Project in river

Developers out to fill up Turag for unknown project

Bamboos and goran logs which arrived last Tuesday were piled up at the roadside, workers were sawing the bamboos into pieces, while some were carrying those to a newly filled up patch of land in the Turag river.It was apparent some more areas would be demarcated for earth filling.The workers were very busy there. For around one month they were working on this site. Once a patch of land was fenced and filled up, their supervisor asked them to repeat the process in the next stretch of water in a silent and slow move to grab the river.Asked about the supervisor, one worker pointed to a bearded man standing on the edge of a filled up area, which was part of the river just a month ago."This is private property. Locals are filling it up," commented the bearded man and tried to walk away.As The Daily Star correspondent stopped and asked him his identity he introduced himself as Zakir Hossain and said he works for a construction project of 'DOM INNO'."This is not a river. This is our land. We have documents that we bought it from the locals," Zakir claimed.He however could not say how much land they have 'bought' and how much they are going to fill up."It depends on the locals," he tried to argue but eventually gave in and left giving the phone number of the office manger of 'DOM INNO'.The office manager identified himself as Subrata over phone and said, "We have 100 percent clear papers. We did not fill up the river. Even we left out 10 feet from our land."But he could not immediately say anything about the documents; he rather offered the correspondent to visit the spot with him so that he could 'prove' they were not filling up the river.The width of the river here is not more than 30 to 45 feet as they have fenced a part of the river, put polythene in the waters and are filling up the river with dredger. Near the 'DOM INNO's 'land' another group of around 50 workers were filling up the river using boats. They could not be contacted and identified as they were in the middle of the river and there were no signboards there either.On the left, two signboards were erected in the water which read "The owners of the land are Rahima Binte Majibur Rahman and Abdullah Bin Majibur Rahman". They have mentioned their CS (cadastral survey) number as 25 and 5 under the Vatulia Mouza in Uttara police station which used to be under Keraniganj during the British rule.In the CS survey it was seen the land in ledger number 5 and 25 as not parallel. But they have shown that in parallel position which raises the question about accuracy of their documents.Asked over phone, Md Noman, brother-in-law of Majibur Rahman, said they have 100 decimals of land by the Turag. He could not say how they 'bought' a single patch of land with two ledger numbers far away from one ananotheraccording to the original documents."I don't know how, but we have land there," Noman claimed.

Hasty BTCL deal raises questions

The haste of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL) in awarding the Tk 140 crore project for installing modern internet backbone to Korean KT Corporation bypassing the BTCL board's observations has raised questions.The project titled "Internet Information Network Expansion", also known as Info-Bahan project, will be jointly financed by the governments of Bangladesh and South Korea.The new authority of BTCL hurriedly signed the deal although the previous board recommended re-examination of the bid documents following an allegation of the other bidder that KT Corporation submitted an invalid document to win the bid.Interestingly, new BTCL Managing Director SM Khabiruzzaman issued the letter of intent to KT Corporation on March 2--even before his own appointment was approved by the board of directors--whereas the deal itself was officially singed on March 19.The Info-Bahan project was verbally approved at the BTCL's ninth board meeting held on February 19. The board members decided to reach a solution at the next meeting.The next board meeting on March 11 approved Khabiruzzaman's appointment as the BTCL MD and decided to re-examine some documents of the project but the KT deal was not ratified as it was not on the meeting agenda. The matter was not raised even at the next two meetings.Sources said the meetings did not have any agenda for issuing a letter of intent to KT Corporation. The deal was signed completely bypassing the board's final approval.Later, at the April 2 board meeting the board ratified all activities of Khabiruzzaman from February 22 to March 10."Before placing the deal before the board finally, the agreement signing with KT Corporation is nothing but overconfidence showed by the BTCL managing director," said a board member. "We do not know why he was so confident that the board will ratify the deal."The BTCL floated tender for the Info-Bahan project on 24 September 2008. As the project was taken under a loan agreement between Bangladesh government and South Korean government, only Korean companies took part in the bidding.Korea Electric Power Data Network Consortium (KDN) and KT Corporation submitted tenders for the project.As per the bidding conditions, the bidder's benchmark testing certificate for all equipment offered for the project must be issued by telecom carriers or Telecommunications Technology Association in the bidder's country.If any bidder does not provide the required documents including that certificate, the BTCL evaluation committee shall declare the bidder non-responsive and shall not continue with further evaluation of its bid, according to the tender paper.KT's bid was accepted although it provided the benchmark testing certificate it obtained from China instead of its own country.The project's pre-bidding meeting declared KDN non-responsive for failing to provide the certificate.KT Corporation in its bidding paper proposed to supply project equipment from Chinese telecom vendor Huawei, which also raised questions among officials concerned.The issue of KT's submission of invalid benchmark testing certificate was discussed at several board meetings of the BTCL. The 10th board meeting decided to scrutinise the bidding documents before procuring equipment from KT Corporation and assigned two directors to re-examine the documents further.But each and every observation of the board members was overlooked by the new BTCL management.Talking to The Daily Star on Wednesday at his office, new BTCL MD Khabiruzzaman however claimed that the Info-Bahan project was signed after having the board's final nod. "Most of the deal's procedure was completed before my joining," he said.In reply to a question, he also said it does not matter if my works is ratified later at board meeting.Ashok Kumar Mondal, director procurement, claimed that the project handover to KT was transparent.There was a provision in the tender that if a bidder fails to obtain the benchmark testing certificate from its own country, it will not get points for that document and BTCL cut KT's points for this, Mondal said, adding that a company cannot be declared non-responsive based on this certification.However, ABM Al Faruk, local agent of KDN, said, "We have seen lots of discrimination regarding marking. BTCL cut our points by showing simple reasons."

