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Victims of Rana Plaza tragedy being remembered on Wednesday
The 11th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, the worst-ever tragedy in the country’s multi-billion-dollar ready-made garment (RMG) industry, is being observed on Wednesday.
Different right bodies, worker organisations and left-leaning political parties, including Rana Plaza Survivors’ Association, usually arrange various programmes every year, remembering the victims of the tragedy.
On April 24 in 2013, Rana Plaza, an illegally-constructed building in Savar which housed five garment factories, came down crashing, killing 1,138 people and injuring over 2,000 others.
Business integrity, ethical sourcing key to RMG sector sustainability: TIB says on 10th anniv of Rana Plaza tragedy
Later, police filed the murder case accusing Sohel Rana who has been in jail since his arrest.
Trial in the murder case filed over Rana Plaza collapse began officially on January 31, 2022 by recording statements of the witnesses.
On July 18, 2016, Dhaka District and Session Court Judge SM Kuddus Zaman framed charges against the accused and passed an order to begin the trial.
But it got barred as most of the accused appealed to the higher court challenging legality of the order.
On January 31, 2022, after clearing the appeals, District and Sessions Court Judge AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan recorded the statement of plaintiff, then Sub-Inspector of Savar police station Wali Ashraf.
BGMEA pays tribute to Rana Plaza victims
Over the tragic incident then SI of Savar police station Wali Ashraf filed a murder case accusing the owner and others of dereliction and negligence in building construction.
On June 1, 2015, Assistant Superintendent of Crime Investigation Department (CID) of police Bijoy Krishna Kar submitted a charge sheet in the case against 41 people including the building owner Sohel Rana.
A total of 594 people were made witnesses in this case.
PM Hasina departs for Thailand on six-day official visit
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka on Wednesday (April 24, 2024) for Bangkok on a six-day official visit to Thailand at the invitation of her Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin to strengthen the bilateral ties between the two countries.
A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the premier and her entourage, departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:13am on Wednesday, said PM’s Speechwriter Md Nazrul Islam.
The PM is scheduled to land at Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok at 1:30pm local time.
"It's both a bilateral and multilateral visit," said Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said at a media briefing on Monday.
The bilateral visit of the prime minister will be the first-ever visit at the level of head of government from Bangladesh to Thailand since establishment of diplomatic relations in 1972.
PM Hasina begins her six-day official visit to Thailand on Wednesday
During her visit from April 24 to 29, the Bangladesh premier will hold bilateral talks with PM Thavisin and also attend the 80th Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Bangladesh and Thailand will sign a number of cooperation documents including a letter of intent on negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries, said the Foreign Minister.
Bangladesh and Thailand are likely to sign an agreement on visa exemption for official passport holders, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation while two more MoUs on tourism sector cooperation and duty related mutual cooperation to expand the relations, he said.
Bangladesh will seek support from Thailand regarding Rohingya repatriation as well as increased investment from Thailand, said Hasan Mahmud adding that the issue of shipping connectivity will also be discussed.
On April 26, PM Hasina will be formally received by her Thai host Srettha Thavisin while a ceremonial guard of honor will be accorded to her.
On the same day, the Bangladesh premier will hold bilateral talks with PM Thavisin at the Government House (Prime Minister’s Office) following a tete-a-tete between the two leaders, witness the signing of the documents, participate in a joint press conference and then attend a state lunch to be hosted by her Thai counterpart in her honour there.
PM Hasina likely to travel to India and China in first bilateral visits since forming new govt
During the visit, the prime minister will have a Royal audience of Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshan, King and Queen of the Kingdom of Thailand at the Palace.
In her multilateral engagement, PM Hasina is scheduled to attend the 80th Session of ESCAP and deliver a speech there on April 25.
On the same day, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjabana will call on the prime minister.
Guided by the theme “Leveraging digital innovation for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific”, the eightieth session will be an opportunity to strengthen region-wide cooperative action on leveraging digital innovation for the accelerated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The session will bring together government leaders and ministers from across Asia and the Pacific and other key stakeholders to discuss how digital innovation can more inclusively contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals across multiple disciplines.
