The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sell off sets bearish trend in bourses

Staff Reporter

Majority of the shares on both the bourses in Dhaka and Chittagong continued to plunge for the third consecutive working day yesterday influenced by a fall in share prices of banks, insurance companies and mutual funds.

A sharp decline in the benchmark DGEN or general index marked the day's opening on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). It however returned from losses immediately before maintaining a downward curve across the trading session. It lost 24.57 points or 0.86 per cent to end at 2801.42.

The DSI or all-share price index finished 22.60 points or 0.92 per cent lower at 2426.07. The blue-chip DSE-20 closed at 2558.86, slumping 85.19 points or 3.22 per cent.

Turnover on the DSE reached Tk 3.11 billion, with 24,323,614 shares changing hands, up from Tk 2.99 billion the previous day.

Decliners beat advancers 133 to 86, with 13 issues holding steady.

Turnover from 6,036,113 traded shares on the port city bourse rose to Tk 530.81 million from yesterday's Tk 488.23 million.

Of the traded 141 issues, 92 lost, 45 gained and four remained unchanged.

Market participators said the trading remained gloomy due to sell-offs by nervous investors.

"Panicky investors are not holding money in the market for a longer time," a top official of a brokerage firm told reporters.

Low investor-confidence due to recent interventions led towards the ongoing sell-offs, added the official asking not to be named.

Investment consultant Bashir Ahmed who is with brokerage firm Stocks & Bonds echoed him saying the sell-off is leading the market to enter the bearish trend again.

DSE chief executive Salahudiin Ahmed however said trading perked up.

"Turnover and trading volume are increasing, which means investor participation is also on the rise."

Square Textiles topped the turnover board, surging 10.34 per cent to Tk 139.70.

Second in line, Beximco Pharmaceuticals continued to lose, falling 4.27 per cent at Tk 107.60.

Lanka Bangla Finance ended 7.80 per cent higher at Tk 211.30.

Keya Cosmetics closed higher at Tk 96.20, up 0.20. Grameen Mutual Fund One eroded Tuesday's gains to fall 4.86 per cent.

Among the other scrips on the turnover board-Beximco, Square Pharmaceuticals and Uttara Bank-gained due to buying pressure.

AIMS 1st Mutual Fund and Islami Bank lost on profit-taking. Trading at Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed lower with the losers dominating the gainers. Huge losses in mutual funds, pharmaceuticals and cement pulled the all share index down, market analysts said.

The CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) decreased by 0.33 per cent to close at 8583.72 points. The CSE-30 Index, however, rose by 0.64 per cent to close at 7774.42 points.

A total of 141 issues were traded on CSE yesterday. Of them, 45 gained, 92 declined and only four remained unchanged.

Ctg Samity demands work on 4-lane road project connecting Dhaka

Staff Reporter

Leaders of Chittagong Samity-Dhaka (CSD) yesterday called upon the Government to take steps for the implementation of Dhaka-Chittagong Four-Lane Mega-Road Project to accelerate the country's economic growth.

They demanded it at a press conference at CSD Conference Room yesterday.

Leaders of the CSD said that the Government incurred huge loss due to existing two-lane road between Dhaka and Chittagong.

"Over 10 lakh containers were being handled per year due to modernisation of Chittagong Port during the Caretaker Government. Around 90 per cent of the containers were carried through the two-lane Dhaka-Chittagong Road. The transportation of the containers had created serious congestions on the narrow road of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway," Md Jahangir Alam Khan, President of CSD said.

He said that the containers congestion at the Chittagong Port would continue if the export-import goods could not be delivered in time due to traffic jam on the road.

"Road accidents are regular phenomenon due to heavy pressure of transports," Jahangir said.

"It also consumes huge quantity of fuels and wastes working hours for the same reason," he added.

Leaders of CSD called upon the Government to being implementation of the project.

"If the Government fails to implement the project within a timeframe, the donor agency will withdraw its loan from the project," they said.

The Government has taken initiative to start the project in 2006 last at a cost of Tk 2,000 crore. The authority invited tender for the project at that time.

Later, the authority also invited re-tender due to massive corruption in the tender process.

It is alleged that a Chinese company could not place its tender in due time as the representative of the company was abducted before dropping of the tender. A three-member committee was formed, led by BRTA Chairman Sunil Kanti Bosh to probe into the matter.

CSD General Secretary Mohammed Zakaria, Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce Abu Alam Chowdhury and other senior leaders of CSD addressed the press conference.

