BANGLADESH

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) was on an upbeat note when Thursday's trading opened.

Following a seesaw movement, the DSE general index gained 31 points to 4189 points at 11:30am.

Shares and mutual funds worth Tk 330 million changed hands until then. Prices of 150 issues advanced, 21 declined and 16 remained unchanged.

The DGEN slipped 41 points on Wednesday.

Trading on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges was halted for Tuesday due to persisting problems in the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited server.

The index lost 75 points on Monday and 50 points on Sunday.

The index advanced 118 points or 2.84 percent last week, 2 points in the week before last week but declined 125.85 points or 2.93 percent in the previous week.

BNP Vice Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka got bail on Thursday after surrendering to a Dhaka court in a shutdown violence case.

Returning from Singapore after treatment on Wednesday night, the former Dhaka mayor appeared before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court Thursday morning and appealed for bail.

Judge Harun-or-Rashid granted the appeal after hearing.

The Speedy Trial Tribunal of Dhaka on Tuesday framed charges against Khoka and 45 others, including BNP Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, in a case filed over torching a vehicle in front of the Prime Minister's Office during shutdown on Apr 29.

The tribunal issued arrest warrant against Khoka and two others accused in the case, as they did not appear before it on that day.

During Thursday's hearing, Khoka's lawyer Mohammad Borhanuddin told the court that the BNP leader went to Singapore for kidney treatment on Jun 27 after being freed on bail granted by the High Court. He came to know about the warrant after returning on Wednesday night, he added.

The lawyer appealed to continue his bail as he went abroad with permission of the High Court.

BNP had enforced the general strike on Apr 29 demanding 'whereabouts' of one of its organising secretaries M Ilias Ali, who went missing on Apr 17 midnight.

The first war crimes tribunal on Wednesday erupted as the defence and the prosecution shouted at each other.

This was preceded by defence counsel Tajul Islam engaging in an argument with the court in a rather loud voice after the tribunal had cautioned him.

The court atmosphere became hot close to the end of the day's proceedings, a little after 2:30pm when tribunal Chairman Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq rejected a plea from Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee's senior defence counsel Mizanul Islam.

The senior counsel, who has been leading Sayedee's trial with his meticulous cross-examination and earned the confidence of the tribunal, argued that he meant to prove that a certain application of the prosecution was malafide and in turn showed that fraud had been committed upon the court.

Set up to deal crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, the three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1 indicted the Jamaat executive council member on 20 counts of war crimes on Oct 3, 2011 including murder, rape, arson and loot.

The tribunal had on Mar 29 partially allowed a prosecution petition to receive 15 witness statements taken down by Sayedee's war crimes investigator as evidence. The order noted that those witnesses had not been produced in the court for cross-examination, nor were they under oath during their interview with ASP Mohammda Helal Uddin, the case investigation officer.

That application cited a provision of the tribunal's act which allows such statements to be taken as evidence in case of witness deaths or in cases where producing those witnesses would require unreasonable time or incur unreasonable expenses.

The prosecution had said some witnesses could not be found, some had fled, most likely to India, some were being threatened by armed thugs loyal to Sayedee and one was extremely ill and perhaps on her death bed.

The tribunal then allowed 15 statements to be received as evidence instead of 46 that the prosecution had asked for.

Mizanul Islam, the defence counsel, has been cross-examining the investigator for the last few days about the procedures he followed regarding those 15 witnesses to verify if Helal Uddin had exhausted his efforts to locate them, presumably in a bid to discredit the investigation.

On Wednesday, when the investigator took oath for the 41st time to be cross-examined, Mizanul Islam also asked questions about other witnesses in the prosecution's list of 46 'unavailable' witnesses.

The tribunal said it would not allow questions regarding witnesses whose statements were not being received as evidence since those would not even be considered in the case.

The defence counsel then reiterated a point he has been making for quite some time. Mizanul Islam said that his contention was that the entire application had been based on false premises and the prosecution had misrepresented the facts in that application when it claimed that the witnesses had gone missing or could not be traced and so forth.

Mizanul Islam also pointed that even the tribunal remained unconvinced regarding 31 of those witnesses and allowed the petition for only 15 witnesses.

"Now you come to the point," said Justice Huq. He said the court had thus rejected the prayer for the rest of the witnesses.

"But you did not state in the order that the information was false and fabricated," the defence counsel said and added that this was what he wanted to show through his cross-examination.

There has been an implied understanding that the tribunal will be lenient in allowing defence counsel proceed with questions regarding the 15 witnesses and Mizanul Islam has been at it over the last few days.

However, regarding the other 31, the court put its foot down with the tribunal Chairman saying that he would not allow questions regarding the other witnesses.

The defence resorted to his last measure that he generally does whenever his oral submissions are rejected. Mizanul Islam said he would come back with a petition to that effect, and the tribunal chief he could very well do. "That is your wish and you can very well do that, but it stands rejected."

One of the lawyers representing almost the entire Jamaat leadership at the war crimes tribunals, Tajul Islam had joined the proceedings a short while before this exchange between the bar and the bench. He was heard to exlaim, "The application stands rejected even before it is heard!"

Unheeded, the tribunal chief told Mizanul Islam, "I will not waste our time regarding the 31 witnesses. We won't allow questions regarding them."

Tajul Islam's voice could be heard again from the other side of the court. "If we are not allowed to ask questions then what is the point of staying here?"

Tribunal member Anwarul Haque intervened to convince Mizanul Islam. "You see the remaining 31 were not accepted. Their statements are not going to be of any value."

"But I am not going to ask questions about their statements at all. It is about the facts that the prosecution presented that I wish to question him," said Mizanul Islam.

Tajul Islam was still passing remarks among his colleague in the defence and by this time the tribunal chair took serious exception.

"Mr Tajul Islam," he began in a harsh voice and continued, "I have heard the remark you made. I caution you."

The defence counsel stood up and began to protest loudly and said the judge had not heard it correctly.

The judge replied that he had indeed. "You suggested leaving the courtroom."

"No, I only said there is no point staying."

"It comes down to the same thing," said Justice Huq.

The counsel then told the judge. "I am talking amongst my friends and the judges are not supposed to hear that. You talk amongst yourselves and expect us not to hear that either."

Justice Huq could only manage to say, "You are saying that you are talking in the court and the judge is not supposed to hear it!"

Tajul Islam continued in his loud voice that the court was accusing him of something that was not true but Prosecutor Abdur Rahman Howladar stood up and protested the defence counsel's behaviour as loudly.

Tajul Islam then shouted back at him saying, "Don't shout."

Justice Huq stopped both parties and addressed Tajul Islam saying, "You have been shouting more than anyone else."

