The New Nation - Internet Edition

Fertiliser to be made cheaper soon: Diesel, kerosene prices reduced

Prime Minister Shekkh Hasina presiding over the
cabinet meeting at the Cabinet Division conference room at
Bangladesh Secretariat on Monday. PID photo

Staff Reporter

The new government has further reduced the prices of kerosene and diesel by Tk 2 per litre before the onset of Boro season as a part of its election pledge.

The price of diesel and kerosene has been reduced to Tk 44 per litre from Tk 46. The price slump took effect from yesterday midnight.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) readjusted the prices of these two items following the proposal of the Energy Ministry after the cabinet meeting decision yesterday morning.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasian yesterday decided to reduce the prices of diesel and kerosene.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasian, who has also in charge of the Energy Ministry, held a meeting with BERC team on reduction of diesel and kerosene prices.

The prices of kerosene and diesel have been reduced for the third time since October 26. The prices of Octane and petrol, however, remain unchanged. Octane is now selling at Tk 77 and petrol Tk 74.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Golam Rahman yesterday confirmed the reduction in the prices of these two petroleum products.

He said that the BERC declared the readjusted the prices of these items for the first time.

"Now, the BERC is the authority to declare the readjustment of the prices of the petroleum products," BERC Chairman said.

The BERC has approved the readjustment of the prices of kerosene and diesel following the consideration fuel prices of neighbouring countries to avoid the smuggling of the products, he further said.

The Energy Ministry has placed the proposal for reduction of these two products to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) following the cabinet decision yesterday through the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

But the Ministry of Communication is take any decision yet to reduce the bus fare following the reduction of diesel price.

Earlier on July 1, the government raised the prices of these products by 36 percent. Later, the government reduced their prices from 10.34 per cent to 12.73 per cent on an average on October 26 close on the heels of their sharp decrease in the international market.

Bangladesh has an annual demand of nearly 4 million tonnes of petroleum products including 2.3 million tonnes of diesel in 2007-2008.

According to the agriculture ministry sources the farmers will use 119,87,26,578 litres of diesel during the irrigation of their Boro field.

BIDS economist Dr Zayed Bakht in an interview with the BCC said that reduction in the prices of kerosene and diesel and kerosene does not matter most but what matters most is the timely supply of these two items to the beneficiaries.

He laid stress on keeping strict vigil to check smuggling of these two items to neighbouring countries.

He also suggested the government to ensure

JS poll report submitted to President: Huge turnout due to fear-free environ: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda
called on President Prof Iajuddin Ahmed at Bangabhaban
yesterday. PID photo

Staff Reporter

Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda, alongwith two other commissioners, yesterday called on President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed at Bangabhaban and presented a report of the Commission on December 29 general election.

"The President in a previous meeting asked about different aspects about the election, including the heavy voter turnout and we had decided to present it as a written document," Dr Huda told reporters following the meeting.

"We have explained that the voters, especially women, were spontaneous to exercise their franchise, as we ensured a fearless environment," he said

"The President also expressed his satisfaction over free and fair holding of the election and the activities of the Commission," he added.

The CEC was accompanied by Election Commissioners Mohammad Sohul Hossain and Brigadier General (retd) M Sakhawath Hossain. They expressed their gratitude to President Iajuddin Ahmed for his all-out support for holding the parliamentary elections in a free, fair and credible manner.

Terming the voter turnout in December 29 general election remarkable, the CEC said this happened because the voters, especially the female ones, felt that they would be able to return home safely after casting their votes.

The CEC was bold to express his hope that the upazila elections on January 22, will also be held peacefully. "We'll be able to continue the trend and the upcoming upazila polls will also be free and fair," he said.

Replying to a question, Dr Huda said there are some press reports on breaching of election code of conduct in electioneering for the upazila polls, but the EC did not get any complaint about hindering campaign by any candidate.

Secretary to the President's Office Md Sirajul Islam, Military Secretary to the President Maj Gen Mohammad Ruhul Amin and the President's Press Secretary Abdul Awal Howlader were also present.

BNP candidate wins Noakhali-1 election

A large number of women waiting in queues to cast
their votes at a centre of Noakhali-1 constituency on
Monday. FocusBangla

Staff Reporter

BNP candidate Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan was unofficially declared elected to parliament from Noakhal-1 constituency in the polls held yesterday.

The results showed Mahbub with 'sheaf of paddy' with 1,04,726 votes with grand alliance candidate HM Ibrahim of Awami League in the second place on 80,981 votes.

With this, the BNP strength in the 300-member House rose to 30.