Read more: Bangladesh, Qatar sign 10 cooperation documents to take ties to new height
Dhaka’s air quality unhealthy for sensitive groups
Dhaka's air quality was categorised as ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ this morning.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 134 at 8:59 am, Dhaka ranked 11th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.
India’s Delhi, Egypt’s Cairo City and Thailand’s Chiang Mai occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 193, 171 and 170 respectively.
Dhaka’s air quality ‘unhealthy’ this morning
When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
After a day of being ‘moderate’, Dhaka’s air quality back to being ‘unhealthy’
As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.
Gas supply to remain off for 3 hours in different areas Wednesday
Gas supply will remain suspended for 3 hours from 2pm to 5pm on Wednesday at different areas in the city for emergency work of gas pipeline.
According to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, the areas where supply will remain off for all categories of customers include Shanirakhra, Baraitla, Chhapra Mosque, Dania, Jurain, Dholairpar and Kadmatoli.
The adjoining areas may experience low pressure in gas supply, said Titas Gas regretting the temporary inconvenience of the consumers.
25 days after going missing, body of BCL leader retrieved from Kishoreganj’s Narsunda River
The body of a local leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of Awami League, was recovered on Tuesday from the Narsunda River in Kishoreganj, some 25 days after he went missing.
The deceased was identified as Mokhles Uddin Bhuiya, vice-president of Kewarjur Union unit of BCL under Mithamain Upazila of the upazila and son of Mokbul Hossain, who reportedly died of cardiac arrest after hearing the missing news, of Phulpur village under Kewarjur Union.
Ashraf Ali, elder brother of the victim, said that his younger brother had been missing since March 29 after he came out of his rented house in upazila sadar around 9pm.
Later, he filed a case against six identified people with the concerned police station on April 16.
After scrutinising CCTV footage, police could identify four people and round them up from Habiganj’s Shaistaganj upazila subsequently.
The arrestees are Sheful Sheikh and his three sons- Mizan Sheikh, Marjan Sheikh and Raihan Sheikh, residents of the same union.
During the preliminary interrogation, the arrestees admitted that they dumped the body into the river after killing him.
Information gleaned from the arrestees, divers with the help of police started salvation work on Monday morning and could fish out the body on Tuesday.
Al-Amin Hussain, additional superintendent of police (Crime and Operations) of Kishoreganj, confirmed the matter saying that dives were on to arrest the rest other involved with the murder.
ICMAB hosted pre-budget round table discussion
To forge policy recommendations for the government in preparation for the national budget announcement, the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) convened a round table discussion on Tuesday.
The discussants highlighted and expressed the country's keen anticipation of the government's response to various global challenges, including climate change, inflation, and policy uncertainties, reads a press release.
They pointed out the need for increased funding to meet the commitment for UN Sustainable Development Goals and ultimately achieve the country’s strategic objectives.
The discussion also covered the need for nuanced adjustments in fiscal and monetary policies to address issues such as exchange rate stability, currency policy, and balancing export-import dynamics. The importance of encouraging household savings, broadening the tax base, enhancing reserve buffers, and controlling the prices of daily commodities were also highlighted.
Waseqa Ayesha Khan, State Minister of Finance, joined the discussion as the chief guest.
She said, “To ensure economic prosperity, the government is planning to emphasize on controlling inflation, increase in reserve and remittance, increase export revenue, explore new markets for export, create investment friendly environment, and uninterrupted electricity and power supply.”
She also assured the government's plan to continue infrastructural and ICT development, human resource development, and short- and long-term revenue strategy.
The discussion was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Md. Salim Uddin FCMA, President of ICMAB, and moderated by Arif Khan FCMA, past president and current council member of the institute.
Professor Dr. Mohammed Farashuddin, former Governor of Bangladesh Bank and Chief Advisor of East West University; Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, Executive Director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh; and Mr. Mahbubul Alam, President of FBCCI, participated in the program as the special guests along with a diverse panel of experts from academia, research institutes, business leadership, and professional chambers.
Nothing to worry about deposits in merged banks: Bangladesh Bank
The central bank of Bangladesh has been forced to issue a statement to clear the air, as it were, of the confusion arising out of its initiative to bring about consolidation in the country's ailing banking sector. As a necessary part of the process aimed at reducing the number of banks in the country, the sector is going to witness a number of mergers between previously disparate entities in the coming days.