He then said, "We are having no further discussion in this regard."

Mizanul Islam, however, protested, saying that he was yet to be done with his submissions.

Justice Huq said, "All day long, we have been conducting the proceedings in a befitting manner. And the moment Tajul Islam comes in, he starts up a ruckus."

Mizanul Islam said, he never spoke without the leave of the tribunal, nor when the prosecution is submitting. "There might have been one or two exceptions. But the prosecution should not have intervened in such a manner when the defence is in the middle of an argument with the tribunal. That was undesirable."

It was obvious that the court would not see any further questions from the defence. Before rising, the tribunal Chairman told Mizanul Islam that the court expected that the defence conclude cross-examination of the investigation officer by Thursday.

Mizanul Islam shook his head indicating that it would be impossible.

"You have said that you would try and we expect it to be finished tomorrow," said Justice Huq.

The defence counsel kept shaking his head saying, "It won't be possible."

The tribunal chief, however, did not dwell upon the matter any further.

Mohammad Helal Uddin's cross-examination is set to resume for the 42nd time on Thursday and continue through the day.

Fitra for this year has been fixed at Tk 55 per person considering the market price of wheat or flour.

The Islamic Foundation took the decision at a meeting Thursday, Public Relations Officer Billal Bin Kashem told bdnews24.com.

He said that money equivalent to the market price of 1.65kg of wheat or flour, raisin, cheese or barley could be distributed among the poor people as Sadkatul Fitr or Fitra before the Eid-ul-Fitr congregation.

"Considering the market prices of these commodities, this year the Fitra per person has been fixed between Tk 55 and Tk 1,500."

Last year, the Fitra was fixed at Tk 53 and in 2010 it was fixed at Tk 45.

According to Islamic rituals it is Wazib for all the solvent Muslims to give Fitra. Father has to pay the Fitra for adolescent children. And the Fitra has to be distributed before the Eid-ul-Fitr congregation.

Baitul Mukarram National Mosque khatib Maolana Mohammad Salah Uddin presided over the meeting also attended by Islamic Foundation Director Sirajul Haque.

Police have fired rubber bullets during clashes with students of Jahangirnagar University protesting against detention of a fellow student, leaving several people injured, witnesses said on Thursday.

At least five students suffered bullet injuries from police action as they attempted to disperse the protesters immediately after midnight on Wednesday.

The violence broke out after police detained the student on allegations that he attacked a leader of the ruling Awami League's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).

In response to the police attack, the students blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway following the midnight clash.

The students also vandalised the main gate of the university and its several other buildings.

The protesters said unidentified assailants stabbed the leader of a faction JU BCL unit, Tahmidul Islam Likhon, late Wednesday. He was found wounded near the main gate around 10:15pm on Wednesday.

He was rushed to the medical centre on the campus and then was shifted to Enam Medical College Hospital at Savar.

Likhon, a post graduate student of the Department of Economics, is a resident of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall.

He was out of the campus for a long time but returned recently after a change in the post of Vice Chancellor following months of protests.

Police arrested Nahid, a 39th batch student of the Department of Anthropology, from the Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall on Wednesday night over the attack on Likhon.

His friends, unhappy with his arrest, vandalised the house of Provost Emdadul Haque and assaulted him.

The clash with police erupted when the students tried to vandalise a police van.

'Rakib', from 39th batch of the Department of Pharmacy, 'Robin', from 41st batch of the Department of Mathematics, 'Maruf', from 39th batch of the Institute of Information Technology, 'Nahid', from the Department of Finance and Banking and 'Bashir', from the 40th batch of the Department of Statistics, were injured in the firing.

They were treated in the medical centre on the campus.

After the firing, the students started demonstrating by blocking the Dhaka-Aricha highway in front of the main gate. They have smashed several vehicles.

bdnews24.com's JU Correspondent Ahmed Sajal was injured in an attack by the demonstrators while he attempted to take photographs. They also damaged his camera.

Police finally freed Nahid and left the campus after the demonstration started.

Vice Chancellor Prof Anwar Hossain tried to calm the students but he failed to find an immediate solution.

"The university will have to be shut down if this situation continues," he said.

Pro-VC Prof Farhad Hossain, Registrar Abu Bakr Siddique, Treasurer Prof Nasiruddin and Proctor Prof Tapan Kumar Saha came to resolve the situation through discussion but failed.

"We'll have to see why the police fired rubber bullets," the Proctor said.

Police have fired rubber bullets as they have clashed with students of Jahangirnagar University protesting against the arrest of a fellow student, leaving several people injured, police and witnesses said on Thursday.

At least five students suffered bullet injuries when police fired on them to disperse the protesters during the clash immediately after midnight on Wednesday.

The violence broke out after police arrested the student who allegedly attacked a leader of the ruling Awami League's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).

In response to the police attack, the protesting students blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway following the clash.

The students also vandalised the main gate of the university and its several other buildings.

The Power Development Board claimed there was no load-shedding in the country on Wednesday when power generation hit a new record.

PDB Director (Public Relations) Saiful Hasan Chowdhury told bdnews24.com that 6319.5 megawatt power was produced at 9pm when the demand was at its peak.

There was no load-shedding at that time, though the demand for electricity was the same.

The last record production was 6279MW on Jul 25.

Prime Minister's Power Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi told reporters on July 16 that the government was planning to raise power production during Ramadan to keep the supply sufficient.

"Against the demand of 6,500MW, we will produce the same amount of electricity. But if our usage is conservative, we can meet the demand with 6,200-6,300MW," he had said.

According to government statistics, the 'real demand' for power is 7,500MW but 'demand side management' has kept it down to 6,500MW.

The present government initiated construction of 56 power plants, of which 29 have already begun production.

Besides, 19 power plants built during the previous caretaker government regime have also come into production in this government's tenure.

According to PDB, the 29 new plants generate 3,500 MW of power.

After Tuesday's halt on trading for a server glitch, Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) started Wednesday's trading with fluctuations in its benchmark index.

Following the seesaw movement, DSE general index dropped 12 points to 4,146 points after an hour into trading.

Shares and mutual funds worth Tk 610 million changed hands until then with prices of 87 issues increasing, 113 declining and 22 remaining unchanged.

Trading on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges was halted for Tuesday due to persisting problems in the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited server.

The DGEN lost 75 points on Monday and 50 points on Sunday.

The index advanced 118 points or 2.84 percent last week, 2 points in the week before last week but declined 125.85 points or 2.93 percent in the previous week.

Bangladesh is going to have a tougher law to tackle 'aggressive marketing' of baby food companies that overwhelm the proper feeding practices of under-2 children.

