The New Nation - Internet Edition

Showcase Malaysia begins in city: Steps taken to export more manpower

Visitors at a stall on the opening day of three-day
Showcase Malaysia-2008 at a city hotel yesterday. NN
photo

Staff Reporter

The caretaker government is determined to solve the problems of Bangladeshi Labours working in Malaysia by negotiation with Malaysian Government, Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said while inaugurating "Showcase Malaysia-2008" at a city hotel yesterday.

He said Bangladesh has earned remittance more than 700 crore from the manpower working in Malaysia and the government has taken initiative to export more manpower to Malaysia in this year.

Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) in cooperation with High Commission of Malaysia in Dhaka have organised the three-day programme from March 20 to 22.

In 2006-07 fiscal year Bangladesh exported products of $16.90 million and imported $384.16 million. In the last year Malaysia invested $1337.495 million in Bangladesh through a number of projects.

Iftekhar said, Malaysia is our development partner. So it is an excellent opportunity for businessmen of both the countries to interact directly to materialise their business deals and also explore further areas of cooperation.

Success for economic cooperation between the two countries depends on degree of compatibility of their economies. Trade and commerce occupy an important position in Bangladesh-Malaysia bilateral relations. There is ample scope for further advancement of this relation to benefit both the countries. Bangladesh offers an excellent investment opportunity for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The investor from Malaysia can make best use of this offer, he said.

Dato' Abdul Malek Bin Abdul Aziz, High Commissioner of Malaysia in Bangladesh, said, "I am sure that the showcase would definitely benefit both the countries, particularly in expanding the trade and investment relation mostly driven by the public sectors. It is my fervent hope that BMCCI would continue to explore more opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relation between the two countries."

Md Abdul Karim, Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, was also present in the inaugural ceremony.

It may be mentioned that 39 companies including food item, furniture, universities of Bangladesh and Malaysia are participating in the showcase.

CA’s UK visit to widen ties

BSS, Dhaka

he visit of the Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed to UK would result in "wider and deeper Bangladesh-British cooperation across a wide range of subjects."

Adviser for foreign affairs Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, said prior to his departure from London for home yesterday, according to a message received here on Thursday.

Speaking to the media as the delegation was concluding its visit to London he observed, "The two fold purpose of the visit was to strengthen political and economic links to a major global power the United Kingdom and also to interact with the Bangladeshi community in Britain with a view to addressing some of their problems."

"The discussions with Prime Minister Gordon Brown were most productive," added the foreign adviser who was present at the meeting.

"They discussed both bilateral relations and cooperation on the international stage." As to the topics covered, the foreign adviser mentioned "British support for Bangladesh election process, problems faced by Bangladeshi caterers in the UK, bilateral trade with Britain and investments in Bangladesh, Climate Change, reforms of international institutions, structural impediments faced by LDCs, and save others."

Also present at the Downing Street meeting were Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK, Shafi U Ahmed, press secretary to the chief adviser Syed Fahim Ahmed and political counsellor Saida Muna Tasneem.

He said "there was genuine warmth in the dialogue between the inter locators, and a recognition of shared values and mutual need. The two governments issued a joint statement following the meeting, an agreed document that reflected the areas of agreed future cooperation.

Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury said apart from the meeting with the Prime Minister, the chief adviser also received the UK minister for development cooperation, Douglas Alexander in his hotel suite Tuesday and discussed mainly bilateral cooperation and post-Sidr reconstruction. Also the subject of British support to set up a catering institute in Bangladesh came up.

"There were several interactions with the community including the local Bangladeshi media at a 'Meet the Bangla Media' event at the high commission, and these helped resolve some outstanding issues, including that of dual citizenship almost immediately," Dr. Iftekhar Chowdhury further stated.

"Bangladesh and the UK truly need each other and our strategic dialogue will continue. This is a key element of our foreign policy" he concluded.

Truth Commission in a month: Law Adviser

UNB, Dhaka

Law Adviser Hassan Ariff yesterday said the much publicized Truth Commission will be constituted within a month.

The Truth Commission is reportedly designed to pardon the imprisonment of corrupts including businessmen and politicians provided they appear before it to confess their guilty and return their ill-got wealth to the government.

"This Commission can be termed as Accountability Commission," the Advisor told a weekly press briefing at his Ministry. He said draft of the proposed Commission is being prepared examining rules of similar Commissions that have been established in several other countries.

Asked if such commission would be an impediment to normal judicial system, Ariff said it would not create any impediment to or discrepancy with the judiciary.

