BANGLADESH

The BNP on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Advisor Moshiur Rahman stand down over corruption allegations raised by the World Bank in multibillion dollar Padma bridge project.

"He (Moshiur) should have quit as soon as the World Bank raised allegations against him," spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told a discussion meeting.

The BNP made the demand for the first time though Moshiur's resignation has been a buzzword in the media for quite some time.

Prime Minister's Integrity Advisor for Padma Bridge Project, however, has dismissed calls for resignation as he denies his involvement in the purported corruption. He said earlier: "I won't step down, until corruption is proved."

Mentioning that Moshiur was once his teacher, Fakhrul said: "We cry shame upon him for such statement."

The Acting Secretary-General claimed big fishes were involved with corruption in Padma bridge project. "The World Bank letter [sent to the government] is not being made public because of that."

Referring to newspaper reports, he said: "Some people are fleeing Canada to Bangladesh [to avoid arrest]. Two people have been arrested there. They are on trial in Canadian court."

Citing the incidents of government-backed Bangladesh Chhatra League's attacks on pro-BNP Jatiayatabadi Chhatra Dal activists in Dhaka and Rajshahi universities, he said the people were observing how JCD men are being beaten and stabbed.

Fakhrul said academic activities at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) remained suspended for its corrupt Vice-Chancellor. "A conspiracy is on to ruin higher education institutions."

He demanded resignation of Vice-Chancellor Prof SM Nazrul Islam.

Jatiyatabadi Shramik Dal, the labour wing of the BNP, organised the discussion on the fourth anniversary of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman's release from jail.

Tarique, also the son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, secured release on Sept 3, 2008 on bail enlarged by the Supreme Court and went to London for treatment. He is now living in the UK with his family.

Tarique was arrested during the army-installed caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed on charge of corruption.

The government is intent on building the Padma bridge even if it means to scale down the design and let only cars use it, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Parliament on Wednesday.

She said there were two options for the much-coveted 6.15km bridge over the Padma River — one for cars only and 'double decker' for cars and trains. "If needed, we will adopt the alternative plan," she said indicating that the government might go for the cheaper option responding to a supplementary question of Awami League MP Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Hasina hinted that the cheaper option would perhaps be taken up if foreign funds became unavailable.

The World Bank that agreed to contribute about $ 1.2 billion in $ 2.9 billion project announced that it was pulling out in end-June. But the government is still said to be working on getting the lending agency back on board.

As regards which option to go for, Hasina said, "The Bridges Division is working on this."

She, however, said the government is weighing different options to build the bridge and it would opt for the most viable, cost-effective and swift alternative.

"But we will build the bridge at any cost," she said reiterating her strong resolve regarding this project.

The government is scrutinising a Malaysian proposal while the process to construct the bridge with domestic funds is still on-going, she added.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia submitted its concessional offer on Padma bridge on Aug 27 and the government was still analysing it.

Hasina said it was not appropriate on the World Bank's part to cancel its loan pledge without discussing the issue at the lending agency's board.

"Due to the cancellation, project implementation has been delayed."

She said the government spent Tk 15 billion on land acquisition and rehabilitation and on different occasions, World Bank officials inspected the programme.

"But they did not find any corruption in the programme and yet they found corruption where no money was disbursed," she wondered.

The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JICA and Islamic Development Bank did not disburse a single penny for the project, the Prime Minister said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) pledged $610 million. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank is also to provide $140 million and Japan International Cooperation Agency said it would contribute $ 400 million to the project.

Integrity advisor

Her Economic Affairs Advisor Mashiur Rahman was appointed integrity advisor to the project to ensure transparency in line with World Bank recommendation, Hasina said.

The lending agency put forward four conditions but so far the government has fulfilled three of them. The government is, however, reluctant to give in to the last one – sacking Masiur Rahman.

A former World Bank official was also appointed as member of the evaluation committee as per recommendation from the lending agency, the Prime Minister said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is independently investigating a corruption allegation for appointing a consultant, she added.

Bangladesh signed an agreement with the World Bank on Wednesday under which the global lender will channel development partners' grants to the biggest-ever health sector programme.

According to the agreement, $ 280 million grants of four partners, Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States, will be pooled in the $ 7 billion Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP) begun in July 2011.

Arastoo Khan, Additional Secretary at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Ellen Goldstein, the World Bank's Country Director, signed the deal at the ERD auditorium in presence of Minister for Health and Family Welfare AFM Ruhal Haque.

