The New Nation - Internet Edition

A.T.M.Nurun Nabi

Price of almost all vegetables and potherb items with the exception of potato and papaw increased as per whims of the retail sellers during the last four days from Thursday despite the efforts of the government to keep prices stable. As a result, the members of the middle and the lower-income groups have become worried about the increased cost of living.

It is admited that the recent flood has damaged a large quantities of the standing crops including vegetables on about 14 lakh acres of land.

Yet the saved part of the vegetables are sufficient as it appears from the inflow into Dhaka from the rural areas. In addition, the farmers have begun to recultivate vegetables and though it will take time to bring those in the markets, yet, the price so demanded by the retailers is exorbitant and illogical.

In the market economy as practiced in Bangladesh, fixation of price of essentials depend much on the business circle. They reportedly look after own interests, and less concerned with the sufferings of the poor. As for example, when the interim government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmad sealed the godowns containing roten and adulterated foodstuffs, the businessmen followed dilly dally tactics in opening of the leters of credit for import of the foodstuffs though they later became active. The government soon realised the situation and began to reconcile with traders.

No measure to keep the price reasonable can be successful without building own mechanism. The New Nation has repeatedly expressed the view of reactivating TCB, involving Sena Kalyan Sangstha (SKS) and expanding the areas of Bangladesh Rifles. If these three disciplined organisations work with plan, there is no reason that the price will not come down.

It is often said of business syndicate that controls prices. Political philosopher Pareto said, "Elite consists of those successful persons who rise to top in every occupation and stratum of society; there is an elite of lawyers, elite of mechanics and even elite of thieves."

According to him, every society may have a small group of persons who dominate the political and economic forces of the country. Integrity is one of the qualities of the elite people. They take decisions together, execute it together and face pressure together.

The economic elite is more powerful than the political elite. The government's initiative to reconcile with the business circle good is the evidence that economic elites are stronger than political elites. Law alone cannot bring success.

Islam disapproves of food items. According to the principle of Islam, no food item could be hoarded for more than three days. The government can take initiative to preach on Radio and television, it will surely manufacture a good result

ONE Bank Limited opened its 3rd booth at the DTM (Ops) office premises in the General Cargo Berth Area of Chita gong Port on August 16, 2007 at 11:00 am. The Booth was inaugurated by the Chairman of Chitagong Port Authority Captain Yeahia Sayeed (C), AFWC, PSC, BN. Among others, ONE Bank's Managing Director Mr. Farman R. Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director Shamim A. Chaudhury, Chitagong Port Authority's AHM Tayeb, Member (Engineer), other high officials of ONE Bank Limited and Chitagong Port Authority were present in the opening ceremony.

ONE Bank Limited has 2 (two) more booths at the MPB Terminal and the M-Shade in the Chitagong Port Through One Stop Service Centre at these 2 Booths, all charges of Chitagong Port are collected and Port users are provided On-line banking services. In continuation of the same trend, ONE Bank Limited has started its 3rd booth's operation at General Cargo Berth Area. As a result, now users (Berth Operators/C & F Agents) can setle all payments! dues of port by opening their accounts in ONE Bank Limited.

Notably, ONE Bank Limited is the only private commercial bank which has been providing all other modern and speedy banking services including On-line banking facilities to all the users of the port

PTI, New Delhi

Tata Chairman Ratan Tata has said any failure of the Indo-US nuclear deal would be a "serious setback" for India and could impact inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) to the country.

In an interview with Karan Thapar for Devil's Advocate programme on television channel CNN-IBN, Tata said the civil nuclear deal with the US was in many ways the best possible thing that had happened to India in a long time.

Asked would it be a setback if the deal didn't materialise, he said: "I believe it is a serious setback to India. I believe the only people happy to see this not happening are probably Pakistan and China."

Apprehending implications on FDI inflows if the deal were to fail, Tata said: "I think it could because I think there would be repercussions and there would be reactions."

The industry doyen felt a need for the present political system to change and take a re-look at ideologies.

On a question if the Left needed to reinvent itself, he declined a direct reply but said: "We all need to reinvent ourselves. Even the Vatican reinvents itself."

