Six Drown, 10 Missing As Boat Sinks In Bangladesh

Six persons drowned and 10 others went missing in a mechanised boat sinking in the Maskata river Sunday night after it was caught in a rough weather in Bangladesh’s Barisal district, 169 km south of capital Dhaka, police said Monday.

Sohrab Ali, police head of Mehendiganj sub-district, told China’s Xinhua news agency by phone that the mechanised boat was carrying around 35 to 40 passengers, sank in the river as it was caught in a stormy weather and strong current of the river.

He said the boat was also overcrowded.

Six bodies including three women and a child were recovered by the local rescuers late Sunday night.

Citing Ali, Xinhua reported that the rescuers are searching for the missing persons. The rest passengers swam to shore.

He said the bodies might have been taken faraway by the strong current of the river.

Inland Water Transport Authorities earlier said about 1,000 people die in ferry accidents on average every year in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Gets First Sovereign Rating From Moody’s

Bangladesh was assigned its first sovereign rating by Moody’s Investors Service of Ba3, the same as the Philippines and Vietnam, after withstanding external shocks and political unrest to achieve economic stability.

The South Asian nation’s rating, three levels below investment grade, has a stable outlook, the company said in a statement today. Moody’s action comes almost a week after Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services assigned Bangladesh a BB- ranking, also three steps below investment grade.

“The combination of a conservative institutional framework for managing the economy, supported by capital controls, has ensured better external balance and price stability than at many other emerging markets at a similar stage of development,” said Aninda Mitra, a vice president and sovereign analyst for Moody’s in Singapore.

Bangladesh, which has had at least five military coups since independence from Pakistan in 1971, ended two years of military-backed emergency rule in December 2008 when a political alliance headed by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s Awami League swept back to power in national elections. It has no immediate plans to sell bonds on international markets, Iqbal Abdullah Haroon, a Finance Ministry official, said today.

“The economy has also ably withstood several recent external shocks, periods of domestic political stress and supply-side bottlenecks,” Mitra said. Trade liberalization has helped the economy grow an average of 6 percent in the past decade, he said.

‘Investor Radar’

The ratings will help bring Bangladesh to the attention of investors, said Rahul Bajoria, an economist at Barclays Capital in Singapore.

“Bangladesh is appearing on the investor radar simply because of its fundamental appeal,” he said. “Positive demographics, rising consumption, and stable growth is a big positive.”

Bangladesh’s export dependence on the garment industry may be a constraint on its ratings, Mitra said. Its impending tax overhaul is “particularly important” in supporting its credit outlook, he said. The International Monetary Fund, in a February report, said Bangladeshi officials reaffirmed their intention to submit new legislation on the value-added tax and the lender urged the country to push through with plans for reforms on the levy.

“This will not only support improved fiscal flexibility and debt affordability but the reforms will also underpin much- needed expansion of public development expenditure,” Mitra said. “However, despite the generally positive trends in the government’s debt trajectory, debt affordability and fiscal flexibility face more pressure than do most of its rating peers.”

5 killed as ‘reckless driver’ overturns bus

At least five people were killed and dozens injured as a bus overturned on a Rangpur highway early on Monday, with surviving passengers blaming reckless driving for the accident.

The Kurigram-bound bus operated by Mitali Paribahan lost control and overturned near Damdama market, Deen Mohammad, sub-inspector of the nearby highway police post, told bdnews24.com.

Four people died on the spot while another critically injured passenger died on the way to Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH), he said.

The dead could not be immediately identified.

The injured were admitted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Of them, the condition of four was critical, doctors said.

Bus passenger Asma Begum said the bus driver was driving recklessly.

BSF kills Bangladeshi at Wahedpur border

A Bangladeshi citizen was shot dead by India’s Border Security Force at the Wahedpur border of Chapainawabganj, a BDR officer said on Monday.

The deceased was identified as Habibur Rahman, 30, a cattle trader.

He is the second Bangladeshi civilian killed by Indian border guards in ten days, despite BSF’s repeated assurances in recent months to exercise “restraint” with regard to border shootings.