Alternative route bid abandoned

Govt decides to get connected as per original UN-Escap plan

Abandoning the country's previously proposed routes, the government decided to connect Bangladesh to the Asian Highway Network (AHN) accepting routes proposed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-Escap). "We decided to connect Bangladesh to the Asian Highway Network for the welfare of the country," Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain told reporters after a meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat. Officials of the communications, foreign, home, defence, and finance ministries attended the meeting."If we could be connected to the Asian Highway Network, our communication and trade with Asian countries will improve," said the minister, adding, "It would also boost our tourism industry."He said the previous governments did not look at the best interest of the country and did not link the country with the communication network. In the meantime the country faced losses, he added. He said a summary regarding the Asian Highway would be placed before the next cabinet meeting for the government's approval. "Our government's decision will be conveyed to the UN-ESCAP so that Bangladesh can be connected by signing the agreement as per the routes proposed by the UN-Escap."The UN-Escap drafted an Intergovernmental Agreement on the AHN for the development of Asian Highways, which include three routes in Bangladesh.The proposed routes are Benapole-Jessore-Kanchpur-Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil (AH1), Banglabandha-Hatikamrul-Dhaka-Kanchpur-Sylhet-Tamabil (AH2) and Dhaka-Kanchpur-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar-Teknaf-Myanmar border (AH-41). The third route is a sub-regional one.AHN, a proposed network of 1,41,000km of standard roadways crisscrossing Asian countries and linking them with Europe, was conceived in 1959 with an aim to promote development of international road transport in the continent.Bangladesh failed to become a member of the network as its successive governments failed to understand the highway's immense potential and importance. The main reason behind Dhaka's reluctance to join the Asian Highway club is its reservations about giving transit to India.Bangladesh had said the first two routes proposed by the UN-Escap enter Bangladesh from India and exits to India. Bangladesh has been pressing for Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar-Teknaf route. A number of moves in this regard proved futile as Dhaka failed to convince UN-Escap.Asked whether the country would have to face any security threats from neighbouring countries, the communications minister ruled out the possibility.The Asian Highway, also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and Europe and the UN-Escap for improving the highway systems in Asia. It is one of the three pillars of Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development (ALTID) project endorsed by the Escap commission at its 48th session in 1992. The ALTID is comprised of Asian Highway, Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) and facilitation of land transport projects.Agreements have so far been signed by 32 countries to allow the highway to cross the continent and reach Europe. A significant part of the funding comes from the larger more advanced nations as well as international agencies such as the Asian Development Bank. The project is scheduled for completion in 2010.At least 15 countries, including Pakistan became founding members by signing the agreement when the idea was conceived in 1959. In 1971, Bangladesh automatically became a founding member but its status was later lowered to observer after it missed the December, 2005 deadline for signing the agreement.

Cops' job gets tough

Over 100 out of 258 DMP officer posts vacant

Almost all the high-ranking officers of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) are burdened with hectic schedules due to manpower shortage.From the level of assistant commissioner (AC) to DMP commissioner over 100 posts out of a total 258 are vacant in the DMP administration despite several major reshuffles over the last two months.DMP sources said many officers have to rush to several workplaces in different parts of the capital for discharging their duties and officers can spare very little time to stay at their respective offices resulting in making a mess of everything.One additional commissioner is working now against the demand of three posts, four joint commissioners against five, 15 deputy commissioners (DCs) against 25, 19 additional deputy commissioners (ADCs) against 38, and 116 assistant commissioners (ACs) against 186, DMP sources said.DMP has a total 258 posts from the level of AC to DMP Commissioner but only 156 officers were posted while 102 posts are still lying vacant.During a visit to DC Motor Transport (MT) in the second week of April it was found that DC (MT) Mosleh Uddin had to rush to DC (north) office at Uttara, DC (MT) office at Rajarbagh and DC (Discipline) office at Minto Road.Amid severe traffic jam in the capital he had to spend most of his working time on his way to three different offices and besides he had to attend several meetings almost every day, his office sources said.He told The Daily Star that he had to remain busy till 12:00pm every day.DC (MT) office sources said he could spend less than one and a half hours at his office. Usually he attends the DC (north) office in the morning at Uttara and then he reaches the DC (MT) office at Rajarbagh at around 1:00 pm where he has lunch and work for about one and a half hours and then rushes to the DC (Discipline) office at Minto road.Some high officials said each high-ranking officer is tasked with huge workloads. The officers have to remain busy from 9:00am to evening each day.City people said, muggers, dope gangs, extortionists and grabbers with protection from influential ruling party men are now more active causing slide in law and order in the capital.Conceding the fact the DMP Commissioner asked law enforcers to launch a special drive against criminals and recover arms.Against the backdrop of criminal activities the special drive, which started on April 23 midnight ended on April 30 with little success in recovering arms and detaining top-listed criminals.During the drive DMP Commissioner himself expressed dissatisfaction over the achievement of the drive and said he would further intensify the drive.Sources close to the police administration said the government is looking for the officers loyal to ruling party for the posts in the DMP administration.However, DMP and police headquarters sources said due to cadre composition rules the department could not fill up 75 vacant posts of additional superintendent of police though 88 officers of 21st and 22nd BCS batches have already been selected for those posts for long.Promotion process of 1,999 police personnel from the level of ASI to Additional IGP have remained stopped while a total of 3493 posts are still vacant in the department, sources added.

Let's rally together

We've started to expose some of the many outrageous encroachments on four Dhaka rivers--Turag, Buriganga, Balu and Shitalakhya--with a plea to the government to go and check grabbers' claims. We invite all including our readers to join our campaign for free rivers, lifeline of the capital. Lend your hands and together we can win a war against these powerful, rich and ruthless river-gobblers.