Health Minister A F M Ruhal Haque said on Tuesday, ahead of World Breastfeeding Week, that they would place the law in one of the Cabinet meetings in August.

The ministry started the process three years back to replace the 1984 Breastmilk Substitute Ordinance as experts suggested a strong law to support live-saving feeding practices in Bangladesh where nearly 50 percent children are malnourished.

Dr S K Roy, Chairperson of the Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation that helped the ministry to draft the law, told bdnews24.com that the draft prohibited promotions of breast milk substitutes at all level. "It will strengthen the punishment for violation as well."

He said companies would not be able to advertise their products for under-2 children in any medium including televisions and newspapers.

He said the draft law was of high international standards one and said if passed, it would make companies marketing under-2 powder milk or any supplement to write clearly in big letters in the middle of the container that 'this product is not germ free and there is no alternative to breast milk.'

Roy said healthcare professionals would not be able to attend any seminars at home or abroad sponsored by the milk companies.

"It will be regarded as a conflict of interest," he said, "there will be punishment for that."

The draft, he said, had been finalised after consulting with all relevant ministries and stakeholders including Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Law and Bangladesh Medical Association.

For first-time violation of the law, according to Roy, a company will be penalised Tk 0.50million with two years imprisonment. And for second offence "it will be five years rigorous imprisonment".

He said once the law is passed, a committee would be formed to clearly outline how it would be implemented. The law, however, is not clear about the punishment of doctors for violation.

"It only says proper punishment will be given," Roy said, "It will also be decided by the committee after finalising the law."

Chairperson Roy said a new law was imperative in Bangladesh as the 1984 ordinance based on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (International BMS Code) did not include all provisions of the code.

If a country adopts a strong BMS code, it decreases the use of breast milk substitutes, he said. It happened in the Philippines where a strong regulation saw the use of infant formula milk fall from 57.5 percent in 1986 to 2.8 percent in 1988.

An analysis of the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows that baby food in the absence of breastfeeding costs a high portion of a family's financial resources –30 percent of the average household income (Tk 137,760).

Euromonitor International in 2008 projected global sale of baby food to grow by 37 percent to $ 11.5 billion to $ 42.7 billion from 2008 to 2013.

It also said almost two-thirds of this growth will come from Asia-Pacific, with China and Indonesia as the biggest contributors.

The preliminary results of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) shows 41 percent children in Bangladesh are too short for their age and 36 percent are underweight.

Experts say proper feeding practices of children under-2 are imperative to fight malnutrition in Bangladesh.

But the same survey showed only 21 percent families strictly follow the under-2 feeding practices that include start of breastfeeding within first hour of birth and exclusive continuation until six months of age.

Proper under-2 feeding practices also recommend giving homemade food on the seventh month and continuing with breastfeeding until two years of age.

The Begunbari canal and Hatirjheel areas will open to public from Dec 15 as the government has completed development of the two water bodies.

State Minister for Housing and Public Works Abdul Mannan Khan informed journalists about the decision after visiting the places on Tuesday.

"The progress of the work is satisfactory. Hatirjheel will be opened for people on Dec 15. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the opening," he said.

On the night of Dec 15, 'victory' will be celebrated at the venue, he said, in reference to the Victory Day. "There will be colourful cultural programmes including music and dance performance by young people on that day."

About the progress of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari development project, he said that the project work was expected to be complete in December. "We're hopeful of completing the work within the scheduled time."

"The construction of a road on the site has already been done. It will be carpeted with pitch soon. Grass and date trees are being planted along the road. The construction of the bridges is about to come to an end."

The junior minister said that the beautification work had already started.

About the objectives of the project, Mannan Khan said the project had been undertaken for construction of a road stretch through Karwanbazar to Rampura to reduce traffic congestion in the city, install clean water bodies inside the city and proper waste management in the area.

He claimed that the illegal land sharks of the area were rehabilitated in different places after talks and no pressure was put on them.

Once completed, the project will help ease the commuters to reach Rampura from Karwanbazar, Moghbazar and Malibagh in "only 10 minutes" which now takes more than one and a half hours. The project will be a hit with the commuters of Dhaka, he added.

The junior minister thanked all the entrepreneurs and others related for undertaking such a project.

It will now have four big bridges, four overpasses, two-lane dedicated expressways and two-lane service roads with six bus stands, U-loops near Rampura Bridge, walkways, and waterbus services.

Public Works Secretary Khandaker Shawkat Hossain, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) Chairman Md Nurul Huda and chief of the army's engineering core Major General Habibur Rahman and Director of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari Development Project Brigadier General Abu Sayeed Mohammad Masud, among others, accompanied the junior minister.

An official of the ministry said the government plans to construct a flyover on the Rampura-Badda road from the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project area. The project costs may increase by at least Tk 20 million for this reason.

He added the government would acquire some land from Bangladesh Television (BTV) in Rampura. "The process to sign a deal between the BTV and Public Works Ministry has started."

The Hatirjheel project began in 2007 to develop communications between the east and the west of the capital, reduce waterlogging and maintain environmental balance.

The Tk 21.52 billion project was supposed to be complete by 2010, but legal wrangle cost the project about another two years.

RAJUK, 16 Engineering Construction Battalion of Army, Dhaka WASA and LGED are jointly implementing the project. The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology is the consultant of the project.

A mobile court of Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) fined superstore G-Mart Tk 0.6 million for mixing up formalin in ice used to preserve fish at its Mirpur outlet on Tuesday.

Led by an executive magistrate, the court conducted a drive at the outlet and detected formalin in ice used to preserve fish, which is forbidden for preservation of perishable goods for its many side-effects on the human body.

Superstore's Quality Controller Rafiqul Haque was also sentenced to one month's imprisonment, Director General of the Fisheries Department Syed Arif Azad told

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed has announced the speedy trial tribunal will deal with the murder of Saudi Embassy official Khalaf Mohammad Al Ali.

"The government is committed to completing the trial of the killers of Khalaf. No-one involved in the killing will be spared," he said at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

Earlier, Saudi Ambassador in Bangladesh Abdullah Bin Naser Al-Busairi called on the minister at his office. State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam was also present there.

Shafique assured the ambassador that trial of Khalaf's killer would be completed quickly.

The Saudi envoy thanked the government for capturing Khalaf's killers.

The government has decided to review Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for Dhaka in order to safeguard around 200,000 small and medium enterprises grown in the capital city.

"The government will take firm steps to implement the corrected DAP after review," State Minister for Housing and Public Works Abdul Mannan Khan said in an interview with bdnews24.com and a TV station.

The committee to review DAP would sit within a month, he said and added that the next step would be taken following proposals by the panel led by Local Government and Rural Development Minister Syed Ashraful Islam.

