BANGLADESH

A Dhaka court has bailed five people accused in two fraud cases filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Dhaka's Chief Metrpolitan Magistrate Court's judge A G M Al Maud granted the bail requests of Abu Sadat Mohamad Sayem, Abdul Amin Molla, Syed Siraj-ud-Doulla, Rasheda Akhter Maya and Habibur Rahman Morol on Tk 5,000 bonds on Monday.

The suspects had allegedly conned the investors by making transactions in bulk among themselves before selling their shares off at high prices for unlawful gains, according to the cases.

SEC director Mahbuber Rahman Chowdhury on Aug 21 filed one case against Siraj-ud-Doula, his wife Maya and Morol for trading shares of People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited by increasing the face value.

The case alleged they purchased and sold shares of People's Leasing and Financial Services Limited among each other at the brokerage house FPI Securities.

Another case was filed against Sayem and Mollah for manipulating the face value of shares of Eastern Housing Limited.

They had raised the price of Eastern Housing Limited shares by 25 percent by trading through eight accounts at Motijheel's Salta Capital Limited, the case said.

The cases are based on the report of the government-commissioned investigation committee, formed over the stocks debacle that caused two bourses to close for a few days.

Eleven people including chairman of the committee Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, members Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, Mohamed Abdul Baree and Nihad Kabir have been made witnesses in the cases.

The finance minister has acknowledged that Bangladesh's foreign direct investment has almost dried up.

Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told a discussion on public-private partnership (PPP) that public expenditure was rather low. He said private and foreign direct investment needed to be shored up for higher investment.

"But we are lagging behind in this aspect."

"We are trying to raise investment though the PPP initiative. Higher investment would require foreign investment besides domestic investment. Public Private Partnership should have such a focus."

According to the central bank, $ 768 million worth of FDI came to the country in 2010-11 fiscal, 913 million in 2009-10, 961 million in 2008-09.

But FDI increased in the first month of current fiscal. In July the FDI inflow was $ 57 million, compared to $ 102 million of last July.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has enforced tax cuts to help stabilise the drooping capital market in the wake of street protests by retail investors.

NBR public relations officer Syed A Momen told bdnews24.com that a statutory regulatory order was issued on Monday.

The announcement came following an overnight hunger strike by the small investors who began the protests on Sunday, saying they would 'fast unto death' if the market situation does not return to normal.

On Oct 12, capital market regulator Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) had suggested income tax rebates on capital market investments and on mutual fund income, and halving source tax on brokerage commissions in a meeting with the NBR following raging protests by investors against the continuous slump in the capital market.

SEC chief M Khairul Hossain had said that the NBR agreed with them on the proposed tax cuts.

The NBR order said, "A 10 percent income tax rebate will be given on investments made on the capital market, debentures or mutual funds from July 1.

"The tax on the mutual fund issuer's income will also be rebated from the same date."

"The 10percent source tax on brokerage commission enforced in the current budget will also be halved."

Meanwhile, retail investors on a hunger strike since Sunday have said they will continue with their protest until the prime minister gives specific orders to prop up the tumbling share market.

The protestors, who were dispersed by Motijheel police on the street in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in the morning, are now observing it at the National Press Club.

The retail investors declared their programme on Sunday after the week's trading started at 11am. SEC officials sat later in the night with the finance minister to devise an end to the slump. However, SEC chief M Khairul Hossain declined to give any details on the meeting's outcome.

The Anticorrpution Commission (ACC) has assigned one of its senior officials to investigate corruption charges levelled by World Bank in Padma bridge project.

ACC deputy director Jainul Abedin Shibli was handed the task at a meeting of the commission on Monday.

The deadline for the report is 30 days, the corruption watchdog's commissioner Md Shahabuddin Chuppu told bdnews24.com.

ACC director general Farrukh Ahmed had told reporters on Oct 12 that assistant director Mirza Jahidul Islam has been tasked with the enquiry.

When asked about that announcement, Shahabuddin said it was not a formal announcement.

The $ 1.2-billion fund that the World Bank committed for the country's longest bridge over the Padma River was temporarily suspended following allegations of corruptions in the execution of the project.

