Share prices in two bourses tumbled Wednesday when a decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) banning transactions of the shares of 16 companies was circulated through online trading system.
The day''s trading began in an upbeat mood. But as soon as the SEC decision was flashed on the computer screen investors got panicky and prices dropped the way it had risen initially. However, the situation improved as the day''s trading progressed, but not up to the expected level.
The DSE (Dhaka Stock Exchange) General Index fell by 9.23 points to 973.88 Wednesday but the turnover, both in terms of value and volume, increased significantly on the day.
The country''s capital market regulator - the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - suspended trading of 16 companies - all belonging to the ''Z'' category (a category of non-performers) - under article 9(7) of the SEC''s 1969 ordinance as their share prices did not support their financial strength.
The companies that faced trade suspension include Bengal Steel Works Ltd, Karim Pipe Mills Ltd, AB Biscuit Co Ltd, Dhaka Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd, Paragon Leather and Footwear Industries Ltd, Rupon Oil and Feeds Ltd, National Oxygen Ltd, STM Ltd, GEM Knitwear Fabrics Co Ltd, Bangla Process Industries Ltd, Therapeutics (BD) Ltd, JH Chemical Industries Ltd, Mark BD Shilpa and Engineering Ltd, Texpic Industries Ltd, High Speed Ship Building and Heavy Engineering Ltd and Meghna Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd.
In spite of the fall in overall share prices, the prices of shares with strong fundamentals continued to rise Wednesday. The DSE- 20 comprising blue chip shares rose 42 points or 3.34 per cent to 1300.53 on the day, highlighting the depth of the market.
Defending the latest SEC action, Chairman of the capital market regulatory body Mirza Azizul Islam told newsmen, " We have examined the transactions of these companies on case-to-case basis before taking the latest action". He said most of these companies are virtually out of operation.
He expressed the hope that that the market would not react negatively since there was plenty of scope for making profits from under-priced stocks.
DSE Chairman Ahmed Iqbal Hasan also welcomed the latest SEC step.
In an another development, the capital market watchdog prepared a list of 22 listed companies that were not holding annual general meetings (AGMs) for at least over a year, SEC sources said.
Ten of the companies that faced trade suspension order by the SEC were on the list for not holding AGMs for at least over a year, Commission sources said.
The DSE weighted average index - an indicator of the changes in prices of shares chosen on the basis of a set of criteria - recorded a rise by 0.01279 to 823.98 Wednesday.
In tandem with the market behaviour at the DSE, share prices in the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also declined with its the selective index falling by 1.30 points or 0.083 per cent to 1568.59 at close of the day''s trading.
Total turnover at the CSE, however, increased by almost four times on Wednesday''s trading compared to that of the previous day. The CSE''s turnover stood at Tk 287.13 million with transactions of 7,855,250 shares and debentures.
CSE''s trading Tuesday was Tk 75.58 million when a total of 3,783,868 shares and debentures were transacted on the bourse, market sources said.
Share prices of relatively poorly performing companies belonging to ''B'' and ''Z'' categories fell substantially.
A total of 215 issues were traded Wednesday at the DSE. Out of these 34 gained, 178 declined and three remained unchanged. At the CSE, a total of 22 issues gained, 59 declined and four remained unchanged against the total trade of 85 issues.
At the end of the day''s trading at the DSE, the total turnover stood at Tk 289.68 million involving a transaction of 10,204,764 shares and debentures, market statistics showed.
The SEC also urged the investors Wednesday to invest in stocks considering the fundamentals and technical status of the listed issues.
The 22 companies that were identified by the SEC for not holding AGMs for at least over a year are - United Commercial Bank Ltd, Social Investment Bank Ltd, JH Chemical Industries Ltd, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation Ltd, Texpic Industries Ltd, Karim Pipe Mills Ltd, Metalex Corporation, Dhaka Vegetable Industries Ltd, Tulip Dairy and Food Ltd, Chittagong Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd, Meghna Shrimp Culture, Mona Food Industries Ltd, AB Biscuit Ltd, Rupon Oil, Meghna Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd, Maq Paper, Maq Enterprise Ltd, Bangladesh Monospool Paper, Sonali Paper, Gem Knitwear Ltd and German Bangla J V Food Ltd.
At least ten of these companies were earlier served with show cause notices by the Commission for their failure for not holding AGMs on due time, SEC sources said.

