Directors go scot free, bank officials chased

Shakhawat Hossain 

      

Lower and mid-level bankers are facing prosecution for loan scams while boards of directors get off scot-free and even some of them have been promoted although they have failed to prevent misappropriation of billions of taka from the state-owned banks in the past nine years.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has so far brought charges or arrested 41 bankers for their alleged involvement in the loan scams, including embezzlement of Tk 3,700 crore by Hallmark Group from Sonali Bank and Tk 6,000 crore from BASIC Bank, said commission officials.

The commission, however, brought no charge against directors including former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu, they said.

On June 30, 2015, finance minister AMA Muhith told parliament that action could not be taken against Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu because of ruling Awami League leaders.

Besides, embezzlement of Tk 1,200 crore from five banks, including state-owned Janata Bank, and loan scam of Tk 5,500 crore by AnonTex Group in Janata Bank during the tenure of Abul Barakat-led board of directors raised questions about the role of directors appointed on political considerations, said experts.

They noted that such appointments increased significantly since the beginning of the back-to-back five-year tenure of the ruling Awami League in 2009.

Former interim government adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said that politically appointed directors could not avoid the responsibility of the loan scams that caused disaster in the state-run banks.

The country’s banking sector is now in total disarray, said Mirza Aziz, who was reportedly forced to resign in December 2006 as Sonali Bank chairman following his refusal to approve a Tk 15 crore loan for the then president Iajuddin Ahmed’s son Imtiaj Ahmed.

Six BASIC Bank officials –– deputy managing director Fazlus Sobhan, former Gulshan branch manager Shiper Ahmed, its commercial credit information department former manager M Selim, former Saidpur branch manager Ekramul Bari and general manager Joynal Abiden Chowdhury –– are now in jail as cases filed against 27 officials, including the six, by the Anti-Corruption Commission for loan scams are under investigation.

Twenty-five Sonali Bank officials, including former managing director Humayun Kabir (now in hiding), deputy managing directors Mainul Haque and Atiqur Rahman, general managers Nani Gopal Nath and Mir Mohidur Rahman, deputy general managers Sheikh Altaf Hossain and M Safiz Uddin Ahmed, and assistant general managers Kamrul Hossain Khan and Ezaz Ahmed, and Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch former assistant general manager AKM Azizur Rahman are now facing trial for the Hallmark loan scams.

The commission in 2013 and 2014 dropped inquiries against former Sonali Bank directors Kazi Baharul Islam, Subhash Singha Roy, M Anwar Sahid, Abu Sayed Mohammed Nayeem, KM Zaman Romel, Satendra Chandra Bhaktha, M Shahidullah Miah, Kasem Humayun, Saimum Sarwar Kamal, Jannat Ara Henry who were the board members during the embezzlement of Tk 3,700 crore by Hallmark Group from Sonali’s Ruposhi Bangla hotel branch.

Saimum Sarwar Kamal, former Chhatra League leader of Chittagong University, became a member of parliament being elected uncontested in 2014 elections, boycotted by all opposition parties, with an Awami League ticket.

Subhash Singha Roy, former Chatra League leader, is now running a news portal abcnews24.com and Jannat Ara Henry, a schoolteacher in Sirajganj before being appointed as director to the Sonali Bank board of directors, became a joint secretary general of the central Awami League. 

KM Zaman Romel, son of AL lawmaker Khandaker Asaduzzaman, in 2016 became chairman of the Peoples Group comprising companies of shipping, garments, power plants, gas station and international trading.

Kasem Humayun, Bangla daily Sangbad executive editor, is now serving as Agrani Bank director.

Finance ministry officials said that two of the six public servants serving as directors to BASIC Bank during the period of loan scams in 2009-2014 had been promoted to secretary.

Shuvashish Bose, appointed BASIC Bank director while serving as Export Promotion Bureau vice-chairman, was made secretary to textiles and jute ministry in January and commerce secretary in March in 2017.

Syam Sunder Sikder was made a director at the bank while serving as the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation chairman in 2013. He was made secretary to the information and communication technology division in September 2014 and the telecom secretary in March 2017.

Fakhrul Islam, made a director while serving as Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority executive chairman, was promoted to secretary without any post in August 2014. Later, he went into retirement.

Quamrun Naher Ahmed, made a director while he was a joint secretary, was promoted to additional secretary. Another former director Neelufar Ahmed is serving at the Prime Minister’s Office.

AKM Rezaur Rahman, made a director while he was an additional secretary, was later appointed to the Sonali Bank board of directors.

Five of the former BASIC Bank directors, including Awami Juba League leader Anwarul Islam, also ARS Lube Bangladesh Ltd managing director, and ruling Awami League mouthpiece Uttaran assistant editor Anis Ahmed, were appointed from the private sector.

Anwarul Islam is serving as a director to the state-owned Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited while Anis Ahmed is working as news editor of the magazine.

Another director from private sector was AKM Kamrul Islam. He is a partner of Islam Aftab Kamrul and Co.

