The New Nation - Internet Edition

Chinese baby milk toll escalates

More than 6,200 babies have fallen ill after drinking formula milk made from contaminated powder, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu has announced. The figure is five times higher than previously announced. Mr Chen said a third baby had now died - with the latest fatality occurring in the Zhejiang province of eastern China. Twenty-two brands of powder were found to contain the toxic industrial chemical melamine, apparently added to make it appear higher in protein. Mr Chen said a total of 6,244 infants were now sick, and that the number of those diagnosed with "acute kidney failure" had risen to 158. The government has labelled the poisonings a "level one" food safety incident and formed an emergency team to grapple with the fallout.

Global investors remain nervous

BBC, London

Global stocks suffered more turbulence on Wednesday as investors assessed yet more dramatic financial news.

The US government's rescue of troubled insurer AIG and a potential takeover of UK lender HBOS boosted confidence but markets were still volatile.

The FTSE 100 index of top UK shares was up 1.3% at 5,089.4 points, rising with other European markets.

Stocks in Tokyo, Taipei, and Seoul all rose, although prices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Australia lost ground.

UK banking shares experienced the most volatile trading.

HBOS stock, which has faced heavy selling this week, fell as much as 50% before shooting into positive territory after the BBC learned that it was in advanced talks to be taken over by Lloyds TSB.

HBOS shares were up 4% at 189 pence by mid-morning.

Barclays was up 6.3%, Royal Bank of Scotland was up 3.3% and Lloyds TSB climbed 3.6%. All three had seen sharp falls in early trade.

Topsy-turvy trade

Trade is likely to remain rocky amid concern that financial system instability will continue after the dramatic events of the past few days.

AIG's bail-out follows the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which caused share prices to plummet across the world's financial markets.

Another investment bank, Merrill Lynch, has been sold off to Bank of America.

France's Cac 40 index rose 0.7%, while Germany's Dax was up 0.4% after weaving in and out of negative territory.

Russia's stock exchange suspended trade following steep falls in shares.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended up 1.2% at 11,749.79, after hitting a three-year low on Tuesday. The index had earlier rose as much as 2.3%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 3.6% at 17,637.19 points.

US govt rescues insurer AIG

The US Federal Reserve has announced an $85bn (£48bn) rescue package for AIG, the country's biggest insurance company, to save it from bankruptcy, reports BBC.

AIG will get an $85bn loan, in return for an 80% public stake in the firm.

The rescue follows the collapse of US investment giant Lehman Brothers, which caused share prices to plummet across the world's financial markets.

Meanwhile, Barclays said it had reached a deal to buy Lehman's US investment banking and capital markets businesses.

The $250m deal, which is subject to approval from the bankruptcy court, will make the British bank the third biggest investment bank in the US.

Barclays will also purchase Lehman's New York headquarters and its two data centres in New Jersey for $1.5bn.

Emergency meeting

The rescue of AIG - which has a trillion dollars in assets and insures bank loans around the world - prompted a tentative rally on world stock markets.

Wednesday trading saw gains in Tokyo, Taiwan, Singapore and Seoul, though prices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Australia fell.

The dollar also rose against major currencies.

The board of the Federal Reserve made its decision about AIG "with the full support of the Treasury Department", it said in a statement, adding that the secured loan included conditions designed to protect "the interests of the US government and taxpayers".

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson refused to bail out Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the US, after it filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.

However, Mr Paulson said he supported the Fed's move to assist AIG and said the move would protect taxpayers.

"These are challenging times for our financial markets," he said.

Correspondents say the demise of AIG - which has policy holders in more than 100 countries and insures deals and investments across the globe - would have a far greater impact on financial markets than Lehman's collapse.

Were the company to fail, many banks and investment funds in the US and around the world would lose their insurance cover at a time when defaults on payments are likely to rise.

The Governor of New York, David Paterson, said AIG had so many business interests it would be hard to predict how widespread its bankruptcy would have been felt.

"Its tentacles go further in to the avenues of business, as in mortgages, as in credit, as in hedge funds, as in countless ways that affect consumers, that affect drivers, that affect homeowners, affect passengers," he said.

AIG had posted losses in each of the last nine months.

It was badly affected by the collapse of the US housing market, says the BBC's business reporter Rob Young, owing to the underwriting payments it was forced to make when customers defaulted on their loans.

Market slump

The AIG plan calls for the government to seize up to 80% of the company and remove its management, in a similar fashion to the way it took control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were crippled by the US housing crisis.