"The government created DAP to make Dhaka metropolis fit to live. It has some inconsistencies. The government has moved to correct these considering the reality," he added.

The then government made Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) in 1995 following the master plan adopted in 1992. Later, the step to make DAP was taken in 1996. Eventually, the government gazetted DAP in July 2010.

Khan said DAP was made to protect and develop Dhaka, a city that gets water-logged and lives with the risk of disasters, following a proposal by a panel headed by Dr Jamilur Reza Chowdhury.

"DAP could not be implemented because of our tendency to violate laws. As a result, Dhaka gets water-logged even after a little bit of rain. We've taken steps to resolve the situation by removing inconsistencies in DAP," he said.

He dismissed the suggestion that the decision to review DAP meant that the government had budged on its firm stance. "The step has been taken in light of reality."

"Many people have raised important constructions by filling up water bodies to make quick money. Many industries have also been built. Many other structures have been raised centring the industries.

"We've taken the step to check how profitable it will be to bulldoze these structures," he said.

"Decisions will be made, if needed, after discussions on an alternative proposal to protect Dhaka City," he added.

"Those who have filled up water bodies are human beings. Aren't they?" the minister asked.

"They will help, too, to meet the need of their next generations," he said.

In the biggest-ever foreign direct investment in Bangladesh, Chevron Corp on Monday announced to invest about $ 500 million more in the over $ 1 billion project to raise output from Bibiyana gas field amid growing demand.

Chevron Bangladesh President Geoff Strong made the announcement on his company pumping in more money at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the afternoon.

Chevron-maintained gas field contributes half (1.1 billion CF) of the total daily gas production of Bangladesh. The contribution will raise by 300 million CF once the expansion project in implemented by 2014.

The American multinational said the fresh investment was to raise its natural gas production in Bangladesh by more than a quarter in 2014.

The investment means Chevron remains the largest natural gas producer in Bangladesh that faces gas shortages up to 500 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd).

"This project will provide more affordable energy that will not only increase Chevron's business in Bangladesh but also help drive economic growth and alleviate poverty for many millions of people," said Strong.

The expansion project will see drilling up of additional wells, building of an enhanced gas liquids recovery unit with a view to increase its capacity to process more natural gas, according to a statement issued by the multinational company.

The project will boost Chevron's total natural gas production capacity in Bangladesh by more than 300 mmcfd to 1.4 billion cubic feet per day while its condensate output will rise by 4,000 barrels per day, the company said.

"Production of this condensate will save the import of liquid fuels with a current market value of about $200 million per year," Strong added.

"It is a combined effort to make a significant difference to help solve the energy crisis in Bangladesh," said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the Prime Minister's Energy Adviser, at the briefing.

Bangladesh now produces up to 55 percent of its electricity using natural gas to generate about 6000 megawatts of power.

Chevron also urged the government to upgrade its national pipeline network to allow it to deliver more gas.

Remittance inflow continue to rise with Bangladeshi expatriates sending $1.02 billion in the first 27 days of the 2012-2013 fiscal.

Latest Bangladesh Bank data suggest remittances for the month of July will reach $1.17 billion if the inflow maintains its pace.

Officials of the central bank, however, expect July remittances may cross $1.2-billion mark as the expatriates are expected to send in more money with the Eid-ul-Fitr only weeks away.

In the last month of the 2011-2012 fiscal, the expatriates had remitted $1.07 billion.

With the increase in remittance inflow, the central bank's foreign exchange reserve is also going up. It stood at $10.45 billion on Monday.

The reserves had slipped below $10 billion in the first week of the new fiscal year after import dues were paid to the Asian Clearing Union.

Central bank Governor Atiur Rahman is satisfied with the increase in remittance inflow.

"The central bank took various steps to encourage remittances through banking channel, and now Bangladeshi expatriates can send money to their families through cell phone as well," Atiur told bdnews24.com.

"The remittances are increasing, thanks to the steps. The reserves are also increasing," he said.

A Bangladesh Bank official preferring not to be named said the month of July was seeing increased remittance inflow as expatriates were sending money for Eid shopping.

He hoped the remittance inflow in July would cross $1.2 billion.

Of the money remitted, $230 million came through government-owned banks, over $710 million through 30 private banks, about $6 million through nine foreign banks and over $10 million through specialised banks.

In the last financial year, expatriates had remitted $12.85 billion, which was 10.26 percent higher than in the previous year. In 2010-11, the remittances grew at the rate of 6 percent.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has underscored the need for stronger cooperation of all to contain terrorism and militancy.

The Prime Minister came up with the call when British Secretary of State William Hague called on her on Saturday at Hotel St. Pancras Renaissance where she is staying during her five-day official visit to London.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, her Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said that during the meeting, the Prime Minister reiterated her government's tough stance against terrorism and militancy and vowed that government would never compromise on this issue.

Talking of the series of bomb blasts across the country in 2005, and grenade attack on then British High Commissioner to Dhaka Anwar Chowdhury in Sylhet city in 2004 during the rule (2001-2006) of BNP-Jamaat alliance, Hasina said that the situation has much changed now in Bangladesh.

She said the present government was handling terrorism and militancy in the country with an iron hand.

The Prime Minister also expressed her government's firm commitment to protect human rights, democracy, strengthen Election Commission, and establish good governance and rule of law, and sought stronger cooperation of the UK in counter-terrorism efforts.

She also apprised William Hague of her government's steps taken for strengthening parliamentary democracy, saying opposition members despite their constant boycott of the sessions of parliament, were taking part in the meetings of parliamentary standing committees.

Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia was present only on eight days in the ninth parliament in the last three-and-a-half years. But she spoke in the House on six days, and on the last day, she took floor for one hour and 57 minutes, she said.

During the meeting, William Hague praised the role of Sheikh Hasina in the global fora on climate change issue.

Hasina said the UK government's proposal for support to develop new port facilities and proposed redevelopment of Bangladesh's second-largest Mongla sea port under joint venture with the Mongla Port Authorities was under serious consideration of her government.

She invited British entrepreneurs to invest in pharmaceuticals, power generation, renewable energy and higher education sectors.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin and Bangladesh High Commissioner in London Dr M Sayeedur Rahman Khan were also present at the meeting.

Later, All European Awami League and All Europe Bangabandhu Parishad members called on the Prime Minister at the hotel.

Trading remained incomplete in the country's capital markets due to problems in Central Depository Bangladesh Limited server.

Until the writing of this report at 11pm Sunday, the trading had not been cleared, several merchant bank and brokerage house officials told
Dhaka Stock Exchange Senior Vice President Ahmed Rashid Lali said CDBL was trying to fix the problem but it might take as long as Monday morning.

