Trafficking: Top Thai army officer surrenders

A top army officer of Thailand, Lt General Manas Khongpaen, has turned himself in days after a Thai provincial court allowed police to arrest him over his alleged involvement in trafficking of Rohingyas and other boatpeople, The Guardian reports.
Surrender of Manas, who is facing multiple charges including human trafficking, detention and ransom, marks the first arrest of a military official since start of investigation in May in the Southeast Asia human trafficking disaster, according to the British newspaper.
Over 50 people, including several local politicians and officials, were arrested after the discovery of dozens of bodies believed to be those of Burmese Rohingya migrants at the abandoned trafficking camps near the Thai-Malaysian border.
Manas denied the charges, National police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said today.
Before Manas’s arrest warrant was issued this week the army chief had denied the military’s involvement in the trafficking syndicates.

Convicted OC Helal sent to jail

A Dhaka court on Sunday sent Helal Uddin, former officer-in-charge of Khilgaon Police Station in the capital, to jail on his surrender in a case filed on a charge of torturing Dhaka University student Abdul Kader.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Kabir Raj passed the order after the former police officer surrendered before the court and sought bail in the case.

On May 17, the same court sentenced Helal to three years’ imprisonment and fined him Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer three months more in prison.

According to the case document, Abdul Kader, a student of biochemistry and molecular biology, was detained in Segunbagicha area of the capital on a charge of robbery.

The student was arrested when he was returning to his Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall from his relative’s house at Eskaton on July 16, 2011.

Later, OC Helal took him to his office room and beat up Kader severely to make a confessional statement a false case.

After arresting Kader, the police implicated him in two cases -- one for robbery and another for possession of an illegal firearm -- with Khilgaon Police Station, and also showed him arrested in another false case filed with Mohammadpur Police Station for carjacking.

But following media outcry, the High Court on July 28 ordered the inspector-general of police to investigate the incident.

DU teachers and students and people from different walks of life reacted sharply to the police torture on Kader, then a master’s student of biochemistry.

Later, three officials of Khilgaon Police Station, including OC Helaluddin, were suspended and Kader was released on bail on August 3, 2011.

Kader, now a lecturer of Laxmipur Govt. Mohila College, was acquitted of all charges in 2012. On January 23, 2012, he sued OC Helaluddin for torturing him in line with recommendations by a probe committee of the law ministry and a High Court order.

Khaleda distributes food on Zia’s death anniversary

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Sunday distributed food among the destitute in different places of the capital for the second day, marking the 34th death anniversary of slain President Ziaur Rahman.

She also inaugurated a photo exhibition on the life and works of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of the BNP, organised the exhibition at the auditorium of the National Press Club, marking the death anniversary of Ziaur Rahman.

JCD President Rajib Ahsan, General Secretary Akramul Hasan and other leaders and activists were present.

Around 11.30am, she started distributing cocked food among the poor and destitute in front of Gulshan DCC Market.

Later, she distributed food in Mohakhali, Shaheenbagh, Mohakhali, the National Press Club, CR Dutta Road, Gabtali, Mirpur Shah Ali Mazar, Mirpur-11, Shewrapara and Uttara Amir Complex areas.

BNP leaders Selima Rahman, Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel and other leaders and activists accompanied Khaleda Zia during the food distribution.

Meanwhile, BNP leaders alleged that police destroyed a stage set up for distributing food in front of Gulshan DCC Market.

The BNP and front organisations chalked up a 14-day programme to observe the death anniversary of the party founder that began on Saturday. Khaleda Zia distributed cocked food on the day.

Clean Dhaka to be visible in 6 months: Annisul

The capital, Dhaka, will emerge as a completely clean city in next two and half years, the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation said today.
“A visible change will be there in next six months,” Mayor Annisul Huq said while inaugurating an awareness rally for a special cleanliness campaign in the city’s Farmgate area today.
“But we need complete public support to achieve the goal,” the mayor said.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) organised the special cleanliness campaign rally to raise public awareness to stop littering here and there with the slogan “Gomi Zero” in keeping with the Japanese campaign against wastes.
The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) also arranged the same awareness campaign in its part of the city.
The word Gomi stands for garbage in Japanese. It also means 5 (Go), the month of May and 3 (Mi), a date. So, Gomi zero together symbolises 30th May, the day of public campaign for zero waste across Japan.
The city corporation officials called upon the city dwellers to keep the city and their homes clean by refraining from throwing waste on the roads and drains and help practice 3Rs—reduce, reuse and recycle -- method in waste management.   