Lt Col Zayed Hossain, commander of 39th Rifles Battalion in Chapainawabganj, said Indian border guards fired shots at a number of cattle traders as they were entering Indian territory through the Wahedpur border at Shibganj upazila at around 2am Monday morning.

Habibur’s companions brought his body back into Bangladesh, where it was sent to hospital for autopsy, Hossain said.

Bangladesh Rifles sent a letter to its Indian counterpart in protest at the killing, the officer said.

Earlier this month, on April 2, a Bangladeshi cowherd was shot dead by Indian border guards at Baikari in Shatkhira.

Two days later, Bangladesh Rifles and Border Security Force held a commander level flag meeting during which BSF said it “regretted” the incident and assured the BDR that it would take action against the culprits.

Last month, Indian home secretary GK Pillai, at a joint security conference in New Delhi, said his government was contemplating a unilateral ‘no-firing’ policy along its border with Bangladesh for one year in order to protect innocent civilian lives.

Pillai said that India’s move was intended to address Bangladesh’s concern over deaths of civilians due to firing along the border between the two countries.

Bangladesh’s home minister Sahara Khatun also told parliament last month the government is seriously addressing the killing of innocent Bangladeshis by BSF. She said “diplomatic initiatives” were on to reach a permanent solution.

At least 16 Bangladeshis have been killed by BSF fire in 2010 so far.

Foolproof security on Pahela Baishakh: 9,000 police, RAB to be deployed at Ramna

The law enforcement agencies will ensure three-tier “foolproof” security arrangement in and around the Ramna Park on the eve of Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the Bengali New Year on April 14.
IGP Nur Mohammad stated this to reporters after a meeting with senior police officers at the Police Headquarters yesterday.
“We’ve taken all steps to seal off all loopholes in our security measures,” he said.
The IGP told reporters that some 9,000 police and RAB would be deployed at Ramna Park and its adjoining areas.

Water protests block major city road

Traffic came to a halt on the capital’s Mohakhali-Gulshan link road on Sunday morning as locals blocked the road demanding uninterrupted water supply.

The water crisis has been mounting in the capital due to frequent load-shedding as power demand increases with the approach of hotter weather.

The demonstrators took position on the road with pitchers and buckets at around 10:30am, said Md Nurul Alam, assistant commissioner (Gulshan zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

They lifted their blockade an hour later as the representatives of the demonstrators went to the WASA office to hold talks with the water supply authorities, Alam said.

But the road block created heavy traffic congestion from Mahakhali to Banani in the meantime.

The protesting locals blocked the same road last week to press the same demand and withdrew their protest after they were assured of a quick solution to the water crisis. But the water problem has not been solved yet, the residents said.

Residents in other parts of the city, including nearby Badda, have also launched protests in recent weeks.

‘Extremist’ killed in Kushtia shootout

An alleged member of an extremist party was killed in a gunfight with police in Kushtia early on Sunday, the police claim.

Thirty five-year old Alamgir Mandal was a member of Gano Mukti Fouz, said Md Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Kushtia Police Station.

He told bdnews24.com that a joint team of intelligence police and sadar police went to Darbeshpur village under Alampur union in the early hours of Sunday on being tipped off that a group of extremists were gathering there.

Sensing the police presence the criminals opened fire on the police and the law enforcers retaliated, Asad said.

At one stage in the exchange of fire the men fled the scene.

Police found Alamgir’s body and recovered one gun, five hand made bombs, three machetes and five rounds of bullets, he said

The body has been sent to Kushtia general hospital for autopsy.

Alamgir faced seven cases including four murder charges, the police official added.

Bangladesh offers India connection to northeastern states

Bangladesh Friday offered India a connection to its northeastern states as well as Thailand and Myanmar via Bangladeshi territory.

‘We are ready to take on our destiny as the natural bridge between two dynamically thriving regions – South and Southeast Asia,’ Bangladesh High Commissioner Tariq A. Karim said at the two-day international conference on ‘From Landlocked to Land-built: North East India in BIMSTEC’ at the North East Hill University here.