Even though allegations were levelled against communications minister Syed Abul Hossain, and the secretary to Bridges Division was transferred over the matter, Bangladesh government has so far denied the charges.

The High Court has asked the government for information about what steps its is taking to free 500 Bangladeshis jailed in Saudi Arabia.

The bench of justices Mohammad Bazlur Rahman and M Enayetur Rahim on Monday also wanted to know why the order to bring back these undocumented Bangladeshis should not be given.

The foreign and home secretaries have been asked to respond to the rule within four weeks that came upon a petition filed on Sunday by legal-rights organisation Ain o Shalish Kendra (ASK).

The court also demanded an explanation about the government indifference on the matter should be marked as against the law.

The NGO that provides legal aid filed the petition based on a news report of Oct 13 that said there are 500 Bangladeshis imprisoned in Dammam Jail in the Sheikhdom.

ASK, in its petition, urged the High Court to order the government to repatriate the Bangladeshis.

The Daily Amar Desh report said Bangladeshis jailed in that prison are dying slowly from diseases. The expatriates were arrested for not having valid documents.

The Saudi government has agreed to permit their extradition if their return permit and airline tickets were provided, but their repatriation is not happening due to apathy from the Bangladesh embassy there, the report alleged.

Lawyers Saifur Rashid and Abonti Nurul argued for the petitioner while deputy attorney general Amit Talukder stood for the state.

Eight Bangladeshis were beheaded in public in Riyadh on Oct 7 following their confession on robbing a warehouse and killing the Egyptian security guard, Hussein Saeed Mohammed Abdulkhaleq, in April 2007.

Both the Saudi government and the Bangladesh embassy in Saudi Arabia said they could not secure clemency for the convicts, as the law states that only the victim's family can pardon such crime, and the family declined to oblige.

But rights bodies across the world have severely criticised the incident, with Amnesty International pointing out that the confessions might have been made under duress.

The High Court has sought explanation on why branding news headlines after advertisers will not be declared illegal.

The bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Mohammad Nuruzzaman issued the rule on Monday upon a public interest litigation filed by former Government Laboratory School teacher M A Matin.

The petition marked the information, law and home secretaries, director-general of the state-run BTV, and chief executive officers (CEO) of private television channels Ekushey TV, Banglavision, Channel i and Boishakhi TV as defendants.

They were told to respond within two weeks.

Barristers Masud Ahmed Sayeed and Ahmed Sohel argued for the petitioner.

Masud told reporters that the television channels in the country including BTV announces daily news headlines after the advertiser's names.

"There is a chance that the TV channel won't broadcast any news against the advertising company even if they commit a crime or any accident takes place in the company," he said.

Though, there are at least 16 private television channels in the country, the petition mentioned only five names including BTV.

Explaining why left the other channels out in his petition, Masud said, "All the names could not be mentioned as we could not monitor their news shows before filing the petition."

The cabinet has approved a proposal on Bangladesh requesting membership to the United Nations Arbitration Court (UNAC).

A supplementary proposal, titled 'Bangladesh's Proposal for Permanent Membership to the UN', was approved at the cabinet meeting on Monday.

Prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said the arbitration court was set up in 1899 in the Hague. A case between Bangladesh and India on maritime boundary delimitation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1983 is under consideration of this court.

Azad said, "India is already a member of this court. Now, special necessity has risen to be a member of this court. After getting the membership, Bangladesh and India's position will be equal."

The press secretary said Bangladesh might appeal to the court for financial support to run the case and would also get chances to solve any dispute on both business- and petroleum-related issues.

If Bangladesh gets the membership, it would be able to recruit four international lawyers and also be able to nominate one for the post of a judge, said Azad.

The government plans to hand over majority of power generation responsibility to the private sector by 2016.

Chairman of state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) A S M Alamgir Kabir said on Sunday the government-run power plants now account for 56 percent of the country's total generation and the private plants the rest.

He told : "According to the plan, the government-run plants will generate only 42 percent of the total demand by 2016 while private plants will supply the rest 58 percent."

Energy experts apprehend a disaster in the sector in such a situation when PDB will increasingly be dependant on private sector generation and the government has to spend more on electricity subsidy.