Hiting out at political parties for "opposing for the sake of opposing," Tata said: "I really do wish we could go back to the days when we had stronger coalitions or single parties in government and a two-party system in the House where you really dealt with issues and serious ideologies."

Tata, whose Rs.100,000 car project at Singur is facing stiff political opposition, however, lauded West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee and said it was because of the later that the company had not moved out of the state.

"A lesser person would have succumbed to the political pressures. And let me tell you what that would have donetI would have just picked up my stakes and gone to another state. Three, four states are wooing us for that project," he said.

"If I had a chief minister who was going to risk his political position to stand by what he had promised, then I was going to stand with him also," Tata said, adding that he had seldom met a chief minister who was more sincere in his desire to improve his state than Buddhadeb.

Commenting on the delayed reforms in banking and insurance sector, he said it did not send out a "positive message".

"India needs to be a more open financial economy. Therefore financial services, banking, insurance needs to be opened up," he said.

Tata said the financial services needed to be opened up, while puting up a few constraints on market share so that domestic firms do not get dominated by foreign companies.

Asked if the government had talked more about reform than it has delivered, Tata said: "To some extent that could be true. It has been very vocal on reform."

He, however, quickly added that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "has genuinely and seriously wanted to see the reform take place".

"I think the political system has not allowed delivery of that reform to take place."

Heaping praises on the PM as a man who is upright and of high ethical value, Tata said: "At the same time I think this government has not been able to perform as it could have or should have performed."

Philip Morris International (PMI) announced that it has entered into a long-term license agreement with Sk. Akijuddin Limited, part of Akij Group of Bangladesh, to manufacture, distribute and market Marlboro cigaretes in Bangladesh.

"We are delighted to have Akij Group as our business partner in this important market This agreement will benefit both the companies and I am confident that our cooperation will support the success of Marlboro in Bangladesh going forward," said Mateo Pellegrini, President, Asia for PMI.

Local manufacturing and distribution of Marlboro will be handled by Dhaka Tobacco Industries, a division of Akij Group. Dhaka Tobacco Industries is the largest tobacco company in Bangladesh, producing approximately 20 billion cigaretes in 2006 for an estimated total cigarete market share of about 40 pc Its major trademarks include Castle. Navy and Sheikh. Currently it distributes cigaretes to over 460,000 retail outlets throughout the country.

"This is a great day for our company and our employees. Manufacturing and distributing Marlboro will allow us to offer the adult consumers of Bangladesh the world's leading international cigarete brand and will provide a tremendous opportunity for the Akij Group and, in particular, our subsidiary Dhaka Tobacco Industries," said Sk. Nasir Uddin, Chairman, Sk. Akijuddin Limited.'

Philip Morris International, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, held a 15.4% share of the international cigarete market in 2006. Its brands, led by Marlboro and L&M, are sold in over 160 countries around the world. Philip Morris International is an operating company of Altria Group, Inc. For more information see www.philipmorrisinternational.com

Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Akij Group was founded in 1950. Akij Group has subsidiaries in various industries such as tobacco, jute, cement, printing & packaging, food & beverage and textiles, generating employment for more than 44,000 people. For more information, see www.akij.net

AFP, New York

Global investors will be watching nervously for signs of contagion from the US housing meltdown and a credit squeeze in coming days, even after a broad stock markets rebound over the past week from recent turbulence.

Major markets posted healthy gains over the past week after central banks stepped up their actions to keep credit flowing amid fears of a widening crisis involving subprime or "junk" US mortgage loans.

Wall Street's blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 2.29 percent in the week to Friday while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 2.31 percent and tech-led Nasdaq composite added 2.86 percent, recouping a portion of the hefty losses earlier this month.

London's FTSE rallied 2.57 percent, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 jumped 1.74 percent and the Paris CAC 40 rocketed 3.84 percent in value.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei index surged 6.39 percent and the benchmark Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong leapt 12.43 percent

Yet many investors are still reeling from the plunge earlier this month and remain concerned that the credit problems emanating from the US housing market slide has yet to be played out

"Global credit markets are in the midst of a liquidity crisis driven by uncertainty, fear and mistrust," said Sal Guatieri, economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.