Top execs of merging bank cannot hold posts at acquiring entity: Bangladesh Bank
Five merger proposals have already been received and are expected to be approved by the end of 2024. They involve around 11 institutions, and if completed as proposed, would reduce the number of banks in Bangladesh by 6 - around 10% of the total.
Yet the unprecedented nature of these moves in the banking sector, where there is no previous record of two Bangladeshi banks having merged, has led to a state of panic and confusion among members of the public, to the extent that people are reportedly withdrawing their deposits from certain banks, said sources at some respected banks.
Bangladesh Bank auctions gold for the first time in 16 years
They said most of the depositors are suffering from the dilemma of whether or not to keep money in the bank. Some are withdrawing their money from the banks due to 'fear'.
Bangladesh Bank was forced to address the issue in its statement today, asserting that individual as well as institutional depositors' money will remain fully safe and secure in banks during the merger process.
Noticing different news and social media posts, the central bank said accountholders of two merging banks will be able to maintain their respective accounts as before even after the completion of the merger.
Bangladesh Bank issues detailed directive on appointment of MD, CEO for NBFIs
The merger process will be completed based on the consent of the entrepreneurial directors, current boards, and common shareholders of the banks covered by the merger, said the statement.
Fake certificate syndicate: Ex-chairman of Technical Education Board questioned by DB following wife's arrest
Ali Akbar Khan, former chairman of Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB), whose wife was arrested in a case filed over forging and selling fake certificates, was questioned at the DB office on Tuesday afternoon.
He has been given two days by the DB authorities. If he does not provide an explanation regarding the allegations against him within these two days and if evidence of involvement in the forgery is found later, action will be taken against him, said DB Chief Harun-Or-Rashid at a press conference in the DB office on Tuesday evening.
He said, “I believe the Chairman of the Board cannot evade responsibility for this incident. We will now see whether he really knew about the certificate sale incident."
Harun said, "The Chairman and the Exam Controller have neglected their duties or have deliberately overlooked them. We have questioned them about it. Despite knowing about such forgery, no action was taken. About his wife's involvement, he claimed he didn't know."
"In our interrogation, we have tried to find out how this forgery occurred month after month using the password of the technical board's website. He is the chairman of that institution. The institution operates under his guidance and leadership. Documents are being taken from that institution which can be seen through CCTV footage. Yet no action was taken. Moreover, the Exam Controller has also been signing certificates month after month,” he said.
The DB chief also said, "Ali Akbar Khan's wife has also been questioned. She admitted in the interrogation that she took money from the system analyst Shamsujjaman."
After the questioning at DB office, Ali Akbar Khan told the media, “As the Chairman of the Board, I cannot evade responsibility for the certificate sales.”
When asked about his wife's arrest, he said, “I don't know anything about my wife's situation. I don't know what information the intelligence agency has obtained. But I believe she is being arrested without any crime.”
Ali Akbar Khan said, “An incident has occurred. A thorough investigation should be conducted into this matter. Those responsible should be punished. In this case, we are ashamed and saddened!”
About the system analyst’s claim that he took a TK20 lakh bribe, Ali Akbar said, “It is false, baseless, and without foundation. Investigation is ongoing.”
On April 1, DB arrested the system analyst and one of his cohorts with certificates, certificate-making papers. Later, several others were also arrested. The latest arrest was Sehela Parveen, the wife of Akbar Ali Khan. Following her arrest, DB summoned him for interrogation.
Arbitrary introduction of mergers caused further unrest in banking sector: TIB
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in statement on Tuesday said the arbitrary announcement of certain bank mergers, coupled with concerns among well-performing banks involved in the process and unwillingness of some underperforming banks, has worsened anxiety, unrest, and uncertainty within the banking sector.
The TIB believes that such instances have cast doubts over the entire process even before it started.
“The central bank has initiated steps to merge underperforming banks with stronger counterparts in order to save weak banks in the sector, which is supposed to be considered as being in line with global practices related to tackling crisis in the financial sector,” TIB opined.