Thailand Ambassador Kirit Kraichitti and his Myanmar counterpart U Kyi Thein also attended the international meet inaugurated by Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor Friday.

‘Bangladesh is ready to help not only to reconnect India’s northeastern states with the rest of the mainland India, but also enable Nepal and Bhutan to gain access to the sea, and enable India reach Myanmar and Thailand overland through easy terrain,’ the Bangladeshi envoy said.

Stressing that Bangladesh is eager to serve as the hub of regional linkages, Karim said his country has allowed India to use its Chittagong and Mongla ports.

A bold step in this direction has already been initiated with Ashuganj in Bangladesh and the Silghat in India added as new ports of call under existing riverine transit and trade arrangments, he said.

In order to facilitate sea-going access for land-locked BIMSTEC regions with Sri Lanka in the southeast and Thailand in the east and beyond, Karim said Bangladesh has also decided to allow Nepal and Bhutan to use Chittagong and Mongla ports.

Stating the trade imbalance in India’s favour has long been a matter of concern for Bangladesh, Karim invited Indian entrepreneurs to invest in power generation, IT and telecommunication, textiles, healthcare and among others in his country.

‘We have announced a number of measures that are aimed at making Bangladesh one of the most foreign investor-friendly destinations,’ he said.

25,000 MT rice import to arrive next month

The cabinet purchase committee on Sunday selected a Singapore-based company to supply 25,000 MT of unboiled (Atap) rice, expected to arrive in April, aimed at lowering the market price of the staple.

More rice will be imported later, food minister Abdur Razzaque said.

Just days ago, Razzaque told a seminar on food security that Bangladesh was moving toward self-sufficiency in production of rice and other crops.

“We have taken this decision to reduce the rice price. More rice will be imported later on,” the minister told reporters Sunday after the purchase committee meeting.

Concerning the amount of the rice to be imported, the minister said, “It is not fixed yet. But we have an offer of another 25,000 MT.”

The food ministry on Jan 25 invited tenders for import of 50,000 MT rice.

Among the competing companies, Singapore-based Indo-Sino Trade Private Limited got permission to supply 25,000 MT rice to Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 68.73 crore. The price is $395 per tonne.

Asked why Atap rice is being imported, Razzaque said, “Other kinds were not available.”

Food directorate chief Pius Costa told bdnews24.com the rice would arrive in a month. He said that more will be imported from Myanmar or Pakistan.

Source: bdnews

CHT pullout starts today

In line with the government decision towards implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 1997, an army camp is going to be withdrawn from Khagrachari this afternoon.

Talking to The Daily Star, Mohalchori Army Zone Commander (Acting) Major Mamunur Rashid said the process for withdrawal of the camp at Manikchari in Mohalchori upazila began this morning and will be completed by 5:00pm, reports our Khagrachhari correspondent.

In a major development, the government late last month decided to withdraw one brigade of troops and 35 temporary security camps from CHT areas by this September.

As many as 40 army personnel were engaged at the camp to ensure security in that area.

Mohalchori upazila Chairman Sona Ratan Chakma, UNO Saiful Arif and officer-in-charge of Manikchari Police Station were also present during the army camp removal process.

According to the peace accord, the government is supposed to withdraw all military camps and security forces from CHT areas excepting the three cantonments in Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati district headquarters and those in Alikadam and Ruma upazilas of Bandarban and Dighinala of Khagrachhari, police and border security.

Two hundred security camps have so far been withdrawn in phases since the accord was signed between the then Awami League government and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity on December 2, 1997 to bring an end to two decades of insurgency and unrest in the hill districts.

After signing the accord, members of the Jana Sanghati Samity surrendered arms to the then AL government.

However, implementation of the accord lost momentum after the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance government assumed state power in 2001. The alliance had opposed signing of the accord.

After assuming power in January, the AL again initiated steps to implement the CHT Peace Accord to bring normalcy in the region and in May made Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury the chairperson of a national committee for implementation of the accord.