Destiny seeks to clarify
May 1, 2012
The Destiny Group yesterday said Finance Minister AMA Muhith refused to meet its delegation on Sunday as he was very busy with an official matter.
The four-member delegation included Chairman Rafiqul Amin and President Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-Ar-Rashid. A statement, which came following reports on Muhith’s refusal to meet the team, said they wanted to inform the minister
of “socio-economic importance of Destiny” and direct selling or multilevel marketing. ”We think, it is urgent to meet the finance minister for the interest of mass people,” said the statement signed by Destiny recently came under the scanner of regulators for alleged irregularities in the name of MLM.
The National Board of Revenue froze bank accounts of five Destiny Group directors including Rafiqul Amin. It also asked banks for information about M Harun-Ar-Rashid’s accounts. Bangladesh Bank instructed all banks to provide it with information about the accounts of the company’s 14 directors and
37 sister organisations. On Sunday, an appointment was arranged with Muhith after a leader of pro-ruling party student organisation Bangladesh
Chhatra League told him that some leaders of Sector Commanders Forum wanted to meet him. M Harun-Ar-Rashid, who is also a leader of the forum, went to the finance ministry along with Rafiqul Amin and the other
two. Muhith denied them the chance to meet him knowing beforehand that the issues of Destiny may be raised, a ministry official said. The Destiny Group statement also said its concerns Destiny 2000 Ltd, Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd and Destiny Tree Plantation are running business legally.
Source: The Daily Star
Luna to meet PM tomorrow
May 1, 2012
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday agreed to meet Tahsina Rushdir Luna, wife of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali, after the latter wished to meet her, said the press secretary to PM. The premier will meet Luna tomorrow at 6:00pm in Gono Bhaban. Earlier yesterday, during a press briefing at her Banani residence, Luna said, “I earnestly request the prime minister to give us an opportunity to meet her.” Ilias’ two sons and daughter were also present at the briefing. “Please rescue Ilias at any cost,” she urged the PM in a written statement, adding that the government could take legal action against Ilias if there were any allegations against him. She said if her husband had been detained for interrogation, the family should have been informed of it.
Claiming that she had come to know about different things through ewspapers, Luna said, “If there is any condition, please let us know. We want him back alive under any conditions.” BNP Organising Secretary Ilias Ali, 51, also a former lawmaker from Sylhet, and his driver Ansar Ali went missing from
the capital’s Banani area around midnight on April 17. “We are living in uncertainty and feeling insecure. I can’t even dare to send my daughter to school. I can’t describe how worried I am about them [the children],” said Ilias’ wife at the press briefing.
Source: The Daily Star
Port worker killed in accident
May 1, 2012
A worker was killed when a heavy iron plate fell on him from a crane in Chittagong port yesterday morning. The deceased was identified as Shahadat Hossain, 42, son of Gias Uddin and hailing from Langolcot of Comilla. According to police, the crane was unloading the iron plate from a vessel at jetty number eight. All of a sudden, the cable of the crane snapped and the plate fell on Shahadat killing him instantly. The victim’s relatives took the body away after all legal formalities were completed, said Officer-in-Charge of Bandar Police Station Nurul Afsar Bhuiyan.
“We have given Tk 20,000 to the victim’s family as compensation and the Port Authority will give more money,” said Chittagong Port Authority Secretary Sayed Farhad Uddin.
Source: The Daily Star
2nd border haat opens today
May 1, 2012
The second border haat (weekly market) at Dolura in Sunamganj district opens today. The haat will sit on Tuesdays from 10:30am to 5:00pm while 9:30am to 4:00pm from November to March, during the winter. Items like fish, chicken, chanachur, juice, betel leaf and betel nuts, and bamboo-made materials will be traded here. A buyer would be able to shop here worth up to $ 50, equivalent Read more
Railwaygate probe body visits spot
May 1, 2012
The railway probe body investigating the railwaygate scandal will interrogate tomorrow BGB members involved in detaining
former railway minister Suranjit Sengupta’s APS, his driver and two top officials of railway.
The two-member committee will ask them to submit written statement explaining the haul of Tk 70 lakh around midnight on
April 9 and the subsequent detention of the three.
Meanwhile, Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Maj Gen Anwar Hossain yesterday assured the committee
members of his full cooperation, when the members met him at his office at Pilkhana BGB headquarters.
“I had a primary discussion with the committee members. I will do everything necessary to help with the investigation,”
the DG told The Daily Star last night.
If required, the committee can interrogate any officer and jawan, he mentioned. “I have instructed everyone to cooperate
with the committee members.”
It was the first visit by the committee to the headquarters of the border guards since it was formed.
Ali Azam Khan, driver of Omar Faruq Talukder, sacked assistant personal secretary (APS) to former railway minister
Suranjit Sengupta, pulled over Faruk’s microbus to Pilkhana, blowing whistle on carrying illegal money in the vehicle.
Railway’s general manager (east) Yusuf Ali Mridha and Dhaka division security commandant Enamul Huq were the other
passengers of the microbus.
The BGB men later freed the four in the following morning.
Head of the probe committee Abu Taher, director general of Bangladesh Railway, and his aide Shashi Kumar Singha, joint
secretary of railway ministry, went to Pilkhana around 11:00am. They first visited the spot where the driver had pulled
over.