The White House welcomed the package, saying the deal was made "in the interest of promoting stability in financial markets and limiting damage to the broader economy".

Meanwhile, the Fed has left interest rates unchanged at 2%. The BBC's Matthew Price in New York said the bank had decided an interest rate cut would not help to alleviate the short-term financial crisis.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rallied on Tuesday, closing 141 points higher having on Monday suffered its worst day's trading since the September 2001 attacks on the US.

But leading indices across Europe ended lower, with banking shares being the worst hit.

Central banks around the world responded by carrying out emergency measures to keep markets liquid.

The Bank Of England and the Bank of Japan injected £20bn (25bn euros; $36bn) and 2.5 trillion yen ($24.1bn; £13bn) respectively into their money markets. The extra funding came as the interest rates at which banks lend to each other rocketed - as they did at the start of the credit crunch.

Square Pharmaceuticals declares 40pc cash, 35pc stock dividend

BUSINESS REPORT

Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the country has declared cash dividend at the rate of 40 percent and stock dividend (bonus share) at the rate 35 percent to its shareholders for the year ended March 31, 2008.

The dividends were declared at the company's 42nd Annual General Meeting held at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre, Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city on Tuesday.

The AGM was presided over by Chairman of the company Samson H Chowdhury.

Dr. Kazi Harunar Rashid, Director, M Sekander Ali, Independent Director, Samuel S Chowdhury, Director, Anjan Chowdhury, Director, Kazi Iqbal Harun, Director, KM Saiful Islam, Director, Md Kabir Reza, Director (A&F) and Khandaker Habibuzzaman, Company Secretary were present at the meeting.

The gross profit, net profit (before tax) and net profit (after tax) for the year 2007-2008 were Tk 3,401.78 million, Tk 1,868.63 million and Tk 1,381.86 million respectively. Net sales and net profit rise to 10.09 percent and 6.03 percent respectively during the year 2007-08.

During the year under review, the exports amounted to Tk 212.50 million as against 192.95 million, a 10.13% increase.

The company contributed an amount of Tk 1,872.21 million to the national exchequer.

The Board of Directors appreciated the performance of the officers, staff and workers whose untiring efforts helped optimising the profit of the company.

The Directors expressed their gratitude and acknowledged with keen interest the cooperation and unflinching support received from various agencies including Securities and Exchange Commission, Stock Exchanges, National Board of Revenue and other agencies of the public and private sector.

A large number of shareholders attended the AGM and many of them took part in the discussion regarding company's performance and future expansion. At the end, Samson H Chowdhury, Chairman of the company, expressed his deep appreciation to shareholders for their trust and support to the company's performance.

Pubali Bank to extend Tk 200m term loan to United Leasing : PBL extending bulk loan to NBFIs at competitive interest rate, says CEO Helal Ahmed Chowdhury

BUSINESS REPORT

A term loan agreement for Tk 200 million (20 crore) was signed between Pubali Bank Limited (PBL) and United Leasing Company Ltd at Pubali Bank Head Office in the city recently. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Pubali Bank Limited and Syed Ehsan Quadir, Managing Director of United Leasing Company Limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations at a simple ceremony.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Pubali Bank Ltd, in his short speech, informed that the Pubali Bank has been extending bulk loan to NBFIs at a competitive interest rate.

Syed Ehsan Quadir, Managing Director of United Leasing Company Ltd thanked PBL for the loan and expressed his hope to improve the mutual relationship further in future.

General Manager of Credit Division M Mustafizur Rahman, General Manager of Principal Branch Dipak Kumar Chakraborty, Deputy General Manager Sushil Kumar Saha of Pubali Bank Limited and General Manager and Company Secretary M Ataul Haque of United Leasing Company Limited were present at the agreement signing ceremony.

Indian drugs banned by US

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it has banned the import of more than 30 generic drugs made by Indian drug firm Ranbaxy, reports BBC

The FDA said the decision was made after it found manufacturing quality problems at two of Ranbaxy's factories in India. The import ban affects some popular generic versions of antibiotics and cholesterol medicines. Ranbaxy says it is "disappointed" with the decision of US drug authorities.

The FDA said the move would not create any shortages of drugs in the United States, which could be obtained from other sources.

In July, US prosecutors had alleged that Ranbaxy, India's largest pharmaceutical company, deliberately lied about the quality of its low-cost drugs, including those for HIV.

The US Department of Justice wanted the firm to hand over key documents relating to drug testing procedures.

