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Ex-HK leader gets 20 months in jail
Former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang, the highest-ranking ex-official to be charged in the city's history, was jailed for 20 months on Wednesday for misconduct in public office, a ruling some said reaffirmed the financial hub's vaunted rule of law. The sentence brings an ignominious end to what had been a long and stellar career for Tsang before and after the 1997 handover to Chinese control, service that saw him knighted by outgoing British colonial rulers. "Never in my judicial career have I seen a man falling from such a height," said High Court Justice Andrew Chan in passing sentence. Tsang, famous for his bow ties, was escorted in handcuffs to the court from hospital where he'd been staying since Monday night after experiencing breathing difficulties and chest pains. Scores of establishment Hong Kong figures, including top former officials and some leading opposition democrats, had written letters vouching for Tsang's good character and longstanding public service over four decades in a bid for mitigation ahead of sentencing. Justice Chan said the seriousness of the offence lay in his high position as a person of integrity who had breached public trust. He reduced the sentence by 10 months, saying that "it was indisputable that the defendant has dedicated himself to public service in the last past 40 odd years". Hong Kong returned to China under a "one country, two systems" agreement that ensured its freedoms, including a separate legal system. Its spartan British-built prisons demand strict routines, including light work duties, and offer no special treatment to wealthy or powerful inmates. The nine-person jury on Friday found Tsang guilty of a charge of misconduct in public office. He had deliberately concealed private rental negotiations with property tycoon Bill Wong Cho-bau while his Cabinet discussed and approved a digital broadcasting license for a now defunct radio company, Wave Media, in which Wong was a major shareholder. Tsang was acquitted of a second misconduct charge. His conviction adds to a number of scandals ensnaring powerful officials that have marred the city's reputation as a relatively corruption-free society guarded by a powerful and independent anti-graft force. Tsang's legal woes looked set to continue, with the court saying a retrial would be tentatively set for September for another bribery charge on which jurors failed to return a majority verdict. ....
Published at: 2017-02-22 00:00:06
Read MoreJapanese stocks fall in choppy trade
Japanese stocks edged down on Wednesday morning in choppy trade as a pause in the dollar's rise against the yen kept investors on the sidelines. The Nikkei dropped 0.2 per cent at 19,345.31 in midmorning trade after staying nearly flat. Meanwhile, the broader Topix was down 0.1 per cent after hitting as high as 1,559.51 points at the open, the highest level since December 2015. Analysts said that Japanese market's upside should be limited as there appeared to be a respite in the yen's weaker trend, leaving investors to look for other catalysts. In Asian trade, the dollar was 0.2 per cent lower at 113.52 yen, edging away from its peak of 114.955 yen touched a week ago, which was its highest since late January. "If the dollar strengthens against the yen and stays above the 114 level, investors will likely chase the market higher," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities. Exporters were mixed, with Toyota Motor Corp falling 0.1 per cent, Honda Motor Co rising 1.0 per cent and Panasonic Corp gaining 0.5 per cent. Rakuten Inc surged 11 per cent after it said it will buy back up to 8.4 per cent of its own shares, worth 100 billion yen ($881.60 million). Meanwhile, Toshiba Corp jumped 12 per cent after the Nikkei reported that the company has asked potential bidders for its memory chip business to peg the operations' value at 2 trillion yen or more. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 0.2 per cent to 13,939.11, according to Reuters.....
Published at: 2017-02-22 00:00:05
Read MoreBangladesh to launch second undersea cable today
Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) in charge of the Bangladeshi portion of the SeaMeWe-5 project – has revealed that commercial services over the new infrastructure will be launched today (21 February). Managing Director of state-owned BSCCL Monwar Hossain disclosed this earlier, according to a FE report published last month. The cable will provide the country, which is currently connected solely to the SeaMeWe-4 system, with an additional 1500Gbps of bandwidth capacity. ‘The second undersea cable would be the real redundancy that might allow Bangladesh to stay online always and start full-fledged international bandwidth trade’, the official was cited as saying. The 20,000km SeaMeWe-5 cable, with a design capacity of 24Tbps, links a total of 17 countries – Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Italy and France. The fibre-optic network – certified ready for service (RFS) in December 2016 – was built by Alcatel-Lucent (Sri Lanka-France deployment) and Japan’s NEC Corporation (Singapore-Sri Lanka segment).-Asfar ....
Published at: 2017-02-21 00:00:04
Read MoreBank Asia inks deal with SME Foundation
Bank Asia and SME Foundation have signed separate agreements recently to facilitate financing women entrepreneurs involved in manufacturing and service sector business in rural areas, and cluster of electrical product in the suburb of Dhaka city. Mr. Md. Arfan Ali, President & Managing Director of Bank Asia and Mr. Md. Shafiqul Islam, Managing Director of SME Foundation inked the agreement on behalf of respective sides at a function held at SME Foundation office at Kawran Bazar in the capital city, Dhaka. Under the agreement, Bank Asia will finance women entrepreneurs across the country except Dhaka & Chittagong city corporation areas, and cluster of electrical products at Shampur, Jurain, Kadamtoli and the adjacent areas in Dhaka. Each eligible micro & small entrepreneur will enjoy credit facility of Tk. 50,000.00 to Tk. 10,00,000.00 with the interest rate of 9.0 per cent from Bank Asia under the SME Foundation’s Credit Wholesaling Programme. Senior Executive Vice President and Head of SME and Agri Division of Bank Asia Mr. Sarder Akhter Hamed, General Manager of SME Foundation Mr. S. M. Shaheen Anwar and Deputy General Manager of SME Foundation Mr. Md. Nazeem H. Sattar and high officials of both the organizations were present, said a statement. -rmc//....
Published at: 2017-02-21 00:00:04
Read MoreMagnitude 4.7 tremor shakes Panama’s capital
An earthquake caused skyscrapers in Panama's capital to sway Monday and led to the evacuation of some buildings. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The US Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 4.7 for the afternoon's quake, reports AP. The shaking set off car alarms and local news media said the local subway system was halted. The quake at 2:35 p.m. (1935 GMT) was centred 6 miles (10 kilometres) deep about 51 miles (83 kilometres) south-southeast of Panama City in the Gulf of Panama.....
Published at: 2017-02-21 00:00:04
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