Top

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is going to update the guidelines on foreign exchange transactions in line with the international standards, official sources said.
The central bank has already formed an internal committee to review the existing guidelines and recommendations on its updating by April next year, sources said.
The disclosure came at a meeting of BB Governor Fakhruddin Ahmed with the chief executives of the private and nationalised commercial banks at the BB conference room Wednesday.
The Governor directed them to come up with their opinions on modernisation of the foreign exchange market.
Sources said the present guidelines on foreign exchange transactions were updated in 1996. During the last seven years, the central bank issued different circulars making required changes in line with the emerging situation.
The committee will prepare the final draft recommendations on the basis of all previous instructions and opinions of the bankers, sources added.
The Governor also advised the bankers to reduce the lending rate to boost economic activities.
Managing directors (MDs) of the commercial banks assured the Governor of slashing their lending rates by January.
Bankers said it is difficult for them to make official announcement on the matters at the moment, as December is the closing month of calendar year, sources said.
The country''s top-ranking bankers earlier assured the BB authorities of reducing their lending rates by 2-3 per cent by December.
The BB also asked the bankers to cut the rate of interest on housing loan to 10 per cent from 15 per cent to boost the real estate sector, they said.
Meanwhile, the central bank has started preparatory works to formulate guidelines on disbursement of the housing loans properly, the sources added.

Top

Senior officials of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will meet in Geneva on December 15-16 to kickstart the stalled talks on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) following the Cancun debacle.
Bangladesh will lead the least developed countries (LDCs) to the General Council meeting that will hold negotiations only on agriculture, non-agriculture market access (NAMA), cotton subsidy and the controversial Singapore issues.
Commerce Secretary Suhel Ahmed Chowdhury will lead the Bangladesh delegation, which will include senior officials of the ministry and the Tariff Commission.
By rotation, the Western African nation of Benin was supposed to lead the LDCs during the upcoming negotiations, but recently it requested Bangladesh to carry on with the duty till the two-day meeting.
Official sources said Bangladesh will play the same role that it played in the Mexican resort town of Cancun in last September''s ministerial meeting but there could be relaxed stand on a few issues including the four Singapore issues, which were blamed for the collapse of the Cancun talks.
However, hopes for a breakthrough in the two-day talks have already been clouded by the United States aggressiveness in pursuing the bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) across the globe and Europe''s rigidity over the Singapore issues, sources added.
Sources further said already the air in Geneva is full with speculation that there would not be any breakthrough until the member countries meet in the sixth WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong, China.
Though the next ministerial is scheduled to be held midway through the 2005, the WTO leaders and some key countries are favouring an early date in 2004.
"Some countries have already realised that there would be no breakthrough anytime in the near future. That''s why they are pushing for an earlier dates for the next Ministerial," an official said.
For Bangladesh the most important objective in the upcoming Council meet, according to the officials, is to stick to the last draft of the Cancun Ministerial.
"That draft, which was tabled on September 13 and was later rejected by the grouping of the developing countries, LDCs and ACP countries, reflected much of Bangladesh''s demand in the multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda," the official said.

Top

The regulator - the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — and the self-regulator — the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) — have equal responsibility for promoting and protecting the interests of investors - both retail and institutional ones.
The government through television and other media and responsible government officials have been voicing concern and advised restraint amongst investors in investing in the stock market lately.
While it is true that the sudden rise in the stock prices in the last week may seem unusual, I found it equally unusual of the way in which SEC intervened through the news facility of DSE in Wednesday''s market that in my opinion brought about a premature correction in the stock prices.
Around 11.30 am or thereafter in the middle of the trading hours there was an announcement in the DSE trading software TESA that a certain number of scrips were banned from trading. No reason was provided: only the news was given. This coupled with the caution sounded lately, resulted in some sort of investor panic and within minutes stock prices tumbled. If it was really necessary, then this news should have come to the trading floor at the beginning of the day when the DSE general index was 986. It went up past 1000 and after the above announcement tumbled to around 966 or lower before finally settling at 970 at the end of the trading day.
Just like abnormal price rises are unusual, so are price drops. The panic selling that the market experienced, which may even be followed today (Thursday) cannot be termed true correction but irresponsible intervention on the part of the regulator.
I believe that the SEC should realise that the stock market even now is highly underpriced with price earning ratios below 11. This is a rule of the thumb. Back in 1996 it was the same irresponsibility on the part of the SEC that resulted in the stock prices rising abnormally and then falling, that too abnormally. Where stakes are high for the common people, regulatory agencies should exercise significant foresight and wisdom in their actions.
Now the banning of those selected issues from trading will impair their ''liquidity'', affecting the common investors. The sponsor directors are hardly affected as the money of the common investors are in their hands. Their bank accounts or other assets are not frozen. Only the small investors are left with useless paper scrips. What the SEC should have done in the years since 1996 is to develop effective check and balances to ensure true accountability of the listed companies through their books of accounts and use of their IPO funds to the true purposes as detailed out in the prospectuses published by the companies.
While certain quarters have expressed caution, there is considerable rationale behind the recent rise in stock prices. The factors that prompted a rise in stock prices include:
a) Fall in interest rates of savings accounts in which a large of people maintain deposits. Returns on long term government securities have also significantly decreased.
b) According to the government''s own figures, FDI increased 71 per cent during the first six months of 2003, implying that there is a higher economic growth. Stock prices are not determined only by present earnings but also by future earning potential.
c) The incentive given in the budget to invest unaccounted for funds in stocks with no question to be asked by the tax department.
There could be others. While the SEC has advised caution, it provides investors little support as far as research information is concerned. The SEC library is open between 9am and 3pm only during which most people are at work. There are few online references available.
I am sure that the SEC had its best intentions but those need to be translated into effective actions. But it should not add further salt to the slowly healing wounds of the common investors of Bangladesh who are still recovering from 1996 crash.

