Haque Specialized Group's News

A Chittagong mobile court on Sunday fined four cloth shop owners Tk 160,000 at Teri Bazar in the city for selling uniforms of military, paramilitary forces, and law enforcers, reports UNB. A team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) led by Major SM Sudipto Shahin, deputy commanding officer of RAB-7, along with executive magistrate Anisur Rahman, conducted drives at different shops of the area in the afternoon and seized around 5,000 gauges of cloths from four shops. Later, the mobile court fined the owners of 'Baghdad Traders' and 'Unique Fabrics' Tk 50,000 each, while the owner of 'Taher Traders' Tk 40,000, and that of 'Mohorom Cloth Store' Tk 20,000, said SM Sudipto Shahin. A RAB official said it is illegal to sell and use cloth patterns of military and law enforcers, but the shop owners in the area have been selling the uniforms of Army, Border Guard Bangladesh, Coast Guard, and Armed Police Battalion (APBN). "We had information that terrorists and militants of the country's hill tracts collect military cloths from shops at Teri Bazar," the official added.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

A young man was electrocuted at Paikdi village in Sadar upazila on Sunday afternoon. The victim was identified as Makbul Hossain Patwary, 25, son of Md Yunus Patwary, a resident of the village, reports UNB. Family members said Makbul was injured when he came in contact with a live wire while plugging his mobile phone for charging it at his house. He was rushed to Chandpur Government General Hospital where doctors declared him dead.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

Japan's Toyota Motor Corp and Suzuki Motor Corp appeared poised to unveil a wide-ranging partnership on Monday that could include the development of new technologies and procurement, reports Reuters. Both automakers, which said in October they were exploring a tie-up, said their boards would make a decision on the matter later in the day. The firms are also set to announce third-quarter earnings on Monday. A partnership could offer Suzuki, a maker of affordable minivehicles and compact cars, access to Toyota's R&D expertise. Japan's fourth-largest automaker has said it has been struggling to keep pace with the breakneck speed of R&D in the industry. While the two companies have yet to say how Toyota may gain from a partnership with Suzuki, insiders at the world' No. 2 automaker have said it will likely seek Suzuki's help in cracking the India market. Suzuki dominates the Indian market through its majority stake in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, which sells roughly half of all cars sold in the country, whereas Toyota is still struggling to gain significant market share despite years of trying. Access to Suzuki's tightly knit supply chain network in India, which the automaker has cultivated since the 1980s, could help Toyota to develop and sell more mainstream cars tailored for the local market. Fujio Ando, an adviser at Chibagin Securities, noted that except for compact cars, the two automakers had little overlap in their production line-up, adding that Suzuki was already buying hybrid technology from Toyota. "One question will be how much Toyota will open up to Suzuki given its relations with Daihatsu," he added, referring to Toyota's own minivehicle specialist firm. Toyota invests heavily in R&D in areas including automated driving, artificial intelligence and lower-emission cars. Suzuki has long sought a bigger partner. A partnership with Germany's Volkswagen ended on a sour note in 2015, after the German carmaker accused it of violating their pact by agreeing a diesel engine deal with Italy's Fiat. Shares in Toyota and Suzuki were roughly flat, in line with the broader Tokyo market.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

Jahanara Zaman, wife of AHM Quamruzzaman, one of the four national leaders, died of cardiac arrest at her Gulshan residence in Dhaka city on Monday. She was 84, reports UNB. Jahanara Zaman, also mother of former mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation and president of Rajshahi city Awami League AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, complained of chest pain on Sunday night and died around 12.45am, said Mir Ishtiaque Limon, personal secretary to Liton. She had long been suffering from diabetes and old age complications, Limon said. Jahanara left behind two sons and four daughters.  She will be buried in Rajshahi, Liton said.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05