With its goal to ensure quality and equitable health services, the 2011-2016 plan aims to streamline the access of maternal, neonatal and child health services, revitalise family planning interventions and mainstream nutrition with health services.

It has 32 operational plans to cover the three sectors. The government will provide around 75 percent of the resources required for the HPNSDP while development partners will provide the rest.

Speaking at the signing, the health minister said, despite delayed release of funds, the government could complete 90 percent of the targeted activities in the first year. "People started getting benefits," he said.

External funding for the HPNSDP includes the Multi Donor Trust Fund of $ 280 million, signed on Wednesday, and the World Bank's IDA credit of $ 359 million.

According to a World Bank's media release, the governments of Canada, Germany and Netherlands have also pledged to join the pool in near future.

"Success in reducing child mortality and implementing widespread immunisation campaigns are just two examples of the strides Bangladesh has made in improving the health of its citizens," the World Bank Country Director said at the signing ceremony.

She said: "With HPNSDP the country now has the opportunity to go further in ensuring a health care system that is effective, accountable and responsive to the needs of the people."

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implemented the first sector approach, Health and Population Sector Programme (HPSP), from July 1998 to June 2003.

The second plan, Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP), was implemented from 2003 to June 2011 while the latest plan commenced from July 1.

A delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in Bangladesh to learn how the $140 million it had given as loan-without-interest was spent, ahead of releasing more fund under the same credit facility.

Five IMF delegates led by David Cowen, IMF Mission Chief for Bangladesh, Asia and Pacific Region, met the central bank's Governor at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters on Wednesday, a day after they arrived in Dhaka.

"We had talks with the IMF representatives. They will sit with many others. No more than this can be said at this moment," said Governor Atiur Rahman.

Bangladesh received $140 million in the first instalment of over $1 billion the international money lender has promised to provide interest-free. The first instalment was released on April 25.

It was learnt that the visit was to examine situation before releasing the second instalment of the pledged loan.

The IMF representatives will also meet regulatory bodies like the National Board of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance during the two-week visit ending on Sep 27.

Merchandise export earnings have increased by 3.63 percent in the first two months (July-August) of the current 2012-13 fiscal year over the same period of the previous fiscal.

Bangladesh exported goods worth around $ 4.89 billion in the first two months (Jul-Aug) of the current fiscal against a target of $ 4.76 billion.

The export in this period grew 3.63 percent and exceeded the target by 2.68 percent, according to latest data released by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on Wednesday.

The growth in the same period of the 2011-12 fiscal, however, had been about 20 percent and amounted around $ 4.72 billion.

The export in August was worth $ 2.45 billion showing a rise of 3.02 percent compared to the corresponding month last year.

According to EPB data, the export of knitwear represented a 2.67 percent growth over the same period of last year while woven garments marked a 13.28 percent growth.

However, export earnings from frozen foods including frozen fish, shrimps and others decreased by 20 percent while those from raw jute and jute-made products by 3.9 percent in the same period.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange opened trading on the week's last business day on an upbeat note, with its turnover standing at Tk 1.68 billion-plus within the first half-an-hour.

The DSE benchmark index rose 0.79 percent higher over the previous day's close and reached 4459.58 points, gaining 35.16 points at 11:05am on Thursday.

Of the shares and mutual funds traded, prices of 167 had advanced, 22 declined and 10 remained unchanged until then.

Wednesday's trade was marked by an upward trend but the DGEN closed with a marginal gain of 10.51 points.

The day's trading had closed with a turnover of around Tk 8.7 billion, with prices of 145 issues advancing, 109 declining and 18 remaining unchanged.

On Tuesday, the country's premiere bourse had registered a turnover of around Tk 9.4 billion –- highest in the last over four-and-a-half months.

On Monday, the key index had shed 27.82 points or 0.63 percent, despite a flurry of activities marked by a Tk 7.6-billion turnover.

On the week's opening day, both DGEN and turnover had ended upbeat, with the General Index gaining 60 points and issues worth Tk 6.1 billion changing hands.

The DGEN had shed a total of 122 points through the past week, after a rise of 191 points in the previous one.

Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) new iPhone goes on sale on Friday with a bigger screen and 4G wireless technology, as the company seeks to safeguard its edge over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Google Inc (GOOG.O).