Former BASIC Bank managing director Kazi Fakhrul Islam has been in hiding since his dismissal along with nine senior bank officials in May 2014.

The commission, following a High Court order, interrogated Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu in December.

On November 8, 2017, the High Court scolded the commission for keeping only small fry in jail demonstrating pick and choose policy about corruption suspects. 

Commission chairman Iqbal Mahmood said that they were scrutinising all the loans approved by the BASIC Bank board during Abdul Hye’s period.

Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Ifthekharuzzaman said that the commission should take immediate legal action against Abdul hye and other board of directors as their involvement in the loan scams was already detected in the investigation by the Bangladesh Bank.

He criticised the commission saying that Abdul Hye and other BASIC Bank directors had been interrogated following a High Court order.

The parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry on many occasions since the detection of the loan scams recommended that the commission should bring the controversial directors to justice.

Parliamentary body chairman Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said that the commission ‘mysteriously’ failed to prosecute the masterminds of the loan scams.

• Courtesy: New Age, Feb 26, 2018

ASK blasts police action on BNP protests

Rights body Ain O Salish Kendra on Sunday expressed deep concern over police action to foil Saturday’s black flag demonstration of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, demanding immediate release of their party chairperson Khaleda Zia.

ASK also strongly condemned the reported arrest of some 50 leaders and activists of the political opposition while police’s action left 100 BNP activists injured, said a press release from the organisation.

The rights body also blasted the law enforcers’ approach of charging baton, spraying hot water on the agitated BNP activists who had thronged in front of the party office at Naya Paltan in Dhaka on the day. ASK observed that holding meeting, protest rally and processions were democratic rights of a political party that is secured by the constitution.

On February 8, Khaleda Zia was sentenced for five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. Since then, she has been kept at the erstwhile Dhaka Central Jail at Nazimuddin Road in the Old Town of Dhaka.

The black flag demonstration was announced protesting police’s denial on Thursday to permit the party’s rally at Suhrawardy Udyan or Naya Paltan in Dhaka.

The black flag demonstration was scheduled for one hour from 11:00am in front of the BNP central office. 

On Saturday, BNP claimed that while foiling the demonstration, police arrested more than 150 leaders and activists, including joint secretary general Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and assistant climate secretary Mustafizur Rahman Babul and injured 230, including organising secretary Fazlul Hoque Milon.

• Courtesy: New Age Feb 26, 2018

Wounds yet to heal

Victims of Pilkhana carnage remembered

Tasim lost both his parents in just nine months.

After his mother died of a brain tumour, his father Maj Mizanur Rahman was killed in the Pilkhana carnage.

He was only 10 then.

He and many other families came to Banani graveyard yesterday to pay homage to the officers killed nine years ago. They placed wreaths on the graves of their loved ones.

Tasim came with his 70-year-old grandmother who cannot move without a wheelchair.

A total of 74 people, including 57 army officers, were killed when the mutineers revolted on February 25, 2009, during Darbar (yearly assembly) of the force in the capital's Pilkhana.

The mutiny had left the nation numb, as people stood aghast at the extent of the barbarity perpetrated at the Pilkhana headquarters of the paramilitary force, later renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Tasim, now an HSC student at a cadet college, remembered that it was a typical morning.

“We heard the first gunshots at the assembly hall, which was not far, two hours after my father left home. I was home with my three-year-old brother and my grand-mother. I called him, but the phone was switched off,” he told this correspondent at Banani graveyard.

Grieving families offered their prayers and laid flowers on the graves of their loved ones yesterday. Some demanded February 25 be declared martyred soldier day.

Many of them said they were waiting for the execution of the verdict in a case filed over the killings of their near and dear ones.

“Fifty seven army officers were martyred. I hope the day is valued with due respect,” Lucky Sarwar, sister of slain Maj Kazi Mosaddek Hossain, said. Lucky went to the graveyard with Mosaddek's daughter Laika to pay their homage.

The chiefs of three defence forces and the chief of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) first laid flowers on the graves.

The High Court announced the verdict in the case in November last year, but it is yet to release the full judgment.

 Deputy Attorney General KM Zahid Sarwar Kazal on Saturday said as the HC did not release the full verdict, neither the government nor the accused could file appeals with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

On November 27 last year, the HC confirmed death penalty for 139 out of the 152 accused who were handed capital punishment by a lower court for their involvement in the killings during the mutiny.

Terming the offenders “most brutal” and “cold-blooded” murderers, a three-member special bench of the HC pronounced the verdict in the biggest-ever criminal case in the country's history in terms of numbers of accused and convicts. 

• Courtesy: The Daily Star Feb 26, 2018

Editorial - Unacceptable police action

Where is the political space for the opposition?

Despite repeated assurances from the government that political space will be afforded to all, the way the police cracked down on BNP activists on February 24 seems to indicate otherwise. The home minister said that the government never obstructs any peaceful programmes, yet there are scores of incidents that show differently, including BNP's latest protest which, reportedly, was peaceful on the part of its activists, but not so on the part of police.