Asked about formation of National Security Council, the Advisor said the matter is still at the discussion level. He said the Law Ministry has not yet received any draft of it for vetting from the Home Ministry.

He said if it is approved by the Council of Advisors, the National Security Council will make recommendations to deal with any national crises like maintaining law and order, food security etc.

In reply to a question, he said representatives of all stakeholders involved in the affairs of the state will be on the Security Council.

DSE ends trading in green

Staff Reporter

Trading in the Dhaka Stock Exchange ended the week yesterday in green. It was the third consecutive day when bulls overturned bears in daily trading.

At the weekend trading day, investors turned up with impressive buying throughout the day, helped the index indicator inside the green territory. At the end of they day's trading, the DSE general index successfully crossed the 3000 mark, while turnover also increased significantly.

An official from brokerage house said they had dealt with a lot of less popular scrips throughout the day, including some designated as Z category. The day's turnover board was dominated by cement, pharmaceuticals, mutual funds and textiles scrips as mentioned. "Investors are gambling their money on a variety of shares. This is because the most popular issues, which are banks, have finished declaring their dividends," said DSE Chief Executive Salahuddin Ahmed.

Dhaka stocks rose sharply from the opening bell, remaining steady throughout the day, to end higher.

The benchmark DGEN or general index advanced 39.07 points, or 1.30 per cent, to end on 3025.48. The DSI or all share price index finished at 2554.73, up 32 points, or 1.26 per cent.

The bourse's blue chip DSE-20 rose 32.27 points, or 1.44 percent, to end on 2258.86.

Turnover on the country's prime bourse surged to Tk 3.32 billion from 25,401,837 traded shares. Gainers beat losers 180 to 74, while two issues remained unchanged.

Square Pharma topped the turnover board, finishing 3.80 percent higher at Tk 3869.25. Beximco Pharma followed, ending on Tk 75.80, up 5.71 percent.

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh rose 4.36 percent to close at Tk 651.25. Lafarge Surma Cement, a G group issue, gained 7.41 percent to close at Tk 532.25.

6 yaba traders arrested

Staff reporter

The Detective Branch (DB) police yesterday arrested six yaba traders and recovered 2,100 tablets from their possession.

They also recovered Tk 3,31,0000(Three lakh and thirty one thousand) in cash and seized seven sets of mobile phones.

The DB Police got secret information that a yaaba trader along with his accomplices are selling yaaba tablets in different parts of Bijoynagar, Mogbazar, Uttara and Gabtoli areas in the city.

DB police made a raid and arrested Monjurul Hassan Rony and his associates Karim, Kamal, Uzzal, Rajan and Lokman Hakim.

A case was filed in Ramna Police Station.

Roundtable on PRSP, next budget: Long-term strategic plan for coastal people stressed

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a seminar yesterday emphasised the need for increasing allocation in the budget for the coastal people to help ensure their development.

"Budget should include allocation for employment generation scheme in the coastal area, vulnerable group feeding, allocation for infrastructure development and proper disaster management," Regulatory Reforms Commission (RRC) Chairman Dr Akbar Ali Khan told the seminar at the CIRDAP auditorium. Samannay, Community Development Centre (CODEC) and the Daily Prothom Alo jointly arranged the pre-budget seminar titled " PRSP and Next Budget: Share of the Coastal People" with Abul Momen in the chair. Samannay chairman Dr Atiur Rahman presented a keynote.

Dr Akbar Ali Khan suggested the caretaker government to consider holding dialogues with the political parties before adopting the national budget sans parliament.

He apprehended that the upcoming budget, that is to be presented to the nation without parliament in place for a second time during the present regime, would not be acceptable to the political parties if their suggestions were not taken into consideration.

" I fear that the next elected government will cancel the budget as some parties already have given such hints. Awami League presidium member Tofail Ahmed in an interview has spoken in this vein. So, I think, the Government should consider dialogues with the political parties on the budget," he said.

The prominent bureaucrat, who has also served as a top executive of the World Bank, also talked on the demerit of the donor-sponsored Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) as development policy for Bangladesh.

He observed that the present Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is "date-expired" for which it cannot create any impact on the country's development.

"We are now working with a PRSP which expired in 2007. I don't understand why the government is following the old PRSP, as the existing PRSP is no more applied."

" You can follow a strategy paper when its hypotheses remain realistic and proved true. But most of the hypotheses done by the present PRSP proved not true. It had said country's inflation would increase not above 5 per cent by 2007. Even the mentally retarded people of Pabna Mental Hospital will not agree to such hypothesis!" Akbar Ali said.