Saydee files defamation suit of Tk100cr

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Saydee yesterday filed a compensation suit of Tk 100 crore against three lawyers, accusing them of tarnishing his image through filing a case to declare Saydee and 35 others war criminals.The defendants are advocates Mohammad Liton Miah, Mohammad Safayat Hossain Sajib, and Rajeeb Ahmad who had earlier filed the civil suit.On taking into cognisance the suit filed by Saydee, Judge SM Saiful Islam of the Third Joint District Judge's Court of Dhaka summoned the three defendants to appear before it on June 17 and to explain their arguments against the demands sought by the plaintiff of the suit.In his suit, Saydee mentioned that the defendants had earlier filed a suit to declare him and 35 others war criminals and to disqualify them from contesting the general elections. It had tarnished their image and reputation nationally and internationally. Moreover, it caused a loss of Tk 100 crore in monetary terms, Saydee stated.The three advocates filed a civil suit on November 13 last year against Saydee and 35 others to declare them war criminals for their role in 1971 Liberation War. The 36 defendants included Jamaat's former Ameer Ghulam Azam, its incumbent Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, and the party's senior central leaders Abdus Subhan, AKM Yosuf, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Molla, Delwar Hossain Saydee, Mir Kasem Ali, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, barrister Korban Ali, and advocate Ansar Ali, and BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury. After the hearing, Judge Iftekhar Ahmed of the 9th Assistant Judge's Court on May 11 took the matter for trial and issued the summons on them to appear before it on July 20 and to explain why they would not be declared war criminals for 'committing crimes against humanity' in 1971.But the plaintiffs on May 13 withdrew the suit in 'greater national interest' as the government took an initiative to hold trial against them under special tribunals. Talking to the newsmen, barrister Abdur Razzaq said his client never opposed the Liberation War of Bangladesh. The war crime case had been filed against his client to tarnish his image. While asked whether Saydee was involved in Liberation War, Razzaq said Saydee did not oppose the Liberation War.

Govt targets Tk 80,000cr revenue in next budget

The revenue-earning target has been fixed at Tk 80,000 crore in the next fiscal year without imposing new tax burden on the people, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday.He told this to journalists after a meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on revenue-earning target for the next fiscal year."I am trying not to increase burden on the public, rather trying to ensure that they get commodities at cheaper rates," Muhith said.In the current fiscal year, the revenue-earning target was Tk 69,382 crore.The finance minister said of the Tk 80,000 crore more than Tk 60,000 crore has been fixed for realisation by the NBR. In the non-NBR sector, the collection may be Tk 20,000 crore.However, the revenue-collection target for the NBR in the 2009-10 budget will be more than Tk 60,000 crore, he said.Target for non-tax revenue collection will be between Tk 18,000 crore and Tk 20,000 crore, the minister mentioned.

SSC results on May 26

Results of this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC), SSC (vocational) and Dakhil examinations under eight education boards, Technical education board and Madrasa board will be simultaneously published on May 26.The heads of the educational institutions have been asked to collect the result sheets from the secretaries of respective examination centres while the candidates were asked to collect their results at their respective schools or exam centres, said a government handout.The results will also be available on the education board website: www.result.educationboard.gov.bd, and through short message service (SMS) to 4636 and 2323 on mobile phones. The mobile phone operators will circulate the SMS procedure.However, the results will not be available at the education boards, education ministry or newspaper offices, the handout added.

One lakh data entry operators to get job

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said he would recommend to the prime minister for employing one lakh data entry operators who were earlier engaged in voter list and national ID card programme.He said this in a meeting with the journalists at Madaripur circuit house on a visit to the proposed site for server station and permanent district Election Commission office.Earlier, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shashi Kumar Singha proposed a land of 20 decimal opposite to his office for primary selection.Replying to a question the CEC said that server stations set up programme at every upazila would help the people to get voter list and national ID cards facilities locally.Huda said the Commission was thinking to provide high quality national ID cards for free and admitted that the distributed national ID cards were below international standard.Dhaka Divisional Deputy Election Commissioner Biswas Lutfor Rahman, Police Super M Khurshid Hossain and Additional DC (revenue) Md Kabirul Hasan were present at the meeting.

BDR mutiny for 'Dal Bhat'

No militant, political, foreign links found in national probe; 309-page report submitted

The national probe committee did not find any militant, political or foreign links to the BDR carnage at Pilkhana headquarters."BDR jawans committed the murders on their own initiative. Our investigation did not find any involvement of outsiders--political leaders, militants or foreign forces," a member of the probe body told The Daily Star yesterday evening, requesting not to be named. According to the probe report submitted to Home Minister Sahara Khatun yesterday, there had already been long pent-up grievances among the BDR rank and file. Their anger over 'Dal Bhat Programme' made things worse, and it all boiled over into an orgy of killing, looting and burning on February 25-26.The report also says the mutiny was continuation of the revolts that took place in 1973 and 1991 over leadership in the border forces, added the member of the probe body. Some sources close to the committee said several jawans had claimed the mutiny was part of their “movement against discriminations by the army officers” deputed to BDR. They would call it “a mission to oust the foreign birds from BDR”. The disgruntled BDR jawans had planned to hold the army officials hostage to press home their demands. Killings were not part of their plans. Still, they took place as some of the jawans went beyond the control of the leaders, the sources continued.Earlier at around 4:00pm, the 12-member government inquiry committee headed by former secretary Anisuzzaman Khan turned in the 309-page report at the home minister's office in the secretariat."We have prepared the report on the basis of facts and realities. There is nothing speculative," Anisuzzaman told reporters afterwards.Replying to queries what was the main reason behind the bloodbath, he just said, “Mutiny.” Declining to elaborate, he said they were assigned to probe the incident and now it is the government's duty to comment on the findings.Sahara Khatun said the government would soon publish the report."We are committed to making the findings public," she said seeking the media's help to ensure punishment to the culprits.She said those responsible for the vicious killings would face stern action.Pressed further to talk about the report, she said, “We have yet to read the report. We will however let you know the findings soon." Sahara said she hopes the report would come in handy for the agency tasked with investigating the case in connection with the carnage that left 74 people including 57 army officers dead.She said the government would do everything necessary to ensure the culprits stand trial.State Minister for Home Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder, and some members of the probe committee were present when the ex-secretary turned in the report.The committee was first formed on February 26 to be headed by the home minister. But in response to criticism over the minister's inclusion, it was reconstituted on March 2 with the retired civil servant at the helm.Its 11 other members include former and serving bureaucrats and high-ranking officers from the armed forces.The committee began its work the day after its reconstitution. It had four extensions before its time limit for submitting the report expired on May 11. Originally, the deadline was to end on March 9. It was first extended by seven workdays.Then on March 23, the committee got another four days. And finally on March 30, it was granted 30 more workdays in the interests of a proper investigation. In its report, it recommends that the mutineers be tried under the military act for speedy trial. It also suggested that BDR jawans should not be engaged in programmes like 'Operation Dal Bhat. It suggests further inquiry into the claims of foreign links.Besides making the recommendations, the committee outlined probable reasons for the mutiny and steps to prevent repeat in future.Earlier, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan had said the banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had a hand in the Pilkhana massacre.DAD TOWHID REMANDEDMeanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday placed Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Syed Towhidul Alam on a seven-day fresh remand in an arms case filed with Sabujbagh Police Station in April.The case was filed after a revolver and some ammunition were recovered from BDR jawan Raju who told the law enforcers that DAD Towhid had given him the arms and ammo.Earlier, Towhid was remanded for 15 days at different times in the mutiny case. As per the law, an accused cannot be taken on remand for over 15 days in a single case.In another development, three BDR jawans yesterday made statements confessing their role in the carnage.A correspondent from Jessore adds: The Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court here yesterday sent 43 BDR men to jail. The border guards were arrested on May 15 at Jhumjhumpur BDR camp and 22 rifles battalion headquarters on sedition charges.