Two killed in Narsingdi

Narsingdi Correspondent

A shop employee was hacked to death by some miscreants at Pashchim Kandapara in Narsingdi district on Tuesday midnight.

The dead was identified as Shafiqul Islam, 15, an employee of a shop owned by one Jasim Miah. Police said miscreants entered into the shop around Tuesday midnight by breaking open its shutter when Shafiqul was asleep.

They beat up Shafiqul mercilessly with iron rods which resulted in his death on the spot. Police recovered the body in the morning and sent it to Narsingdi Hospital morgue for autopsy.

A case was filed with the Narsingdi Model Thana in this connection.

Meanwhile, a high school student was killed and another injured seriously in road accident at Monohardi upazila bus stand in Narsingdi district yesterday morning.

The deceased was identified as Sajon (13), a student of class seven of Monohordi High School and son of Shamim Akand of Chandanbari Union of the upazila.

The injured student Naim (12) is a student of class VI of the same high school.

Local people said the two cousins were going to school riding a bicycle when a Dhaka bound bus hit them leaving Sajon dead on the spot and injuring Naim.

The agitated locals set fire to the bus. However, district fire service brought the fire under control.

A case has been filed with the Monohardi police station.

Police arrested the bus driver.

Amin Huda gets bail in Yaba cases from HC

A team of Narcoties Control Department arrested five
persons and recovered 125 pieces of Yaaba tablets and 350
bottles of phensidyle from Tilpapara, Khilgaon in the city
on Wednesday. Focus Bangla

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court yesterday granted bail for six months to Amin Huda, a suspected druglord, on health grounds.

A two-member division bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad, meanwhile, issued a rule upon the government to explain in four weeks why accused Amin should not be granted regular bail.

He faces charges of illegally producing and selling contraband Yaba, a club drug that produces a euphoric effect, causing the users to have strong feelings of warmth and connection to those around them..

The HC orders came following a petition filed by Amin, now being treated at BSMMU prison cell.

Deputy Attorney General Zahirul Hoque Zahir told UNB that the Supreme Court halted a previous HC bail and that rule was still effective, but Amin came to the High Court Wednesday with a different plea.

In his plea Amin said he needs appropriate treatment abroad as the treatment he gets here is not enough for his recovery, the DAG said.

On October 25 last year, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Amin at his Gulshan office with 130,000 Yaba tablets. According to Rab, Amin had long been running illegal drug businesses under cover of his office.

Advocate Anisul Huq appeared for Amin.

Outlaw commander killed in Pangsha crossfire

BSS, Barisal

Tofazzel Hossain Tufan, 33, the so- called regional commander of outlawed Purbobanglar Communist Party (PBCP) Marxist Leninist Lal Pataka faction was killed in a crossfire between police and cohorts of the extremist leader in Pangsha upazila of the district in the early hours of on Wednesday.

Police said the PBCP leader had been wanted in several criminal cases filed with Dhaka, Pabna, Sirajgang, Rajbari and other districts.

Acting on a tip-off, a squad of 30 police personnel cordoned off Surganagar village while a group of the PBCP extremists were holding a secret meeting.

The police arrested three outlaws, including Tufan alias Shemul, from the spot.

During interrogating, the arrested said they have firearms and ammunition hidden in a sugarcane filed at Chandpur Village. The law enforcers then took him to the village to recover the arms.

As the police team reached the local bailey bridge, the accomplices of the outlawed leader opened fire on them. The police also retaliated in self defence resulting in a brief gunfight. During the skirmish, Tufan caught in crossfire and died on the spot The police recovered one light gun, two revolvers and three bullets from the spot.

JCD alleges conspiracy against Zia family

DU Correspondent

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of BNP, yesterday staged a demonstration on the Dhaka University campus condemning the conspiracy to murder Tarique Rahman, senior joint secretary of BNP, in jail.

Addressing the rally in front of DUCSU Building, the leaders of the oreganisation said the government was trying to annihilate the Zia`s family for forever following its blue print. With this end in view, the government has filed different false cases against them and tortured them physically and mentally in jail.

They expressed grave concern over the state of health of Tarique Rahman, son of Khaleda Zia, and said government is not paying heed to his deteriorating health condition. Arafat Rahman Koko had been freed on condition while he was about to die, they said.

Speaking on the occasion, general secretary of the organisation Shafiul Bari Babu said the government is overstepping area of its function.

The people of the country will take into account every work of the government, he warned.