The activists were simply protesting the refusal of police to allow BNP permission to hold a rally by waiving black flags—exercising their fundamental right to free expression—when the police descended on them. What this does is make the claim of the ruling party about the government's willingness to give space to dissenting voices look increasingly hollow. And it also makes one wonder whether it is the order of the day that no political activities can be carried out, except only by the ruling party.

The home minister also said that the area needed to be cleared to ease people's sufferings. Police, echoing his views, said that BNP did not take permission to hold any rally. Yet, BNP activists weren't even allowed to leave the area in front of its own central office space, as police swarmed on them immediately as they sat down on the adjacent pavements, going as far as to use coloured water from water cannons.

What we want to ask is, was all that necessary? After all, the activists were strictly restricted to the immediate vicinity of BNP's office. Did the police really need to get so overzealous?

We have, in the past, strongly condemned BNP's violence. However, peaceful protests, political rallies, etc., are fundamental rights and sine qua non for any democracy worth the name.

• Courtesy: The daily Star Feb 26, 2018

NINE YEARS OF BDR REBELLION

No suggested probe done to identify plotters, plot

The reason, plot and plotters of the massacre during soldiers’ rebellion at the headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed as Border Guard Bangladesh, in Dhaka and elsewhere in February 25-26, 2009 are yet to be identified even nine years after the rebellion.

The government even so far initiated no further investigation recommended by the two probe bodies the government had instituted to identify the reason, plot and plotters.

On February 25, 2009, several hundred BDR soldiers took weapons against their officers deputed from army at Durbar Hall during their annual gathering at the paramilitary headquarters in Dhaka. In the two-day rebellion, 75 people – 57 army officers, wives of two army officers, nine BDR soldiers, five civilians, an army soldier and a police constable – were killed.

Families of both slain officers and convicted soldiers said that the nation should know the reason behind the rebellion and the plot and plotters of the massacre, as neither any investigation nor any trial revealed them although the trials of all cases but one were completed.

‘The godfathers are untouched. Deep conspiracy theories are factually evident but no one dares to point the finger. Somebody will open the Pandora one day,’ retired major general Rezaqul Haider told New Age. Like him, many retired senior officials wanted to know who were behind the scene.

Slain colonel Kudrat Elahi’s son Saquib Rahman said, ‘I think the reason for this is that people are of the opinion that there were men behind the guns, who are yet to be unveiled.’ 

He said, ‘Unsure of what reasons they might have had to instigate such bloodshed, or who they were, but it was certainly not just the BDR soldiers. Thus, my honest answer would be, yes, I have received justice, but partially. I feel that demanding the trial of the conspirators will be a cry in the wilderness.’

Kamrul Hassan, eldest brother of a soldier initially convict but later acquitted by the High Court, said his family lost everything to get justice.

Families of the victims and convicts demanded that the reports of the government inquiry committee headed by former secretary Anis-uz-Zaman Khan and the investigation conducted by the army be made public, although none of the probes could reportedly identify the plot and plotters.

The report by Anis-uz-Zaman Khan recommended an investigation into the failure to gather intelligence about the planned mutiny. The government report also stated the committee was unable to determine the identity of the individuals who planned the mutiny and set it in motion.

The committee also found that many mutineers took up arms spontaneously, either because they believed the propaganda that the army was taking over, or because they were coerced or found it expedient to do so. The report emphasised the lack of cooperation it received from the various security forces in the country, including Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and Rapid Action Battalion. 

The committee noted that because they ‘did not have proper tools, technology, and technique for questioning the suspected persons to reveal the truth, almost no person presented or brought to the committee for questioning provided any important information or proof.’

A 20-member army team conducted an investigation, but the army did not make the results public. The Human Rights Watch obtained the army report and stated that the army report faulted the government for not having taken a stronger line against BDR before the rebellion. 

The rights group also urged the government to establish an independent investigative and prosecutorial task force with sufficient expertise, authority, and resources to rigorously investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute all allegations of unlawful deaths, torture, and mistreatment of suspects in the BDR mutiny, regardless of the perpetrator’s rank or institutional affiliation.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Saturday said that he found no move to launch further investigation into the incident.

According to a study conducted by Odhikar, at least 47 BDR personnel died while in custody. Over 17,000 soldiers faced different trials for their alleged involvement in the third rebellion took place in the force since the country’s independence in 1971.

Border guard special courts sentenced 5,926 soldiers for varying terms on munity charge in 57 cases, including 11 in Dhaka. The Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court on November 5, 2013 sentenced 152 soldiers and a civilian to death, 161 people to imprisonment for life term and 256 others for varying terms ranging from three to 10 years with fine on charge of murder, arson and other criminal offences committed during the rebellion. The court acquitted 277 others of the charges. They were, however, yet to be released as they were either convicted by other courts or named in the explosives case.

In November 2017, a three-member special High Court beach of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder upheld death sentences of 139 BDR soldiers.