Asked how the campaign will be successful with hardly any waste bins kept at public places across Dhaka, the DNCC chief executive officer BM Enamul Haque said, “We cannot maintain the bins, as urchins and petty thief take them away.” 

Indian cabinet okays human trafficking, coastal shipping deals ahead of Modi’s Dhaka visit

The Indian cabinet today approved two separate agreements, to be signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka next week, to fight human trafficking and introduce coastal shipping service with Bangladesh.
The Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on prevention of human trafficking especially trafficking in women and children.
"Human trafficking has emerged as a big problem. The MoU is an effort in the direction of preventing trafficking," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the cabinet meeting.
An official statement said the MoU will help strengthen cooperation to prevent all forms of the human trafficking, especially that of women and children and ensure speedy investigation and prosecution of traffickers and organised crime syndicates in both the neighbouring nations.
The pact will also ensure repatriation of victims as expeditiously as possible. After repatriation, the home country will undertake the safe and effective reintegration of the victims with their families, the statement said.
A task force of India and Bangladesh was constituted to take coordinated action against individuals, touts and agents involved in human trafficking and meetings of the group. The task force has met four times so far.
During the fourth meeting of the Task Force held in Mumbai on April 6 and 7 last year, both sides finalised the text of the draft MoU on prevention of human trafficking, the statement pointed out. 

The Cabinet also cleared the agreement on coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh for movement of goods between the two countries.
Indian ports serving as trans-shipment points for Bangladeshi cargo will benefit by greater volume as a result of Indo-Bangladesh coastal trade, the statement said, adding that both the nations shall treat each other’s vessels as it would have done to its national vessels used in international sea transportation.
"Exim trade between India and Bangladesh would be benefited by way of reduction in freight charges. It will also improve the utilisation of port capacities of Indian ports and open up new opportunity for Indian coastal vessels. It will also help in decongestion of roads especially at land custom stations/integrated check posts at the Indo-Bangladesh border," the statement said.
Currently, there is no significant cargo movement between the sea ports of Bangladesh and India as it is not profitable for the big ocean going vessels to operate between the ports of the two countries.
Therefore, to reduce the cost of shipping operations, a lower but pragmatic standard of vessel known as River Sea Vessel (RSV) has been prescribed for coastal shipping.
The RSV category has significantly lower construction and operation costs without compromising on safety. For Indo-Bangladesh coastal shipping, the RSV category of vessel has been agreed upon by both the countries.
India's trade with Bangladesh has grown rapidly during the past few years. Bangladesh is now India's largest trade partner in South Asia.
The opening up of the coastal route between India and Bangladesh is expected to provide an alternative route for the transportation of Exim cargo between the two countries. 

Modi compares land boundary deal with fall of Berlin Wall

Ahead of his visit to Dhaka next month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has compared the settling of the land boundary deal with Bangladesh as the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“We had settled the long pending land boundary issues with Bangladesh by taking all parties into confidence,” Modi said in an interview published in a local daily today, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
“The media has not realised this was a massive achievement and is talking of other issues. Had this been elsewhere in the world this would have been cited as an example as big as the fall of the Berlin Wall,” he added.
“The entire mood of our neighbourhood has changed dramatically because of our message of shared prosperity being implemented on the ground. Mine is practical and outcome-based diplomacy,” Modi told The Tribune.
Modi did not say anything when he was asked by the daily’s Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa: “You are visiting Bangladesh next week after resolving the border issue. Will there also be a deal on the sharing of Teesta waters?
Indian parliament had earlier this month unanimously passed a constitution amendment bill ratifying the land boundary agreement with Bangladesh, paving the way for its implementation that has been pending for 41 years.
Modi, accompanied by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, will pay a two-day state visit to Bangladesh, his first on June 6 and 7 during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and call on President Mohd Abdul Hamid. 