"Due to rising default rates, investors have lost confidence in a broad range of debt obligations linked to US subprime mortgages, causing them to shun many borrowers, re-price risk higher, and sell all but the safest of assets."

Because the loans from US subprime mortgages were packaged into securities sold to banks, funds and others globally, it remains unclear who is holding the bad loans, Guatieri said.

"The stress in the US subprime mortgage market has spread to other countries and other debt classes, including the usually liquid and safe overnight interbank and commercial paper markets. Unsure of who is holding toxic loans, banks have balked at lending even to one another for just one day," he said.

But he said the credit squeeze will cause some economic damage and "has the potential to cause a recession if it leads to a broader sustained credit crunch."

Paul Sheard at Lehman Brothers said shocks have reverberated through global markets and it remains unclear how much impact this will have.

"Questions remain. Do these shocks presage a serious and prolonged downturn in the US economy that will spill over to the rest of the global economy, perhaps as part of a multiyear adjustment of global imbalances?" he said.

Sheard said he sees the expansion continuing globally "but the risks of the gloomier outcome have risen."

Some analysts say that current share price levels represent a great buying opportunity for investors. "European equities still look atractive," said ABN Amro analyst Ian Richards.

"Despite the plentiful headlines surrounding US subprime mortgage problems, US economic prospects look robust," he added.

Al Goldman at AG Edwards said markets appear to have undergone a healthy correction.

"We believe the recent sharp decline was a normal, albeit very unpleasant, correction in a still ongoing bull market," the market strategist said.

"Stocks were overdue for a normal 10 percent correction, and the subprime mortgage/credit market debacle provided a very valid excuse. The economic positives remain corporate earnings, the labor market, personal income and no inflation problems."

Looking ahead, markets will get key US economic data including a report Monday on existing home sales, a new estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product Wednesday and personal income and spending on Friday.

But analysts say these reports will reflect past activity before the credit squeeze, so may offer few clues on future trends.

More significant may be remarks due from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke Friday on housing and monetary policy, which could provide clues on the economic outlook and the Fed's next moves.

"There is litle doubt that the market is building in a rate reduction at the September 18 (Fed interest rate) meeting with a bold minority opting for a 50 basis point cut," said Larry Wachtel at Wachovia.

"Of course, in the three weeks between now and then a lot can happen. So, the word on the Street is to stay loose and always be aware of the exit signs."

AFP, Harare

A drop in the monthly inflation rate may have been greeted with sighs of relief by the Zimbabwean government, but analysts and consumers have seen litle evidence that the economy has turned a corner.

After suppressing inflation data since May, the central statistics office announced last week that while the annual rate had hit a new high of 7,634.8 percent, month-on-month inflation in July was 31.6 percent, a fall of 54.6 percentage points on the June rate.

Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said the figure vindicated the government's imposition of price cuts in late June which effectively forced businesses and retailers to halve their tariffs.

But with shelves bare of everyday commodities such as cooking oil and sugar, most Zimbabweans find themselves paying well above the official rate on the black market where the decline in the official inflation rate is irrelevant

"The ordinary consumer is paying more than the actual price. This is the real inflation, not the inflation they show on graphs," said Daniel Ndlela, an economist with Zimconsult "The said deceleration is only good for those who want to believe their own lies."

Ndlela said there was evidence of crisis everywhere, citing an example of people who were lined up at a hardware store to buy cement at the government price of 150,000 dollars (0.75 US dollars) per 50 kilogrammes.

"The queue resembled a desperate situation of people trying to enter Rufaro (in Harare) stadium to watch a popular soccer match," he said.

The prospective buyers were not "building homes or anything, but they will just re-sell the same bag at 1.5 million around the corner. That is real inflation, not what we hear."

Lucky Mapfumo, a 23-year-old University of Zimbabwe medical student, said a slowdown of the inflation juggernaut meant litle if there was nothing to buy.

"I have plenty of money on me, but I can not buy anything because there is nothing in the shops," said Mapfumo.

"We heard the government reduced prices, but I don't remember the last time I had bread and now we hear that inflation is slowing down."

Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd. arranged a specialised panel meeting with the prominent specialised physicians of Bangladesh on 'The rational use of 1st Line Antihypertensive Agents' at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Aug 22.