It had also been stated in the PRSP that total investment would increase at 26 per cent, which also proved unrealistic, he observed.

" Another ridiculous matter with the PRSP is that it said that pure drinking water would be available to 100 percent people of the country by 2007. Just give a look at the city. Where we are not able to provide necessary water, PRSP has said that pure drinking water would be available to 100 percent people by 2007. So how we can expect country's development following such a PRSP?" he wondered.

Now the country needs a realistic poverty-reduction strategy paper that will judge and address country's problems considering diversity of needs, region and ecology.

"I had worked with World Bank as executive representative of Bangladesh. I found that PRSP for all the countries are more or less same. PRSP for Bangladesh and PRSP for an African country carry no difference," he said.

Even poverty-reduction strategy cannot be same for all the people of a country. " People living in the coastal areas are facing one type of problems and mainland areas are facing another type of problems. Even you will find various dissimilarities between the problems of two coastal belts --Khulna-Barisal and Noakhali-Chittagong."

"Hence PRSP will have to be formulated as per the variations of problems of the respective regions. Otherwise PRSP like the present one cannot put any positive impact on the country's total development," he said.

The former adviser also said that there should be special adequate allocation for the people of coastal districts in the upcoming budget as last year's Sidr has caused a severe loss to public life there.

ACC gathering data, info about fertiliser corruption

UNB, Dhaka

The Anti-Corruption Commission is collecting data and information about corruption fertilizer sector and irregularities in appointment of dealers.

"There is a process in place to collect data and information. We'll fix a way forward after receiving the data and information from our divisional and coordinated district offices," ACC director general (admin) Col Hanif Iqbal told a regular briefing yesterday while replying to a query regarding corruption and irregularities in the fertilizer sector.

His comments came when he was reminded the remarks made by ACC chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury two months ago that the Commission would look into alleged corruption regarding fertilizers and irregularities in appointment of dealers. Replying to a question, Hanif, also the Commission's spokesperson, said as part of ACC's efforts to deal with organizational corruption, the task of inquiry by a four-member special team has already begun into corruption and irregularities in Roads and Highways department under the Communications Ministry.

He said a room has already been allocated in the Sarak Bhaban for the use of the special team apart from appointing an important person for liaison. "Necessary files and documents are being summoned and where necessary employees are questioned and information are gathered."

Hanif hoped that they would have an idea within a month about the real progress of the inquiry.

About inquiry into corruption of the Bangladeshi Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the ACC spokesperson said after the submission of the primary inquiry report a deputy director has been appointed as inquiry officer who has already begun his works.

"He (inquiry officer) has collected some information and to do so, he questioned 2-4 individuals. And a questionnaire has been sent to a few embassy officials by post seeking some information and it's not possible to say anything more until we get back the questionnaire," he said.

He reminded that misuse of government property, losses to the national exchequer through abuse of power, misappropriation of funds, breach of financial disciplines and other financial irregulars would be inquired.

About examining the draft proposal of the Truth Commission, Hanif said the draft proposal is under the consideration of the Commission and with its remarks it would be sent to the appropriate authority at an appropriate time.

Replying to a question, he said he does not know how long it would take for the Commission to examine the draft proposal.

In reply to a question about the investigation report on the Niko

graft case against detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and others, Hanif declined to disclose the names of the persons against whom submission of charge sheet has been recommended saying that without completion of scrutiny by the Commission the names and numbers cannot be disclosed.

When asked that the name of the incumbent Home secretary is there in the investigation report, he said, "I don't know. At this stage, it's not possible for me to give the names and numbers."

To a questioner, he said filing a case against 13 persons, including former and incumbent Dhaka Education Board official, does not mean that the Commission has begun inquiring graft in the education sector as part of ACC's fight against organizational corruption. "It was an investigation into a specific corruption."

UK offers Tk 700 cr to develop English language skills

Staff Reporter

The UK will provide £50 million (approximately Taka 700 crore) for a programme called "English in Action." This 9-year programme is expected to significantly increase the quality of education for 25 million people, contributing to economic and social development in the country.

Shahid Malik, the UK Minister for International Development, said: "In an increasingly globalised world, having a workforce with good English language skills is a definite advantage. It can help people get better paid jobs and improve the chances of poorer people lifting themselves out of poverty.

