the verdict in a crowded courtroom. The convicts are: Tariqul Islam, son of Islam, Sonardi, son of Rafiqul Islam, Mokter Hossain, son of Toslim Uddin and Ismail Hossain, son of Sirajul Islam. They are inhabitants of Joubangram village under Godagari Upazila. They were also fined Taka one lakh each. One of them Mokter Hossain has been absconding. According to the prosecution story, in brief, is that the convicts strangulated Miliara Khatun alias Rokhsana, 30, wife of an expatriate, and her daughter Parveen alias Sabnur, 9, to death in her bedroom at the same Joubangram village on the night of October 20, 2006 while they were sleeping at that time. The killers had been demanding an amount of Taka 50,000 from her husband Bazlur Rahman and failing to get the money they killed them. Father of the deceased Rafiqul Islam had lodged a case with Godagari Police Station in this connection on the following day and after completing investigation police pressed charges accusing them. The Tribunal examined the enlisted prosecution witnesses and other relevant evidence and completed the trial in 87 working days through pronouncing the aforesaid verdict. Special Public Prosecutor Sheikh Zahangir Alam Selim appeared in the case on behalf of the State while Advocates Ashraf Ali, Naoshad Ali and Rashed-Un-Nabi Ahsan defended the accused. UK tightens marriage visa rules Bdnews24.com, Dhaka The UK has reset the minimum age requirement for obtaining marriage visas to prevent forced marriages involving British nationals. According to the new visa guidelines, men and women must be at least 21 years of age instead of the previous 18 years to get marriage visas. The UK Home Office announced the new guidelines Wednesday and the British High Commission in Dhaka has confirmed the news yesterday. The UK government reset the age requirement as it found that 30 percent of the cases dealt with by the UK government's Forced Marriage Unit involved victims aged between 18 and 21. "Forced marriage leads to victims suffering years of physical and mental abuse and-in extreme cases-unlawful imprisonment and rape." "It has no place in our society," said UK home secretary Jacqui Smith, who visited Bangladesh in April, in a statement issued by the British High Commission. "That is why we are raising the age limit for visas, checking anyone entering into a marriage does so of their own free will, and demanding that those coming to the UK learn English," she said. As per the new guidelines, the boys and girls coming to the UK make an agreement with their potential partners on learning English before they come to Britain. Again, the British nationals will also be required to register "intention to marry overseas" before leaving the UK, the new guidelines say. The Forced Marriage Unit of the British government handles approximately 5,000 enquiries and 400 cases a year concerning young British nationals at risk of being forced into marriage overseas, the high commission says. In 2007, the Forced Marriage Unit dealt with 215 cases of overseas forced marriage, according to the high commission. PDB signs deal with Japan’s Marubeni: Rehabilitation of two units of Karnaphuli power plant Staff Reporter Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) and Messrs Marubeni Corporation of Japan have signed an agreement for implementation of the rehabilitation work of Unit No. 4 and Unit No. 5 of Karnaphuli Hydropower Centre, each of having 50 megawatt capacity on turn-key basis, said the PDB in a press release yesterday. The two units will able to generate 100 megawatt of electricity if the rehabilitation work is completed, the press release said. According to the agreement, the rehabilitation work will cost Tk 150.61 crore. Acting Secretary Mushtaque Ahmed Khan and Junji Kusunoki signed the agreement on behalf of the PDB and Marubeni Corporation respectively. Senior officials of the PDB and the officials concerned of the Marubeni Corporation were present at the agreement signing ceremony. It is expected that rehabilation work of the Unit No. 4 and Unit No. 5 of Karnaphuli Hydropower Centre financed by the JDCF will be completed within the next 25 months from the date of agreement signing ceremony. VoIP instruments worth 1 crore taka seized Staff Reporter Equipment used for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) were seized in a pre-dawn drive by law enforcing agencies at Kathalbagan and Paribagh area in the city yesterday. The team comprising officials of BTRC, RAB and other law enforcing agencies detected illegal VOIP business carried from House NO. 301 at Kathalbagan and House No. 12 Paribagh and seized equipment worth Tk 1 crore. Team sources said equipment included 120 telluler of various models, 7 quantum gateway and 32 port channel bank. A case was filed against Tipu Sultan for involvement in illegal VOIP business. The Government had earlier formed a committee to probe telecommunication establishment. Quazi Jafarullah jailed for 2 years BSS, Dhaka A Special Court here on Thursday awarded two years' imprisonment to Awami League Presidium member Quazi Jafarullah for non-submission of his wealth statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Quazi Jafaullah, also a former lawmaker, was tried in absentia. Judge Mohammad Ashraful Islam handed down the verdict in a case lodged by the ACC with Gulshan thana on March 19. The punishment will be executed from the day he is arrested or surrenders to the concerned authority, the verdict said. BBC Sanglap staff killed in road mishap UNB, Khulna A member of BBC Sanglap team was killed and 15 others were injured when two of its vehicles plunged into a roadside ditch in Noapara upazila of Jessore district on Khulna-Jessore highway early Thursday. The deceased was identified as Russell Ahmad, a casual staff of BBC. Local people said the accident took place late at night when the team was coming to Khulna from Jessore for dialogue. On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Khulna Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. The injured were also admitted to the same hospital.
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