Death sentences of seven other BDR solders and Md Zakir Hossain, then a local Awami League leader, were reduced to life terms. Four other BDR solders were acquitted of the charges and BDR deputy assistant director Habibur Rahman died in jail custody in February 2014 while his appeal against death sentence was pending with the High Court.

The court upheld life terms of 146 BDR soldiers, cancelled life term sentences of 12 others while two others died during pendency of their appeals.

‘Look, we have done investigation, and identified the plotters and their plot. The real perpetrators have already been identified by the investigation,’ said additional chief prosecutor Musharraf Hossain Kajol. 

Defence counsel Faruque Ahmed alleged that the prosecution was delaying the trial of the explosive substance case and only 52 prosecution witnesses had so far testified in the case. Due to the case, none of the former riflemen could come out of the jail over four years.

• Courtesy: New Age, Feb 25, 2018

সরকার দাবি করে মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সপক্ষের শক্তি, কাজ করে বিপরীত - সুলতানা

সাবেক তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকারের উপদেষ্টা সুলতানা কামাল বলেছেন, অর্পিত সম্পত্তি প্রত্যর্পণ আইনের বাস্তবায়ন নিয়ে নানা ধরনের বাহানা সৃষ্টি করেছেন আইনমন্ত্রী আনিসুল হক। তিনি বলেন, ১৭ বছর ধরে এই আইনের কোনো কার্যকর প্রয়োগ নেই। আইনমন্ত্রীর ভূমিকা নিয়ে  নানা প্রশ্ন তুলেছেন মানবাধিকার নেত্রী অ্যাডভোকেট সুলতানা কামাল। গতকাল শনিবার ঢাকা রিপোর্টার্স ইউনিটির সাগর-রুনি মিলনায়তনে এক সংবাদ সম্মেলনে সাবেক তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকারের এই উপদেষ্টা এসব কথা বলেন।

অর্পিত সম্পত্তি প্রত্যর্পণ আইনের জনবিরোধী বিধিমালা প্রণয়নের উদ্যোগের প্রতিবাদ এবং আইন বাস্তবায়ন প্রক্রিয়া দ্রুততর করার দাবিতে নয়টি সংগঠন যৌথভাবে ওই সংবাদ সম্মেলনের আয়োজন করে। সুলতানা কামাল বলেন, অর্পিত সম্পত্তি প্রত্যর্পণ আইন করা হয়েছিল অর্পিত সম্পত্তির নামে যাদের জমিজমা দখল করে  নেয়া হয়েছিল। তিনি বলেন, সেই জমিজমার আসল মালিক যারা, তাদের কাছে তা ফেরত দেয়ার জন্য আইনটি করা হয়েছিল।  আর এই বিষয়ে লক্ষাধিক মামলা এখন পর্যন্ত নিষ্পত্তির অপেক্ষায় রয়েছে। ঠিক সে সময় একটি উদ্যোগ নেয়া হলো।  যে জমিগুলো অর্পিত সম্পত্তির নামে রয়ে গেছে, সেগুলো এখন পর্যন্ত প্রকৃত মালিকদের কাছে ফেরত যায়নি।

সুলতানা কামাল বলেন, আইনমন্ত্রী নানা ধরনের বাহানা সৃষ্টি করে এই আইনটার প্রয়োগ বাধাগ্রস্ত করে রেখে দিয়েছেন। একবার বলছেন আপিল হবে, একবার বলছেন এটার বিরুদ্ধে রিট হবে, একবার বলছেন অনুশাসন, একবার বলছেন এটার বিরুদ্ধে অন্য কোনো পদক্ষেপ নেয়া যেতে পারে। কিন্তু তার সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ করে কোনো সদুত্তর পাওয়া যায়নি। : তিনি বলেন, ‘এটা অত্যন্ত দুঃখজনক অভিজ্ঞতা, অত্যন্ত দুর্ভাগ্যজনক। যাকে আমরা মনে করেছি মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সপক্ষ শক্তির একজন মানুষ। তার ব্যক্তিগত ইতিহাস, সেটাও আমরা অনেকে জানি। কিন্তু আজকের দিনে একটি অবস্থানে গিয়ে যে ভূমিকা নিচ্ছেন, সেটি আমাদের জন্য ভীষণভাবে হতাশাব্যঞ্জক। একেবারেই পাল্টে গেছেন তিনি। কিসের জন্য তিনি অনবরত বিপরীত কথাবার্তা বলে যাচ্ছেন?’