"Ordinary Bangladeshis have the desire and ability to change their lives for the better and the UK is proud to work with the Government to give them the chance to do that. Our two countries enjoy a good relationship based on a shared history and a vibrant Bangladeshi community in the UK. I am glad that we are able to support economic and social progress for the poorest people in Bangladesh and ensure they have a brighter future."

English in Action is an innovative and comprehensive programme that will target a number of different ages and groups. It will provide teachers at primary and secondary level with a firm foundation for teaching English; and it will offer opportunities for using and practising English in a variety of economic and social contexts. By raising the standard of English language, the programme will also address a major skills gap in the workforce and will help the country become more competitive in both internal and international labour markets.

English in Action will make use of rapidly expanding mobile phone technology in Bangladesh It will use television and radio to stimulate interest and debate, and to reach the maximum number of people with appropriate learning programmes. It will also provide a wide range of supportive printed and audio learning materials which will be available to a wide range of learners.

Local govt polls in April or May likely

Staff Reporter

The Election Commission (EC) wishes to hold the local-government elections at a convenient time at the end of next month or middle of May if possible.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda said this while addressing a training programme on voter list with photographs and national identity (ID) cards at Shilpakala Academy in Goalanda Upazila under Rajbari district yesterday.

"We want to hold polls to four city corporations. We also want to hold election to Dhaka City Corporation before the national polls," he said.

The CEC, however, said that the EC is also considering whether the Upazila and national elections could be held together. "If it is held together, the elections would be completed with same manpower and cost," he observed. The meeting, chaired by Rajbari Deputy Commissioner Mahfuzur Rahman, was also addressed, by Brig Gen (Retd) Shah Atiqur Rahman, Acting Police Super Mahfuzur Rahman, District Election Officer Rakib Uddin Mondal and Goalanda Upazila Nirbahi Officer M Moniruzzaman.

Shamsul Huda reiterated that the national elections would be held by the end of 2008 anyway and said the first target of the EC is to hold the national elections on completion of the work on voter list.

"After completion of the work on voter list, we will go for the general elections in accordance with our roadmap," he said.

The CEC cautioned that if anyone missed such national identity card, then he/she would have to face many hurdles in future.

Prothom Alo cartoonist released

Court Correspondent

The Prothom Alo cartoonist was yesterday discharged in the case filed in connection with drawing a derogatory cartoon in the name of Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM).

Metropolitan Magistrate Ismat Ara of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court Dhaka heard the case and discharged the accused Arifur Rahman, Cartoonist of the Prothom Alo.

Jane Alam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Tejgaon Thana filed the case on September 20 last year against the accused. Earlier, there was uproar in the country against the Daily for publishing the cartoon which allegedly tarnished the divine image of the Great Prophet of Islam.

Meanwhile, retired Brigadier Hannan Shah Thursday appeared before a court in the case filed against him with Tejgaon Thana of the city for holding a meeting at the graveyard complex of former President Ziaur Rahman violating Emergency Power Rules 2007.

An application was filed on his behalf seeking permission to appear before the court in the case through a lawyer, while Additional Chief Metroplitan Megistrate (ACMM) Golam Rabbani hearing the petition fixed April 13 to pass order in the matter.

UK urged to relax immigration policy for chefs: Flow of Bangladeshi workers to KSA smooth: Iftekhar

Staff Reporter

Foreign Advisor Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury claimed that Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia are not facing any unusual hardship from the local law enforcing authorities.

He, however, dismissed the notion that the sending of Bangladeshi workforce to Saudi Arabia suffered a jolt. He was addressing a press briefing yesterday at the Foreign Ministry in the capital.

"This is not true that outflow of workers has slowed down," Dr Iftekhar said.

According to him, Bangladeshi workers are going to Saudi Arabia "uninterrupted" with jobs.

He informed that total 47,737 Bangladeshis went to Saudi Arabia till March 19 of this year. Some 21,598 workers went to Saudi Arabia in January 19, and 285 in February and 5515 went till March 19, 2008. On the other hand, Dr Iftekhar Ahmed hoped that the British Government would relax its newly announced point-based immigration policy to allow Bangladeshi chefs to work in popular curry restaurants in the UK.

Iftekhar said some 10,000 to 12,000 curry restaurants mostly run by Bangladeshis contribute $4 billion to the economy of the United Kingdom and the British Government is aware of it. "There is a mutual benefit on board," he noted.

"Now, if it could be proved that Bangladeshi cuisine of 'chicken, curry and masalla' is a specialized art and it cannot be prepared by Polish chefs, there is a chance of sectoral exemption of the immigration policy," he said.