Rahim brought to Dhaka for further quizzing at TFI

Law enforcement agencies yesterday brought former National Security Intelligence (NSI) director general Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim to Dhaka for quizzing him at the taskforce interrogation (TFI) cell in connection with the sensational Chittagong arms haul case.Rahim was brought out of Chittagong jail around 10:00am and sent to Dhaka directly by road under police escort, said sources in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the case.Maj Gen (retd) Rezzaqul Haider, the other detained ex-NSI chief accused in the case, will be taken to TFI cell in Dhaka later, said CID Chittagong divisional Special Superintendent of Police Mohammad Muslim.Both the former NSI bosses were placed on a 6-day fresh remand each on Wednesday.Sources said during the interrogation at TFI cell the investigators would focus on extracting information regarding the origin, destination, buyers and financers of the 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition hauled at the jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Company Ltd (CUFL) in the early hours of April 02, 2004.They said after the latest arrest of four NSI men including the two former chiefs and CUFL managing director and general manager (admin) the number of accused in the case rose to 51, including one deceased. Investigators have so far interrogated 43 of them.Apart from the two ex-NSI chiefs and one former director, others are accused of helping transportation of the illegal consignment. So, they did not have any knowledge about the suppliers and buyers of the arms and ammunition.But, being the then NSI chief, Rahim would surely be able to give details on everything and identify everyone involved in the smuggling, sources said.Rahim and Rezzaqul were arrested on May 16 at their residences in Dhaka following the confessional statement of former NSI director (security) Wing Commander (retd) Sahab Uddin made before a Chittagong court on May 15.In his statement, Sahab implicated the former NSI chiefs.The two were produced before a Chittagong court and taken on a three-day remand each on May 17.During interrogation on remand, they gave important information regarding the smuggling. Especially Rahim admitted to holding a meeting with officials of a foreign agency and ARY, a Dubai-based business group allegedly financing insurgent and terrorist groups.But, they tactfully avoided information about their involvement in the incident.

Conflict with MPs to hinder development

The current conflict between lawmakers and upazila chairmen may lead to political unrest and impasse in the country's development unless a mutually convenient policy is undertaken, said speakers at a seminar yesterday. The seminar entitled “The conflict between members of parliament and upazila chairmen: Recent crisis in local government,” and hosted by Neeti Gobeshona Kendra was held at Jatiya Press Club in the morning. It was presided over by political scientist Prof Emajuddin Ahmed.“If the existing conflict between lawmakers and upazila chairmen tends to a settlement in the court of law, it will definitely create political unrest and impasse in development activities in the country,” said Prof Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman.“Around 60,000 representatives of people in upazila parishad have been manacled by enacting the law that authorised lawmakers as advisers to upazila parishads,” said Badiul Alam Majumder, general secretary of Shushashoner Jonney Nagorik (Sujan).“None of the local government bodies-- zila parishad, upazila parishad and union parishad-- is subordinate to one another. So leaders of these institutions must come out of the mindset of establishing supremacy. Leadership from the local government will be required to materialize the charter,” he added.“There is no problem if someone becomes an adviser. But it must be looked into so that advice does not turn into order. There must be a specific written code of responsibilities for upazila chairmen and vice chairmen,” said Prof Emajuddin Ahmed.Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman presented the keynote-paper in the seminar. He made some recommendations to resolve the problem. His suggestions include analysing the crisis and finding a solution in line with the constitution, formulating a policy for decentralisation, formulating integrated code for local government, advocacy on local issues and problems by the lawmakers, and holding local government elections among party-nominated candidates as the national elections.Lawmaker Rahmat Ali said the legislative, executive, and judiciary have authority in their own sectors. They are complementary to each other but people are supreme.Lawmaker Shammi Akhter, Awami League organizing secretary Mahmudur Rahman Manna and upazila parishad Chairman Nazrul Islam Khan, also spoke at the seminar, among others. Mahbubul Haque Ripon, director of Neeti Gobeshona Kendro, conducted the seminar.

