The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

President Professor Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed Sunday called upon the accountancy professionals to uphold the actual balance-sheet of country's larger financial and business establishment in order to increase government income.

"As you know, with the pace of globalization and emerging of Corporate Governance, the role of professional accountants are of paramount importance in keeping country's accountancy and auditing in the right track," he said addressing the 17th convocation of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) at Hotel Sonargaon.

Chaired by ICAB president M Farhad Hussain, the function was also addressed by Dhaka University vice-chancellor Prof Dr SMA Faiz and ICAB vice president Jamaluddin Ahmed.

Mentioning the social role and corporate social responsibility of the members of the accountancy profession, President Iajuddin said the accountancy and auditing profession are very closely linked with the economic scenario of a country.

"Through an integrated financial statement, prepared by professional accountants, we can get the picture of income and expenditure as well as assets and liabilities of an entity for decision making."

He hoped that the members of the ICAB, imbued with the sense of patriotic zeal, would demonstrate the highest ethical values in their respective field keeping national interest above everything else.

"You have completed an important chapter in your life and you are on the threshold of a brave and challenging new world… I'm confident, you are fully equipped to meet the challenges of the time," he said.

The President said since its inception, the ICAB has been playing important role for developing the professional efficiency of accountancy and auditing in the country. It also helps to streamline the mechanism of preparing financial statements of the private and public entities in Bangladesh.

"I have been informed that the efforts of the ICAB to bring about professionalism in the accountancy and auditing profession have always been held in high esteem by the local bodies and the international communities."

He said it is expected that compliance to the accounting and auditing Standards and Codes would equip the members of the ICAB to face the challenges of globalization.

He hoped that the chartered accountants would demonstrate the highest degree of personal honesty and integrity, social responsibility and commitment in discharging their duties imbued with the sense of patriotism.

The President advised the chartered accountants to try to groom and edify themselves as rational human beings and a productive member of the society. "Let us put our best endeavors to make our beloved country happy and prosperous," he said.

Later, the President distributed certificates among the recipients of Chartered Accountant Certificates.

Staff Reporter

The government and business community yesterday called upon all the volunteers to work in a co-ordinated manner in distributing relief goods in the cyclone-hit areas for better benefit to the destitute.

The government held a meeting with representatives from different business bodies and prominent businessmen of the country, from where the call was made.

The meeting tried to identify loopholes in the relief activities as well as to get an estimate on how much the business community could spend in this regard. The business leaders also assured to donate about Tk 20-25 crore relief materials at the meeting.

Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury, Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of Army Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury and FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain participated in the meeting.

Some businessmen, with their personal experience of relief operation, pointed out that relief materials were being distributed haphazardly for lack of coordination.

The Government side also stressed the same point, as people from various quarters were taking part in relief distribution without informing the local administration.

"Cyclone victims in some areas have got large quantity of relief and sold out the excess materials. On the other hand, the relief materials hardly reached some other areas," Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury told journalists following the meeting.

Gen Masud also admitted that lack of coordination even existed in some cases within the government. The relief goods are not going through one channel and these are hard to dispatch to some remote places, causing lack of coordination.

Replying to a question, he said the Government had a meeting with the foreign envoys and development partners in Bangladesh and requested them to channel their relief through the administration for better coordination.

Quoting a preliminary estimation of the Government, he said that the total damage by the cyclone would be as high as US$ 2.31 billion, including rural infrastructure, schools, crops and livestock.

Addressing the meeting, Finance Adviser Dr M A Aziz said the rural infrastructure would be developed again and new shelters also developed under short and medium term plans.

"It will cause budgetary pressure, but will be managed from three sources," he said.

He added that the additional expenditure would be met from foreign assistance, block allocation in the budget and, if necessary, by cutting ADP (Annual Development Programme) expenditure.