'Baseless'

Ranbaxy said it was "very disappointed" with the FDA action. "The company has responded to each concern FDA has raised during the past two years and had thought progress was being made," the firm said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The firm was paid millions of dollars by the US government to provide low-cost HIV drugs for President Bush's emergency plan for AIDS relief, which was set up to help AIDS patients in 120 countries around the globe.

Defending the reliability of its drugs, Ranbaxy had said the US Food and Drugs Administration had tested over 200 random samples of its products and found them "complying with all the specifications".

In June the Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo agreed to pay more than $4bn (£2bn) for a controlling stake in the firm.

The US government has been investigating Ranbaxy since February 2006 when the FDA issued a warning letter over what it said were manufacturing violations found at a Ranbaxy factory in India.

Since then Ranbaxy has been trying to resolve the issue with US regulators.

Last year, US officials seized documents from Ranbaxy's US headquarters in New Jersey.

In July, Justice Department prosecutors alleged that the company had systematically lied about the makeup of its generic drugs, which include a cheaper version of US drug maker Merck's cholesterol pill Zocor. The FDA will only approve cheaper generic drugs if they can be shown to be equivalent to the original drug.

US investigators had also alleged that Ranbaxy has used unapproved ingredients in its drugs.

Bloomberg adds: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India's biggest drugmaker, plunged after the U.S. regulator blocked the sale of more than 30 generic medicines made in two factories by the company, because of deficiencies in manufacturing processes.

Ranbaxy, being acquired by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co., fell as much as 10 percent to 362.10 rupees in Mumbai trading, the biggest daily drop in more than two months. The stock recovered from the day's low to trade at 374.1 rupees at 1:03 p.m. The regulator's action puts at risk Ranbaxy's sales in the U.S., which contributed 24 percent to revenue last year. The drugs being blocked include generic versions of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s cholesterol drug Pravachol and cephalexin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.

"There will be near-term pressure on Ranbaxy's earnings because of the U.S. decision,'' said Abhishek Singhal, a Mumbai- based analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd. Still, "Ranbaxy has built up capacity in the U.S. facilities, which can help it offset part of the supply disruptions.''

The Indian company expressed disappointment with the Food and Drug Administration's order and said the agency hasn't given enough time to address the issues raised in the latest letter.

"The company has responded to each concern FDA has raised during the past two years and had thought that progress was being made,'' Ranbaxy, based in Gurgaon, near New Delhi, said in a statement today. ``The company has just received the warning letters that FDA has issued and has not had the opportunity to review those concerns that FDA has determined are unresolved.''

Continued Cooperation

Ranbaxy will continue to cooperate with the agency to resolve the remaining issues, the company said. Ranbaxy supplies 59 drugs to the U.S. market from its three manufacturing facilities located in the nation.

The drugs affected by the FDA's order are from Ranbaxy's plants in Paonta Sahib and Dewas in India, the regulator said.

The agency's letters cite violations, including inadequate sterile-processing operations and record keeping. Drugs made in other Ranbaxy plants aren't being blocked. The products will be blocked until Ranbaxy resolves deficiencies at the plants, according to the FDA.

There is no evidence the Ranbaxy drugs are harmful, though the violations could lead to defective products, Deborah M. Autor, director of the FDA's drug compliance office, said on a conference call yesterday with reporters.

'Import Alert'

The FDA's ``import alert'' barring entry of Ranbaxy drugs isn't related to a U.S. government investigation examining whether the company fabricated data to get its medicines cleared for sale, according to the regulator.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a court order to force Ranbaxy to turn over an audit allegedly showing the Indian drugmaker distributed ``adulterated and misbranded products,'' according to papers filed in a U.S. District Court.

Ranbaxy has denied the allegations and has waived its privilege to withhold the documents.

"Today's actions are clearly warranted based on the extent and the seriousness of the violations uncovered during our inspections of these two sites,'' Autor said. ``The firm is sufficiently out of control that we think an import alert should be put into place until these deficiencies are corrected.''

Daiichi Sankyo, based in Tokyo, agreed in June to acquire control of Ranbaxy for as much as 198 billion rupees ($4.3 billion). The FDA's move will not hinder the company's acquisition, Daiichi said.

"We will continue to pursue the terms we agreed with Ranbaxy,'' Satoru Ogawa, Daiichi Sankyo's spokesman, said by telephone in Tokyo today.