However, global standards and policies including the Bangladesh Bank’s own policies have been ignored to complete this sensitive and complex task hastily, said the statement.
The anti-corruption organisation asserts that the lack of transparency in the bank merger process, particularly concerning the management of default loans and issues of accountability within weak banks burdened by default loans, essentially sidesteps the main problem of the crisis and gives impunity to the factions responsible for loan defaults and forgery.
According to the merger policy issued by the Bangladesh Bank, underperforming banks are allowed to express their interest to merge with financially sound banks following the assessment of assets and liabilities by an auditor firm enlisted by the central bank and disclosing the details in the current year.
Considering the evaluation of assets, there are provisions for good banks to voluntarily express interest in initiating mergers with weaker banks.Highlighting that the central bank can only resort to forceful mergers if the initial steps fail, said the statement.
TIB Executive Director (ED) Dr Iftekharuzzaman stated, “Based on media reports, only one weak bank has shown interest in voluntary merger, and conversely, it's not necessarily the case that the financially sound banks mentioned in the process have willingly and consciously engaged in it.”
This suggests that the entire process has been imposed on them arbitrarily, which is a clear violation of the declared policies, he said.
Moreover, how fair and reasonable is it to transfer the burdens of default loans and forgeries to good banks without first assessing the assets and liabilities of the weaker ones? It appears that the ongoing actions are akin to prescribing paracetamol for cancer treatments, said Dr Iftekhar
“On one hand, the culture of loan defaults is exacerbated by shielding factions responsible for them and forgery under the guise of mergers. Contrarily, significant attempts are underway to compel good banks to digest weaker ones as a result of their success. This has fostered an atmosphere of anxiety and restlessness across the entire sector,” he pointed out.
Expressing apprehensions that attempts to salvage weak banks might backfire, the TIB ED remarked:
“Government-government, private-government, and private-private mergers are all being considered. However, it remains unclear on what basis these banks have been prioritised, or how the decision was made regarding which financially sound banks would merge with which weak ones,” said Dr Iftekhar.
Additionally, some banks not yet mentioned in the merger process have been kept afloat through liquidity assistance. However, two government-owned banks, known for their strong performance, are slated to absorb two underperforming banks despite having significant amounts of default loans themselves, he urged.
“Given these circumstances, it is unrealistic to believe that simply merging banks, without ensuring effective accountability-based good governance to address the basic challenges in the banking sector, will resolve the problem or safeguard the interests of clients,” he opined.
Benazir’s wealth: HC orders ACC to submit progress report of investigation within 2 months
The High Court on Tuesday asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to submit a progress report on the investigation about the alleged illegal wealth of former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed and his family, within two months.The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain passed the suo moto order.Advocate Sarwar Hossain and Barrister Manoj Kumar Bhoumik stood for the petitioner while senior advocate Shah Manjurul Haque and Syed Ahmed Raza stood for Benazir while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan and Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the ACC and the state respectively.The HC bench said like India, Bangladesh should also have a wealth statement law for government employees. If there was a law, no one would have to guard their (government employees) property.
High Court issues rule on compensation for Bailey Road fire victims
In India, government employees have to submit their wealth statements at the time of joining and retiring from the job. Action is taken if there is a difference of more than 10 percent of the assets in the statement. To materialise Bangabandhu's dream of Sonar Bangla, such a law will have to be enacted, it added.
Earlier, ACC formed a committee to investigate the alleged corruption of Benazir Ahmed and his family.ACC secretary Khorsheda Yeasmin informed the update at a briefing held at the headquarter of the Commission on Monday.
High Court orders to recruit 285 people with disabilities under quota in govt primary schoolsBesides, a writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking investigation into the allegation brought against ex-IGP Benazir and his family.Salauddin Regan, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the writ petition.The writ petition also sought investigation into the allegation.
It also sought issuance of a rule asking the government to explain as to why the ineffectiveness of the ACC in investigating the wealth of Benazir should not be declared illegal.Chairman of ACC, ACC Commissioners and ACC secretary were made respondents to the writ petition.A vernacular daily published a report on the title of ‘Aladiner Cherag at the house of Benazir’ on March 31.Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Sumon MP filed a petition with ACC seeking legal steps against Benazir on Sunday.