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The Hajj journey from Bangladesh this year may suffer a serious blow if the Saudi visa issue is not settled immediately, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon has said. His concern follows cancellation of 12 Hajj flights by Biman Bangladesh Airlines in the first week due to a shortage of passengers since it started ferrying pilgrims on July 24. The hitches surfaced after Saudi authorities in a sudden move demanded an additional 2,000 riyals from those who performed Hajj in 2015-16 and intend to go again this year. Twelve flights of the national carrier and three flights of the Saudi Arabian Airlines or Saudia that were due to carry a total of 6,000 pilgrims have been cancelled. “We have to fix the problem no matter how complex it is. A crisis may hit us if the issues are not solved in a day or two,” Menon said on Wednesday. Biman has kept one additional flight ready although it expects losses, he said. “We are asking pilgrims through SMS to quickly get a visa and take the flight to avert possible trouble.” Visas were issued to 46,792 pilgrims out of around 100,000, of whom 29,839 could take a flight which means more than 17,000 pilgrims could not make the journey, according to Menon. Pilgrims from Bangladesh usually take the flights within the first 10 days of the Hajj travel season, he said. As many as 47,761 pilgrims need to be ferried to Jeddah before commencement of the Hajj. Biman flights will operate on Aug 26 and those of Saudia on Aug 28. But now there was no other way but to carry pilgrims on other scheduled flights, said the minister, according to bdnews24.com.  ....

Published at: 2017-08-03 00:00:04

US President Donald Trump grudgingly signed into law on Wednesday new sanctions against Russia that Congress had approved overwhelmingly last week, criticising the legislation as having “clearly unconstitutional” elements. After signing a bill that runs counter to his desire to improve relations with Moscow, and which also affects Iran and North Korea, the Republican president laid out a lengthy list of concerns. "While I favor tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilising behavior by Iran, North Korea, and Russia, this legislation is significantly flawed," Trump said in a statement announcing the signing. The Republican-controlled Congress approved the legislation by such a large margin on Thursday that it would have thwarted any effort by Trump to veto the bill. The legislation has already provoked countermeasures by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has ordered big cuts to the number of staff at the US diplomatic mission to Russia. Congress approved the sanctions to punish the Russian government over interference in the 2016 presidential election, annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and other perceived violations of international norms. Trump said he was concerned about the sanctions' effect on work with European allies, and on American business, according to Reuters.  ....

Published at: 2017-08-03 00:00:04

Government revenue authorities and mobile-phone operators in Bangladesh are wrangling over Tk 29.31 billion worth of SIM-replacement tax after exhausting legal fights, officials said. The two sides earlier had gone to the court with the tax dispute, and the revenue department claimed it won the legal battle.     On the other side, the mobile multinationals said they were ready even to go for seeking international arbitration in their bid to turn the tables.       The Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) under the Value Added Tax (VAT) wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) demanded Tk 20.48 billion in the first phase in 2012 and Tk 8.83 billion in a second phase last month (July 2017). It (LTU) conducted a first-phase scrutiny for July 2007- December 2011 period on payment of SIM- replacement tax by the operators. In the second phase, the unit last month demanded Tk 8.83 billion in the SIM tax for the period between July 2012 and June 2015. VAT officials said the unit raised the second-phase demand on a random basis as mobile-phone operators refused to allow VAT officials to investigate the issue by furnishing documents. On the other side of the fray, Association of Mobile Telecom Operators Bangladesh (AMTOB) leader TIM Nurul Kabir said they do not agree with this kind of tax demand. He termed such step a negative signal on attracting foreign investment into the country.     A senior VAT official said the NBR's VAT appellate tribunal on June 22 last issued an order in favour of the NBR to collect Tk 20.48 billion worth of VAT that has been claimed in the first phase. "Four telecom operators—Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Airtell—lost the legal battle as per a recent tribunal verdict," he said. However, the mobile operators dismissed it as a "fictitious" claim and vowed to go for further legal fight. There had been no tax on SIM replacement until June 2014. SIM tax was charged at Tk 300 on sales of new SIMs. Currently, tax on both new and replacement SIMs is Tk 100. Mr Kabir, AMTOB secretary-general, said Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) issued guidelines in 2010 for the operators, and before that the companies were following guidelines of the NBR issued in 2007. As per that guidelines, mobile operators had to pay SIM tax on sales of new SIM to each subscriber, he said. "We used to pay VAT at the time of supplying SIM from warehouse on the basis of per SIM," he added. He also questioned the process of investigation by the NBR. "The telecom operators invested US$ 3.8 billion for 3G network service. As large taxpayers, we expect fair judgment from the government," he added.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The operators would be discouraged from upgrading to 4G network if such situation continued, he said. The VAT official said the unit sent letters to three telecom operators - Robi, Banglalink and Grameenphone - inviting them to sit for a hearing on August 3, 6 and 7 respectively to discuss the second-phase claim on SIM-replacement tax. "Mobile-phone operators replied to the demand notice of the unit, terming the issue a subjudice matter," he said. The second-phase tax claim would go down if the operators cooperated in the investigation, he added. In the first-phase claim, the operators will have 90 days for complying with the verdict or challenging it at the Supreme Court. The LTU has already approached the Supreme Court so that the operators cannot receive stay order unilaterally against the verdict from the court keeping the VAT office unawares. LTU would implement the tribunal's verdict following legal process after expiry of the timeframe. In addition to the disputed amount, the operators will also have to pay penalty and interest amount at the rate of 2.0 per cent per month for delay in payment, he said. AMTOB Secretary-General Nurul Kabir said the companies would continue the legal fight and were ready to seek assistance of the international court of arbitration, if required. The VAT official said the mobile-phone operators can apply for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to settle the long-pending issue. doulot_akter@yahoo.com  ....