Daiichi Sankyo agreed to buy the 34.8 percent stake of Ranbaxy owned by its billionaire Chief Executive Officer Malvinder Singh and his family, plus a portion of about $1 billion of preferential stock. Daiichi has also offered to buy 20 percent from other shareholders, and aims to complete the transactions by March, the company said when it made the offer.

NBL and ASA sign MoU for disbursement of remittance

BUSINESS REPORT

National Bank Limited has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ASA (an NGO globally renowned for specialized micro finance institutions in Bangladesh, established in the year 1978) for disbursement of foreign remittance of the Bank through 3,400 locations of ASA under 64 administrative areas spreading all over Bangladesh, originating from different exchange houses, banks including Western Union and similar types of companies located abroad with whom NBL has drawing arrangement.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Shamsul Huda Khan, Executive Vice President & Head of International Division of National Bank Limited and Taufiqul Islam Chowdhury, Director(Accounts) of ASA.

Md Shafiqual Haque Chowdhury, founder and president of ASA, Professor Md Muinuddin Khan, Vice Chancellor of ASA University and Professor Mahbub Ahmed, Director, Md Abdur Rahman Sarker, Managing Director of National Bank Limited were also present on the occasion.

Signing of the MoU with ASA, will ease payment of remittance at the door steps of the beneficiaries in Bangladesh with speed and safety, since ASA is having a wide range of rural based location in the country.

Bangladeshi expatriates working abroad in different parts of the world will find it easier to remit their money to their near and dear ones in Bangladesh. This will also help Western Union and National Bank Limited to achieve remarkable level of inflow of inward remittance among their competitors in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Morocco calls on BASIS president, other officials

BUSINESS REPORT

Bangladesh Ambassador-designate to Morocco Mosud Mannan called on Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) president Habibullah N Karim on Tuesday.

During the meeting, vice president of BASIS Shameem Ahsan, secretary general Nahid Ahmad, secretary M Nurul Amin and program manager Hashim Ahmed were also present.

The BASIS president dwelt upon about the initiatives and activities undertaken by BASIS. He stated that presently BASIS has 262 member companies, who are actively involved in software and IT Enabled Services (ITES) business.

Referring to the JICA study report, BASIS President added that, Bangladesh has significant capabilities and efficiency in the field of Software and ITES.

He requested the Ambassador to promote Bangladesh Software and ITES in the Morocco and other 4 neighboring countries for which he is concurrently accredited.

Ambassador-designate to Morocco Mosud Mannan thanked BASIS for inviting him. He stated that he is concurrently accredited for other four African countries, such as Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leon.

He further stated that Morocco is developed in the field of tourism, education, fashion designing etc. As majority of the people of Morocco speak in French, a brochure may be published in both English and French and if possible in Arabic describing the products and services of software and ITES of Bangladesh to promote the same in the African market. He assured that he would try his best to help penetrating Bangladeshi software and ITES in African markets as like other Bangladeshi products such as RMG, pharmaceuticals and fertilizer.

BASIS President gave him some BASIS publications.

DBBL accomplishes eye camp program in Rangpur

As a part of DBBL's philanthropic activities to serve distressed humanity, the Bank has taken a noble initiative of operating 12,000 cataract patients in phases across the country, specially the rural poor who have no means to undertake cataract operation by themselves.

Dutch-Bangla Bank organized a 4 day-long IOL operation camp (cataract operation) at the bank's own cost at Prime General Hospital in Rangpur district town recently. About 100 cataract patients operated successfully.

Dr Mozammel Hossain Khan, Medical Consultant of Dutch-Bangla Bank visited the operation camp and inquired about the operated cataract patient recently. Dr Akkas Ali Sarker, Director of Prime Hospital, eminent eye surgeons, local elites and local journalists were present at that time.

Nesaruddin appointed Director of Sonali Bank

BUSINESS REPORT

AF Nesaruddin, FCA, FCS has been appointed as Director of Sonali Bank Limited for the next three years.

After completing post-graduation in Finance from Dhaka University, Mr Nesaruddin joined chartered accountancy profession in 1981 and qualified as chartered accountant in 1984.

Currently, he is one of the partners of Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co, an affiliated firm of Deloitte, one of the big four global professional services firms.

Having about 25 years of professional experiences, he has rendered consultancy and other special services in association with Deloitte to many sectors including financial institutions, telecommunication apart from corporate audits, tax, due diligence, valuation and business advisory services to MNCs and foreign investors.

He has to his credit some publication in the areas of industrial credit administration, financial disclosures requirements etc. He has been an active Rotarian for about last 20 years and currently, President of Rotary Club of Dhaka North West.