Pakistan keen to forge closer ties with Belarus: PM Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday held a meeting with President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, who started his two-day visit to Pakistan yesterday, reports Dawn.
During the meeting at the Prime Minister House, the premier extended condolences to President Lukashenko over the death of his mother two days ago, which was also the reason why the Belarusian president delayed his visit to Pakistan until May 28.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told President Lukashenko that Pakistan is keen to forge closer ties with Belarus in all fields including trade, economy, defence and culture.
“Your visit will act as a catalyst in developing strong political and economic relations between our two countries,” the premier told the Belarusian president.
The prime minister said he was pleased with the increased exchanges between the Pakistan and Belarus in the recent past and there was a need to further increase frequency of bilateral visits.
“We also need to encourage contacts between our parliamentarians as regular interaction among them is beneficial for creating an environment of cordiality and friendship between the two peoples,” the premier said.
He said the current bilateral trade between the two countries standing at $60 million is not commensurate with its potential and needs to be substantially increased.
“We need to establish close interaction between the respective chambers of commerce and industry as these will boost bilateral trade and investmen,” he told the visiting delegation.
Belarusian delegation attending the meeting included: Deputy Prime Minister Semashko Vladimir, Minister for Foreign Affairs Makei Vladimir, Assistant to the President Bryliov Valery, Head of National Academy of Science Gusakov Vladimir, Minister of Industry Vovk Vitaly, Minister of Agriculture Zayats Leonid, Head of the State Military Industrial Committee Gurulev Sergei, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus Ermolovich Andrei, Director of Machinery Holding “Amcodor” Shakutin Aleksandr, Director of Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Miatlikov Mikhail, Dy Chairman Mogilev Regional Executive Committee Nekrashevich Viktor, Director of Belarusian Light Industry Concern Efimchik Nikolai, and Director of “Minsk Tractor Works” Domoteko Fedor.
Those attending the meeting from the Pakistan side included: Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Finance Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid, Advisor to the prime minister on National Security Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi, Chairman Board of Investment Mifta Ismail, and Secretary Foreign Affairs Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry.
After delegation-level talks, the two sides held a joint press conference.
Addressing the press conference the prime minsiter said, “I am happy to be standing here with my distinguished visitor from the Republic of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko who is in Pakistan on the first ever Presidential visit from this beautiful country.”
“Belarus is an important country and we attach high importance to our bilateral relations with it. We greatly value the visit by the President and his high powered delegation,” he said.
He added, “We just concluded a very productive round of talks. We discussed our relations in all fields in particular, trade, industry, agriculture, investment, culture, education and people-to-people contacts. We agreed on several new initiatives.”
“We also agreed to intensify our inter-parliamentary relations and confirmed our willingness to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism, extremism, narcotics, and human trafficking.”
The premier also divulged about the Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed between the two counties saying, “A few moments ago, we happily witnessed the signing of many important Agreements which will provide a structured framework for our future collaboration.”
Nawaz further said Pakistan provides excellent environment for foreign investors and that Pak-Belarus joint ventures in various sectors are on the horizon.
He thanked President Lukashenko for the invitation that he extended to the prime minister to visit Belarus.
“I am delighted to accept it and look forward to an early visit,” the premier said.
Earlier on Thursday, President Lukashenko was received by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at Nur Khan airbase upon his arrival in Islamabad on a two-day state visit on the invitation of President Mamnoon Hussain. This is the first visit by a Belarusian president to Pakistan.
On the first day of the President Lukashenko’s visit, Pakistan and Belarus vowed to build a broad-based, substantive and long-term relationship in all fields, including trade, economic, education, defence and culture.
President Hussain hosted a banquet in honour of his Belarusian counterpart.
During his meeting with the Belarusian leader followed by delegation-level talks, President Hussain said Pakistan valued its ties with Belarus and both countries enjoyed a warm and a cordial relationship.
Meanwhile, Sergei Gurulev, Chairman State Military Industrial Committee, Belarus, called on Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Rashad Mahmood and discussed matters relating to professional interest and mutual cooperation between the two armed forces.
According to the ISPR, the two agreed that there was great scope for cooperation in the field of defence industry.