PDB moved proposals twice to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to raise electricity prices -- both wholesale and retail -- in the current year as it buys high-priced electricity from the private plants.

Alamgir Kabir said: "Private power plants, which are based on fuel, are hiking prices because of increasing production cost. PDB is forced to purchase electricity from them as generation fell in the government-run plants for insufficient gas supply."

As a single buyer, PDB purchases electricity from both government and private power plants and sells it to the distributing agencies.

In its proposal to BERC, PDB said average supply cost for a unit of electricity rose to Tk 4.15 in 2010-2011 fiscal year from Tk 2.62 in 2009-2010, but PDB is still getting only Tk 2.81 per unit.

It said thanks to increase in number of oil-based power plants, electricity supply cost will rise to Tk 4.86 per unit in 2011-2012.

Energy expert and Chittagong University professor M Shamsul Alam told: "If the plan is implemented, electricity sector will be depending more on the private plants. As a result, subsidy in the sector will also rise."

He said a disaster might happen in the sector in such a situation.

After assuming office in early 2009, the present government announced plans to add 14,773 megawatts of electricity—6204MW from the government-run plants and 8569MW from the private plants—to the national grid by 2016.

Under the plan, 775MW power was added to the national grid last year -- 225MW from state-run plants and 520MW from private plants -- and this year another 2450MW power -- 1107MW from government plants and 1343MW from private plants -- is supposed to be generated.

The plan says 1901MW electricity -- 582MW from government plants and 1319MW from private plants -- will add to the national grid in 2012, another 2174MW -- 1040MW from state-run plants and 1134MW from private plants -- in 2013, 2323MW -- 1270MW from state-run plants and 1053MW from private plants -- in 2014, 2350MW -- 450MW from government plants and 1900MW from private plants -- in 2015 and 2800MW -- 1500MW from state-run plants and 1300MW from private -- plants in 2016.

The government has been giving priority to the power sector since its coming to power in Jan, 2009.

In last two and a half years, the government signed agreements to set up 50 new power plants and meantime 18 units commenced operation.

When the government assumed office, total electricity generation was 3276.5MW. Since then 2284MW of electricity added to the national grid.

On Aug 29 this year, the country made a record by producing 5244MW of electricity.

The present daily demand for electricity is estimated at about 7000MW, implying that the generation shortfall is 2000-2500MW.

Around 10,000 people will miss out on voting in the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) elections as the voter list has not been updated.

According to Election Commission estimates, over 4,000 youths, who became 18 in or after January this year, cannot be included in the electoral roll. Apart from them, there are at least 5,000 eligible people whose names were somehow dropped from the present voter list updated last year.

Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain told bdnews24.com on Monday that they cannot vote as the voter list updating activities could not be conducted before the elections this year.

"We don't have enough time in hand. The updating activities will be undertaken in December," he added.

The last voter roll update was done in 2010.

Earlier in 2009, persons attaining eligible voting age that time as well as those who were dropped from the roll for the ninth parliamentary elections were enlisted.

Deputy secretary (elections) at the Election Commission Secretariat Mihir Sarwar Morshed said over 81 million people were enrolled in the voter list prepared before the ninth general elections in 2008, containing photos for the first time.

Over 4.6 million more people were included under the voter list update programmes after two years.

The newly formed Narayanganj City Corporation has 403706 voters — 203,096 males and 200,610 females.

Officials with the photo-based voter list project said the experimental voter roll update activities were completed in Noagaon, Gazipur, Dhaka and Cox's Bazar districts in September.

Prof Tofail Ahmed, executive member of Sushashaner Jonno Nagarik (Sujon), a civil-society organisation, said: "The number of excluded voters may be small, but it can prove decisive in the victory or defeat in the local elections. Not being enrolled in the voter list is a kind of denial of rights."

He said the new voters have a big role in choosing the appropriate candidate. "It would have been better had the updating programme been carried out in the polling areas before announcing the election schedules."

The cabinet has in principle cleared a proposal to amend local government law to split Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) into two separate entities.

The proposal to amend the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009 was cleared at Monday's cabinet meeting, prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters.

As per the proposal, the civic body will be divided into two — north and south. The new northern city corporation will be formed with 36 of the total 92 wards and the southern one will have the remaining 56.