The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Students of Eden Women's College and Dhaka College Saturday staged demonstrations protesting the postponement of English comprehensive examination again by the National University (NU).

The NU authorities on Friday night postponed the English comprehensive examination of BA Honours part-2 course scheduled for Saturday and Sunday due to leakage of question papers. Students of both the colleges came out on to the streets and vented their angers by blocking the Mirpur-New Market road for two hours from 10:30am.

The agitating students complained that it takes nine years' time instead of scheduled four years to complete the four-year honours course due to session jam caused by such unexpected incidents and decisions. "We're the examinees of session 2006, but we couldn't yet complete the course," an angry student alleged.

Shops and other business establishments in New Market area were shut down as well as many vehicles seen stranded during the blockade. However, no untoward incident was reported.

Earlier, on November 11, the National University authorities postponed the examination for the same subject due to question paper leakage.

Staff Reporter

Readymade Garments (RMG) export is expected to reach US$11 billion in current Fiscal Year 2007-08, said President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury.

"Overcoming export downfall in the earlier few months in this fiscal year, the sector has come up with a vital escalation in the middle. Despite growing competition in coming days, we expect to cross US$ 11 billion export target in this year," he said.

However, in coming two to three years, RMG export revenue is expected to reach US$ 15 to 18 billion, he added.

He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of four-day long garments related machineries exhibition 'Garmentech Bangladesh-2008', started yesterday in the city at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.

Over 200-machine manufacturing companies from 30 different countries, including the host country, are participating in the exhibition to showcase their latest products related to RMG sector.

Addressing as chief guest, BGMEA President said that the Bangladeshi RMG industries have to well equip themselves with latest mechanical technologies in order to cope with growing global challenges.

"Our business competitors, like India, China, Pakistan, Vietnam has adopted state-of-art technologies to enhance their productivity, ensure timely delivery and secure quality production in their RMG sector. To sustain our leading status as garment product exporters in coming days, we have to mechanize ourselves," said the BGMEA President.

On the occasion, he urged the machine manufacturers to set-up spare parts industries in Bangladesh. According to him, this would help both Bangladesh as well as the mother manufacturer company.

"As a number of automobile companies are successfully producing spare parts in Bangladesh for their mother companies, RMG machine manufacturers should also take the advantage," he added.

He also advised them to train local RMG workers to ensure maximum outcome from their latest equipment.

Terming Bangladesh as a major RMG machineries market, he asked the manufacturer companies to give special attention and compensations.

Supporting BGMEA President, President Bangladesh Knitwears Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Muhammad Fazlul Hoque advised multinational machine manufacturers to take advantage of Bangladeshi RMG machine market by relocating their industries.

Secretary General of Japan Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JBCCI) AKM Moazzem Hussain, Chairman Zakaria Trade and Fair International (ZTFI) Zakaria Bhuiya also attended the session.

Besides Bangladesh, companies from USA, EU, Canada, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India and Malaysia have set-up their stalls in the fair.

Exhibition will remain open everyday from 11:00am to 7:00pm till January 15, 2008.

AFP, London

Benazir Bhutto's niece described as "dangerous" the idea that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) must be led by a member of the family in an interview published Saturday.

Fatima Bhutto, 25, is still seen by some in Pakistan as a potential heir to the family dynasty, although her cousin, Bhutto's son Bilawal, was named PPP co-chairman after his mother's assassination on December 27.

Fatima told the Times newspaper in London that she might be interested in a career in politics, although would not be "a symbol" for anyone, and denounced the PPP as "desperate to cash in on her (Benazir's) blood".

"It's become in a sense the family business, like an antique shop where it's just 'So and So and Sons,' and then grandsons and great grandsons. It just gets handed down," she said.

"The idea that it has to be a Bhutto, I think, is a dangerous one.

"It doesn't benefit Pakistan.

"It doesn't benefit a party that's supposed to be run on democratic lines and it doesn't benefit us as citizens if we think only about personalities and not about platforms."

At a London press conference earlier this week, Bilawal strongly denied a suggestion from a journalist that his role had been handed down to him "like some piece of family furniture".

Fatima's father was Benazir's younger brother Murtaza, killed in mysterious circumstances in Karachi 12 years ago while Benazir was in power.

Her side of the family was subsequently locked in a feud with Benazir, but joined in the mourning after the former premier's assassination.