CDBL CEO M H Samad said the company's technical team was working to fix the issue, with help from Singapore and Mumbai.

The Securities and Exchange Commission had been informed of the problem, he said.

"Some problems may continue tomorrow [Monday]," he said, adding that in that case SEC would decide whether to continue trading.

Trading on Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges was halted for Tuesday due to persisting problems in the Central Depository Bangladesh Limited server.

The board of directors of Dhaka Stock Exchange decided to suspend trade as trading could not be settled on the bourses on Monday due to the server problem, DSE Public Relations Officer Shafikur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

Chittagong Stock Exchange President Al Maruf Khan told bdnews24.com its board also decided to halt trading for Tuesday.

Officials of several brokerage houses and merchant banks said trading had not been cleared until Monday midnight though CDBL was trying to fix the problem.

DSE Senior Vice President Ahmed Rashid Lali said Monday's trade could not be completed due to software issues at the CDBL and added that the company was trying to fix the problem.

He said trading would be settled once the problem is solved.

CDBL CEO M H Samad said on Monday night that the company's technical team was working to fix the issue with help from Singapore and Mumbai.

He added the Securities and Exchange Commission had been informed of the problem, he said.

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went down in the early trading on Monday.

DSE general index dropped 29 points to 4205 points at 12pm.

Shares and mutual funds worth Tk 730 million changed hands until then.

Prices of 40 issues advanced, 168 declined and 17 retained their opening prices.

On Sunday, the DGEN lost 50 points with a turnover of Tk 2610 million.

The index advanced 118 points or 2.84 percent last week, 2 points in the week before last week but declined 125.85 points or 2.93 percent in the previous week.

If Apple Inc's weaker-than-expected quarterly result is anything to go by, the global smartphone industry is a lot more vulnerable to economic shocks these days than during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

In developed markets, every other person already owns a smartphone. In emerging markets, penetration rates are much lower, but cheaper phones that cost under $100 are squeezing profit margins.

That was not the case during the last recession, when Apple's iPhone and Google Inc's Android were still in their infancy. Smartphone demand remained strong even as sales of other electronics declined because consumers felt it was worthwhile to upgrade to a device with so much to more to give - touchscreens, email and full Web browsers.

Without a technology breakthrough such as touchscreen - made popular by the first iPhone in 2007 - people are in far less of a hurry to upgrade their phones this time around, analysts said.

That was evident from Apple's June quarterly results, which showed a much bigger hit from the European debt crisis than Wall Street expected.

"The economy is having an impact on all electronic goods. Even Apple, which did defy gravity in the last recession, is not escaping now," said Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst.

Smartphone users, who typically upgrade their phones every 18 to 24 months, are now holding on for three months longer than usual, according to Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

"The reason to upgrade is less urgent" she said.

PRICE PRESSURE

Overall smartphone shipments rose 32 percent in the second quarter, their slowest pace since 2009's 16 percent increase, according to Strategy Analytics. The research firm forecast annual smartphone shipment growth would slow to 40 percent in 2012 from 68 percent in 2011 and ease further to 23 percent in 2013.

Analysts say demand from emerging markets will support smartphone shipments even if the global economy takes a turn for the worse, but a growing supply of lower price devices from vendors such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL and ZTE Corp 000063.SZ will pressure prices even if the economy improves.

"We're forecasting ASPs (average selling prices) to dip in 2013 and accelerate from there on," said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. "If the economy continues to flat line or dip that will accelerate the move to lower cost models."

The popularity of Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) Galaxy S will give these companies some pricing insulation, analysts said.

But there could be much more pressure for price cuts at already struggling smartphone vendors, such as LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS), HTC Corp (2498.TW), Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE) and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd (RIM.TO).

"Apple and Samsung's ownership of the high-tier and intense price erosion means the fight among others will be cutthroat," said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber.

The tough road ahead for smaller vendors became more apparent this week, when market leader Samsung reported its best quarterly smartphone sales in history as it outsold Apple and won customers from smaller rivals. Samsung's bigger size allowed it to drive down costs and still make a profit on phones that would generate a loss for smaller rivals.

Some of Apple's earnings miss was attributed to consumers postponing purchases in anticipation of a new iPhone model hitting store shelves this fall. LG did not have that excuse - its cellphone division, which accounts for around one-fifth of sales, posted a quarterly loss as competition forced LG to spend more on marketing for cheaper phones.

LESS PURCHASING POWER

According to Gartner, about 35 percent of an estimated 1.9 billion cellphones sold this year will be smartphones. Between 20 percent and 25 percent of people in the world already own smartphones, with the penetration rate rising to 50 percent to 55 percent in the United States.

"The first wave is selling expensive models to affluent buyers. The second wave is selling lower cost models to less affluent buyers," Strategy Analytic's Mawston said.

Gartner's Milanesi said Huawei and ZTE are in the best position among the lower-tier smartphone vendors.

"If price is the first driver I'm going to pick the Chinese," said Milanesi, who said LG and HTC are most vulnerable to price declines as they "need more to stand out."

Also putting pressure on handset makers are the wireless service providers on which they are heavily dependent in many regions such as Europe and the United States for promotions. Carriers often subsidize phones to encourage their customers to commit to long term contracts.

In Europe, some operators such as Telefonica have been dropping subsidies entirely [ID:nL6E8FB56H]. The top three U.S. operators, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc (T.N) and Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) have all been improving profit margins because they cut down on their subsidy costs by offering customers upgrades less frequently.

If consumers do have to cut spending because if the weak economy, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said: "There's smartphone available for just about every single budget out there."

Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus on Sunday visited celebrated writer Humayun Ahmed's mother.

Yunus met Ayesha Foyez at Humayun's younger brother Ahsan Habib's Mirpur residence in the afternoon. Humayun's two sisters and brothers were there during the visit that lasted about an hour.

The writer-filmmaker's elder son Nuhash Humayun reached the residence some 40 minutes after Yunus arrived there.

"He (Humayun Ahmed) created a league of readers which Bangladesh never had. He brought the attitude to Bengali literature it did not have," Yunus told reporters after the visit.

"So far we have seen Humayun was a popular writer. But after his death it seemed he reached deep inside his readers. So people are failing to fill his absence," he added.

Humayun died on July 19 aged 64 after fighting with cancer for about nine months at a New York hospital.

The High Court was moved on Sunday for withdrawal within 24 hours the VC's order to shut down Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

Dr Mohammad Yunus Ali Akanda, a father of a BUET admission-seeker, filed the motion seeking suspension on the activities of the Vice-Chancellor (VC) and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Pro-VC) and other teachers, students and staff's agitation until the ruling is disposed of.