JCD senior vice president Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, organizing secretary Abdul Kader Bhuiyan Jewel, DU unit president Hasan Mamun, general secretary Saiful Islam Firoz, Mamunur Rashid Mamun, Akram Hossain, among others, spoke in the programme.

Bombs shut down India diamond hub

BBC, News

India's diamond and textile hub of Surat in the western state of Gujarat has shut down after police defused 19 small bombs over the past two days.

Markets, malls, cinemas and schools are closed in the city and police have appealed to people to stay indoors.

A series of 17 blasts in Gujarat's commercial capital, Ahmedabad, on Saturday killed 49 people.

Gujarat state Chief Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for calm after visiting Surat.

"We are fighting a proxy war and people, government, media, opinion makers, etc should come together to create awareness and work together to fight this war," Chief Minister Narendra Modi said after visiting the areas where bombs were found in Surat. "There are certain rules of a war and if we do not fight, then terrorists will continue to attack us," he said.

Pravinbhai Nanavati, vice-president of the Southern Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry, says there is a reason why Surat was chosen as a target.

"Surat is a huge city, but considering all the bombs were planted in areas where the diamond industry is based, I think there is a message in that," Mr Nanavati told the BBC.

"The bombs were planted by those who wanted to hurt India economically. Stopping production for one day in the diamond industry means a loss of $28m. It's a very serious issue."

Three quarters of the world's diamonds are cut and polished in Surat and the industry - with exports worth $18bn a year - is the biggest foreign exchange earner in the country.

Nanavati says any successful attack on Surat will cause panic throughout India.

Concept of green jobs needs to be promoted: ILO

BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a workshop on Wednesday said the concept of green-jobs need to be promoted in reducing dependence on carbon-emitting energy and attain green economy.

In the backdrop of climate change and energy crisis, they said, the promotion of cleaner technologies, especially renewable energy, is a must to build a green economy.

Green Jobs, a new global concept, which focuses direct employment in low-polluting sectors to minimise environmental impact ultimately to the levels that are sustainable.

The seminar styled 'Green Jobs Initiatives in Bangladesh' was jointly organized by Ministry of Labour and Employment and International Labour Organisation (ILO) at a city hotel.

Alternative energy driven transportation, agriculture and forestry, using organic material, waste recycling, renewable energy and green technologies in manufacturing industries do provide green jobs.

According to an ILO survey and waste concern, the number of green jobs in the country are 2,01,767 which is only 0.42 percent of total 47.4 million labour force.

Labour and Employment Secretary Dr Mahfuzul Haque gave the concluding remark at the workshop while Director of ILO Bangladesh Panudda Boonpala made welcome addressed.

Joint secretary of Labour and employment ministry AK Nazmuzzaman, Executive Director of Waste Concern Maqsood Sinha, Dr MA Rouf of BCSIR, Head of International Cooperation and Development of Grameen Shakti Dr M S Islam, Senior Adviser of German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) Dr Eng Khurshed-Ul-Islam and joint director of Labour Department Kabir Ahmed Choudhury made different presentations on various issues on creating green jobs.

Kuwait to deport 500 Bangladeshi workers

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Kuwait will deport some of the 500 Bangladeshis who were involved in damaging vehicles and attacking the police in the gulf kingdom, an official said yesterday.

As many as 300 out of the 800 Bangladeshis arrested on charge of creating "trouble" in Kuwait streets have been released for their "innocence", according to the foreign ministry.

The Kuwaiti authorities will examine the video footages and photographs of the agitating workers and find out the persons responsible for violence and attack, the ministry said in a statement.

The Kuwait government has also decided to increase the minimum wage of foreign workers to 40 Kuwaiti Dinars ($151 or Tk 10,300), it said.

Bangladesh Embassy officials in Kuwait had met with Sheikh Jaber Dayij Al Sabah, director general of the consular department of Kuwait's foreign ministry, to resolve the crisis in Kuwait City.

Sheikh Jaber at the meeting made it clear that the wrongdoers must be going back to their respective countries.

"Around 800 Bangladeshis have been arrested on charges of causing violence. The Kuwaiti government is thinking of deporting those Bangladeshis responsible for the violence and attack," acting foreign secretary MAK Mahmood told bdnews24.com.

"Out of the arrested people, 300 innocent Bangladeshis have already been released by the Kuwait government," the foreign ministry said in the statement.

"It has been decided at the meeting that those who instigated the violence or took part in the violence will be deported to their countries," the statement said on the outcome of the meeting with Sheikh Jaber.