The railway DG said they are yet to determine how many officers and jawans were present that night. “We may first take
written statements from each of them and then interrogate only some of them, if required,” he added.
DRIVER FAILS TO APPEAR
Azam, who remains traceless since the incident, failed to appear before the probe body yesterday in line with its order.
The committee sent a letter to Azam on April 22, asking him to come to the Rail Bhaban by 11:00am yesterday along with
his written statement explaining his role in the cash haul.
This was the second letter sent to his permanent address in Chandpur as he did not appear before the committee on April
22.
ANOTHER COMMITTEE FORMED
The railway ministry yesterday formed another committee to detect irregularities in the recruitment of Bangladesh
Railway.
The main role of the three-member committee will be to oversee the already formed four-member committee now probing the
alleged corruption and irregularities, ministry sources said.
Additional Director General (operation) of railway Mohammad Shahjahan will lead the new committee. Two deputy secretaries
of the ministry will assist him.
The four-member committee headed by railway’s Joint Director General (mechanical) visited Chittagong last week. They are
examining the related records, recruitment examination sheets and formation of the examination committees.
“The committee will visit Chittagong again next week. Everything regarding the recruitment will be verified thoroughly,”
a senior railway official told The Daily Star yesterday.
Some 1,128 persons were appointed in the railway’s east zone in the last one year as part of recruiting a total of 7,275
persons across the country.
Yusuf in collaboration with Faruk allegedly realised huge cash from the appointees and other jobseekers. They took Tk 3
lakh to Tk 5 lakh from each of the job seekers. The Tk 70 lakh being carried in the APS’s microbus was believed to have
been collected from the job seekers.
The railwaygate scandal led to the resignation of railway minister Suranjit Sengupta. The government, though, later
retained him in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio.
The APS has been sacked and the two railway officials have been suspended.
Source: The Daily Star
Titanic-II in 4 years
May 1, 2012
One of Australia’s richest men, Clive Palmer, yesterday unveiled plans to build a 21st century version of the doomed Titanic in China, with its first voyage from England to New York set for 2016. Palmer, a self-made mining billionaire, said he had commissioned state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to construct Titanic II with the same dimensions as its predecessor. ”It will be Read more
Rooms vandalised, 30 picked up
May 1, 2012
At least four rooms in Zia dormitory of Rangpur Medical College (RMC) were vandalised when activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir allegedly opted to take hold of the rooms last night around 11:30pm. Reportedly, the rooms belonged to the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League, a pro-Awami League student wing.
Chase and counter chase with sticks, iron rods and hockey sticks also took place between Read more
Maiden gas compressor station opens
May 1, 2012
Chevron Bangladesh yesterday launched the country’s first-ever gas compressor station in Habiganj, enabling the pressure constrained national grid to supply an additional 50 million cubic feet of gas per day. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the station at Muchai of Bahubal upazila under the north-eastern district. The compressor will increase the capacity of the Read more
Over 100 dead, many missing
May 1, 2012
An overcrowded river ferry broke in two and sank in northeast India during a severe storm yesterday, leaving at least 105 people dead and almost as many missing, police said. As rescuers struggled in heavy rain to find survivors weeping relatives lined the shores of the fast-flowing Brahmaputra
river in Assam state, desperate for news of family members on board the vessel. It was carrying around 350 men, women and children and police said some 150 people were rescued or swam to safety after the accident, which occurred as torrential pre-monsoon rains lashed the region.
The death toll could make the ferry sinking one of the worst in recent memory in South Asia, where such disasters are common due to lax safety standards and overloading. ”A storm split the steamer into two,” Assam state police chief JN.Choudhury told AFP. ”Rescue workers along with villagers have recovered about 105 bodies from the shores of the river,” said PC Haloi, police
chief of Dhubri district, from where the boat set out. “The fate of around 100 others is not known.” The overcrowded double-decker ferry had no lifebelts and Rahul Karmakar, who witnessed the sinking, told AFP: “I could
see people being swept away as the river current was very strong.”
He added that “chances of survival seem to be remote” in the river, swollen by the heavy storm. Rescuers struggled to find survivors but their efforts were hampered by high winds, torrential rains and darkness.
Local fishermen, who live with their families in tiny hamlets stretching along the Brahmaputra — which has a reputation
as a treacherous, turbulent waterway — combed the shores for survivors as night fell. ”The weather is very bad there. It is making the rescue efforts very difficult,” state Transport Minister Chandan Brahma told AFP in Assam’s main commercial city Guwahati. Strong winds had uprooted trees, blocking roads leading to the disaster site and preventing some rescue teams from
reaching the area, said officials. More rain was forecast for the area on Tuesday.
Source: The Daily Star
Thai plane skids off Shahjalal runway
May 1, 2012
An aircraft of Royal Thai Air Force carrying 15 officials yesterday skidded off the runway while landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport injuring three Thai officers. The injuries sustained by the three officials– Capt Wing Commander Chakkapol Hirranrattana, Wing Commander Surasak
Sukbang and Flight Lt Pitchaya Burrangratchahirarun — were minor, said Read more