Pollution makes river waters hard to treat: experts

Water of the Buriganga and Shitalakhya rivers has become difficult to treat due to high level of pollution, said Dr MA Taher Khandker, director general of Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board at a seminar yesterday. “Water in the Buriganga and Turag rivers have literally turned into poison,” said Khandker in his presentation at the seminar titled 'Pollution of Rivers around Capital Dhaka: Mitigation Options' at Water Development Board (WDB) office. Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level, an indicator of measuring river health and aquatic life in its water, stands at zero milligram (per litre) at different points of Buriganga, Turag, Tongi Khal and Balu during dry season, he said.He said ideally it should remain seven to eight milligram (per litre) in the rivers' water. But the DO level is dropping significantly due to unabated dumping of wastes and toxic substances into rivers and water bodies.While DO level is alarmingly low in the rivers of Dhaka, load of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) (amount of oxygen used for decomposition of organic matters), is high in the Buriganga and Shitalakhya rivers, he said. Tolerable BOD load may remain three milligram (per litre) at best but it remains many times higher than the tolerable level and may escalate further if pollution continues in the rivers, he said. Six rivers, including the Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleswari, Tongi Khal, Balu and Shitalakhya, encircle the capital city with around 110 km length, he said, there is no other capital in the world with such fantastic circular waterway. Khandker suggested water flow augmentation in the rivers and setting up wastewater treatment plants. There are many laws against environmental pollution and destruction of rivers and wetlands but hardly those laws have been enforced, WDB Additional Director General Kamrul Huda said. The board, under the water resources ministry, organised the seminar, chaired by WDB Additional Director General Wafi Md. Kamrul Huda. Government's high officials and engineers of WDB attended the seminar.

Banglalink hints at merger

Mobile phone operator Banglalink, owned by Egyptian Orascom Telecom Holdings, hinted yesterday in favour of a possible merger with AKTEL, saying consolidation is an option among many other strategies of the company to sustain in the competitive market."Except for the market leader, others are continually posting losses. In order to sustain in this fiercely competitive market, and in line with our growth ambitions, we are considering many strategies of which consolidation is an option," said Ahmed Abou Doma, chief executive officer of Banglalink, in a statement. His statement came following media reports about the merger issue, which was disclosed by Orascom Telecom Holdings Chairman Naguib Sawiris recently. Meanwhile, employees of both the operators are in a fear of possible job cuts amid talks for the merger.But Doma dismissed the speculation over job losses. He said: "On the contrary, a consolidation that results in the formation of a bigger and stronger entity is in a much better position to utilise its workforce and protect their interests. The resulting growth would require a bigger workforce and thus have a positive impact on the overall socio-economic scenario of the country.” Now around 4,000 employees are working for the two companies. Explaining the recent merger developments, Doma said the telecom industry in Bangladesh is already crowded with too many operators. In most developed and developing countries there are not more than 2 to 3 operators, whereas in Bangladesh there are 6, he added. Doma also pointed out that “consolidation is beneficial if it creates better synergies -- this usually leads to more efficient sharing of resources in terms of infrastructure, procurement, and marketing. All possible options are being evaluated at this stage”. He said it is correct to point out that at this stage all strategic options are being reviewed that are not necessarily restricted to any one operator in particular."It's too premature to give any indication whatsoever regarding concrete details about the potential consolidation options and timelines at this stage," he said. "Once our negotiations on different fronts that are being explored reach a more concrete stage, we will obviously share the proposition with telecom watchdog and other government entities concerned,” he said.Banglalink is yet to break even although it holds the market's second position with 10.90 million customers as of April 2009.The operator's probable consolidation partner AKTEL holds the third position in the market with 8.83 million subscribers as of April.Telekom Malaysia International has 70 percent stake and Japanese NTT DoCoMo the rest in AKTEL.At present, the top three operators -- Grameenphone, Banglalink and AKTEL -- hold more than 90 percent market share. Norwegian Telenor's majority shareholding company Grameenphone is in the number one position with 46 percent market share and 21.02 million customers as of April 2009.

New guideline sought to attract FDI

Economists, experts and business leaders want to see some new directions and continuation of previous policies on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the fiscal year 2009-10 national budget, announcement of which is due next month, as fresh FDI inflow to Bangladesh is in a state of decline, mainly because of the global financial trauma.Only US$ 54 million worth of foreign investment proposals were registered with the Board of Investment (BoI) in the first two months of 2009, while the investors desired a $ 165 million investment during the same period a year ago.2008 was also a gloomy year for FDI proposals. The BoI registered only $ 60 million proposals in FDI covering 13 projects in the year against $ 326.85 million worth proposals covering 141 projects in 2007, an 81.64 percent drop, according to BoI statistics.The current recession has put the FDI inflow at low ebb, as most investors are much concentrated on utilising their existing capacity to face the financial crisis, rather than initiating new ventures.The Institute of International Finance (IIF), an association of the major global financial institutions, in its latest report pointed to the recent significant decline in private capital flows to emerging markets. The IIF also forecast such a flow of $165 billion for 2009, down from $ 466 billion in 2008.However, the actual foreign investment in Bangladesh witnessed an upturn in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, backed by Japan's NTT DoCoMo's purchase of 30 percent stake in AKTEL for $ 350 million from local AK Khan and Company.During July-February of 2008-09 fiscal, $ 851 million in FDI was received, which was $ 446 million in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to Bangladesh Bank statistics.The portfolio or foreign investment in the country's capital market also dropped significantly amid global financial crunch, as selling pressure by foreign fund managers or investors continue.During July-February of 2008-09 fiscal, net withdrawal by foreign investors was $ 76 million, while net investment by them was $ 70 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.Many market experts however opine that at this stage of global recession portfolio investment should not be encouraged here.Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, professor of Finance at Dhaka University, said, "Portfolio investment can be encouraged in the form of equity and there must be certain lock-in period in selling shares." Meanwhile, advocating continuation of the budgetary measures, such as tax holiday benefits for new industries, reduction in capital machinery and spare parts import, and reduction in corporate tax to encourage FDI, experts said the next budget should have some specific directions to resolve the problem of gas and power, as the utility is considered basic facilities for investment.Pointing to the decline in investment flow worldwide due to the recession, impact of which is feared to linger up to early 2010, Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said, “It's not expected that the FDI to Bangladesh will rise dramatically in the coming days.” On the other hand, he said, this year's budget will be a big deficit budget, for which the government will have to depend on domestic borrowing and foreign aid.“We have to think about public-private partnership to attract FDI to the country,” he said.Annisul Huq, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said, “Assurance of utility such as gas and electricity is the prerequisite for any kind of investment, while the country is facing a severe problem to provide those services. "He said adequate infrastructure facilities and an investment-friendly environment will have to be ensured.On tax holiday, Huq said, "The facility should be for 10 years for setting up industries inside the export processing zones (EPZs) and five years for new industries outside the EPZs." Ifty Islam, managing partner of Asian Tiger Capital Partners, a financial institution focusing on private equity and venture capital, said while public-private partnerships are clearly going to feature prominently in the budget “we should also adopt a similar mindset in outsourcing some of the functions of investment promotion to the private sector.” At a minimum, he said, there should be a joint venture approach between the government and the FBCCI in 'Brand Bangladesh' and investment promotion strategy going forward.Islam said the BoI needs substantially increased funding.“Every dollar spent on effective investment promotion would see at least a potential tenfold return to Bangladesh. The budget for the BoI should at least be trebled in the upcoming budget,” he suggested.