The Election Commission postponed the constituency's vote following the death of Ganotantri Party president and 14-party candidate Nurul Islam on December 04 in a mysterious home fire.

Voting in the constituency that covers Chatkhil and Sonaimury upazillas of Feni district ended peacefully at 4pm yesterday. Eight candidates were vying for the ballots of 247,407 registered voters.

Polling centres saw long queues of people ignoring chilly weather from morning, and peaceful voting through the day in the seat's deferred election on Monday.

Police, Bangladesh Rifles and Rapid Action Battalion were deployed across the constituency as striking and mobile forces, to ensure a trouble free vote.

The EC announced the constituency's new election date of Jan 12, just days ahead of the December 29 elections to 299 of the total 300 parliamentary seats.

Subsidy to fertiliser to cross budget: Muhit

UNB, Dhaka

Pledge-bound to provide fertilizer at lower prices, the government appears undecided about the sources of funds to meet the commitment, which is likely to cross the budgetary provision.

"We've to find ways," Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit told reporters after his first meeting with Economic Relations Division (ERD) at NEC conference room here yesterday.

The current budget has earmarked a provision of Tk 3,688 crore for fertilizer subsidy against an expenditure of Tk 3,536 crore in this regard in the last fiscal year.

ERD secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan made a presentation in presence of all officials and employees of the division on the country's present state of foreign aid, projection of aid inflow in the near future and the challenges of receiving foreign aid.

Replying to a question, Muhit said there are enough provisions for providing subsidy in the current budget, but the requirement would exceed amid immense pressure for fertilizer subsidy.

"We'll have to get the funds by any means," he said, adding that the present stock of fertilizer is good enough to meet the demand but what is necessary is to timely reach the fertilizer to the farmers and at lower prices. "We'll have to tackle it."

He further said a reduction in the price of diesel would not put pressure on the subsidy.

Earlier, Muhit advised the ERD officials to examine the possible ways on how the country could receive rewards from the development partners due to its development and debt-servicing performances.

He said the performance Bangladesh has shown in foreign debt servicing could not be seen elsewhere in the world. "This is why the country deserves more foreign aid."

He added that the country could demand foreign aid from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which still remained unexplored, through overcoming the weaknesses in implementation of the development projects.

He asked the officials concerned to think about ways to retain the money Bangladesh repays to the institutions like World Bank and IMF as a reward. "We could get debt relief in case of repayment problem. Now we can get reward as we've no problem in repayments."

The Finance Minister also asked the officials to move away gradually from project-based aid to sector-specific one that would be more effective in a unified revenue and development budget, planned to be implemented in the next three years.

He also instructed the officials to strengthen the role of public finance to support the national budget.

Muhit said the government has undertaken a huge responsibility through the pre-election commitments. "The commitments are possible to implement, but (they) need commitment equally from the politicians and the bureaucracy," he said.

Impacts of climate change: Bangladesh may suffer severely

DU Correspondent

Bangladesh may suffer the severe impacts of the climate change due to its geographical location. The country`s location along the Bay of Bengal and in the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna and density of population make it perilously vulnerable to climate change, said environment specialists at a policy dialogue programme on "Climate Change, Migration and Environment in Bangladesh" at a city hotel yesterday.

They pointed out that national economy of the country mainly depends on agriculture and natural resources that are sensitive to climate change and sea level rise.

Population Sciences Department of Dhaka University organised the policy dialogue programme in cooperation with UNFPA.

Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof SMA Faiz was the chief guest in the programme while Arthur Erken, Country Representative of UNFPA and Prof Harun-or-Rashid, Dean of Social Science Faculty, were special guests.

DU VC urged all to save the country from the impact of climate change marking it as a national problem and said development of the country may be seriously restrained if no anticipatory actions are taken.

Dr Atiq Rahman, Executive Director of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), presented a keynote paper in the programme, which highlighted key issues centering climate change of the country.

Climate change is not only an "environmental" concern but really a "development" concern for Bangladesh, said Dr Atiq Rahman.

He further said that some areas of the country such as North Western region would face the impact of climate change resulting from drought and heat wave. Coastal areas and Islands will also face salinity intrusion for sea level rise while central region, north-east region and char lands will face floods, erosion and water logging. Moreover, urban and South West areas will face drainage congestion, he mentioned.

Scarcity of fresh water, increase of disease and health risk, loss of land, agricultural productivity and crop failure, increase of pest attack, loss of forest products, damage of infrastructures, human settlements and communications will also plague the country due to climate change, he said in his keynote paper.

Project Director of Population Sciences Department Prof AKM Nurun Nabi was moderator in the programme. Mehedi Hasan Khan, acting Chairman of the department, was in the chair.