Myanmar government forces committed rape and other sexual violence against ethnic Rohingya women and girls as young as 13 years old during security operations in northern Rakhine State in late 2016, Human Rights Watch has said. The Myanmar government should urgently endorse an independent, international investigation into alleged abuses in northern Rakhine State, including into possible systematic rape against Rohingya women and girls, said the New York-based rights group. Army and Border Guard Police personnel took part in rape, gang rape, invasive body searches, and sexual assaults in at least nine villages in Maungdaw district between early October and mid-December, it said, reports bdnews24.com. Survivors and witnesses, who identified army and border police units by their uniforms, kerchiefs, armbands, and patches, described security forces carrying out attacks in groups, some holding women down or threatening them at gunpoint while others raped them. Many survivors reported being insulted and threatened on an ethnic or religious basis during the assaults. “These horrific attacks on Rohingya women and girls by security forces add a new and brutal chapter to the Burmese military’s long and sickening history of sexual violence against women,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Military and police commanders should be held responsible for these crimes if they did not do everything in their power to stop them or punish those involved.” Between December 2016 and January 2017, Human Rights Watch researchers in Bangladesh interviewed 18 women, of whom 11 had survived sexual assault, as well as 10 men. Seventeen men and women, including some women who survived assaults, witnessed sexual violence, including against their wives, sisters, or daughters. Altogether Human Rights Watch documented 28 incidents of rape and other sexual assault. Some incidents involved several victims. A report released by the United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Feb 3 found that more than half of the 101 women UN investigators interviewed said they were raped or suffered other forms of sexual violence. The report, based on a total of 204 interviews, concluded that attacks including rape and other sexual violence “seem[ed] to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity.” After attacks by Rohingya militants on border police posts on Oct 9, 2016, the army undertook a series of “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine State. Security forces summarily executed men, women, and children; looted property; and burned down at least 1500 homes and other buildings. More than 69,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, while another 23,000 have become internally displaced in Maungdaw district. Several women described how soldiers surrounded their villages or homes, then gathered the villagers in an outdoor area, separating men from women, and detained them for up to several hours. Soldiers often shot villagers, and raped and gang raped women and girls. “Ayesha,” a Rohingya woman in her 20s, told Human Rights Watch: “They gathered all the women and started beating us with bamboo sticks and kicking us with their boots. After beating us, the military took [me and] 15 women about my age and separated us.… [The soldiers] raped me one by one, tearing my clothes.” During raids on homes, security forces frequently beat or killed family members and raped the women. “Noor,” in her 40s, said that as many as 20 soldiers stormed her home and grabbed her and her husband: “They took me in the yard of the home. Another two put a rifle to my head, tore off my clothes, and raped me.… They slaughtered [my husband] in front of me with a machete. Then three more men raped me.… After some time, I had severe bleeding. I had severe pain in my lower abdomen and pain in my whole body.” The sexual violence did not appear to be random or opportunistic, but part of a coordinated and systematic attack against Rohingyas, in part because of their ethnicity and religion, Human Rights Watch said. Many women told Human Rights Watch that soldiers threatened or insulted them with language focused on their status as Rohingya Muslims, calling them “you Bengali bitch” or “you Muslim bitch” while beating or raping them. “We will kill you because you are Muslim,” one woman said. Other women said that security forces asked if they were “harbouring terrorists,” then proceeded to beat and rape them when they said no. A woman in her 20s, who said soldiers attempted to rape her in her home, added that they told her, “You are just raising your kids to kill us, so we will kill your kids.” Myanmar authorities have taken no evident steps to seriously investigate allegations of sexual violence or other abuses reported by non-governmental organisations, including Human Rights Watch. A national-level investigation commission on the situation in Maungdaw district headed by the first vice president and comprised of current and former government officials released an interim report  on Jan 3. The commission claims to have addressed rape allegations and “interviewed local villagers and women using various methods … [but found] insufficient evidence to take legal action up to this date.” Also contrary to the findings of human rights groups, the commission rejected reports of serious abuses and religious persecution, and said there were no cases of malnutrition. On Dec 26, 2016, the Information Committee of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi issued a press release addressing “the rumours that some women were raped during the area clearance operations of security forces following the violent attacks in Maungdaw Township.” Accompanied by an image stating “fake rape”, the release claimed that the investigation commission had interviewed two women who gave conflicting testimony as to whether they had been raped, and that village leaders later refuted their accounts. However, video footage of the commission’s visit shows an interviewer asking one of the women about violence against other women she witnessed, not her personal experience.  Nothing in her video testimony suggests she lied in her interview. The interview appears confrontational, and out of keeping with accepted guidelines on how to conduct interviews with victims of sexual violence. The problematic circumstances under which authorities conducted these interviews, as well as the risks to the women, including when authorities exposed their names and identities to the media, raise serious doubts about the credibility of the Information Committee’s press release. “The government should stop contesting these rape allegations and instead provide survivors with access to necessary support, health care, and other services,” Motaparthy said. Rohingya victims of sexual assault face limited access to emergency health care, including to prevent unwanted pregnancy from rape and infection with HIV, and to treat other sexually transmitted infections, Human Rights Watch said. Though the Myanmar government has permitted some aid to go through to northern Rakhine State, it continues to obstruct international assistance from reaching the civilian population. It is unknown how many rape survivors remain in the area and whether they have received appropriate health care. None of the women Human Rights Watch interviewed had access to medical facilities until they reached Bangladesh. Many reported that in Bangladesh, they lacked information about services available, or could not arrange child care or pay transportation costs to clinics. “The government’s failure to investigate rape and other crimes against the Rohingya should make it clear to Burma’s (Myanmar) friends and donors that an independent, international inquiry is desperately needed to get to the bottom of these appalling abuses,” Motaparthy said.....

Published at: 2017-02-06 00:00:05