Inquired by the businessmen if the relief expenditures would be tax-exempt, the Finance Adviser explained that the amount to be contributed to the Chief Adviser's Relief Fund is exempted while the FBCCI president said that an individual contribution up to Tk 2.5 lakh is tax-exempt.

Explaining the outcome of the meeting Gen Masud said the business community's commitment at the meeting would be around Tk 20-25 crore in cash and kind (food, cloths and other materials).

The business leaders, however, informed that some trade bodies would hold meetings in a day or two to decide their contributions, which will add more to the amount.

FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain estimated that the cumulative figure to be contributed by the business community including banks and telecom companies would be no less than Tk 100 crore.

Large business houses as well as commercial banks will also have to take decisions through their respective Board of Directors. The businessmen also told the meeting that they were already conducting relief activities in their individual capacity.

Mir Nasir, who returned from the affected areas Saturday night, said it is difficult to reach relief materials to some remote places by road. "River routes will be better for such places… but one must have some time in hand."

He said the food crisis has been mitigated to some extent by now and what is essential now is to address the problems of clothes, shelters and water-borne diseases.

UNB, Dhaka

India is likely to announce duty-free access of some products from Bangladesh and other LDC members of SAARC by the year end, as they assured at the 13th meeting of the SAARC Committee on Economic Cooperation (SAARC-CEC).

"They (India) are working on it and the announcement in this regard is likely to come by the year end," Commerce secretary of Bangladesh Feroz Ahmed told a press conference at the Ministry of Commerce on Sunday.

All the commerce secretaries of SAARC member states attended the two-day meeting at Hotel Sheraton that concluded yesterday. The meeting was held after a gap of three years since the 12th SAARC-CEC meeting was held in Islamabad in 2004.

Apprising the meeting's outcome, Feroz Ahmed said India offered the trade preference unilaterally to Bangladesh and other LDC members while Indian officials assured that Bangladesh might get duty-free market access for a substantial number of products. He said India informed the meeting that they would unilaterally provide duty free access to the LDCs on items, which are not on the sensitive list, by the end of 2007. Furthermore, he said, they would also substantially reduce their sensitive list for the LDCs aimed at providing duty-free access on the items to be excluded from the sensitive list by end-2008.

Besides, a senior official who attended the meeting said, the SAARC-CEC decided that the Non-Least Developed Countries of SAARC would reduce the tariffs to 0-5 percent for imports from LDCs one year ahead by December 31 this year.

As per the SAFTA agreement, the non-LDCs were scheduled to reduce their tariff to 0-5 percent for the products of LDCs within a timeframe of three years beginning from the date of coming into force of the Agreement.

The SAFTA agreement came into force on January 1 last year and implementation of the tariff liberalisation became effective on July 1 the same year.

"Bangladesh is still utilising SAPTA (South Asia Preferential Trade Agreement) instead of SAFTA," said the official, replying to a question whether the SAARC member states were benefiting from SAFTA.

The businessmen of the region would prefer SAFTA since the beginning of next year as the SAFTA benefit by then would outnumber SAPTA facilities, he added.

The meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation instructed the sub-group on NTMs (Non-tariff Measures) to identify the NTM's/PTM's and recommend to the SAFTA Committee of Experts (CoE) for appropriate measures of their elimination.

The 3rd meeting of the sub-group on NTMs will be held in Kathmandu on 7-8 January 2008.

On the issuance of SAFTA Certificate of Origin, the meeting decided that all member states would keep SAARC Secretariat informed, on half-yearly basis, of all the certificates issued by each country. "This will facilitate monitoring of trade within SAARC under SAFTA."

It also noted that the SAFTA sensitive list should be brought down so that it can truly benefit the LDC's.

The meeting pointed out that on completion of the ongoing SAARC Study on Trade in Services, by end February 2008, member states would consider how to proceed on concluding an agreement on trade in services under SAFTA.

Regarding the Standards, the meeting endorsed the recommendation of the Standing Group on Standards, to establish South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) to be located on the BSTI premises in Dhaka.