UNB, Dhaka

Country's steel and re-rolling millers are facing tough times as raw materials of the products shot up on the international market, thereby adversely affecting the housing sector. Moreover, the duty enhancement in the last budget has added to their production cost, which ultimately led to an abnormal price hike of MS rod and iron-bar on the domestic market, industry sources said. According to the sources, at present the 40-grade MS rods are selling on the markets at Tk 46,000 per ton while the 60-grade ones at Tk 55,000-60,000 per ton.

A year back, the 40-grade MS rod was selling at Tk 40,000 per ton while the 60-grade rod's price was Tk 52,000 per ton. This price rise has led to a major debacle for the country's real-estate sector that has to account extra expenses on the budgeted construction cost.

Bangladesh Re-rolling Mills Association General Secretary Sheikh Masadul Alam Masud blamed the duty enhancement in the country's present fiscal budget and sudden increase of the raw materials' prices internationally for the present crisis on the domestic steel market.

He said the caretaker government in the current budget enhanced the import duty on melting and re-rollable scraps and the sponge iron which are used as row materials in the steel and re-rolling mills for producing MS rods and iron bars.

The duty was doubled to 10 percent from the previous rate of 5. Similarly, the price of the raw materials was also increased on the international market to US$ 370 from US$ 240 per ton. Interestingly, Masud said, raw material-exporting countries depreciated the value of US dollars that put extra pressure to push up the raw material prices on the international market.

"Now, we have to import our raw materials at 30-40 percent higher rates than that of last year's price," Masud told UNB.

There are about 100 steel mills and more than 250 re-rolling mills in the country which annually produce about 20 lakh tons of MS rods and steel-bars to meet the growing demand from the real-estate and construction sector.

But facing such a difficult situation, Masud claimed that about 70 steel and re-rolling mills have already been closed down across the country.

He said in addition to the international market's odd situation, the steel and r-rolling millers have been facing some difficulties domestically as well.

Particularly, the importers of the raw materials now get only three days time to release their products from the port while previously the time was minimum 15 days.

Now the shippers start imposing surcharge on container stay at the port whenever it goes over more than three days.

In that case, the surcharge is imposed at 3 dollars for 20-foot container and 6 dollars for a 40-foot container per day. Moreover, the container charge has also worldwide gone up, which also contributes to increase in the production cost for the millers.For last couple of years, the prices of MS rods and steel-bars have been continuingly rising in the domestic markets.

Against this backdrop, the previous BNP-led alliance government waived all kinds of duties (about 32 percent) on the import of the steels' raw materials in the 2004-2005 fiscal when price of per-ton 40-grade MS rod was about Tk 20,000-22,000.

But the present caretaker government re-imposed the import duty, charging 5 percent on the import of melting scraps and re-rollable scraps.

BSS, Dhaka

Dhaka Water And Sewerage Authority (WASA) earned Taka 80 crore more from January to November last year compared the same period in the previous year.

The total earning of the WASA during the months was Taka 310 crore of which Taka 281.58 crore came as revenue, Dhaka WASA sources told BSS here on Saturday.

During the present caretaker government, the volume of water production by WASA has increased on an average by 15 crore liter per day.

Presently, Dhaka WASA is producing 168 crore liter of water per day through four water purification plants and 474 deep tube wells.

In last one year, WASA took initiatives to install seven new tubewells and re-install another seven deep tubewells. Another five crore liter of water would be added per day in the total production by March next after operationalisation of those tubewells, the sources said. The government has decided to implement two different projects at a cost of Tk 1,100 crore to produce additional 82.50 crore liter of water daily.

Of the projects, the 'emergency rehabilitation and expansion' approved by the last ECNEC meeting in November will help increase per day production by 60 crore liters. The total cost of the project was estimated at Taka 271 crore which will be provided from the government's own fund.

The approval of the project document of the other one titled, 'Sayedabad Water Purification construction phase-2' is in the final stage. The estimated cost of the project is Taka 829 crore which will add 22.50 crore liter of water production per day.

A gas generator of 3.4 MW power generation capacity was set up for the Sayedabad water purification plant which saves Taka 50 crore of electricity bill.

The loan agreement of a project for re-establishment of 3,841 km long water pipe line to improve the water supple system was signed in December. The project will be implemented at a cost of Taka 1,456 crore with the financial help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

A total of 26 city canals were cleared for taking off the rainwater and storm-surge from the capital to help redress the water-logging problem. There was no water logging seen at the western part of Dhaka during the August flood as the present caretaker government took various steps including improvement of the pumping system last year.

