Haque Specialized Group's News

Iranian authorities have detained President Hassan Rouhani’s brother, the judiciary spokesman said on Sunday, in a corruption case that the president’s supporters say is politically motivated. State television quoted spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei as saying Hossein Fereydoun, who is also a close adviser to Rouhani, was summoned for questioning on Saturday in a case in which he faces unspecified financial charges. He was later detained. "If Fereydoun arranges bail, he will be released," Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying. "He has been heard several times, and others have also been questioned, and some of them are being held ... and the case continues." No details were available on the amount of bail he needs to pay. Some Rouhani supporters have interpreted the charges against Fereydoun, a senior diplomat who took part in the talks that led to a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, as a move by the hardline judiciary to discredit the president. Rouhani was born Hassan Fereydoun before adopting his new surname, according to Reuters.  ....

Published at: 2017-07-17 00:00:06

Nearly 300,000 people are now marooned as the flood situation in Moulvibazar's haor region has deteriorated with new areas going under water following heavy rains and onrush of water from the upstream Indian state of Assam, reports bdnews24.com. The district's Deputy Commissioner Tofayel Islam told the news agency that the situation had worsened since Saturday afternoon after water levels rose in the Kushiara River, Hakaluki Haor and Kauadighi Haor. Nearly 300,000 people were still trapped in the flood-ravaged areas while more than 100 schools were closed. Islam said the number of flood-affected people would increase as fresh areas were going under water. The River Kushiara was flowing 14cm above the danger level at Sherpur point and 69cm at Sheola point on Sunday morning, said Bijoy Indra Shankar Chakrabarty, the Executive Engineer at Moulvibazar Water Development Board. He said the water level at Kauadighi's Kashimpur area at Rajnagar Upazila was at 20cm above the danger level and 30cm at Buri Kiari area of Hakaluki. The district's Assistant Primary Education Officer Kishal Chakrabarty said 46 schools were closed due to flood at Baralekha, 40 at Kulaura, 15 at Juri, 14 at Rajnagar and four at Moulvibazar Sadar.....

Published at: 2017-07-17 00:00:06

The Asian Clearing Union (ACU) took the Japanese yen (JPY) in its basket as the third trading currency to boost business activities among its member-countries. According to officials in Dhaka, the accession of the third currency came following a decision taken at a board meeting held in Colombo on July 13 with Indrajith Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in the chair. "The transaction rules and procedures will be amended after getting minutes of the ACU board-of-directors meeting," a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Sunday. Currently, the US dollar and the European euro are used for payment among the member-countries of the Union. A three-member Bangladesh delegation, headed by BB Governor Fazle Kabir, attended the board meeting. As part of the board decisions, a delegation of the nine-member union, led by its Secretary-General Lida Borhan-Azad, will visit ASEAN countries to increase the number of ACU members, according to the BB official. ACU is an arrangement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives through which intra-regional transactions among the participating central banks are settled on a multilateral basis. The union started its operation in November 1975 to boost trade among the Asian countries. Bangladesh and Myanmar joined the union as the sixth and seventh members in 1976 and 1977 respectively. Bhutan joined the ACU in December 1999 and the Maldives in January 2010. siddique.islam@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-17 00:00:06

The government has moved to motivate the country's banking sector to invest in the power sector aiming to meet the growing demand for electricity, officials said. In this connection, a high-powered inter-ministerial committee will be formed to scrutinise the Bank Company Act, 1991 and other related rules and regulations and identify policy barriers to investment by the county's banks, they said. The committee will submit its recommendations within next 15 days, they mentioned. The decision was taken at a meeting held in June last. Officials concerned of the power division, finance ministry, Bangladesh Bank (BB) and top executives of different banks were present. The meeting took decision to invest Islamic investment fund of Bangladesh Bank in the power sector in the form of bond. The size of Islamic investment fund is Tk 55 billion. Besides, the power division will take initiatives to issue long-term bond. The Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) will make efforts for short-term and long-term investment in the sector. It will also take a move to provide one-stop service in this regard. According to Section 26 (kha) of the Bank Company Act 1991, banks can now give loan of up to 25 per cent of their paid-up capital to an individual borrower. It will not be possible for the country's banks to make large investments in the power sector if the section concerned of the Bank Company Act is not amended, a BB source said.    Currently, there exists a substantial volume of excess liquidity with the country's banking sector. The fund can easily be invested in the power sector to help meet the shortage of electricity in the country, he said. Excess liquidity with the commercial banks was at Tk 1.0 trillion in the last week of April, according to statistics of Bangladesh Bank (BB). The banks can invest in different projects of the power sector. The government will allocate land to help implement the projects, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid said at the meeting. Currently, it has also taken up projects of 6-to-9-month duration. The banks can invest in these projects, he said. There are huge opportunities to invest in different projects of the country's power sector. About US$ 30.0 billion would be needed for the power sector within 2021, Abul Kalam Azad, Chief Coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office, said at the meeting. On the other hand, some US$ 85 billion will be required for the power sector up to 2041, secretary of the power division Dr Ahmad Kaikaus told the meeting. More new power plants will be set up in a couple of months to meet power shortage in the country. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has taken a massive capacity-expansion plan to add about 11,600 mw in next five years to achieve 24,000mw capacity, according to PSMP-2010 by 2021 with an aim to provide electricity to all the people of the country. The entity started its operation with installed generation capacity of only 200 mw which has now increased to 15,379 mw, according to the official page of the board. Despite frequent attempts over phone, Nasrul Hamid, MP could not be reached for his comments on the issue. Additional secretary of the finance ministry Jalal Ahmed, who is the convenor of the committee, also could not be reached over phone. rezamumu@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-17 00:00:06

The government has ordered the madrasas to drop the words 'cadet' and 'international' from their names, reports bdnews24.com. The education ministry has asked such unapproved institutions to get permission for conducting educational activities from the authorities within three months. The ministry's Technical and Madrasah Education Division issued the order on 'illegal business of cadet madrasas' on Sunday following instructions from the Prime Minister's Office. The ministry has asked the director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, National Curriculum and Textbook Board chairman, director general of Directorate of Madrasah Education, deputy commissioners, district education officers, upazila executive officers and education officers, and the principals of the cadet madrasas to implement the directives. It asked the authorities to ensure that the madrasas follow curriculum set by NCTB and Madrasah Education Board. The Directorate of Madrasah Education, Madrasah Education Board, deputy commissioners, district education officers, upazila executive officers and education officers have been asked to regularly monitor the activities of these institutions. A representative of the district or Upazila education officer has to be included in the managing committees of these institutions, according to the order. The madrasas must hoist national flag and the students must sing national anthem during assembly, the government said in the order.....

Published at: 2017-07-17 00:00:06