The iPhone 5 fulfilled many of the expectations laid out by gadget geeks and technology analysts ahead of its Wednesday unveiling but offered few surprises to give Apple shares -- already near record highs -- another major kick.

"There is not a wow factor because everything you saw today is evolutionary. I do think they did enough to satisfy," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of wealth management company Destination Wealth Management.

Other industry analysts speculated about what else was in Apple's product pipeline ahead of the crucial year-end holiday season, especially since the company stayed mum about an oft-rumored TV device or a smaller iPad.

The consumer electronics giant that in 2010 popularized tablet computing with the iPad has given no hints on whether it plans a smaller version to match cheaper tablets from the likes of Google or Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

"We would really like to see the iPad Mini in the product offering for the all-important holiday quarter. They still have time," said Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund. "As soon as we see that, we will have more conviction about the stock heading into the final quarter."

Apple shares ended the day up 1.4 percent at $669.79.

The latest iPhone comes as Apple faces competition beyond current key competitors Samsung and Google. Late entrant Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is now trying to push its Windows Phone 8 operating system as an alternative to Apple and Android, the most-used smartphone operating system in the world.

Analysts have forecast sales of 10 million to 12 million of the new iPhones in this month alone.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook kicked off the event in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center but it was marketing chief Phil Schiller who introduced the iPhone 5 and took the audience through the new phone's features.

The iPhone 5 sports a 4-inch "retina" display, can surf a high-speed 4G LTE wireless network, and is 20 percent lighter than the previous iPhone 4S.

Ceding a lead

It ships September 21 in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Britain. It will hit 100 countries by year's end in the fastest international rollout for an iPhone so far.

The stakes are high with the iPhone, Apple's marque product, accounting for nearly half its revenue. The California company has sold more than 243 million iPhones since 2007, when the device ushered in the current applications ecosystem model.

But Samsung now leads the smartphone market with a 32.6 percent share followed by Apple with 17 percent, according to market research firm IDC. Both saw shipments rise compared to a year ago, with Samsung riding its flagship Galaxy S III phone.

Available for pre-order on Friday starting from $199 with a data plan, the iPhone 5 comes with Apple's newest "A6" processor, which executives said runs twice as fast as the previous generation. It will pack three microphones -- enhancing built-in voice assistant Siri -- and an 8 megapixel camera that can take panoramic views.

It will hitch a ride on the three largest U.S. carriers: Verizon Wireless (VZ.N), AT&T Inc (T.N), and Sprint (S.N).

One popular enhancement was improved battery endurance -- the iPhone 5 can support eight hours of 4G Web browsing, the company said.

While Apple played catch-up on many of the new phone's features -- Samsung and Google's Motorola already have larger and 4G-ready phones -- analysts say the device's attraction is the way its software and hardware work in tandem.

"Where they are pushing the envelope, and where they remain the one to beat, is on the experience those features bring to the consumer," said Carolina Milanesi, Gartner Research analyst. "While other vendors continue to focus just on the hardware -- delivering the speeds and feeds and bigger batteries -- Apple focuses on pulling the operating system, the hardware and what you can consume on the hardware."

Foo fighters rock

Cook began the event by giving updated metrics on the company's products and then quickly gave up the stage for Schiller to introduce the iPhone 5.

The team then moved on to a new lineup of iPods, a redesigned iTunes store and ended with a surprise performance by rock band Foo Fighters. Apple executives in the front row could be seen rocking their heads to "Times Like These" and other hits.

For the iPhone 5, Apple has done away with the connectors used on previous devices and replaced them with a smaller and more efficient "Lightning" connector.

With the iPhone, it is shipping new "EarPods" audiophones, designed after digitally scanning hundreds of ears. Shares in Skullcandy (SKUL.O), which specializes in stylized earphones, fell 4.5 percent on Wednesday.

Beyond hardware, Apple telegraphed many of the software changes to expect in iPhone 5 when it debuted iOS 6, its latest mobile operating system, in June.

Upgrades to the software include voice navigation for driving, a feature already available on many Android smartphones, as well as "Passbook" for storing electronic boarding passes, sports tickets and gift cards.

Siri has been improved. In an onstage demonstration, Siri was able to answer questions about the result of a recent pro football game and recite a list of movies playing around town, along with ratings.

Earlier, Cook told the audience that its apps store now has more than 700,000 on tap -- the industry's largest library.