Alongside BUET, the Education Secretary, Inspector General of Police, DMP Commissioner, the university's VC and Pro-VC, BUET Teachers Association President and General Secretary have been made respondents in the petition.

The BUET authorities had shut the institution for 44 days from July 11 in the wake of raging protest by teachers and students demanding removal of the VC and Pro-VC.

Akanda also sought court directives for the Education Secretary to form a judicial committee within seven days to investigate the recent incidents at BUET.

He asked for a directive for the respondents to publish the admission notice for the 2012-13 session within three days of the verdict.

The counsel told bdnews24.com the BUET authorities shut the institution citing summer vacation in the rainy season and it was creating terrible backlog. He said all universities had published their admission notice for the first year admission except BUET.

He said the court might hear the petition on Monday.

Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes said on Sunday Dhaka was ready to engage with New Delhi to finalise extradition treaty to exchange convicts.

"India wants to sign the treaty and handed over the draft to its Bangladesh," he said at a press briefing on his recent visit to New Delhi.

The Secretary attended the Foreign Office Consultation with India on July 24 where entire range of bilateral issues was discussed.

Teesta agreement

Quayes said Bangladesh was ready to provide space to India to complete the internal consultation to resolve Teesta problem.

Dhaka asked New Delhi to complete the necessary formalities for an early conclusion of the agreement for water-sharing of Teesta, he said.

"I want to say categorically that Bangladesh gives utmost importance to signing of Teesta agreement and we raised it as a main issue in the Foreign Secretary-level meeting and sooner the issue is resolved the better impact it would have on the public domain and perception."

Bangladesh and India failed to strike an interim Teesta water-sharing deal during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September last year over strong resistance from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Fast-track implementation

The Secretary said both the government agreed to fast track the implementation of the issues that had been stipulated in the two summit level meetings that were held between Bangladesh and India during the current Awami League-led government.

In those meetings, the head of governments agreed to implement land boundary agreement, Teesta agreement, trade facilitation and regional connectivity among other things, Quayes said.

"All these will be implemented through fast-track system."

Tipaimukh issue

Quayes said he had a meeting with Indian Water Secretary Dhruv Bijai Singh and the date of the first meeting of the Joint Expert Group on Tipaimukh multipurpose dam project was fixed on Aug 27-28.

The experts would study all aspects of the project with specific reference to its impact on Bangladesh.

"We also discussed the issue in the meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai," he added.

Tipaimukh dam project is a contentious issue between the two countries as Dhaka fears that if the project is implemented, water would be withdrawn and Surma and Kushiara and other rivers in the Sylhet region would be affected.

India has sought to dispel the apprehension saying that it would not take any unilateral decision that may affect Bangladesh.

Land Boundary agreement

Bangladesh sought an early completion of all the legal processes by India side for full implementation of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and its additional protocol.

Dhaka requested Delhi to complete its internal process soon as the sooner it would be done, the better the public perception would be about the Indo-Bangla relationship, Quayes said.

Bangladesh and India signed the land boundary agreement in 1974 to resolve the demarcation dispute and later during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Singh in Dhaka last year, they also signed a protocol for implementation of the agreement.

The LBA stipulates that it would not be in force until the countries ratifies it. Bangladesh ratified the agreement in 1974 but India is yet to ratify it.

The headcount of the enclaves have been done, adversely possessed land has been identified and the demarcation would be settled when India ratifies the agreement.

Sergeant Helal Uddin of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has testified in court in the 10-truck arms case, claiming torture by RAB officials.

Helal Uddin was posted at Chittagong Coal Depot Police Outpost when 10 truckloads of arms were captured in Chittagong in 2004. Helal and another sergeant, Alauddin, were the first to spot the unloading of the weapons on the night of Apr 1, 2004.

He was heard on Sunday afternoon by Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge and Senior Special Tribunal One Judge S M Mujibur Rahman. His statements were recorded for an hour before the session was dismissed. The remainder of the statement will be taken on Monday.

According to Helal, on Aug 19, 2005, he was called up by wireless to the Dhaka Detective Branch police headquarters, where he was detained by Rapid Action Battalion officials.

"When I was brought there, a Lt Col Gulzar asked me many questions about the 10-truck arms haul," Helal said in his statement. "Alauddin was also brought there."

"Then the two of us were sent to Chittagong RAB headquarters," he said.

"In Chittagong, I was called to RAB-7 director's room. When I went into the room and introduced myself, the director slapped me and threw me on the ground. He started beating me with a rod and broke my left leg," he said.

At one stage in his statement Helal broke into tears. The defence lawyers, however, were laughing at the moment.

"When I asked him what my fault was, he said, 'it is because of you that the country is in this state'. I replied that I was only following orders," Helal said.

The sergeant said he and sergeant Alauddin were sent to jail showing them arrested in an arms case in Noakhali. Later they both obtained bail and rejoined work.

During further investigation of this sensational case both sergeants told CID officers that the former National Security Intelligence Deputy Director Liakat Hossain was present during the unloading of weapons.

The High Court on Sunday asked the government to explain why the indemnity from prosecution for the military officers and other law-enforcing personnel in the 'Operation Clean Heart' during the BNP-led government would not be declared illegal.

The bench of justices Mirza Hussain Haider and Kazi Mohammad Ejarul Haque Akondo also demanded why the indemnity law over the joint operation conducted by the armed forces, police and paramilitary forces would not be declared to be in conflict with the Constitution.

Z I Khan Panna, chief of the outgoing Bangladesh Bar Council's Human Rights and Legal Assistance Affairs, filed the writ petition.

The High Court ruling came around a decade after the operation was initiated. Advocate Shahdin Malik argued for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Al Amin Sarkar represented the state at the hearing.

Top bureaucrats of the law, home and defence ministries, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Inspector General of Police have been directed to reply to the rule within six weeks.

The High Court also sought to know why a Tk 1 billion fund will not be raised to compensate those harmed during the operation.

Soon after the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government took office, the military ran 'Operation Clean Heart' from Oct 16, 2002 to Jan 9, 2003 to 'restore' law and order.

Many people died during the operation slated by rights groups but the authorities claimed the deaths were due to 'heart attacks'.

Then the BNP-led coalition government claimed the operation was conducted to check terrorism, while chief opposition Awami League alleged it was to annihilate the opposition leaders and supporters.

According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, 60 people were killed during the operation. Then government admitted that 12 of the detained people died of 'heart attack'.

On Feb 24, 2003, the BNP-Jamaat government passed a law, providing indemnity to the military officials who took part in the special operation.

