Bangladesh
Pre UP-poll clash: 10 including police member hurt in Madaripur
At least 10 people were injured on Sunday including a police personnel during a clash between supporters of two chairman candidates in the upcoming Ghatmajhi Union Parishad election in Madaripur.
The incident occurred around evening when supporters of candidate advocate Babul Akter and Khalil Darji locked in an hour-long clash in dispute over electioneering.
Also read: Clash at BNP rally in Chattogram, stage collapses
The injured were admitted at Madaripur Sadar Hospital, said Kamrul Islam Mia, Officer-in-Charge of Madaripur sadar police station.
A police constable named Avijit was injured as police on information went to take control of the situation, said the OC.
The election in the Ghatmajhi Union parishad is set to be held on January 31.
Also read: Pre-polls violence: 1 killed, 10 injured in Pabna clash
The defeat is of the government: Taimur
Taimur Alam Khandaker, the defeated independent candidate in the Narayanganj City Corporation mayoral election, termed his defeat as the defeat of the government on Sunday.
He made the remarks in a press briefing after his defeat was ascertained by the landslide victory of Awami League mayoral candidate Selina Hayat Ivy on Sunday evening.
Taimur said, “The defeat was of the government, not ours.”
He said it all started from arresting his chief coordinator at Siddhirganj police station and after that everyday his supporters had been arrested.
Also read: NCC Polls: Ivy rewrites history with a hat-trick
“While filing case against them they were identified as Hefazat-e-Islam members even though many of them were Hindu by religion,” he said.
Taimur claimed from Sunday morning eight people were arrested who were in his support including his Bandar upazila coordinator. Besides, numerous raids were conducted including at his chief polling agent’s house, he said.
“In these circumstances it’s hard for an independent candidate to survive anyway.”
Taimur said in many centres Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were defective and slow, due to which many voters couldn’t cast their vote and it only contributed more to his defeat.
He said, “The game was government vs public and also government vs Taimur.”
Ivy, the country’s first female city mayor, also became the first person ever to be elected thrice as mayor of any city in the country, as she secured a landslide victory by a margin of 69, 102 votes over Taimur.
Also read: NCC polls: Voting underway amid tight security
She bagged 1,61,273 votes while her nearest contestant Taimur Alam polled 92, 171.
Returning officer Mahfuza Akter announced the results on Sunday evening, a few hours after voting ended. Voting had continued past 4pm due to the slow pace of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and the presence of voters in some centres of Bandar upazila.
SUST shut after police-student clash, despite controversial provost's resignation
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) has been forced to shut following a serious clash on campus between police and protesting students Sunday.
The decision was taken at an emergency syndicate meeting held on Sunday evening and students were asked to leave the residential halls by Monday 12 pm.
Meanwhile the provost of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall Zafrin Ahmed, the person at the centre of the disquiet prevailing on the campus, resigned from her post citing health issues. Dr Nazia Chowdhury of Physics department has been appointed in her place, said Farid Uddin Ahmed, Vice Chancellor of SUST.
Also read: SUST VC attacked and confined by protesting students
Removal of Zafrin Ahmed as provost of the residential hall for female students was one of the principal demands of students protesting on the campus.
Comilla University gets new VC
Dr AFM Abdul Moyeen, Professor of Department of Management at Dhaka University, has been appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Comilla University.
In this regard, a notification from the Education Ministry signed by Deputy Secretary Md Mahmudul Alam was issued on Sunday.
Read:SUST VC attacked and confined by protesting students
According to the notification, President Md Abdul Hamid, also the Chancellor of the university, made the appointment as per the Comilla University Act.
Dr AFM Abdul Moyeen will perform his duty as VC for next four year.
Prof Dr Md Abu Taher, registrar of Comilla University, said they have not yet received the notification.
The current VC Prof Emran Kabir Chowdhury's tenure will end on January 31.
Shilpakala DG grilled by ACC on allegations of embezzlement
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday quizzed the director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on allegations of funds embezzlement and abuse of power. Deputy director of the ACC’s public relations office Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB that Shilapakala DG Liaqat Ali Lucky arrived at 10.30am while a notice was issued asking him to appear before the commission at its head office.