TeleTalk, BTCL shares to be offloaded

Shares of state-run mobile operator TeleTalk and Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations Company Ltd (BTCL) will be offloaded in the stock market to ensure people's ownership in the state-owned entities, the posts and telecommunications minister said yesterday.The telecommunications ministry is working to this effect, Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju told journalists after a meeting with the Dhaka Stock Exchange authorities at the Secretariat.A delegation of the DSE led by its President Rakibur Rahman met the minister on a courtesy call.The minister said people are the owners of the state-run enterprises. If the people's ownership in the government entities can be ensured, accountability and development of these organisations will increase, he said.Referring to reducing the per-minute call charge to Tk 0.25 for BTCL land phone customers from July 1 this year, Raju said the government has cut down the tariff to reach the telephone service to more people and help realise the dream of a digital Bangladesh.Welcoming the government decision of offloading shares of TeleTalk and BTCL, the DSE president said it will positively impact the stock market.There is no alternative to investing in the stock market to create employment and industrialise the country within a short span, he said.

New regional head of Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks, a leading provider of communications services with global operations, has recently made Krittika Mahattanakul the head of the company's Asia North sub region, says a press release.Krittika, a postgraduate in Management, is a veteran in the telecommunications industry with 20 years of international experience. Prior to this new appointment, he was the head of service sales of Latin America region based in Mexico.

Oil prices lower in Asian trade

Oil traded lower in Asia on Thursday as investors cashed in on profits after an overnight rally that pushed prices beyond 62 dollars, analysts said.New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, was down 56 cents to 61.48 dollars a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July shed 53 cents to 60.06 dollars.Prices had rocketed to new six-month highs of more than 62 dollars overnight after data released by the US Department of Energy showed a fall in oil inventories.The report showed US crude reserves tumbling 2.1 million barrels in the week ending May 15, far more than market expectations of a 700,000 barrel drop.This indicated that energy demand was holding firm despite a deep recession in the United States, the world's biggest economy and the largest oil consumer."There was plenty of bullish data in the inventory report to cause oil to get to such a high level," said Victor Shum, senior principal at energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.

Citigroup to defend against lawsuit by Singapore tycoon

Citigroup said Thursday it would defend itself against a lawsuit filed by a Singapore tycoon who alleged he lost one billion dollars (687 million US) on trading deals due to the bank's negligence.Oei Hong Leong, one of Singapore's wealthiest individuals, is suing Citigroup's private banking arm for allegedly failing to give him an accurate picture of his trading exposure, leading to the losses."We fully intend to defend our position vigorously," a Citigroup spokesman said in a statement to AFP.The hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for June 23, a court official said but gave no further details.The Straits Times reported this week that Oei had paid off his losses from foreign exchange and US Treasury bond deals but was now suing the US banking giant's private banking arm for negligence and misrepresentation.

Ctg gas supply to improve

Sangu compression project installation to complete by July1

Installation of the compression project at the Sangu gas terminal in Chittagong is to be completed by July 1, to improve gas supply in the region, said an official of Cairn.Ian Wright, director operations and engineering of Cairn Energy Companies in Bangladesh, a multinational oil and gas exploration company, said commissioning of the onshore gas compression project is in its final stage. Under the current onshore project, Cairn and its joint venture partners have selected and ordered two compressor units to maintain the supply of gas to the Chittagong region, Wright told reporters during his visit to the Sangu platform of Cairn, about 50 kilometres away from the Karnaphuli river at Chittagong Port.The cost of completing the project has been fixed at $6 million and is part of ongoing efforts to extend the economic life of the Sangu gas field, he said. Three successful well intervention programmes were recently completed, resulting in a 60 percent improvement in production rates.He said construction at Sangu started in February 2009 involving 50 local contract workers, preparing the site for arrival of the compressor packages."The fabrication of the compressors in Singapore was completed in April and the compressor packages in Chittagong are now ready for installation at site by this month," he said.He said the onshore gas compression project installation and start-up will be achieved without disrupting the vital Sangu gas supply to Chittagong.The Sangu gas field in the Bay of Bengal has produced in excess of 450 billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas since production commenced in 1998 with Cairn being one of the first international companies to start operating in Bangladesh, he added."To date, Cairn and its joint venture partners have invested approximately $1billion in the country," Wright said.He said the economic life of the Sangu gas field will finish by 2012. If the government signs an agreement with Cairn to connect Sangu with Magnama, the economic life of the Sangu could be extended, he added.