সুলতানা কামাল বলেন, ‘যদিও সরকার দাবি করে তারা মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সপক্ষের শক্তি। প্রকৃতপক্ষে দেখা যাচ্ছে অনবরত তারা একেবারে বিপরীতমুখী কাজ করে যাচ্ছে।’ সংবাদ সম্মেলনে আট দফা দাবি সংবলিত লিখিত বক্তব্য উপস্থাপন করেন বাংলাদেশ হিন্দু বৌদ্ধ খিষ্টান ঐক্য পরিষদের সাধারণ সম্পাদক আইনজীবী রানা দাশগুপ্ত। অন্যদের মধ্যে নিজেরা করির সমন্বয়কারী খুশী কবির, অর্পিত সম্পত্তি আইন প্রতিরোধ আন্দোলনের সুব্রত চৌধুরী, এএলআরডির নির্বাহী পরিচালক শামসুল হুদা উপস্থিত ছিলেন।

• Courtesy: Dainik Dinkal, Feb 25, 2018

১৭ দিনে ১২ বিষয়ের প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁস

• ১ ফেব্রুয়ারি থেকে এসএসসি ও সমমানের পরীক্ষা শুরু হয়।
• শনিবার শেষ হলো প্রশ্নবিদ্ধ এসএসসির লিখিত পরীক্ষা। 

একের পর এক প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের মধ্য দিয়ে এসএসসির লিখিত পরীক্ষা গতকাল শনিবার শেষ হয়েছে। প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসকারীদের ধরিয়ে দিলে পাঁচ লাখ টাকা পুরস্কার ঘোষণাসহ এক ডজন সিদ্ধান্ত নিয়েও প্রশ্ন ফাঁস ঠেকাতে পারেনি সরকার। ১৭ দিন লিখিত পরীক্ষা ছিল। এর মধ্যে ১২ দিনে আবশ্যিকসহ ১২টি বিষয়ের প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁস হয়েছে, যা প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের রেকর্ড।

প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের ঘটনায় গত বৃহস্পতিবার পর্যন্ত সারা দেশে ১৫৩ জনকে গ্রেপ্তার করা হয়েছে। সরকার প্রশ্ন ফাঁসের ছয়টি সম্ভাব্য ক্ষেত্র চিহ্নিত করলেও কোথা থেকে প্রশ্নগুলো ফাঁস হচ্ছে, সেটি বের করতে পারেনি। এই পরিস্থিতিতে আগামী বছরের এসএসসি পরীক্ষায় নির্ধারিত সফটওয়্যারের মাধ্যমে ‘প্রশ্নব্যাংক’ করে সেখান থেকে পরীক্ষার আগমুহূর্তে প্রশ্নপত্র তৈরি করে পরীক্ষা নেওয়া, বহু নির্বাচনী প্রশ্ন (এমসিকিউ) উঠিয়ে দেওয়াসহ পরীক্ষা পদ্ধতিতে ব্যাপক পরিবর্তন আনার উদ্যোগ নিয়েছে শিক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয়। যদিও শিক্ষাবিদেরা বলছেন, ভেবেচিন্তে পরীক্ষায় পরিবর্তন আনতে হবে।

প্রথম দুই দিনের পরীক্ষার প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের পর ব্যাপক সমালোচনার মুখে ৪ ফেব্রুয়ারি শিক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয়ের কারিগরি ও মাদ্রাসা বিভাগের সচিব মো. আলমগীরকে প্রধান করে প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের অভিযোগ যাচাই-বাছাইয়ে আন্তমন্ত্রণালয় কমিটি গঠন করা হয়। প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের প্রাথমিক সত্যতা পেলেও এখন পর্যন্ত কমিটি পরীক্ষা বাতিল হবে কি না, সেই সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে পারেনি। কমিটির একজন সদস্য জানিয়েছেন, তাঁরা আজ রোববার তৃতীয়বারের মতো বসছেন।

তবে শিক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয় ও ঢাকা শিক্ষা বোর্ডের একাধিক কর্মকর্তার সঙ্গে কথা বলে মনে হয়েছে, তাঁরা পরীক্ষা বাতিলের বিপক্ষে। তাঁদের যুক্তি হলো, এবার পরীক্ষা শুরুর আগমুহূর্তে প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁস হয়েছে, এতে পরীক্ষার্থীদের ওপর বড় ধরনের প্রভাব পড়েনি।

এ ছাড়া প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের ঘটনায় উচ্চ আদালত বিচারিক ও প্রশাসনিক নামে দুটি কমিটি করে দিয়েছেন। প্রশাসনিক কমিটির নেতৃত্বে রয়েছেন বাংলাদেশ প্রকৌশল বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের (বুয়েট) অধ্যাপক মোহাম্মদ কায়কোবাদ। অন্যটির নেতৃত্বে রয়েছেন ঢাকার জেলা ও দায়রা জজ। জানতে চাইলে প্রশাসনিক কমিটির সদস্য বুয়েটের অধ্যাপক মোহাম্মদ সোহেল রহমান গতকাল প্রথম আলোকে বলেন, তিনি আদালতের প্রত্যয়িত কপি পেয়েছেন। এখনো কমিটি পূর্ণাঙ্গভাবে গঠিত হয়নি। অনানুষ্ঠানিকভাবে কাজ শুরু করেছেন।

১ ফেব্রুয়ারি থেকে এসএসসি ও সমমানের পরীক্ষা শুরু হয়। গতকাল ভূগোল ও পরিবেশের পরীক্ষার মাধ্যমে শেষ হয় আটটি সাধারণ শিক্ষা বোর্ডের এসএসসির লিখিত পরীক্ষা। আজ থেকে শুরু হবে ব্যবহারিক পরীক্ষা।