Read: ACC to grill Shilpakala Academy DG on Jan 16 ACC Deputy Director Mohammad Ibrahim, head of a 2-member team probing the allegations, grilled him.The other team member is deputy director Afnan Jannat Keya. Earlier, the commission asked the DG of the Academy to submit the expenditure records following allegations of funds embezzlement and abuse of power. The ACC decided to launch a probe on the allegations on 2 January, 2021. The ACC sought the records of the expenditure of the budget allotted to the academy for the financial years 2019-2020, 2020-2021, the records of the cost of organising virtual programmes during Covid-19 in 2020, and the bank statement of BSA with Sonali Bank till 31 December, 2021. Earlier, the commission had also asked the academy to submit the necessary records and documents within 11 January. In the last few months, there have been some allegations against the DG of the academy, including abuse of power and bribery. There is also a specific allegation of withdrawing Tk 260 million.
Read: Shilpakala Academy DG asked to submit records to ACC According to the complaint received by the ACC, the DG removed Tk 26 crore by appointing a contract officer as the secretary without following the rules and regulations. Talking to reporters Lucky parried questions regarding the allegations.He said he does not want to speak about the various expenditure incurred in holding several international events.
HC allows Evaly to withdraw Tk 2.35 cr for operating expenses
The High Court on Sunday allowed its appointed board of directors for disgraced e-commerce company Evaly to withdraw Tk 2.35 crore deposited at City Bank and Southeast Bank for operating expenses.
A single HC bench of Justice Muhamad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order following the application submitted by the board of directors of Evaly, that was formed on the direction of the court.
Read: Evaly scam: Mithila, Faria get anticipatory bail
The court also directed Bangladesh Bank and National Board of Revenue (NBR) to submit details on expenditures logged by Evaly’s former chief executive officer Mohammad Rassel and Chairperson Shamima Nasrin.
At the same time, 22 vehicles registered by Evaly have been allowed to be rented or sold.
Barrister Morshed Ahmed Khan appeared for Evaly board while Barrister Syed Mahsib Hossain for the writ petition.
Barrister Syed Mahsib Hossain said the board of directors of Evaly could not withdraw any money from the bank accounts as Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) froze all the accounts of Evaly.
On October 18 last year, the High Court formed a 5-member board, led by former justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, to manage, control and assess the liabilities of shuttered e-commerce platform Evaly.
Other members of the board are former secretary Mohammad Rezaul Ahsan and additional secretary Mahbub Kabir Milon, chartered accountant Fakhruddin Ahmed and lawyer Barrister Khan Mohammad Shamim Aziz.
Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel and his wife Shamima Nasrin, the chairman of the platform were arrested on September 16, after a customer named Arif Baker filed a case at Gulshan Police Station alleging that e-commerce platform was not delivering products despite taking advanced payments.
Read: Barishal court summons Evaly CEO Rassel in 3 cases of cheque fraud
Meanwhile customer Farhad Hossain submitted an application at the High Court seeking dissolution of the beleaguered company and direction on forming a board of directors for the company.
On September 22, the High Court ordered a ban on the sale and transfer of movable and immovable property during a hearing on the application and issued a notice questioning why Evaly will not be disbanded.
On September 30, during a hearing in this regard the HC directed the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) to submit all the documents of Evaly within October 11.
NCC Polls: Ivy rewrites history with a hat-trick
Awami League mayoral candidate Selina Hayat Ivy on Sunday created history as she unofficially won the high-voltage Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) election for a record-breaking third time in a row.
Ivy, also the country’s first female city mayor, secured a landslide victory by defeating independent mayoral candidate Taimur Alam Khandaker with a margin of 69, 102 votes.
She bagged 1,61,273 votes while her nearest contestant Taimur Alam polled 92, 171.
Read:NCC polls: Voting ends peacefully, counting begins
Returning officer Mahfuza Akter announced the results when the vote counting completed.
With the latest victory, Ivy is the first city mayor to win the polls for the third consecutive term.
Out of the 7 mayoral candidates, Ivy contested the election with the "Boat" symbol while Taimur Alam with “Elephant” symbol.
Families of disappearance victims being ‘forced to sign false statements’: BNP
BNP on Sunday alleged that the government has let loose police on the family members of those who were subjected to enforced disappearances to take their signatures on 'pre-written statements’ as part of its move to misguide” the global community.