Islamic banking drawing attention

The ongoing global financial crisis is far from being over. The G20, which together accounts for almost 90 percent of the world economy, met in London in April with the primary objective of reshaping the financial architecture. The final result was an attractive commitment worth $1.1 trillion to revitalise the stagnated global demand. The lion share of this amount (nearly 70 percent) has been allocated towards strengthening the IMF's role in assisting countries that are falling prey to the silent tsunami in the global financial system. Nevertheless, many critics have pointed out that the G20 did not do enough to streamline the global financial architecture and more critically, they failed to grasp the ongoing global financial crisis by its horns, for example re-regulating the world financial system. According to a news report, the same day that the G20 Summit was aiming to boost the IMF, the latter suspended lending to Latvia (one of the countries it has recently extended emergency crisis loans to) "until it sees more progress in cutting public spending". Such signals indicated the reluctance of developing countries to approach the IMF. The optimists ought to be informed that that there are more dark days ahead. Freddie Mac, short for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation which together with Fannie Mae own about half of the $12 trillion of the US mortgage market, once again reported a loss of nearly $10 billion in the first three months of 2009 and said it would ask for a further $6.1 billion in state aid to help compensate for the losses. This is the third request for more federal help from the respective firm since it was taken over by regulators in September last year and its latest request is likely to accumulate to a total of $51 billion.Amid the strong turbulence being felt in the global financial system, Islamic banking system has been attracting much attention. In general, Islam forbids all forms of economic activity, which it perceives to be morally or socially degrading or harmful to others. The fundamental rule of Islamic finance is the prohibition of charging interest. According to the Sharia law, one is not allowed to make money from money, for example earnings (or payment) of interest, speculation, contractual uncertainty and transactions that prove to be advantageous to one party at the expense of another are not permitted. In accordance with Islamic principles, investments in companies, which are involved with alcohol, gambling, tobacco and pornography, are also prohibited. In short, wealth is to be generated only through legitimate trade and investment in assets. In synchronisation with welfare economics, Sharia law can be conceptualised to possess many in-built mechanisms that aim to preserve a Pareto efficient allocation of profits in this case. In other words, its endeavour is to sustain a situation where an individual cannot be made better off without making some other party worse off. Sharia law aspires to minimise speculative types of behaviour by ensuring an equitable distribution of profits. So how does one make profit in a Sharia compliant banking system? To illustrate, in the West when an individual wants to borrow money to buy a house, he or she would go to a bank and agree a loan. Following the bank's approval of the loan, the customer would be required to make regular repayments, which include interests accrued on the loan. On the other hand, in the Sharia-compliant banking system, the bank would buy the house itself and sell it to the customer at a mark-up price. The bank and the people, who put their money in it, have a share in any profit, loss or from investments. The one Islamic financing mechanism, which is attracting much attention in recent times, is the Sukuk, which are asset-backed, Sharia-compliant trust certificates. For the traditional banker and customer, they can conceptualise this as a bond. Then again, a bond generates interest income, which is prohibited under Sharia law. Sukuks tend to be used in parallel with an Ijara structure where the lease rental income provides a profit for the Sukuk holder. The proprietor also has the fiduciary responsibilities for the maintenance of the asset and this is the most striking difference between the conventional bond system and the Islamic one. This is not to affirm that the Islamic banking system is not without any flaws. One of the inherent flaws is the lack of regulatory framework within the sector, implying that Sharia managers have the discretion to differ over what constitutes Sharia-compliance. Proponents of Islamic finance tend to refute this point by arguing that the built-in adherence to Islamic law makes this system fairer and hence, more morally acceptable. To conclude, notwithstanding the fact that Islamic banks have been able to shield themselves from the spillover effects of the global economic recession, no one can predict the extent to which the Islamic finance's principles will serve to protect it from the looming financial storms. Whilst some have pointed out that it is already entwined with the mainstream finance whereby its future is as risky as any other part of the global financial industry, experts in Islamic finance believe that their way of carrying out finance-related activities has shielded them from the global credit crisis and hence, the model stands on its own merit. London, the financial heartthrob of the world, is emerging as a major financial centre for Islamic finance. Reputed banks like the UK's HSBC and Citi of the US have already set up Islamic banking subsidiaries that are flourishing. Time and events are going to be the most crucial factors in deciding whether such a system remains a complement to the existing financial system or it evolves to such an extent that it replaces the conventional ways of doing business under a capitalist system.

Akhtar out of WC

Pakistan pulled fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar out of next month's World Twenty20 tournament in England due to injury, the Pakistan Cricket Board said Thursday.The 33-year-old missed last week's conditioning camp in a luxury Pakistani hill resort due to injuries on his groin and his omission had been widely expected after he missed the first of three practice matches here Wednesday."We have pulled him out of the World Twenty20 on the basis of a medical report given by our doctor which said that Akhtar needs 10 days to recover from groin wounds," the PCB said."The medical board has reported that Akhtar was suffering from genital viral warts," it said in a statement, adding that he would need another 10 days of care and treatment.Akhtar becomes the first casualty of the 12-team event for which final 15-man squads were announced on May 5.The PCB said it has written the technical committee of the World Twenty20 for the right to name a replacement after the fast bowler's fitness was assessed by a three-man panel on Thursday.Akhtar is likely to be replaced by paceman Rao Iftikhar for the second edition of the World Twenty20 which starts in England from June 5.Akhtar, plagued by injury since his debut in 1997, managed to play just four Twenty20 matches last year due to fitness and discipline problems.He was dropped from the team after getting just one wicket in the two one-day matches internationals against Sri Lanka in February.He was later ruled out of the Test series because of knee problems. The series was ultimately abandoned after gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus en route to the stadium in Lahore.Akhtar was then included in Pakistan's squad for their five one-dayers and one Twenty20 match series in the United Arab Emirates this month.He took three wickets in four one-day matches but did not complete his allotted 10 overs in any of the matches. He only bowled two overs in the one-off Twenty20 match against Australia in Dubai, conceding 18 runs.The mercurial paceman was also included in the inaugural World Twenty20 squad held in South Africa in 2007 but was expelled two days before the event for assaulting team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat.Akhtar was also left out of Pakistan's squad for the World Cup held in the Caribbean in 2007 after he failed to recover from ankle and knee problems.A year later, he was banned for five years following his outburst against the PCB over being axed from a central contract.An appeal committee reduced the ban to 18 months but also levied a fine of seven million rupees (95,000 dollars).