প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁস রোধে পরীক্ষা শুরুর সাত দিন আগে কোচিং সেন্টার বন্ধ, পরীক্ষার্থীদের আধা ঘণ্টা আগে পরীক্ষা কক্ষে বসা এবং কেন্দ্রের ভেতর মোবাইল ফোন না নেওয়ার ঘোষণা দিয়েছিল সরকার। কিন্তু তাতে প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁস বন্ধ হয়নি। বরং দিন যত গেছে প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁসের ঘটনা ততই বেড়েছে। পরে প্রশ্ন ফাঁসকারীদের ধরিয়ে দিলে পাঁচ লাখ টাকা পুরস্কার ঘোষণা ও পরীক্ষা চলাকালীন কেন্দ্রের ২০০ মিটারের মধ্যে কারও কাছে মোবাইল পেলে তাকে তাৎক্ষণিকভাবে গ্রেপ্তার করাসহ আরও বেশ কিছু উদ্যোগ নেওয়া হয়। কিন্তু কোনো উদ্যোগই কাজে আসেনি।

ঢাকা শিক্ষা বোর্ডের সাবেক চেয়ারম্যান এবং মাধ্যমিক ও উচ্চশিক্ষা অধিদপ্তরের সাবেক মহাপরিচালক অধ্যাপক ফাহিমা খাতুন প্রথম আলোকে বলেন, প্রশ্ন ফাঁসের ঘটনায় অনেককে ধরা হচ্ছে, কিন্তু মূল উৎসে যেতে না পারাটা ব্যর্থতা। উৎস বের করতে না পারলে এটা বন্ধ হবে না। তিনি বলেন, নতুন পদ্ধতিতে হয়তো প্রশ্নপত্র ফাঁস রোধে কিছুটা পরিবর্তন আসবে। কিন্তু বোর্ডসহ পরীক্ষা-সংশ্লিষ্ট কাজে যাঁরা জড়িত, তাঁদের মধ্যেও পরিবর্তন, স্বচ্ছতা আনতে হবে।

• Courtesy: Prothom Alo Feb 25, 2018

BRT project cost doubles

Increase in budgets for all components cited as reason

Cost of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project has more than doubled due to an increase in budgets for its all components, sources said.

They said Roads and Highways Department (RHD), leading implementing agency of the project, has already revised the development project proposal (DPP), showing a significant increase in costs from consultancy to procurement stages.

"Cost of some components such as salary for the project staff and land acquisition etc has increased more than double," said a source.

For this, he said, revision of the project titled "Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport (GDSUT)" has been necessary within three years after the first revision in July 2015.

According to the latest revision, the total cost of the project has been fixed at Tk 44.41 billion, up by Tk 24.04 billion from earlier DPP.

The first revised DPP fixed the project cost at Tk 20.39 billion with the completion target by December 2018.

Now the tenure of the project has been extended to June 2020. In the original DPP approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2012, the project was scheduled to be completed by December 2016.

Sources said though the project office has awarded the works of all four packages starting from December 2016, it has been able to achieve only 18 per cent progress as of January.

Only Tk 3.7 billion was spent during the period.

But except for depot development work, progress in all works is slow, sources said.

But official sources said cost and time of the GDSUT project was revised in accordance with the contracts signed with the contractors. All the contracts will expire after 2019.

They said the versatile project work needs time to ensure best coordination with three other state agencies - Bangladesh Bridge Authority, Local Government Engineering Department and Public Works Department.

Under the strategic transport plan for  greater Dhaka city, RHD took the BRT project to develop a 20.5-kilometre BRT corridor from Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for establishing a bus-based mass transit system.

According to the DPP, 20,000 passengers are likely to cross the corridor uninterrupted in an hour after establishment of the BRT line, now known as BRT-3.

Under the GDSUT project, 20-kilometre dedicated bus lane, 4.5-km elevated bus lane, 10-lane Tongi bridge, seven flyovers, one bus terminal, 113 access road development and 24-km drainage system on both sides from Joydevpur crossing to Turag River will be developed.

Besides, the project is to buy modern articulated buses, set up intelligent transport system and carry out programme to compensate the owners and workers of buses now operating on the corridor.

The project was funded by Asian Development Bank, Agence Francaise de Development and Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The latest revised DPP was sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) for taking necessary actions.

The MoRTB recently sat with the steering committee to review proposed increase in the costs, sources said, adding that the steering committee approved the changes.

The meeting was informed that the total cost of the project goes up by 117 per cent. But in some cases, cost increases by more than 400 per cent.

According to the proposed revision, procurement cost of buses and manpower to operate those surged 612 per cent due to an increase in the number of buses from 50 to 110.

Cost of land acquisition was shown to go up by 450 per cent. According to DPP, Tk 660 million shown in the original DPP in 2012 was not matched with the latest land prices and compensation rate for land owners.