The acting foreign secretary said the Kuwaiti police and the Bangladesh embassy officials had been injured during the four-day strike in Kuwait City.

The Kuwaiti police took video footage of the demonstration to trace the "troublemakers", he said. On pay hike, the statement said the Kuwaiti government would take action against the companies who would fail to pay the minimum wage Kuwaiti Dinars 40.

"Around 16,000 Bangladeshi workers have already joined their workplaces," the statement said.

"We urge those Bangladeshis, who have not joined yet, to join their companies," the statement said.

Workers from Bangladesh and other South Asian countries in Kuwait had staged demonstrations over the last four days demanding pay hikes and better working conditions.

Employers in Kuwait in some cases had paid only Kuwaiti Dinar 8 ($30 or Tk 2,000) per month.

Sexual abuse: JU Syndicate members confined

JU correspondent

Syndicate members of the Jahangirnagar University were confined by angry students demanding formulation of code of conduct against sexual harassment and retrenchment of Asstt Prof Sanwar Hossain alias Ahmed Sani for allegedly harassing a female student of the university.

The students held the syndicate members confined from 5:00pm till 12:00pm on Tuesday.

The students locked the room where the syndicate meeting, presided over by Vice Chancellor of the University Prof Dr M Moniruzzaman, was being held in the register building.

They withdrew the siege after getting assurance of fulfilment of their demands within five days.

However, the student declared they would carry on the movement till the fulfilment of the demands.

River erosion in Kurigram turns serious

Staff Reporter

River erosion has washed away over one hundred dwelling houses and educational institutions at three unions under three upazilas in Kurigram district.

The erosion by the rivers Brahmaputra, Teesta and Dharla took a serious a turn during the last couple of days and wiped out 130 dwelling houses and educational institutions and a number of roads at Bidyananda union under Razarhat upazila, Begamganj union under Ulipur upazila and Astamari union under Chilmari upazila of the district. Many more houses and cultivable lands may be lost in water if the erosion of these rivers continues, locals said.

Meanwhile, the erosion-hit people have been passing their days in great distress as they have lost all their means of livelihood.

Prehistoric land under the sea

Huge cliffs and vast basins were revealed in the
survey

Agency

It's a landscape no human has even seen. And those who live right beside it had no idea it even existed.

Deep below the sea, off the north coast of Northern Ireland, a dramatic geological mystery has been discovered.

Huge cliffs, vast basins and plateaus, a lake and even rivers have been found. But so far no-one is certain what caused them to end up like this deep under the sea.

The discovery was made when the seabed was being surveyed to update old Admiralty charts, drawn up in the mid-1800s. Funded by the European Union and backed by the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, a survey vessel has been scanning the seabed along most of the north coast of Ireland, including the seabed north of Rathlin Island.

Most of the bottom was largely flat and unremarkable, but as the survey headed east it suddenly came across an unexpected landscape.

For the first time marine biologists could understand what was down there and the scale of it all.

"I'm always very envious of my terrestrial biologist colleagues", said Joe Breen, Head of Aquatic Science with Northern Ireland's new Environment Agency, who has dived the area for years.

"They can go out on land and see where their habitats are. Underwater we've never had that luxury. "On a dive you can only see about 15 metres so it's like operating in fog. Now, with this survey, we can report on the true extent of the features.

"For the European Habitat Directive, we have to report the extent of our reefs and sandbanks. This will help with the whole concept of marine spatial planning.

"So, if someone wants to put in renewable energy or extract aggregate, we now have a blueprint and can see how they're going to interact and if it's sustainable."

One of the most striking details is a large lake or crater on what was once the top of huge cliffs towering above the plateau below.

The streams and rivers that fed it are still clearly defined.

And that raises one of the mysteries. Why did coastal erosion not obliterate all that detail as the sea slow rose over the land? Could it mean that some cataclysmic event took place that allowed the sea to overwhelm the land before erosion could begin?

But already the marine scientists are excited about what they've found.

"We can now get a true idea of the true extent of the rare and endangered species and habitats", said Breen.

"We can now see that we have got more of certain features which we weren't aware of - like sandbanks and reefs. The sandbank features in particular are stunning."

Bail granted to more VIP prisoners

Desk Report

High Court yesterday granted anticipatory bails to many high profile accused including former Prime Minister and Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina’s private secretary RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury and a suspected drug lord Amin Huda.