A decision was also taken to organize the 8th SAARC Trade Fair in Colombo in 2008, and the 9th in Bhutan in 2009.

Bangladesh offered hosting the 2nd meeting of the Heads of the National Statistical Organizations of SAARC member states in February 2008.

As proposed by Bangladesh, the SAARC-CEC agreed to undertake a new project for Cooperation for the Development of SMEs in the region. Nepal's proposal for development of laboratory testing facilities at land customs station was also agreed upon.

The meeting also held discussions on the new and potential areas for economic cooperation and identified two new sectors-renewable energy and biotechnology-for cooperation among the SAARC members.

"We have also decided that Geneva-based Ambassador of SAARC countries will meet to evolve a common SAARC position on various issues under the Doha Round of negotiations," Feroz Ahmed said. Bangladesh will coordinate the group's work in Geneva.

A retreat of the Commerce Secretaries will be held in Colombo in the first half of 2008 to have a free exchange of views on all matters relevant to regional economic cooperation. There will be no fixed agenda for the retreat.

The meeting decided to hold the 14th SAARC-CEC meeting in second half of 2008 in India while the 3rd meeting of SAFTA Ministerial Council and its Committee of Experts (CoE) would also be held in India in the first quarter of 2008.

Staff Reporter

The High Court yesterday stayed the operation of a notice of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) asking detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to submit her wealth statement.

The stay order was issued four days after the High Court declared illegal an identical notice served on Khaleda Zia's arch rival former premier Sheikh Hasina.

A bench comprising Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury also directed the ACC and the Ministry of Home Affairs to explain within eight weeks why the notice should not be declared illegal.

The order came on a writ petition filed by the lawyers of Zia, also the chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The same bench last week declared illegal the ACC notice demanding the wealth statement of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, saying the anti-graft watchdog did not follow due process of law in notifying Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina had also challenged the legality of the ACC notice contending that it did not follow the set rules in asking for her wealth statement.

Both the ex-premiers are detained in separate sub-jails on the premises of the parliament complex and they challenged the ACC notices from behind bars.

On July 17, the ACC served notices on former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina asking them to submit their wealth statements.

In the notices the anti-graft watchdog asked the chiefs of BNP and Awami League to submit statements of their movable and immovable property to the ACC.

Khaleda Zia, the BNP chairperson, submitted her statement of wealth to the ACC on August 6, mentioning that she has property worth Tk 3.54 crore accumulated through seven sources of income, including government donation, life insurance, house rent, pension and other benefits of her husband, the slain president Ziaur Rahman.

Her wealth also includes a 1300cc Toyota car, two Toyota jeeps and one Nissan jeep.

Barrister Rafique-ul-Huq appeared for Khaleda Zia.Khaleda Zia was arrested on September 3 in connection with the GATCO scam case, while Hasina was detained on July 16. Both are facing with a number graft charges as part of a massive anti-graft campaign being spearheaded by the caretaker government under the emergency rule.

Staff Reporter

The death toll in the devastating fire at Rayerbazar slum Saturday night rose to six yesterday. Over 200 slum dwellers also received burn injuries and more than 1,200 shanties were gutted.

Fire Service and Mohammadpur thana police said they recovered five bodies during the night and another body was dug out from the debris Sunday morning.

Slum dwellers, however, claimed that after the fire incident, many others remained missing. As the fire gutted the entire slum, several thousands of slum dwellers had to remain under the open

Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) sources said among the bodies, three were male, two female and a child. As they were roasted alive, it was difficult to identify them.

Fire Services sources said the fire originated from a kitchen and later it spread out over the entire slum, which had over 1200 shanties.

They said 13 units of firefighters from various stations fought for about two hours to bring the fire under control.

Mohammadpur police said over 200 persons were injured. Many of them could not escape easily as the shanties were erected on poles in water. The injured persons were admitted to different hospitals in the area.