Educationists, lawyers, journalists, Govt and NGOs officials, among others, participated in the dialogue.

US delegate meets ACC officials: Help to recover bribe money from Koko, others assured

Mamunur Rashid

The US FBI delegation held a meeting yesterday with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in its bid to recover $200 million allegedly paid by foreign companies to a group of people allegedly including former prime minister Khaleda Zia's son Arafat Rahman Koko.

Competent sources said the delegation-sought assistance from the anti-graft watchdog in this regard. According to press reports, the US government Thursday filed a forfeiture action against accounts having the alleged bribes.

Earlier, on Sunday The same delegation, comprising the US Justice Department's deputy chief Linda M. Samuel, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Deborah Heprevotte and UK Institute of Management consultant Ferdous Ahmed met Law Minister Shafique Ahmed of sought his Government's help to recovering the money.

After the meeting with the officials, the Law Minister told reporters that, a dozen of ministers and leaders of the four-party alliance and Koko are alleged to have received US$ 200 million in bribe for awarding work to foreign companies. US Justice Department's deputy chief Linda M Samuel and FBI agent Deborah Heprevotte had also an hour-long meeting with ACC chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury.

About the meeting, ACC director general (admin) Col Hanif Iqbal told the Commission's regular briefing that the US delegation sought assistance in accordance with the Mutual Legal Assistance Request (MLAR) under United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNTAC).

Under the MLAR, he said, states can seek assistance from other states about money earned through corruption to bring the people involved under law and the issue of assisting states by providing information is also included. "Based on this, they have been here and have exchanged views with the Commission."

Asked on which issues the US delegation sought assistance, Hanif said the discussions took place on information they have got, and information and evidence the ACC has.

About repotted foreign currencies worth about Tk 11.6 crore in koko's account temporarily frozen by authorities in Singapore, he said, "The inquiry is on. Since the inquiry is on it's not possible to say more."

On December 18, the ACC revealed at its regular briefing that it began inquiry into Koko's alleged financial transactions in foreign currencies worth crores of taka in Singapore.

About the names of 12 individuals allegedly involved in bribery, Hanif said, "I've seen the names in media. If the Commission doesn't have proven information, it's not right to specify names or number in the interest of investigation."

Asked if the delegation sought any more information, he said, "They know many things. We who know many things. That issue was given priority in today's meeting."

Asked whether the delegation provided any list of individuals allegedly involved in bribery, he said, "We don't take any list directly."

Replying to a query, Hanif said, "What we're doing is based on specific evidence.

ACC said most of the bribes were paid in connection with public works projects awarded to Siemens, a German industrial conglomerate, and China Harbor Engineering Co.

A Siemens representative in Bangladesh didn't have an immediate comment.

The Siemens' company bribes to government officials in Argentina, Bangladesh, China, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Russian, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Siemens' unit in Bangladesh admitted that it paid at least $5.3 million to Bangladeshi officials in exchange for favorable treatment during bidding on a mobile telephone project from 2001 to 2006.

A US embassy spokesman confirmed the collaboration between officials of Bangladesh and USA.

BNP’s move to revamp organisational strength

Talha Bin Habib

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has taken move to revamp its organisational capacities aimed at creating a new leaderships to be picked up from the grass roots levels.

To this effect the party would soon hold council meetings of all committees from upper to grass roots levels. Party sources said the high ups of the party have already directed the joint and organisational secretaries to collect reports from the grass roots levels. After evaluating the reports the chairperson of the party would take decision on taking further steps for refurbishing the organisational activities of the party.

"The move aims to bring young, honest and competent persons from grass roots levels to the central committee to strengthen the organisational capacity and regain lost images of the party," said an influential leader of the party.

He said the move will also help gear up organisational capacities of the party through holding councils of all committees of the party. All committees of the party from central to union levels would be formed through the councillors voting.

" The council of the party would soon be held within the next couple of months," he added.

Asked about suspected corrupt leaders in the party he said the constitution of the party clearly prescribes that no corrupt persons could be members of the party.

The party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has started the cleansing process within the party against those who were involved and played controversial role during the just concluded elections.

It may be mentioned the BNP could not hold National Council Meeting for the last couple of years. The chairperson of the party would take initiatives for refurbishing its front organisations.

The tenure of different committees of the party have already expired. The high command of BNP is going to reorganise all those committees through holding party council meetings.

Party sources said the Chairperson of BNP has already instructions all concerned to take necessary steps.

Several posts of the standing committee, vice-chairmen and advisers to the party chairperson have been lying vacant for many years.