Published at: 2017-08-03 00:00:04

Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque has asked the officers to consult the headquarters on legal issues before recording cases under Section 57 of the ICT Act. The inspector general of police sent the instruction to all the police stations on Wednesday amid alleged harassments of the people, especially journalists, in cases started under the controversial section. A journalist in Khulna was arrested on Tuesday in the latest case filed under the section. He secured bail on Wednesday. The ruling party’s general secretary Obaidul Quader said earlier in the day that the section of the law was abused in this case. IGP Hoque noted in the instruction there are allegations of abuse of the section in many cases. He asked the police stations to follow some steps to avoid harassment of innocent people and ensure proper enforcement of the law. The IGP said the officers will have to proceed ‘very cautiously’ while recording cases under the section. He recommended recording of a general diary or GD instead of a case if the officer’s suspicion arises over the allegation, according to bdnews24.com.  ....

Published at: 2017-08-03 00:00:04

A ban on travel by US passport holders to North Korea will take effect on Sept 1 and Americans in the country should leave before that date, the US State Department said on Wednesday. Journalists and humanitarian workers may apply for exceptions to the ban, the department said in a public notice. The US government last month said it would bar Americans from travelling to North Korea due to the risk of "long-term detention" there. The ban comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea, which has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States. North Korea will become the only country to which Americans are banned from travelling. American student Otto Warmbier, sentenced last year to 15 years' hard labour in North Korea, returned to the United States in a coma on Jun 13 after being released on humanitarian grounds, and died Jun 19. The circumstances surrounding his death are not clear, including why he fell into a coma. North Korea has said through its state media that Warmbier's death was "a mystery" and dismissed accusations that he had died as a result of torture and beating in captivity. The State Department issued a notice in the Federal Register on Wednesday declaring US passports invalid for travel to, in or through North Korea. The restriction takes effect in 30 days, and applies for one year unless extended or revoked by the secretary of state. "Persons currently in North Korea on a US passport should depart North Korea before the travel restriction enters into effect on Friday, Sept 1, 2017," the department said in a statement. Professional reporters or journalists, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross or the American Red Cross travelling on official missions, those travelling to North Korea for "compelling humanitarian considerations" and those whose requests are "in the national interest" may ask for a special validation of their passports in order to travel to the country, the State Department said. North Korea is currently holding two Korean-American academics and a missionary, a Canadian pastor and three South Korean nationals who were doing missionary work. Japan says North Korea has also detained at least several dozen of its nationals.....

Published at: 2017-08-03 00:00:04