Delhi maul Mumbai

Barring a late scare by Harbhajan Singh, who took 4 for 17, Delhi Daredevils go into the semifinals of the Indian Premier League with a confidence boosting six-wicket win against the Mumbai Indians at the SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.At the toss Virender Sehwag said he wanted to field to give his side some much needed practice chasing. And a fair bit of practice they got, with Sehwag leading the power-hitting top-order who stayed ahead of the fairly steep required run-rate.Gautam Gambhir and David Warner, Delhi's openers, blitzed to 30 in the first three overs. It started from the sixth ball of the first over. Lasith Malinga found bounce and bowled over 140kph but Gambhir picked his slower bouncer and pulled it for four to square leg. Then Gambhir and Warner hit 22 off the next 12 balls. Gambhir walked out and hit Dhawal Kulkarni for a four behind square leg before lifting a fuller one down the ground for another boundary.Rahil Shaikh began his IPL campaign with a high full toss that Warner pulled to midwicket boundary before being picked for another in the same area by Gambhir. Warner lofted Kulkarni for a six over long-on but then top-edged one and ended up losing his wicket and his bat. But Delhi couldn't afford to slow down, needing over seven an over. Not that they would slow down when Sehwag joined Gambhir at the crease. Kulkarni was the one to suffer as Sehwag scored boundaries off whatever length he bowled. He gave away 36 in three overs.Harbhajan came on at the end of the Powerplays with Delhi at 60 for 1. He kept it tight by mixing flighted deliveries with flatter and sharper ones but it didn't help as Sehwag and Gambhir instead picked the boundaries from the other end. Gambhir played Abhishek Nayar's shorter deliveries to the fine-leg and midwicket boundaries while Sehwag hit a half-volley over the bowler's head for a six. After ten overs Delhi were 93 for 1 in contrast to Mumbai, who were 72 for 3 at the same stage.Gambhir finally fell in the 12th over, again walking down the track but mistiming a loft to a diving Mohammad Ashraful at third man. But by then the required run-rate had come down to under seven an over, mostly owing to the wides conceded by Sanath Jayasuriya. Tillakaratne Dilshan waited only two balls before going for the big shot. He hooked a slower ball by Malinga to deep backward square-leg for six. Jayasuriya further pulled down the asking rate to less than six, this time owing to Sehwag who made room to hit him for four over extra cover and a six over long-on. Dilshan stuck into Malinga in the next and overs 12 to 14 cost Mumbai a whopping 39. Sehwag got his fifty immediately after that but the two batsmen fell off successive balls to Harbhajan.There were some tense moments for Delhi after that. Harbhajan gave away only three and JP Duminy two. Harbhajan came back to pick up AB de Villiers and Rajat Bhatia off successive balls as well. De Villiers was caught at midwicket trying to flick him for a six and Bhatia misread an off-break and was bowled for 2. At the end of that over, Delhi needed 12 off 18, with four wickets in hand. Amit Mishra ensured they needed only three of those balls, hitting Duminy for a six and a four, and Mumbai ended their IPL campaign at No.7, after having being a semi-final contender at one point.However their batsmen, led by Ajinkya Rahane, had given them a chance to end on a positive note. Rahane began attacking after the Powerplay overs and added 73 with Sachin Tendulkar. Bhatia, bowling his slow-medium stuff, had sent down four tight balls and a wide before Tendulkar messed up the over with two beautifully executed fours. He late-cut the first to the third-man boundary and drove the next straight past the bowler to long-on. After the strategy break, the two took advantage of Mishra's poor length and scored 15 off his third over. Even after Tendulkar fell, Rahane kept the scoreboard ticking and got to his second half-century of the season from 37 balls. Mumbai scored 56 off the last five overs but Delhi's batsmen came in to form and spoiled their farewell.SCORES IN BRIEFMUMBAI: 165 for 8 in 20 overs (Rahane 56, Tendulkar 46; Nannes 3-27, Sangwan 2-28)DELHI: 166 for 6 in 17.3 overs (Sehwag 50, Gambhir 47, Dilshan 24; Harbhajan 4-17)Result: Delhi Daredevils won by four wickets.Man-of-the-match: Virender Sehwag.

Zia still in 3rd place

Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman is still in third place of the 8th Asian Continental Chess Championship at Subic Freeport in Olongapo City.Zia beat Indian GM Abhijit Gupta in the ninth round to take his tally to six points, equal with seven others.GM Niaz Murshed is half a point behind Zia at 5.5 from nine rounds after yet another draw, this time with Qatari GM Al-Modiakhi Mohammed.In the other matches, GM Enamul Hossain Rajib lost to Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan of Mongolia while FM Abu Sufian Shakil lost to Filipino GM Gonzales Joyson.

Rajin, Talha & Zia called up

Rajin Saleh and Talha Jubair have been called up to the Bangladesh A side for the one-day series against Maharashtra Cricket Association which begins at the Bir Shreshtha Shahid Matiur Rahman Stadium in Khulna today.Paceman Ziaur Rahman will join the pair after Imrul Kayes, Nazmul Hossain and Mahbubul Alam Robin were ruled out due to various ailments. Batsman Kayes and pacer are yet to recover fully from jaundice while Robin has suffered a back injury during training yesterday.Batsman Rajin had a fruitful National Cricket League of 2008-09, scoring 482 runs including a century but had a patchy time in the Premier League scoring only 181 from ten games playing for Surjo Tarun.Talha also had a similar fate, taking 37 wickets in the first-class competition but played just a single Premier game this season for Abahani. Ziaur, on the other hand, has shown good form with the bat in fact, hitting that magical half-century in the PCL semifinal in Chittagong earlier this month.