Besides, a significant increase in salary for project staff was proposed on the grounds of an extension of the project tenure and introduction of new pay scale.

The project director said the steering committee has approved the DPP and it will soon be sent to the Planning Commission for getting nod.

• The Financial Express/25-2-08

Loan-recovery drive falters as defaulters bamboozle Sonali

Sonali Bank's classified credits bloated to Tk 137.98 billion in 2017 with its recovery drive dropping to 8.0 per cent as the defaulters allegedly duped the bankers.

Sources in the biggest bank of Bangladesh said its loan-recovery rate had been on a fast decline, year on year, at least over the last five years since 2013 as the bad borrowers took recourse to various ploys.

The repayment rates have fluctuated sharply between 50 per cent and 8.0 per cent in the five years to the last calendar year, according to official statistics prepared by the state-owned commercial bank -- Sonali Bank Limited -- which also witnessed a big loan forgery.

People at the bank told the FE in the past week that the recovery rate had been dwindling getting caught in long litigation processes as well as dilatory moves by the debtors.

They said the default clients submit notices to the courts seeking to go for "mutual arbitration" but, in the end, they backtrack and deprive the bank of getting its money back.

On the other hand, contradicting the bank's view, some experts in the financial sector told the FE that there are some loans which have never been realized partly on political considerations, partly for negligence and partly poor 'due diligences'.

They think there is need for a strong political commitment to give the commercial bank a strong footing in matters of its operations.

Sonali Bank, the country's biggest bank in terms of paid-up capital, had a recovery of over Tk 51.76 billion against the total classified credits worth Tk103.77 billion in 2013. The recovery was approximately 50 per cent.

Amid the ups and downs in the drive the recovery slightly rose to 52 per cent in 2014, when the bank recovered Tk 45.06 billion against the classified loan amounting to Tk 86.43 billion.

An ebb tide thereafter brought the rate deep down in 2015 by 21 percentage points to Tk 27.26 billion against Tk 86.85 billion worth of classified loans.

In the subsequent year (2016) its recovery rate just stood at 12 per cent with the bank netting back Tk 12.88 billion against Tk 109.11 billion.

In a turn for the worst so far, its recovery rate in 2017 plummeted just to 8.0 per cent or Tk 10.91 billion against its classified-loan hangover of Tk 137.98 billion.

The Sonali Bank had a total loan until 2017 amounting to Tk 422.76 billion -- more than 5.0 per cent of the aggregate loans in the country.

Of the outstanding loans, Sonali has got over Tk 214.87 billion trapped in cases pending with both lower and high courts since the inception of 'Artha Rin Adalat' sometime in 2003.

In the banking-system parlance, there are four types of classified loans: special-mention account if clients fail to repay within 90 days. In this case, banks' accrued interest on the loans will not be shown as profit.

If the clients fail to repay instalments within 180 days, the loans are treated as substandard, and in this case banks have to maintain provisioning at the rate of 20 per cent from their earnings.

If clients fail to repay within 270 days, the loans become doubtful and banks maintain 50 per cent provisioning.

Lastly, if clients fail to make repayment within 360 days, the loans emerge as bad and loss where cent-per cent provisioning is required.

Banks usually lodge cases with the Artha Rin Adalat in the last resort at the 'bad & loss' stage.

After filing cases, banks in many cases write off the loans to show their accounts clean but claim their money back through litigation.

Khondaker Ibrahim Khaled, a former deputy governor of the central bank of Bangladesh, elaborated on the whole spectrum of bank lending and the tricks of the trade in the sector. There are some big loans "never been realized", he told the FE.

And there are some loans marked with lack of proper due diligence, some negligence from the officials concerned. "So I believe that some big loans will never be recovered," he said.

The noted banker recommended the formation of an enquiry committee to assess the real causes behind the failures in loan recovery.

Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, another financial-market expert, thinks the loans with "political connections" would never be realised.

He also said there are some big cases where immovable assets given as mortgage and other sorts of property remained so low that the banks would never get the amount it lent out.

There are many default loans outside the courts and why the bank has failed to realise that portion is a moot question, he said.

"In my view there are some negligence and corruption…," Dr Islam added.

In the meantime, the state-owned commercial bank, which also failed to provide any dividend to the national exchequer following its negative retained earnings, is now pursuing a new strategy to raise the volume of recovery.

The measures are: strengthening arbitration with default parties, raising personal contact with the defaulters and, finally, filing cases against the clients.

The bank officials told the FE that they had a total "cash recovery" of nearly Tk 8.0 billion in 2017. It also shows "others" in recovery that includes, among others, recovery from the rescheduling of loans.

The Sonali Bank turned nationalised commercial bank in 1972, under the Bangladesh Banks (Nationalisation) Order, through the amalgamation and nationalisation of the branches of the National Bank of Pakistan, the Bank of Bahawalpur and the Premier Bank branches located in the then East Pakistan.