Welcome notes were given in the ceremony by Dr. Pinaki Bhatacharya, Chief Operating Officer of Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Prof. Mohammed Tahir, Vice-Chancellor, BSMMU was present as the special guest and Prof. Md. Ridwanur Rahman delivered the main speech as the key speaker in the ceremony. Prof. Dr. A. K. M. Rafique Uddin, head of the Dept of Medicine, DMCH was present as chairperson. Prof. Dr. Munir Uddin Ahmed was the chief guest of the meeting. The speakers and participants discussed about the use of 151 line antihypertensive agents. They emphasised on after considering age, race, sex and cardiovascular complications 1st line antihypertensive agents should be Thiazide-type diuretics.

Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd. launched Thalidon™, preparation of Chlorthalidon as first time in Bangladesh which is a Thiazide-type diuretics. At the end Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, Managing Director of Popular Pharmaceuticals Ltd. gave thanks to all the guests.

AFP, Otawa

Canada said on Saturday it would give 45 million dollars (42 million US) in extra aid to fund health and community development in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar.

"Today's contribution will build on previous successes by supporting projects aiming to enhance health services and community development in Kandahar, one of the provinces in greatest need of our assistance," said development minister Beverley Oda in a statement

"Canada's new government is proud to stand beside the Afghan people as they strive to build beter lives for themselves and secure a beter future for their children."

The projects to be funded by the new aid add to a 200- million-US dollar package that Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in February to boost rural development and pay teachers' and health workers' salaries, the statement said.

Canada's conservative government also announced in July aid worth more than 28 million US dollars to enforce the rule of law in the war-torn country.

Canada is among the foreign nations taking part in a NATO peacekeeping force, with troops patrolling Afghanistan since the US-led invasion that ousted the hardline Islamic Taliban regime in 2001.

It has 2,500 troops in the south of the country. Since 2002, 69 of its soldiers have been killed there, including 25 this year, as the international force faces a violent insurgency by pro-Taliban fighters. Opposition parties have accused Harper's government of focusing excessively on military operations and neglecting reconstruction.

AFP, Riyadh

Saudi Telecom (STC) announced on Saturday it will bid to acquire 26 percent of Kuwait's third mobile company, which is expected to start operations early next year.

The Saudi company, which enjoys a monopoly over landline services in the kingdom in addition to its vast mobile-phone market, will present its bid before the deadline of September 7, SPA state news agency reported.

"This is a chance to continue Saudi Telecom's policy of pressing with foreign expansions, and to enhance the possibilities for operational consolidations in the Gulf region," STC's chairman Mohammad al-Jasser said, according to SPA.

A law to establish the new mobile company in Kuwait has set aside 24 percent for state institutions, 50 percent to be sold to citizens in an Initial Public Offering (IPO), and the rest to go to a core investor. Kuwait has two mobile operators, Mobile Telecommunications Co (MTC), established in 1983, and National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya), which started operations in 1999.

In June, STC announced it will acquire a strategic 25 percent stake in Malaysia's Maxis Communications in a deal worth 3.05 billion dollars.

STC was partially privatised in 2002. Since that year, it has been competing in the mobile telephone market with Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates.

AFP, Tehran

Iran, OPEC's second largest oil producer, said on Saturday it does not foresee any change in the cartel's output ceiling being decided on at the September 11 meeting in Vienna.

"It seems that the current OPEC production is enough and that at the next meeting the current ceiling will be kept," caretaker Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. On August 13, a day after Nozari's appointment by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who had replaced the oil minister in a surprise decree, a ministry official told AFP that Tehran's policy towards OPEC would not change.

In one of his final statements as oil minister, Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said last month that Iran firmly opposed a hike in OPEC's crude oil output to keep oil prices down.

There had growing calls from consumers for an increase in production after the price of crude rose to record highs of just under 80 dollars a barrel.

However Vaziri Hamaneh atributed surging oil prices to political concerns and a shortage of petrol in the United States during the summer holiday season, and said they were unrelated to OPEC quotas.

At its last regular meeting in March, OPEC decided to keep its official production quota at 25.8 million barrels of oil per day.