“The government is sending police to the families of the victims of enforced disappearance. They’re writing statements on behalf of the government and asking the families to sign on those,” BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told a human-chain programme.
Read: Repression again on BNP leaders as per ‘govt master plan’: Rizvi
In the pre-written statements, he said, “The members of the police are saying that my son or my husband has gone missing himself and asking the parents or wives of the victims to sign on it. This is how the government conspires to confuse the world conscience.”
University Teachers' Association of Bangladesh (UTAB) arranged the programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club demanding the release of Prof Tajmeri SA Islam, ex-teacher of Dhaka University’s Chemistry department.
Rizvi said the family members of the victims of enforced disappearance are not signing on such statements and registering protests as they know how their near and dear ones have been subjected to enforced disappearance. “But how long will they be able to brave the threats of the police? “The government is trying to show the global community that those who were made disappeared went missing themselves.”
He said such efforts of the government will go in vain as the global community knows how many people were subjected to enforced disappearance in Bangladesh.
The BNP leader also said the fall of the current government is looming and it will not be able to resist it.
“Your throne has started tumbling now. You put the last nail in the coffin of your government by sending a teacher like Tajmeri S Islam to jail," he said pointing at the Prime Minister.
Read: Covid restrictions maybe to stop BNP rallies: Rizvi
Rizvi urged the government to release Tajmeri Islam immediately to avoid a fierce movement by professionals.
Uttara police arrested Prof Tajmeri on Thursday in a case filed over obstructing police from performing duties during an anti-government demonstration of the party in the capital's Uttara on September 23, 2018.
Later, she was sent to Kashimpur Central Jail as a court rejected her bail petition.
EC formation comes up prominently as govt briefs diplomats
The government on Sunday briefed the diplomats stationed in Dhaka on recent issues and elaborated the procedure of the Election Commission formation and the current dialogue of the President with different political parties.
“We’re pledge-bound to uphold our Constitutional obligation,” said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen reiterating the government's commitment during the first diplomatic briefing of the year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was arranged to exchange New Year’s greetings with the diplomatic community.
Also read: AL to hold dialogue with President Hamid on Monday
Law Minister Anisul Huq, MP, LGRD Minister Md. Tajul Islam, MP, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam MP and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen were present during the briefing held at Foreign Service Academy.
“Last year was a year of recovery and hope,” Dr. Momen said.
With the twin celebrations of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of the country’s Independence, the year had a special significance for Bangladesh, the Foreign Minister added.
Focusing on the spectacular achievements of the country in the areas of poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, infrastructure development and digitalisation, Dr Momen also highlighted government’s successful management of the onslaughts of the pandemic and different incentives and packages announced to address its negative impact.
50% voter turnout in Narayanganj city polls: EC
Some 50 per cent voters cast ballots in the Narayanganj City Corporation election that was held peacefully on Sunday, said Secretary of the Election Commission (EC) Md. Humayun Kabir Khandaker.
The Tangail-7 by-polls and five municipalities’ elections were held peacefully on the day, he said at a post-election conference at the EC Secretariat here on Sunday evening.
Read: NCC polls: Voting ends peacefully, counting begins
“According to initial assumptions, the voter turnout was some 50 per cent in Narayanganj City Corporation election. Besides, the voter turnout was some 31 per cent in Tangail-7 by-polls and some 60 per cent in five municipalities,” said the EC secretary.
Noting that there was a massive turnout of voters in all election areas, the EC official said the EC monitored all the elections through its control room.
“So far none has lodged any complaint and no untoward incident has been reported there. The Tangail-7 by-polls as well as Narayanganj City Corporation and five municipalities’ elections held peacefully,” he said.
About the slow vote-casting through Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs), he said the EC earlier arranged mock voting through EVMs in Narayanganj. But the response of voters was low to the mock voting.
Read:NCC polls see good voter turnout, says Returning Officer
Since it needed to explain the system before the voters while they were in queues, it might take time, said Humayun.
When his attention was drawn to the remark of Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukder that the EC was not informed about those arrested during the Narayanganj election, the EC official said, “It is Talukder Sir who can say better about it actually. But the returning officer addressed all the complaints she received.”