"When you look at each of these, they are incredible industry-leading innovations by themselves. But what sets them apart, and what places Apple way out in front of the competition, is how they work so well together," Cook said toward the end of the two-hour presentation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is widening her Cabinet, throwing in four senior politicians as she attempts to reclaim the political initiative with a year before the government runs its term.

Tofail Ahmed, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Haq Inu and Mujibul Haque are set to take oath soon, a government source privy to the development told bdnews24.com on Wednesday night.

Omor Faruk Chowdhury and Abdul Hyee were also going to be sworn in as state minister in a move intended to inject new life into government functioning, the source added.

When Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was reached for confirmation, he said," The names are correct."

But a senior Bangabhaban official said at 11:20pm Wednesday that no swearing-in ceremony had been planned "as yet" for Thursday as widely reported in the media.

"We haven't received any such request as yet," President's Press Secretary AKM Nesar Uddin Bhuiyan said.

President M Zillur Rahman will swear the five in.

The media has spent months trying to shine a fitful light on a possible shake-up, intensely so in the past few days.

Relegated to ceremonial advisory role in Awami League, Tofail – the Industries and Commerce Minister in the 1996-2001 Hasina administration – is being brought back in from the cold. Former Secretary Alamgir, a former technocrat State Minister for Planning, spent time in prison during the 2007-8 emergency rule and it is now clear that the Presidium member's loyalty is not lost on the party.

Omor Faruk is the Awami League MP from Rajshahi-1 and Abdul Hyee is from Jhenaidah-1.

It will be baptism in government for Workers Party chief Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal head Inu, who are being finally rewarded for being on the side of Awami League on key policy issues, Mujibul Haque who is a ruling party whip in Parliament. Inu heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on telecommunications ministry and Menon is the Chairman of the one on education ministry.

Put to the test will be the governance skills of the left-leaning stalwarts, who along with Tofail, have, of late, been vocal about the government's handling of affairs such as Sonali Bank loan scam and lack of action over the 2007 August torture by troops at Dhaka University.

The fourth shake-up in the Cabinet since the Awami League and allies took office in 2009. The latest additions in the Cabinet were Suranjit Sengupta and Obaidul Quader who took oath last year. Suranjit forced his way in after three years but was caught up in scandal and resigned as Railway Minister after only four months in office.

After the coalition rode to power, Hasina formed her team with new faces, leaving the old ones in the cold.

In the first two shuffles, heavyweights like Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail, Abdur Razzaque, Abdul Jalil and Suranjit Sengupta were overlooked.


Tofail and Suranjit came under scathing criticism by party supporters – who branded them as 'reformists'– for siding with the military-backed caretaker government that detained Hasina in jail and tried to exile her.

From the Grand Alliance partners, Hasina brought two leaders in the Cabinet – Commerce Minister Ghulam Muhammad Quader of Jatiya Party and Industries Minister Dilip Barua of Samyabadi Dal.

A youth has been killed in a reported 'gunfight' with the Rapid Action Battalion in Ashulia's Khejurbagan area.

RAB-1 Commander Rashidul Islam told bdnews24.com that while patrolling the area around 11:30pm on Wednesday, a RAB team signalled a motorcycle to stop as it looked suspicious.

"But without stopping his bike, the rider shot at the RAB. He was killed when the fire was returned," he said.

Islam said the deceased was identified as Iqbal, 27, chief accused in Ashulia's Saiful murder case.

The RAB officer said they recovered a foreign-made pistol with seven bullets and the motorcycle from the spot.

Ashulia police has taken charge of the dead body, he added.

A group of aggrieved locals in Gazipur torched three buses on Thursday as rumour of a garment factory worker's death in a road accident spread.

Sub-Inspector of Naojor Police Station Iqbal Hossain told bdnews24.com that the locals sent garments worker Hazrat Ali, 20, to hospital after he was hit by a bus around 7:45am.

As rumour of his death spread, they took to the highway and set on fire three buses around 8:15am, he said.

The SI said Ali, who hails from Kishoreganj, works at Eva Sweater Factory and was on his way to work when he met with the accident.

"The locals sent him (Ali) to hospital immediately after the accident. We don't have any confirmation of his death," Hossain added.

Fire service members rushed to the spot and doused the flames soon after the incident, an officer at Gazipur Fire Service Station Abu Zafar Ahmed said.

Road communication was snapped for nearly half-an-hour due to the arson.

Traffic resumed around 8:45am when the police removed the torched vehicles from the highway, the officer said.