The New Nation - Internet Edition

Govt raises rice price for domestic procurement

BUSINESS REPORT

The government will offer an incentive of Tk 1.25 per kg above its earlier fixed price for domestic procurement of rice to build up emergency stocks, a senior food ministry official said on yesterday.

The government set a target of procuring 1.2 million tonnes of rice from local millers by the end of August, before the annual flooding season begins in September.

Also the government needs the rice at its disposal to start cut-price rice sales among the poor people, including slum dwellers, from next week, food ministry officials said.

Since the domestic procurement drive began in April, after the country harvested a bumper "boro" rice crop of more that 17 million tonnes, the government has so far procured 698,000 tonnes of rice and 44,000 tonnes of paddy, at Tk 28 and Tk 18 a kg respectively.

The prices were still lower than prices at retail markets in the country, but higher than what most private buyers offer at the growers' level, officials said.

Farmers also get poor price because of control of the market by dishonest middle-traders, they said.

Sometimes we even do not get the price to cover production cost, a farmer said.

Recently the mill owners asked for a higher price for rice they sell to the government, citing higher market price, officials said.

"We have offered them an additional Tk 1.25 per kg as an incentive, hoping to make the procurement drive a complete success," Molla Waheduzzaman, secretary of the Food and Disaster Management Ministry, said.

The mill owners welcomed the latest government offer.

"The price of rise is already falling in domestic markets. If the trend continues, the prices will ease further. So any incentive would encourage the millers," said Mahmud Hasan Raju, a miller in Thakurgaon district.

He said most millers had bought paddy at high prices months ago, when supply was short against soaring demands.

The country has set itself the target of building emergency food grain stocks of 3.2 million tonnes through domestic and overseas procurements in the current fiscal year (July-June), officials said.

The government has embarked on similar procurement drive after every previous flood or cyclone -- which hit the country almost every year -- but often missed the targets.

It plans to import 500,000 tonnes of rice and 800,000 tonnes of wheat in the fiscal year to next June to shore up the buffer stock.

Currently, the stocks stood at more than one million tonnes.

Sadharan Bima Corporation earns Tk. 60.61cr net profit

BUSINESS REPORT

Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC), the only general insurance organisation in the government sector, earned net profit of Tk 60.61 crore in 2007 as against Tk 42.04 crore in 2006.

It has contributed Tk 35.61 crore in 2007 as income tax and share of profit to the government.

Sadharan Bima Corporation earned premium of Tk 455.75 crore and paid claims of Tk 133.19 crore in 2007.

The Annual Accounts of Sadharan Bima Corporation for the year 2007 was approved in the 463rd board meeting held on August 12. The meeting was presided over by M Shamsul Alam, Chairman of the Board of Directors. All Directors of the Board Md Momtazul Islam (Secretary), Mohammad Ali Patwary (Joint Secretary), Abdur Rahman Bhuiyan, Md. Humayun Kabir FCA and Managing Director of the Corporation (Additional Secretary) Md Shafiqul Azam were present.

All General Managers and the senior officers of the corporation were also present at the meeting.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors thanked all officers and employees of the corporation for successfully maintaining the continuity of earning profit in spite of economic recession throughout the world and hoped that the trend would continue in future.

It may be mentioned that Sadharan Bima Corporation has given the government about Tk 777.70 crore as tax and profit share since its establishment up to 2007.

NBL's half-yearly conference held

BUSINESS REPORT

The two-day long Half-Yearly Conference-2008 of the Branch Managers of National Bank Ltd (NBL) concluded at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on August 13.

Moazzam Hossain, Chairman of the Board of Directors of National Bank Ltd inaugurated the conference as chief guest. Chairman of the bank emphasised on Human Asset and Financial Asset of the bank.

He also emphasised on the training programme for enrichment of professionalism of the employees of the bank.

National Bank Limited is now a leading bank of the country with the help of proper guidance and implementation of timely and right decisions of both the Management and Board of Directors of the bank, he added.