Lawyer Shahdin Malik told bdnews24.com Bangladesh had signed the international convention forbidding torture in 1998. Section 14 of the law talks about raising fund to compensate anyone harmed at the hand of the government forces.

He added the Supreme Court of India had also issued many orders on the issue.

Z I Khan told bdnews24.com: "This indemnity law is one of the darkest laws in the world. No other country has this type of laws... no civilised country can have such law. Having [this law] is a blatant disregard for the rule of law."

Bangladesh hope Sharmin Akhtar Ratna finished a disappointing 27th out of 56 participants on Saturday's opening medal event of the London Olympics at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Her combined score of 393 included impressive scores of 99, 100 and 99 in the last three shots, but her first effort of 95 had left her too far behind to get anywhere in the running.
It was bitter disappointment for a cautiously hopeful Bangladeshi contingent who had hoped that Ratna's two-month training course in England prior to the Olympics would have helped her achieve something substantial. She had been excelling at practice scoring an average of 398, but it seemed like the pressure of the Olympics got the better of her and she crumbled at the big stage.
Gold went to China's ace rifle shooter Yi Siling, making her the first gold medallist of London 2012. Sylwia Bogacka took silver and Yi's compatriot Yu Dan won bronze.
The top two qualifiers Bogacka and Yi started a fierce battle for the gold, both scoring 10.8 out of possible 10.9 in the first shot.
Yi, the world No.1 in this event, cemented her top position and grabbed the title with her last two shots (10.3 and 10.5) finishing on a total of 502.9 points. This is the second gold for China in this event at the Games after Du Li won at Athens 2004.
Bogackla dropped her rank to third after the ninth shot, however her last shot (in which she scored 10.8) lifted her to the silver medal position. She finished on 502.2 points.
Yu clinched bronze with a total score of 501.5 points. She was second after the ninth shot but dropped her rank with her last shot (9.6).
Five shooters finished at 397 points after the 40-shot qualification rounds.
A five-way shoot-off (five shots) decided the last four qualifiers.

Dhaka city remains exposed to serious sound pollution due to lax enforcement of the law.
The pollution is caused by construction work using brick crushers and mixing machines, use of heavy equipment in factories and loudspeakers in and around the capital. Needless honking by motorists also largely contributes to the pollution.
The sound level in Dhaka city in April-May was beyond the permissible limit, more than double the limit in some cases, according to a survey by the Department of Environment (DoE).
The Noise Pollution (Control) Rules, 2006, prohibit honking in a 100-metre radius of hospitals, educational institutes and offices. The rules do not allow use of brick crushers within a 500-metre radius of a residential area. Taking prior permission is mandatory for using loudspeakers.
The law has provisions for punishing the first-time offender by a maximum of one month's jail or Tk 5,000 in fine or both. The punishment for a second-time rule breaker is six months in jail at most or Tk 10,000 in fine or both.
But thanks to a slack enforcement of the law, offenders are rarely brought to book.
According to the noise control guidelines, the permissible level in the silent zones (100 metres around hospitals, educational institutions, courts and offices) is 40 decibels at night and 50 decibels during daytime. It is 45 decibels at night and 55 decibels during the day in residential areas and 50 and 60 decibels respectively in mixed areas.
In commercial areas, the limit is 60 decibels at night and 70 decibels during the day and 70 and 75 for industrial areas.
The DoE survey -- done at 12 major points between 11:00am and 1:00pm -- found the maximum sound level at 90 decibels while the minimum was at 77 decibels.
The areas covered in the survey are Mirpur-10, Farmgate, Bijoy Sarani, the road in front of the Prime Minister's Office, Mohakhali, Kuril Biswa Road, Biman Bandar Rail Station, Banani, Kanchpur Bridge, Gulistan, Sayedabad and Jatrabari.
Medical experts say noise pollution causes headache and irritation that in turn make people suffer from depression and anxiety. Excessive sound also interferes with attention. Continuous exposure to sound pollution increases the pace of heartbeats and the risk of cardiac arrest.
Lelin Chowdhury, chairman of Health and Hope Hospital, says sound pollution in the long term reduces hearing ability and increases secretion of stress hormone, which leads to a rise in blood pressure.
In addition, it makes people intolerant, making them vulnerable to psychological disorders.
Children suffer the most from hearing losses due to noise pollution and their mental development gets hampered. Noise pollution can also cause miscarriages and premature births.
"There is no count of the affected people, but the number is rising day by day," said Lelin, a specialist in preventive medicine.
Work for Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust, an environmental organisation, in a survey between March and April last year found the maximum sound level in the capital's silent zones to be 104 decibels.
According to the trust, the maximum sound level in front of Square Hospital at Panthapath was 104 decibels between 9:50am and 9:55am on April 21. It was 103 near New Model University College between 12:00noon and 12:05pm on the same day.
So far this year, the DoE has conducted about 60 drives against sound polluters and realised more than Tk 1 crore in fine, but could hardly bring about any change.
Improving the situation requires more drives but the department cannot do so owing to lack of manpower, says DoE (enforcement) Director Munir Chowdhury.
It is also the duty of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and the traffic police to check noise pollution by drivers, he adds.
In 2005, the WBB Trust conducted a survey among 1,000 Dhaka city students, only to find 60 to 70 percent of them had difficulties concentrating and suffered from headaches because of noise pollution.
Ninety percent of them said their studies were disrupted by a blaring of horns.
Seven years have passed since. The magnitude of the pollution must have increased manifold by now as both construction work and number of vehicles have increased, medical experts say.