Police also apprehends that more dead bodies might be found under the debris.

Staff Reporter

Gano Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain called for a coordinated effort to face the national catastrophe that emerged from the severe cyclone and its aftermath in the south-western coastal belt of the country.

Leaders of the Forum made this call yesterday at a press conference at the National Press Club following four of its relief teams returned to the capital after visiting the cyclone affected areas. Dr Kamal Hossain said it was time for the Government to take a coordinated multi-purpose initiative to face natural catastrophe.

The country needs a strong coordinated relief distribution to save the cyclone hit people, he added. Dr Kamal said that the country needed to develop a comprehensive national strategy for protection from cyclone, tornado and tidal bore, as climate change threatens to aggravate future devastation from these sources.

He emphasised on continuing adequate supply of essential food items, drinking water, water purifying tablets, baby food, warm clothes, agricultural implements for cultivation, as many areas specially the char-lands were facing acute crises of these after the calamitous storm.

He also urged the NGOs and bank authorities to waive loans to the poor and refrain from collecting installments for the time being, as their income sources were totally destroyed after losing livestock and crops, they were facing destitution. Now the people need urgently debt relief and interest-free loans, he added.

Bangladesh will have to raise the issues of climate change and global warming at the Bali conference in Indonesia, as the issues threaten future devastation in Bangladesh, he added.

Replying to a question he said, arrival of the USA marine ships to provide humanitarian assistance for the victims was not a violation of the Constitution.

He said the armed forces from USA, Saudi Arabia and many other countries came forward to help the Bangladeshi people after the natural disasters in 1970 and 1991.

He urged all to come forward with the right approach to help in the relief work.

Presidium members of the party Adv Zahirul Islam, Pankaj Bhatracharyia, SM Altaf, general secretary Saifuddin Ahmed Manik, joint general secretary Adv Subrata Chowdhury, organising secretary Mostafa Mohsin Mantu and Mustak Ahmed, among others, were present at the conference.

Staff Reporter

Import of textile machinery as well as investment in Bangladesh marked a sharp fall this year due to unstable political situation in the country.

"Unstable political situation is prevailing… nobody knows when the election will be held. Investors are lukewarm about their investment in the country," export-marketing director of the Frankfurt-based VDMA Textile Machinery Association, Ranger Strauch, said this yesterday at a press conference at Hotel Sonargaon ahead of the 2nd German Textile Technology Symposium.

Industries Adviser Geeteara Safiya Choudhury is expected to inaugurate the two-day long symposium at Hotel Sonargaon on Monday.

VDMA Association is organising the symposium with support from the Bangladesh and German governments to showcase high profile German textile machinery.

More than 20 companies from Germany will be present with textile engineers and experts to explain and present the latest technology to further modernise the export-oriented textile mills.

Ranger Strauch informed that textile machinery, parts and accessories worth 59 million Euro were imported into the country from Germany in 2006. The amount will not exceed 54 million Euro this year.

Economic and Press Counsellor of the German embassy in Dhaka Holger Fraider replying to a query of The New Nation said the European GSP facility for Bangladeshi textile products has been 'misused' which compelled Germany to impose 12 per cent import duty on Bangladeshi products. "A large number of documents pertaining to the general system of preferences were falsified," he said.

"Somebody took advantage of the facilities. Therefore the German finance ministry imposed the 12 per cent duty," he added.

The official said Bangladesh government was expected to send a delegation to the European Union and Germany to resolve the issue.

Holger said Bangladesh will have to ensure quality of its textile products to survive in the European market as the EU is withdrawing restriction on Chinese import by the end of this year.

UNB, Dhaka

The government decided to lend Tk 130 crore from the fund of the Finance Ministry in soft credit to cyclone-stricken small traders and fishermen as well as for livestock and poultry for the revival of shattered livelihoods.