He also recognised the contribution of the managers of field level in this regard.

Md Abdur Rahman Sarker, Managing Director of the bank in his welcome speech expressed his gratitude to the Board of Directors and thanked the mangers and executives for the success.

He called for achieving more success in 2008 with hard work, wisdom and passion and put some guidelines in this regard.

Parveen Hoque Sikder, Prof Mahbub Ahmed, Zakaria Taher, Lt Col (Retd) Md Azizul Ashraf, Psc, A K M Enamul Hoque, Capt Abu Sayed Monir, Directors of the bank also attended the conference and spoke on the occasion.

Among others, Moshin-UI-Karim, Azizur Rahman and Masqur Ahmed, Deputy Managing Directors of the bank were also present on the occasion.

Premier Bank holds 8th Shariah Council meeting

BUSINESS REPORT

The Eighth Shariah Council Meeting of the Premier Bank Limited was held at the bank's head office at Banani in the city on August 11 last. The meeting was presided over by Shah Abdul Hannan, Chairman, Shariah Council of the Premier Bank Limited.

BH Haroon, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank and Convener of the bank's Shariah Council Sub-Committee delivered welcome speech at the meeting.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Khondker Fazle Rashid, Managing Director of Prremier Bank Limited, Advocate Mujibur Rahmam, Member of Shariah Council and Chairman, The Ibne Sina Trust, Dr Anisuzzaman, Professor, Dept of Philosophy, University of Dhaka., Dr M Shamsher Ali, Vice Chancellor South-East University, ARM Ali Haider, Professor, Dept of Islamic Studies, University of Dhaka, Moulana Ruhul Amin Khan, Executive Editor, The Daily Inqilab, Dr Mohammad Harun Rashid, Deputy Director Bangla Academy, Md Abdul Hai, Head of Financial Administration Division, Kazi Abdur Razzak, Head of Islami Banking Division of The Premier Bank Ltd and company secretary Syed Ahsan Habib of the bank were also present on the occasion.

Euro falls further in Asia

AFP, Tokyo

The euro extended its losses in Asian trade today as markets waited nervously for data that was expected to show a contraction in the eurozone economy, dealers said. The euro eased to 1.4890 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.4909 in New York late Wednesday, and to 163.05 yen from 163.38. The dollar slipped to 109.47 yen from 109.57.

"Many players are keen to sell the euro and the pound as the outlook for the economy and monetary policy in Europe is very uncertain," Akio Shimizu, forex chief at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, told Dow Jones Newswires.

"It's very difficult now to find positive factors to help these currencies to bounce back," he added. The Germany economy contracted 0.5 percent in the second quarter of this year, the first dip in gross domestic product since mid-2004, official figures showed Thursday.

The figure was better than market forecasts for a contraction of about 0.8 percent, but the market reaction was muted as traders waited for data expected to show that the eurozone as a whole also shrank in the second quarter.

The economic climate in the eurozone is at the lowest level in 15 years, the latest Ifo World Economic Survey showed Thursday. Analysts expect economic activity to worsen further over the next six months, according to the survey. The British pound languished near the lowest level for almost two years against the greenback, falling to 1.8678 dollars in Tokyo from 1.8699 in New York Wednesday, after the Bank of England issued a gloomy economic outlook.

The central bank said inflation could fall sharply toward the government's target of 2.0 percent from early 2009, which prompted traders to bet on interest rate cuts sooner than previously expected.

Barclays Capital analysts said they now expect quarter-point rate cuts in Britain in November, February, April, and May. The dollar was generally firm against other major currencies despite an overnight slump on Wall Street blamed on rebounding oil prices and renewed worries over the health of the financial sector, dealers said.

The Australian dollar was under pressure as a top central banker indicated interest rates there will soon be cut for the first time in more than six years amid signs of an economic slowdown.

The bank "cannot wait to see a fall in inflation" before starting to cut rates, he told a parliamentary committee.