But Supreme Court stayed till August 7 the operation of High Court order that had granted bail to detained former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu who is now detained in connection with various charges including corruption , murder and possessing illegal arms.

Passing the brief stay order upon an application moved by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Chamber Court of Justice MA Matin fixed August 7 for hearing the matter in a regular bench of the Appellate Division.

The ACC moved the application as it prefers leave to appeal against the July 16 High Court order that granted Pintu a month’s bail and issued rule upon the ACC to explain why the graft case against him should not be quashed.

Pintu, who faces a number of criminal cases including murder and extortion, secured bail from the High Court on Monday (July 28) in connection with the case relating to misappropriation of CI sheets allocated for relief operation.

ACC’s special counsel Anisul Huq moved the application.

Granting the interim bail to Muktadir Chowdhury , a Division Bench comprising Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad stayed the case proceedings and issued a rule upon the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to explain why the case should not quashed.

The HC orders came upon a petition filed by him.

Following the HC orders, the trial proceedings at a special court set up at parliament building complex now stands stalled half way through, court sources said.

On November 4 last year, ACC assistant director Nasiruddin Ahmed filed the case against Muktadir and his wife Prof Fahima Khatun with Gulshan police station for accumulating Tk 1.16 crore illegally and concealing Tk 25 lakh in their wealth information to the ACC.

On May 13, ACC deputy director Shariful Haque Siddiqui submitted the charge sheet against the Muktadir couple to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court showing 24 people as prosecution witnesses.

A week after the filing of the charge sheet, Muktadir and his wife surrendered to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court here and sought bail. But the court sent Muktadir to jail and granted bail to his wife Fahima who is accused of aiding and abetting her husband in accumulating the ill-gotten wealth.

Earlier, on June 18, the High Court, following a petition filed by co-accused Fahima, halted the case proceedings against her for six months.

Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam assisted by Sheikh Baharul Islam appeared for Muktadir.

In the case of Amin Huda, a two-member division bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and

Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad, meanwhile, issued a rule upon the

government to explain in four weeks why accused Amin should not be

granted regular bail.

He faces charges of illegally producing and selling contraband Yaba, a club drug that produces a euphoric effect, causing the users to have strong feelings of warmth and connection to those around them..

The HC orders came following a petition filed by Amin, now being treated at BSMMU prison cell.

Deputy Attorney General Zahirul Hoque Zahir told UNB that the Supreme Court halted a previous HC bail and that rule was still effective, but Amin came to the High Court Wednesday with a different plea.

In his plea Amin said he needs appropriate treatment abroad as the treatment he gets here is not enough for his recovery, the DAG said.

On October 25 last year, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Amin at his Gulshan office with 130,000 Yaba tablets. According to Rab, Amin had long been running illegal drug businesses under cover of his office.

According to BD News24.com Ismail Hossain Simon, son of the late shipping minister Akbar Hossain, was freed from jail on bail in the GATCO scam case yesterday, an official with Dhaka Central Jail said.

Jailor Faruque Ahmed told bdnews24.com that Simon was released as the High Court granted him bail for two months.

The Anticorruption Commission filed the case against former prime minister Khaleda Zia, son Arafat Rahman Coco and 11 others on Sept 2 last year, on charges of awarding Global Agro Trade Company a cargo-handling deal through misuse of power.

The commission later pressed charges against 25 people, including former shipping minister Akbar Hossain.

Akbar Hossain died on June 25, 2006.

Our Court Correspondent adds, A charge sheet was submitted to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court yesterday against the Juba League President Jahangir Kabir Nanak in a graft case filed for amassing wealth illegally and concealing facts about his wealth. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Md Golam Rabanni accepted the charge sheet.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Assistant Director Ashraful Islam filed the case with Ramna Thana of the city on March 25 of this year, where ACC Deputy Assistant Director Abul Kashem submitted the charge sheet Wednesday making 16 persons witness. The absconding Juba League Chairman was accused of amassing wealth worth Taka 18,27,109.25 and concealing facts about his wealth to the tune of Taka 12,02,109.25. The Investigation Officer (IO) of the case sought warrant of arrest against fugitive Nanak.

Meanwhile, the National Board of Revenue (NBR’s) case filed against former Health Minister Dr Khandaker Mosharraf was yesterday transferred to a special Court set up at the Parliament Bhaban. In the case Dr Mosharraf was accused of dodging income-tax to the tune of Taka 63,23,602 through concealing facts about his wealth in the income-tax returns he submitted to from 1996 to 2006.