At the inception, after Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, the Sonali Bank had a paid-up capital of 30-million taka. Its paid-up capital now stood at Tk 38.30 billion with the number of employees and branches counting 18,806 and 1,212 respectively.

• The Financial Express/25-2-08

কালো পতাকায় বাধা, আলালসহ আটক ২০

বিএনপির শনিবারের কালো পতাকা প্রদর্শনের কর্মসূচি পুলিশের প্রবল বাধার মুখে পড়েছে। দলীয় চেয়ারপারসন খালেদা জিয়ার মুক্তির দাবিতে সকালে ঢাকার নয়াপল্টনে বিএনপির কেন্দ্রীয় কার্যালয়ের সামনে এ কর্মসূচি শুরু হলে পুলিশ তা ভন্ডুল করে দেয়। এ সময় বিএনপির যুগ্ম মহাসচিব মোয়াজ্জেম হোসেন আলালসহ অন্তত ২০ জন নেতা-কর্মীকে আটক করা হয়। 

পুলিশ বলেছে, অনুমোদন ছাড়া রাস্তায় দাঁড়ানোর জন্য সমাবেশ ছত্রভঙ্গ করা হয়। বিএনপির কয়েক নেতা-কর্মীকে আটক করা হলেও সংখ্যাটা পুলিশ জানাতে পারেনি।

বেলা ১১টার দিকে খালেদা জিয়ার মুক্তির দাবিতে কালো পতাকা প্রদর্শনের কর্মসূচি ছিল। এ উপলক্ষে সকাল সাড়ে ১০টা থেকে নয়াপল্টনে কেন্দ্রীয় কার্যালয়ের সামনে বিএনপির নেতা-কর্মীরা জড়ো হতে থাকেন। নির্দিষ্ট সময়ের আগে পতাকাও প্রদর্শন শুরু করেন অনেকে। এ সময় হঠাৎ করেই জাতীয়তাবাদী মহিলা দলের নেতা-কর্মীদের ওপর পুলিশ চড়াও হয়। সেখান থেকে ১০ নেতা-কর্মীকে আটক করে পুলিশ। পরে সেখানে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকা অন্য নেতা-কর্মীদের ধাওয়া করে পুলিশ। বিএনপির নেতা-কর্মীদের ওপর জলকামান থেকে পানি ছিটানো হয়। তাদের ধাওয়ায় কেন্দ্রীয় নেতারা কার্যালয়ের ভেতর ঢুকে পড়েন। পুরো এলাকায় হুড়োহুড়ি শুরু হয়। এরপর কেন্দ্রীয় কার্যালয়ের কলাপসিবল ফটক বন্ধ করে দেওয়া হয়।

ওই ফটকের কাছ থেকে বিএনপির জ্যেষ্ঠ যুগ্ম মহাসচিব রুহুল কবির রিজভী সাংবাদিকদের বলেন, সরকারের এটা কোন ধরনের আচরণ? সম্পূর্ণ শান্তিপূর্ণ একটা কর্মসূচির মধ্যে এভাবে জলকামান দিয়ে পানি ছিটানো, লাঠিপেটা, নির্বিচারে গ্রেপ্তার কোনো সভ্য গণতান্ত্রিক দেশের আচরণ হতে পারে না। রিজভী বলেন, ‘দলের মহাসচিবকেও তারা পানি দিয়ে ভিজিয়ে দিয়েছে। আমরা এ ঘটনার তীব্র নিন্দা জানাই।’

বিএনপির সূত্র জানায়, আজকের কর্মসূচি চলাকালে পুলিশের ধাওয়ার সময় হুড়োহুড়ির মধ্যে পড়ে আহত হন বিএনপির কেন্দ্রীয় নেতা ফজলুল হক মিলন ও স্থায়ী কমিটির সদস্য গয়েশ্বর রায়ের পুত্রবধূ বিএনপি নেতা নিপুণ রায় চৌধুরী।

বেলা সোয়া ১২টার দিকে কেন্দ্রীয় কার্যালয় থেকে বিএনপির নেতা-কর্মীরা বের হয়ে যাওয়ার সময় যুগ্ম মহাসচিব মোয়াজ্জেম হোসেন আলালকে আটক করা হয়। সবমিলিয়ে অন্তত ২০ নেতা-কর্মীকে আটক করে পুলিশ।

তবে ঢাকা মেট্রোপলিটন পুলিশের (ডিএমপি) মতিঝিল অঞ্চলের অতিরিক্ত উপকমিশনার (এডিসি) শিবলী নোমান আটকের কথা স্বীকার করলেও এর সংখ্যা বলতে পারেননি। এ ঘটনার পর সাংবাদিকদের তিনি বলেন, আজকে তাঁদের কর্মসূচিতে রাস্তায় দাঁড়ানোর কোনো অনুমোদন দেওয়া হয়নি। অনুমোদন ছাড়া রাস্তায় দাঁড়ানোর জন্যই তাঁদের পানি ছিটিয়ে ছত্রভঙ্গ করে দেওয়া হয়।

• Courtesy: Prothom Alo Feb 25, 2018