Already, he added, some problems emerged in Scotland for shortage of staff in curry restaurants. Around 5 lakh Bangladeshi-British are living in the UK and a major part is involved in the traditional restaurant business.

Tk 1.55 b for DU dev projects

BSS, Dhaka

The Ministry of Education has approved various development projects of Dhaka University worth about Taka 1.55 billion.

Talking to BSS here yesterday, DU Director of Planning and Development Zahirul Haque said DU got the approval for implementing a series of development projects on March 17.

The ministry has already sent all the projects to the planning commission for final approval and release of money, he said. Of the total amount, Taka 403.9 million will be spent for construction of a 10-storey residential hall for the male students and Taka 292.4 million for completion of a 10-storey twin hall for the female students on the campus.

Zahirul Haque said money to be spent for other approved development projects include Taka 286.2 million for a 12-story residential building for senior teachers and officials, Taka 102 million for constructing 3rd and 4th floors of the Mukarram Hossain Bhaban, Taka 22.8 million for building 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of an extension building for 128 female students of Rokeya Hall and Taka 118.1 million for constructing another extension building for the Shahnewaz Hostel for 500 students.

Besides, he said, Taka 25 million will be spent for constructing a pre-engineered building for covered gymnasium, Taka 118.8 million for a 5-storey building with 10-storey foundation at TSC, Taka 2 million to buy computers for students, teachers and researchers and Taka 9.5 million to buy a generator as per the approval of the ministry.

The ministry also approved the projects involving Taka 17.5 million for extension of the DU Medical Centre, Taka 2.5 million for an ambulance, Taka 5 million for preparing a master plan of DU campus, Tk 1 rpt One million for miscellaneous expenses and Taka 140.7 million for cost escalation.

Zahirul Haque also said that the planning commission would approve the projects very soon as the Chief Adviser asked the authorities concerned to implement these development works as soon as possible. "These approved projects will be implemented within the next three years," he said.

On the other hand, the DU authorities have already received Taka 67.5 million from the University Grants Commission (UGC) including Taka 25 million for students' food, Taka 12.5 million to buy new vehicles and Taka 30 million for sports and entertainment.

The UGC recently approved two projects of Taka 300 million for equipment and Taka 150 million for repair and renovation works. Both the projects are now at the planning commission for final approval and release of money, Zahirul Haque said.

He said the Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd recently donated Taka 100 million for constructing a centre of excellence for the Arts and Social Sciences faculties. The Japan government has given Taka 100 million to build another centre of excellence for the Science faculty, he added.

Vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Professor SMA Faiz at a press briefing on the campus yesterday expressed his satisfaction over a series of development works taking place simultaneously on the campus.

"The government as well as the Chief Adviser are always very much sincere with providing help and assistance to the university," he said.

Clinton first lady diary

Hillary Clinton

Agency, Washington

More than 11,000 pages of schedules detailing Hillary Clinton's daily activities as first lady have been released by the US National Archives.

The move follows months of pressure from freedom of information groups.

The campaign team for Democratic rival Barack Obama was also keen to see if the papers backed Mrs Clinton's claim of experience gained during that time.

The records show she kept busy during the Monica Lewinsky crisis but, critics say, leave many questions unanswered.

In campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs Clinton has said her years with husband Bill in the White House would help equip her to be president.

She has claimed hands-on involvement in foreign policy areas including Northern Ireland and Kosovo.

Critics will be scrutinising the schedules closely to see whether or not they produce evidence to support Mrs Clinton's assertions of foreign policy and national security experience.

Barack Obama has challenged Mrs Clinton's claims to experience.

Mrs Clinton has been accused of seeking to delay the papers' release while making her bid for the White House.

More than one-third of the 11,046 pages of schedules, covering the period from 1993 to 2001, have parts blacked out. Archivists said it was to protect the privacy of third parties. Entries may also have been blacked out for national security reasons.

According to records for the week in January 1998 in which the news about her husband's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky came out, Mrs Clinton had a packed schedule.

She gave speeches, attended a black tie dinner and appeared by her husband's side at an education event.

Clinton's annual State of the Union address was that same week.

The papers also detail Mrs Clinton's activities at the time of the Whitewater investigation, although her diary for 26 January 1996 - the day she was questioned before a federal grand jury - says "no public schedule".

The Clintons were eventually cleared of acting illegally in the Arkansas land deal known as Whitewater.