One-third of education institutions fake: Muhith

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Tuesday that one third of Monthly Pay Order (MPO) listed educational institutions were established without any motive.

Abul Maal came up with his allegation while he discussing on the supplementary budget in the parliament at noon.

He said, ‘In 1988, there were only nine thousand educational institutions. Now the number is around 28000. There are even some educational institutions where there are four teachers and one student.’

‘Our lawmakers raised voices on inclusion of educational institutions in MPO but did not raise voice against those institutions,’ he said.

The finance minister also said the educational institutions were once operated through personal initiatives and many individuals contributed in the expansion of education.

‘But it is the reality that many have been establishing educational institutions just because of the MPO,’ the minister added.

Killers of SP’s wife won’t go scot free: PM

Describing the killing of the wife of a police officer in Chittagong as a cowardly act, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to bring the perpetrators of such a secret killing to justice.

‘I can say that those who committed the killing won’t go scot free ... they must be tracked down and brought to the justice,’ she said while exchanging views with the expatriate Bangladeshis at the Madina Hilton here on Monday evening.

Mahmuda Akter Mitu, the wife of Babul Akter, superintendent of police of Dhaka police headquarters, was stabbed and shot dead by motorbike-riding assailants in the port city of Chittagong on Sunday morning.

Sheikh Hasina said there was no offence of the police officer’s wife. ‘She was killed in front of her kid while she was going to drop the child at his school...this is very regrettable incident,’ the PM said.

The prime minister said the stance of her government against terrorism and corruption is very clear. ‘We would never allow terrorism .... we don’t want such an incident happens in Bangladesh,’ she said.

Sheikh Hasina said that those who unleashed arson attacks in buses, trains, launches and burnt the people to deaths are now engaged in secret killings, reports BSS.

Spelling out her government’s success in different sectors, the prime minister said the government placed a Tk 3,40,605 crore national budget in parliament for the FY17. ‘No government in the past could deliver such a huge budget,’ she said.

About the country’s continuous economic prosperity, she said many (people) want to describe it as ‘miracle’.

‘But, I would say it is not miracle, it is our sincerity as since we’ve passion and love for the countrymen and always work for the welfare of the people, we could deliver.........no other party except Awami League could work for the welfare of the people,’ she added.

Recalling the contributions of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to presenting a better life to the people of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh could have become a developed country at least 20 years back, had Bangabandhu been alive more.

KSA keen to recruit 5 lakh workers from Bangladesh

Saudi Arabia has expressed its interest to recruit some five lakh more manpower from Bangladesh.

‘We want to recruit 5,00,000 more manpower from Bangladesh,’ said Saudi Minister for Labour Dr Mofarrej Al-Hoqubani when he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Royal Conference Palace here on Sunday night.

PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

The Bangladesh Premier is now in Saudi Arabia on a five-day official at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The Saudi Minister said that the Bangladeshi workers are working here with good reputation while there are also some 42,000 female domestic helps working in the kingdom.

Both the Prime Minister and the Saudi Labour Minister agreed to stamp out the influence of the middlemen in recruiting manpower in a bid to cut recruitment cost.

‘Apart from recruiting workers, our goal is to open recruitment of doctors, teachers and engineers from Bangladesh,’ he said.

About the sending of female house-helps from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Hasina said her government has organized short-term training course for them and this training period would be made longer, reports BSS.

She also mentioned that the government has introduced online registration of workers to make the recruitment process easier.

The Prime Minister also requested the Saudi Labour Minister to be strict in manpower recruitment, saying, ‘Please, don`t allow the middlemen to exploit.’

In response, Dr Mofarrej said, ‘It’s our responsibility to protect the workers.’

Meanwhile, Royal Court Adviser Yasir Al Rumayyan called on the Prime Minister at the same venue.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister hoped that more investment would come from the KSA in different sectors saying that Saudi Arabia can invest in Bangladesh’s coal-based power generation projects alongside improving the circular road, rail and waterways around Dhaka city.

She also suggested the Adviser make more effective the Bangladesh-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission for the mutual benefits of the two countries.

Appreciating Saudi King Salman’s pragmatic steps to counter terrorism, Sheikh Hasina said that Islam is a religion of peace. ‘If there is any problem between the Muslim countries, then that can be resolved through dialogue.’

Referring to the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister said that her government had also earlier set the Vision 2021 and has been working tirelessly to materialize that vision.

In response, the Saudi Royal Court Adviser said that although KSA used to make its 95 percent investment within the country, now it is working on a new strategy to make investment internationally.

Earlier, Saudi Assistant Minister for Defence Md Abdullah Alayser called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Royal Conference Palace.

During the meeting, the Saudi assistant minister put emphasis on strengthening cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh in the defence sector.

In this connection, the Prime Minister said her government has been working to build strong armed forces and reiterated her government’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards terrorism. She said Bangladesh Army has a special construction battalion and offered its assistance to the Saudi armed forces in their different construction projects.

Besides, she said, Bangladesh Army has a new engineering unit.

Chief of Saudi Intelligence Khalid bin Ali Humaidan also met the Prime Minister.

He said Bangladesh is a very important Muslim nation and his country wants to further strengthen its relations with Dhaka.

Sheikh Hasina put importance on sharing of information by the intelligence agencies of the two countries about terrorists.

While talking about terrorism issue, the Saudi intelligence chief said the terrorism has polluted religion. ‘We want to regain the honour of the Muslim Ummah by curbing terrorism,’ he said.

In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said for the acts of some people, religion earned bad name. ‘We must remove it and convince the people about true spirit of Islam...different people have different views, but we should have faith in Allah,’ she said.  

Bangladesh home minister suggests Israel behind spate of killings

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has suggested an Israeli link to the recent killings of secular bloggers and minorities.

He said an opposition MP had met an Israeli intelligence agent and there was evidence of an ‘international conspiracy’ against Bangladesh.

He gave no more evidence. Israel dismissed the claim as ‘utter drivel’.

Critics say the government is in denial about the killings, most of which have been blamed on or claimed by Islamists.

Kamal’s comments come a day after the wife of a senior police officer investigating the deaths was shot dead.

The governing Awami League has sought in the past to link the opposition to the attacks. Relations with the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) remain fraught following the disputed 2014 general election.

Muslim-majority but officially secular Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the Palestinians.

Bangladesh has become the target of an international conspiracy. And a foreign intelligence agency has joined the conspiracy, Kamal said.

When asked to elaborate, he said: ‘You must have noticed that an Israeli intelligence agent had a meeting with a politician, it does not need to be verified further, all Bangladeshi know about it.’

Opposition BNP MP Aslam Chowdhury was recently arrested and charged with sedition after he was pictured meeting Israeli government adviser Mendi Safadi in India.

Chowdhury described his visit to India as a business trip and has denied meeting an Israeli intelligence agent.

The latest violence was in the southern port city of Chittagong, where Mahmuda Aktar was stabbed and shot in the head on Sunday in front of her six-year-old son.

Her husband, Supt Babul Aktar, is investigating the banned Islamist Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh group (JMB).

Also on Sunday, a Christian grocer was hacked to death in the north-western village of Bonpara. So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the murder of Sunil Gomes.

At least 30 people have been killed in the wave of attacks on those seen by extremists as offensive to Islam.

The government insists that IS does not have a presence in Bangladesh and has tended to blame the opposition and local militant groups.

Critics have accused the government of failing to properly address the violence in Bangladesh. (BBC)