A regular weekly meeting of the Council of Advisers, chaired by Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, took the decision on the special lending scheme, as part of a massive post-cyclone rehabilitation programme. The Finance Ministry will disburse the funds through PKSF. The PKSF would operate the fund through micro-finance- providing organizations.

While thoroughly reviewing the relief and rehabilitation operations in the cyclone-battered southwestern region, the meeting was informed that pure drinking water is being supplied at Pathorghata with the help of diesel-run generator. Drinking water is being supplied in the remote water-scant areas from 35 new water sources.

UNICEF has provided 15,000 buckets with capacity to hold 20 liters of water at Pathorghata. A mobile water-treatment plant with capacity of purifying 2,000 liter-water per hour was sent to Bagherhat district this (Sunday) morning while two more plants were being dispatched in the evening to Pirojpur and Barguna districts.

Besides, the meeting approved a proposal on Bangladesh's ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities along with its reservations on two sections of the instrument.

Bagerhat Correspondent

A fishermen association Sunday claimed that some 3,000 fishermen were killed and 700 others went missing in Dublar Char following cyclone Sidr that battered the coastal belt of the country on November 15.

Dublar Char, which consists of six small islands was the first point hit by cyclone Sidr. It is part of Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest covering nearly 6,000 square meters.

Major (rtd) Zia Uddin, president of the Dublarchar Fishermen Group, disclosed this yesterday at a press conference at Bagerhat, 10 days after the cyclone disaster amidst general belief that the actual death toll must be higher than that of the official figure.

Zia said some 30,000 people, most of them fishermen, came to cyclone shelters at Dublar Char on the fateful night, but due to lack of accommodation, some 10,000 to 12,000 people were shifted to different channels inside the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

He said most of those people were killed by the storm.

Relief and Disaster Management Ministry put the overall death toll at 3,061 while the armed forces division at 3,199 so far.

Meanwhile, forest officials yesterday recovered a corpse of Royal Bengal Tiger from a canal inside the Sundarbans, which is an abode of about 100,000 to 150,000 deer, 500 Royal Bengal Tigers and over100, 000 monkeys and rare species of birds.

Rajshahi Correspondent

A Rajshahi court yesterday sentenced Lutfar Rahman, a close aide of Rajshahi City Corporation's (RCC) mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu and RCC Budget cum Accounts Officer, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for amassing illegal wealth and properties worth over Tk 24 lakh.

The Court also sentenced Lutfar's wife Nazma Rahman to three years RI.

The Court fined the couple with Tk 20.5 lakh and seized all their movable and immovable properties.

According to the judgement, Lutfar Rahman was given eight years RI and fined with Tk 15 lakh, in default to suffer one year more in jail under Section 27 (1) of Anti-Corruption Commission Act of 2004 and Section 109 of Penal Code.

He was jailed for another two years and fined with Tk 50,000, under Section 5 (1) E of Prevention of Corruption Act of 1947.

Lutfar's wife Nazma Rahman was awarded three years RI under Section 27 (1) of Anti-Corruption Commission Act of 2004 and Section 109 of Penal Code.

Sub-inspector Sirajum Monir of Boalia police station lodged the case on February 28 after Joint Forces arrested Lutfar on February 21.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigated the case and brought charges against the couple for possessing properties worth Tk 24,06,870 from illegal sources of income.

According to the charge sheet Lutfar and his wife were possessing wealth of around Tk 35 lakh. But Lutfar's legal income between 1996 and February 2007 was not more than Tk 11 lakh as his wife had no income.

Joint Forces seized different luxury households including an air conditioner, documents including nine deeds of landed properties and seven bank accounts from their house.

Lutfar joined RCC with a monthly salary of Tk 2000 in 1996. Later, he amassed the huge wealth, owned three multi-storied buildings, 7 plots of land in Rajshahi city, and two in Natore.

He, using influence of Minu used to lead a four-member syndicate to control different RCC projects.