A Bangladeshi non-government organisation has misappropriated an international grant of nearly $1.9 million, meant to fight AIDS and tuberculosis, through fabricated bank statements, cheques and accounting journals.
According to a probe report of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Padakhep Manabik Unnayan Kendra diverted the money in 2004-09 and tried to justify the withdrawals with fake and forged documents.
The report, released on July 11, said the withdrawals -- about 52 percent of the total $3.62 million fund disbursed to the NGO -- never took place. The organisation maintained false bank account numbers to conceal the fund diversion.
The Global Fund, which so far has provided $82 million to ministries and NGOs in Bangladesh to tackle the deadly diseases, said the misappropriated amount might be even more. The report recommended recovering the loss from Padakhep.
The Global Fund, an international financing institution, has so far committed $22.6 billion in 150 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programmes.
The report reads Padakhep made significant efforts to conceal the fund diversion by fraudulently maintaining manufactured records to justify the withdrawals that never actually happened.
The fabricated papers include false bank statements and cheques, accounting journals in fictitious programmes and activities and invoices for made-up purchases.
“Vendors who allegedly provided goods and services under the programme also confirmed in several instances that the bids, invoices, and cheques bearing their companies' names were not authentic and that the vendors never provided the goods or services and they never received the funds,” explains the report, prepared after a year-long investigation by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of The Global Fund.
Exposure of some financial irregularities of Padakhep in two AIDS prevention projects financed by The Global Fund in mid-2009 led the donor into conducting the investigation.
Save the Children, a globally active NGO and also the principal recipient of The Global Fund money, had appointed Padakhep as the sub-recipient. It found irregularities while monitoring the project implementations.
Save the Children ended its contracts with Padakhep on November 24 last year.
Padakhep challenged the contract termination and is now in a legal battle with Save the Children. It even claimed $14.23m in damages.
According to the report, Padakhep held its funds with NCC Bank between November 2004 and December 2009. Later, it moved its accounts to Dutch Bangla Bank.
The OIG investigation team found that Padakhep had concealed the genuine bank statements maintained at the NCC bank and instead created and produced its own versions of statements, which were in fact fictitious.
The NGO often reported different account numbers on its forged bank statements than the NCC Bank actually used. Padakhep produced falsified bank statements and provided those to Save the Children in order to back the expenditures, the report says.
The report used scanned copies of the genuine and fake banks account numbers. It drew a comparison that proved bank statements provided by Padakhep and those of NCC Bank were not the same. The amounts and dates of fund withdrawals were also different in the genuine and fake bank statements.
The OIG team showed the versions of bank documents provided by Padakhep to senior NCC Bank officials who confirmed that the statements were not issued by the bank. However, the probe body did not find evidence of the practice in DBB Bank accounts.
To maintain consistency between the false bank statements and supporting documentation, Padakhep created, produced and utilised extensive and elaborate false documentation to support fabricated bank statements, and conceal the actual nature of its expenditures.
The accounting journals reflected the transactions in the forged statements.
The OIG in its report placed an accounting journal page and the corresponding genuine and fraudulence bank statements. A transaction of Tk 61,700 for a workshop described in the accounting journal appeared in both genuine and false statements, but a withdrawal of Tk 35,000 was only in the false bank statement.
The OIG team said the amount of Tk 35,000 had never actually been withdrawn.
Padakhep has been working in the fields of micro-credit, education, health, agriculture and environment for 25 years with funds from various international donors. At present, it is running 32 projects all over Bangladesh.
VERSIONS OF PADAKHEP
Terming the report one-sided, Padakhep Executive Director Iqbal Ahammed said Save the Children, being the principal recipient of the fund, was equally responsible if anything happened since it supervised, monitored and audited the project activities.
“Padakhep can't do anything through bypassing Save the Children and its staff. If anything happened then that should have been come out at the time of the happening, but Save the Children had no objection to our activities then,” he said, accusing the OIG of not taking and including its comments in the report.
Asked how he could deny the proof of forgery and fraudulence to conceal a misappropriation of funds, Iqbal Ahammed said that while many points of the report were not correct, they needed to verify the images and the proof used in the report.
“Padakhep is going to challenge the report. We have serious comments on the report, but will not give that since the matter is now before a tribunal,” he told The Daily Star.
REACTION OF SAVE THE CHILDREN
The OIG report clearly establishes that Padakhep has misappropriated not less than $1.89 million of donor funds intended to fight the scourge of HIV and AIDS in Bangladesh, said its Country Director Michael McGrath through an email.
He said the report was the result of more than a year of intensive investigation, involving discussions not only with Padakhep and its bank, but also with health ministry officials and principal and sub-recipients of The Global Fund grants.
“The evidence is overwhelming. Padakhep has been provided with an opportunity to comment on the draft report. If the OIG did not incorporate the changes requested by Padakhep, I can only assume that it was because they were not convinced as to the accuracy or truthfulness of the information provided by Padakhep,” said McGrath.
He termed Padakhep's claim that the principal recipient shared equal culpability for the fraud as absolutely “outrageous”.
“If a criminal is caught by the police and charged with serious crimes, would we say that the police were equally responsible for the crimes committed, because it took them some time to identify the culprit and assemble the evidence?”
The only reason why Padakhep is seeking to prevent public discussion of the OIG report is that they do not want the people, the government and the donors to know the details of the donor fund misappropriation which they have been responsible for over an extended period of time.
Instead of taking action against the NGO, the health ministry has recommended that Padakhep undertake a Tk 24 crore project fighting HIV/AIDS.

Divers have located the oil tanker MT Meherjan that sank in Meghna on Wednesday.

The tanker's position was determined to be a place near Char Sultani, a place near Kaliganj, a Barisal River Port official said on Saturday.

Rescue vessel MV Hamza reached the spot in the morning and MV Rustam arrived in the afternoon. The vessels will work together for the rescue work.

Divers said the spot was about 100 feet deep and that the tanker was unreachable because of strong currents.

Hamza commander Rafiqul Islam told bdnews24.com the tanker even without its cargo would weigh 250-300 tonnes. "MV Hamza has a capacity of handling only up to 60 tonnes," he said.

BIWTA Chairman Samsuddoha Khandaker led a seven-member team to the spot and a three-member Environment Department team reached there to collect water samples.

Environment Department Director Sukumar Biswas told bdnews24.com their team was collecting dissolved oxygen and other samples.

The Jamuna Oil Company (JOCL) tanker, MT Meherjan, carrying 700,000 litres of petrol and diesel sank in mid-river after a collision with a cargo vessel, Fazlul Haq-3, on Wednesday night at Mehendiganj upazila in Barisal.

The cargo vessel's hands escaped soon after the accident. One of the tanker's staff, Nizam Uddin, has been missing.

The oil tanker was on its way to JOCL's Barisal depot.

Clashes between followers of two 'Pirs' (saints) left one person dead and 20 others injured on Saturday at the district's Raypura upazila.

Raypura OC Abdul Baten had told bdnews24.com in the afternoon that there had been three casualties, but in the afternoon he recanted to say police had found only one dead body.

The clashes begun around 11am and continued in sporadic outbursts at Kacharikandi village. Both parties, followers of Kashimpur and Char Monai Pirs, used firearms and sharp weapons, the police officer said.

The dead body of Khoka Mia, 35, who died in the clash, has been kept at the Narsingdi Sadar Hospital.

Police earlier said one Ejaj Mia, 25, had died. Later, Brahmanbaria Sadar Hospital's Dr Safin Ahmed told bdnews24.com he had been sent to Dhaka for treatment.

The injured have been admitted to the Raypura Hospital, various local clinics and sent to Brahmanbaria for treatment, police said.

OC Baten said the clash erupted as a result of a long-standing dispute between the followers of the two Pirs.

He added that 25 people were detained from the scene during the clashes.