The regulatory pond reservation project, being implemented adjacent to the Kalyanpur storm water pumping station would be completed in June next at a cost of Taka 204 crore.

In last one year, new organogram of WASA, service rules, water connection rules, sewerage tax rules and general provident fund rules were approved to improve the management of the water service delivery organisation, the sources said.

UNB, Dhaka

Rise of temperature in the last two days only raised a false alarm about an early departure of the winter this year, as weather experts wouldn't agree to such presumption. Temperatures rose by 1-3 degree Celsius during night and 1-5 degrees during daytime above normal temperature in last two days. "It's true that temperature rose a bit but we will not say about early departure of winter," Met Office Director Samerandra Karmakar told UNB on Saturday. He said the temperature would fall after 3 to 4 days and the winter continue till the first week of February.

Meteorologist Sanaul Huq said temperature is likely to fall from tomorrow night.

Asked about the reason behind the erratic behaviour of the winter season, they said because of the presence of a low in the New Delhi-to-Bangladesh belt, wintry wind is being obstructed from the northwest direction.

Meanwhile, most people in Dhaka City were seen taking off their warm clothes for last few days due to rise in day temperature.

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a roundtable yesterday hoped the general elections would be held according to the roadmap set by the Caretaker Government, which is the main duty of the government.

Centre for Democracy and Peace Studies organised the roundtable on "Representative Government and Democracy" chaired by Alamgir Mohiuddin, Editor of the daily Naya Diganta at the National Press Club in the city yesterday.

Prof Moniruzzaman Mia, former Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University (DU), columnist Sadek Khan, DU teacher Dr Nazmul Alam Bhuiyan, among others, addressed the roundtable moderated by Dr Abu Bakar Siddique.

They said the Caretaker Government did not properly reform the Election Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Service Commission and University Grants Commission. The government only restructured the commissions.

They said the Government can not remove corruption from the society only by punishing the corrupts. The preventive measures -like creating public awareness, giving the moral education- are needed to be taken by the government and concerned authorities, they added.

Prof Moniruzzaman Mia said the people of the country want a democratic system. Democracy in the country is like a sun under the cloud.

The government has only legitimate ground is that they came in power in the context of political unrest to protect the country from a civil war, he said.

According to the Constitution of the country, the caretaker government has no job, other than helping the election.

Sadek Khan said the development policy of the country is needed to be changed with the aim of creating the employment opportunities.

Alamgir Mohiuddin said moral education should be enhanced among the students, as only the education can prevent the people from the corruption.

BSS, Dhaka

A better wheat production is likely as the farmers cultivated the crop on more land this year than the previous seasons and the plants are growing well everywhere in the country's northern region due to favourable climatic conditions.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a target of producing 4,69,220 tons of wheat from 2,22,962 hectares of land during the current Rabi season in the 16 northern districts.

DAE sources said a total of 2,33,600 tonnes of wheat are expected to produce from 1,10,762 hectares in eight districts under Rangpur Agriculture Zone and 2,35,620 tonnes from 1,12,200 hectares in another eight districts under Rajshahi Agriculture Zone this time.

The sources said the departments concerned, including the DAE, the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation and the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, have taken special steps to make the programme a success.

The DAE fixed target for producing the wheat in the region could not be achieved during the last five consecutive seasons due to various reasons, including diversification of crop farming and less interest of farmers in cultivating the crop, the sources added.

During the last Rabi season, the DAE fixed the target for producing 4,91,507 tonnes of wheat from 2,84,108 hectares in the northern districts and the target was not achieved and the results were the same during the previous consecutive seasons.

Officials are expecting to achieve the fixed target of the current season as huge motivational activities had been conducted and the farmers were provided with quality wheat seeds, fertilizers and other necessary inputs for the purpose, the sources said.

"We are putting in our level-best effort for attaining the fixed target of wheat production this season as it has much demand among the consumers," Principal Scientific Officer of Regional Wheat Research Station Dr. Moznur Rahman said.

Sowing of the seeds has already been completed and the enthusiastic farmers are now busy in taking care of the growing wheat plants everywhere with a hope to get a better production, officials said.

BSS, Chittagong

Three persons were killed in separate accidents in the city and district yesterday, police and hospital sources said.