Against regional Asian currencies, the dollar rose to 1.4086 Singapore dollars from 1.4040 on Wednesday, to 33.68 Thai baht from 33.66, to 9,183 Indonesian rupiah from 9,171 and to 1,039.75 South Korean won from 1,039.35.

It also gained to 44.93 Philippine pesos from 44.65 and to 31.29 Taiwan dollars from 31.17.

Warid, Grameen CyberNet sign corporate deal

BUSINESS REPORT

Warid Telecom signed an agreement with the Internet service provider, Grameen CyberNet Limited (GCL), Wednesday to provide complete telecommunication services under its corporate package.

Under the agreement, Grameen CyberNet will enjoy customised call tariff and value added services of the Warid Telecom. It will keep the users of the Internet service one step ahead of others in receiving telecommunication services, a press release said.

Grameen CyberNet Managing Director (MD) Ghulam Mohiuddin and Warid Telecom General Manager (Sales) Mahboob Hossain signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations at the corporate head office of Warid Telecom in the city.

Chief executive officer of Warid Telecom, Muneer Farooqui, general manager (HR & Admin), Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, general manager (GOR), Ashraful H Chowdhury and deputy general manager (Engineering), Saad Ahmed, GCL directors, Azhar H Chowdhury and Mir Mohammad Mostaq were, among others, present during the signing ceremony.

Since its commercial operation in Bangladesh in May 10, 2007, Warid Telecom, which invested $500 million to establish the state-of-art Next Generation Network (NGN), has acquired over 3.00 million subscribers through spreading its network to 64 districts.

Djuice-British Council : Music Scholarship in UK

Djuice and British Council are sending two young Bangladeshi music enthusiasts to the United Kingdom as a part of a youth development program, initiated by djuice, the only mobile youth brand in Bangladesh.

Scholarships were awarded to candidates who went through a rigorous screening process before they were selected.

This year's recipients are Nazia Ahmed, a student of Electronics and Communication Engineering of the CSE Department of BRAC University, and Sheikh Muhammad Sarwar, a student of the Computer Science and Engineering Department of University of Dhaka.

The scholarship recipients left for the UK on 29 July. They will first enroll in the Music 4 People Summer School, Yorkshire, for a short course in music, and then take up the remaining classes at the Canford Summer School of Music in Surrey. Under the program they will attend courses in musical composition, and group music as well as undertake some musical exercises. They are expected to return on 25 August.

They will work with renowned musicians like Simon Atkins, Paul Medina, Helen Purton, Judi Kelly, Graham Tear and will also perform live at Yorkshire. Soon after they return, the scholarship recipients will talk with the media about their experience, to inspire future generations of music lovers and enthusiasts. The organizers believe that the students' trip will have bilateral benefits as they will bring the two regions culturally closer and let the people better understand and appreciate each other's differences.

It is expected that this initiative will nurture and promote young musical talent and enable them to hone their craft on the world stage.

According to djuice, this unique venture will act as a cultural bridge for the two regions and let young talents showcase Bangladeshi music for music lovers the world over.

djuice launched the music scholarship to take the musical platform to an even higher level. The brand is committed towards the development of the youth in Bangladesh in different areas, such as in education, music and entertainment.

djuice has already been successful in launching & executing a Rock band hunt programme D rockstar (which was also a first time event in Bangladesh) and also associated with Bishwa Shahitta Kendro to jointly encourage the book reading program through out the country.

Al-Arafah Islami Bank holds training course on Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade

A six-day long training course on 'Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade' for the officers of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd was held at AIBL Training and Research Academy on August 9.

Chairman of Board of Directors of the bank Alhaj Md Anowar Hossain was present as chief guest and inaugurated the course on August 9.

Managing Director MA Samad Sheikh was present as special guest.

Among others, AKM Fazlul Hoque, Executive Vice President and Principal and Md Mahmudul Haque, Vice President and Vice-Principal of training academy was present on the occasion.