Besides many influential leaders have been isolated from the party due to their alleged involvement to bring reform within the party.

Inactiveness of the standing committee members due to health ground, intra party conflict in different areas are thought to be the prime causes for weakening the organisational strength.

It may be mentioned the last party council was held on September 1, 2 in 1993. As per the constitution of BNP, the council of the party is required to be held every two years. But till now it could not be held.

In 1996 the party had again taken move to hold the council. But due to the anti-government movement it could not be held. Again after assuming power in 2001 the move was kept in the shelves. But some divisional committee meetings were held in 2002.

"The leaders who have records of doing corruption should be expelled from the party. If all those things go smooth then the organisational activities of the party would be geared up and benefit the party," said a vice-chairman of the party.

4-party MPs-elect likely to take oath tomorrow

Staff Reporter

MPs-elect belonging to the BNP and its allies-Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party are likely to take oath tomorrow (Wednesday).

Outgoing Speaker Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar made the broad hint while talking to reporters yesterday. "I'll administer oath to the BNP MPs-elect on Jan 14, as per constitutional guidelines," he mentioned.

The Speaker said BNP's MPs-elect have expressed their eagerness to take oath on January 14 and he may administer oath to them on the day.

Earlier, on January 4 after swearing in of the Independent MPs-elect, Barrister Sircar had told reporters that as per rules he would not be able to administer oath to anyone from then.

He had referred to Article 148 of the Constitution saying that if the Speaker is unable to administer oath to newly elected MPs within three days of the election results being published by gazette, they must take oath from the Chief Election Commissioner or thereafter from the new Speaker.

"But I was not unable or indisposed to administer oath to the newly-elected lawmakers. I administered oath to MPs of Awami League and other parties. Therefore, the article does not restrict me from administering oath to the BNP legislators-elect," the Speaker said.

He further said there was no clear-cut directive in the Constitution whether the newly elected lawmakers would be required to take oath from the new Speaker if they fail to take oath within six days from either the Speaker or the CEC.

Mahbubey Alam to be new AG: Salahuddin resigns

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Mahbubey Alam has been named new attorney general hours after Salahuddin Ahmed resigned the top legal post, the law minister said last night.

Shafiq Ahmed told bdnews24.com by telephone he had signed the papers for the appointment.

"I have signed the files for the appointment of Mahabubey Alam. This is almost final. The appointment will be final after the president signs the papers following the prime minister's approval," he said.

He was the additional attorney general from Nov. 15, 1998 to Oct.4, 2001. He enrolled as a senior Supreme Court lawyer in 1998.

Alam was president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2005-2006 and was its general secretary for the 1993-94 term. He was elected to the Bangladesh Bar Council in 2004.

He became a lawyer of the Appellate Division in 1980 after graduation in law from City Law college in 1972 and took law as a profession in the next year.

Alam started practising in the High court in 1975 after doing bachelor's with honours in political science and master's in public administration from the University of Dhaka.

Born in Munshiganj district, he also secured an advanced degree in constitutional law from New Delhi, India

Earlier in the afternoon, Salahuddin resigned his position .

"I have submitted my resignation in line with the tradition that the attorney general resigns after a new government takes over," Salahuddin told bdnews24.com after handing a letter to the law ministry Monday afternoon.

"I submitted the letter to the law minister addressed to the president," said Salahuddin.

The law minister confirmed he had received the letter.

"The new attorney general will be appointed in a day or two," the minister had said in the afternoon.

Salahuddin was appointed attorney general on July 13 last year by the caretaker government. Earlier, he served as additional attorney general since Feb. 13, 2007.

He joined the Appellate Division as a lawyer in 2002 after becoming a High Court lawyer in 1982.

Salahuddin, who once taught economics at Dhaka University, has been in law profession since 1980 after he had passed LLB from Dhaka University in 1978.

Technical fault in Biman: 417 passengers stranded at ZIA

UNB, Dhaka

Some 417 Dubai-bound passengers of a Bangladesh Biman flight were stranded at Zia International Airport as the aircraft developed technical trouble in the mid-air soon after take-off on Sunday night. Airport sources said the flight, BG-35, with 417 passengers on board left the airport at about 11:35 pm and developed technical trouble 10 minutes after take-off.

The pilot, however, flew the aircraft for 45 minutes in the sky in order to reduce fuel to avoid any risk. The aircraft later landed safely at the Zia International Airport.

All the passengers were safe and taken to different hotels in Uttara on the night.

The BG-35 flight is scheduled to depart for its destination at about 2pm yesterday.