The dead were identified as Mohammad Helal, 16, son of Nurul Islam of Eidgah area of Cox's Bazar, Mohammad Badsha, 25, son of Alamgir of Sher Shah Colony under Bayezid Bostami thana and Nurul Hoq Chowdhury, 60, son of late Enamul Hoq of Zolarhat at DT Road under Phartali thana in the city.

Police said Helal was injured at a place near Shah Amanat Bridge under Karnaphuli thana in the city at 9 pm last night as he was hit by a passenger bus.

Local people rushed him to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where he succumbed to his injuries.

Badsha had been under treatment at CMCH with head injuries as a speeding truck hit him at Bayezid Bostami area yesterday afternoon. He died at the hospital at 7.30 am yesterday.

Nurul Hoq Chowdhury, who also received serious head injuries in a road accident in DT Road area on Friday evening and died at CMCH yesterday afternoon, sources said.

BSS, Dhaka

A total of 8,32,609 Bangladeshi workers were given immigration clearance to go abroad with employment till December 31, 2007 since the present caretaker government came to power.

Of which, more than five lakh 71 thousand workers were sent to different countries including Malaysia with employment, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry sources told BSS here yesterday.

Bangladeshis working abroad, a key source of economic stability, sent home a record of 6.57 billion US dollars in 2007 equivalent to Taka 45,683 crore. The record remittances also pushed up Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserve, the sources said.

The countries, where Bangladeshi workforce went include Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Libya, Kuwait, Singapore, Brunei, Jordan, UK, Italy, Mauritius, Lebanon and Ireland.

The sources said that with the timely action taken by the government new labour markets have been created in countries like South Korea, Poland, Canada, Rumania, Russia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Angola, Nigeria and South Africa. New labour market is likely to be opened up in Cyprus.

Expatriate Ministry sources further said that after a gap of 10 years, Malaysia started importing manpower from Bangladesh from October 22, 2006. And so far two lakh 45 thousand 16 workers went to Malaysia till December 31, 2007.

On average four hundred to seven hundred Bangladeshi workers have been going to Malaysia everyday although Malaysia had put a temporary ban on import of manpower.

The present government signed memorandum of understanding with some countries for export of manpower from the country.

The countries include, The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Qatar.

Dhaka and Seoul signed an agreement on the commencement of recruiting Bangladeshi manpower in South Korea under the country's new Employment Permit System (EPS) for foreign job seekers.

The deal styled 'Service Commitment Agreement was signed between Human Resources Department (HRD) of Korea and Bangladesh Overseas Employment Services Ltd (BOESL). However Korean language skill is a must for getting job there.

The government of Oman lifted a bar on recruitment of Bangladeshi workers after 12 years and expressed desire to recruit skilled workforce from the country.

The Omani minister for manpower Dr. Juma bin Ali bin Juma during his visit to Dhaka recently had announced the lifting of bar. Presently some 130,000 Bangladeshis are employed in the tiny oil rich Gulf State. Oman requires skilled manpower like doctors, engineers, technicians and other professionals.

The sources said that Bangladesh and Qatar on January 6 this year signed an additional protocol to recruit more workers especially skilled workforce from the country for the Gulf State.

Maymansingh Correspondent

A devastating fire gutted 54 shops including hard cash and valuable belongings worth about one crore taka at Rayer Bazar in Ishwarganj thana under the district on Friday night.

According to the local people, police and Fire Service's sources, the fire erupted from a jewelry shop at 1:00am and engulfed nearby 54 shops.

Hearing the news the Fire Service' workers of Ishwarganj and Kishorganj rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control after fighting for three hours.

Later, UNO Mostakim Billah Faruki, ASP of Gouripur Circle Abdur Rauf and OC Abdul Gani visited the area.

There were jewelries, cosmetics, plastics and stationery shops among the burned shops.

UNB, Savar

Jahangirnagar University Day 2008, marking its 37th founding anniversary, was observed on Saturday with holding of colourful programmes.

The JU campus wore a festive look as former and current students, employees, officers and teachers joined the programmes. JU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khandaker Mustahidur Rahman inaugurated the day's programmes in the morning.

A colourful rally was brought out from old Social Science premises and terminated at Muktamancha.

Addressing a meeting at Muktamancha, VC Mustahidur Rahman highlighted the JU's 37 years glorious history and hoped that it would be turned into a premier educational institution with combined efforts of all.

The programmes were rounded up with a commemorative discussion and a cultural function.