Top

The Sixth Asia-Pacific High Level Employers'' Conference ended in the city Wednesday, highlighting two issues - globalisation and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The three-day-long conference jointly arranged by the Bangladesh Employers'' Federation (BEF), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Organisation of Employers, Geneva, and the Japan Business Federation (JBF) was opened Monday.
At a press briefing Wednesday at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), office president of the BEF M Anis Ud Dowla termed the conference attended by representatives of 21 countries a successful one.
Replying to a question, the BEF chief said market access of the Asia-Pacific countries including Bangladesh to the developed countries was discussed.
"There should not be any trade barrier to promoting the economies of the countries concerned," the BEF president said.
The conference expressed concern over the impact on trade and loss of jobs on the expiry of the multi-fibre arrangement (MFA) in December of 2004.
Some countries in the region have a large young workforce. However, there is no free movement of labour under globalisation and hence countries in the region are losing employment for their people.
"Both the positive and nega tive impacts of globalisation were discussed so that the region can develop by taking benefits on the positive side and making efforts to overcome the negative one," according to the summary of proceedings.
The participants from the Asia-pacific countries agreed that globalisation was inevitable and is to stay.
"They identified that globalisation has two components - political vision to have democracy and economic vision to have free trade," the proceedings said.
At the same time, participants in the region identified that quite a few countries have not been benefited from globalisation because, over a decade, the share in world trade of the LDCs has fallen substantially, the conference noted.
The conference expressed concern at the continuation of subsidies in some of the developed countries and non-tariff barriers which are continuing to shelter their markets against globalisation.
The participants expressed the view that there is a need for ''fair play'' apart from ''free play,'' in international, regional and sub-regional trades.
"There is a higher need for understanding among the countries of the region for economic cooperation to facilitate regional progress."
On CSR, the proceedings said it was a positive, voluntary business-driven initiative to the present business environment but is not an alternative to the government''s role in its responsibility towards citizens.
Many companies in the region have implemented projects not only for the benefit of their employees but also for the benefit of the society in which they operate.
Participants also mentioned that quite a few companies in their countries have subscribed to the UN global compact as a voluntary initiative on CRS. BEF secretary-general CK Hyder was also present on the occasion.

Top

CHITTAGONG, Dec 3: Foreign container vessels have remained stranded at the Chittagong Port (CP) due to shortage of space in the yard. The severe situation has arisen following the stockpile of containers in the yard, sources said.
As many as seven vessels waiting for unloading of containers are now stranded at the CP and huge financial losses are feared to be incurred for overstaying of the vessels in the port.
The sources said following the deadlock of vessels at the port, the incoming vessels are yet to take berth in the jetties.
They said unloading of containers started Monday night but was immediately suspended due to shortage of space. Four container vessels are now waiting for berth at the outer anchorage and fourteen others are expected to arrive within this week, they added.
When contacted CPA Director (Traffic) told this correspondent that due to the government holidays on the occasion Eid-ul Fitr, the delivery of containers from the yard remained suspended since November 24 last. As such, no space was left vacant in the port yard and subsequently unloading of containers from vessels remained stopped, he added.

Top

RAJSHAHI, Dec 3: Fish production in Rajshahi district has been declining drastically due to drying up of the rivers and water bodies as well as rather scanty rainfall this year during the monsoon.
Sources said about 80 per cent of the rivers, tributaries, ponds and ''beels'' of the district have already dried up. There was also scanty rainfall this year in the district resulting in exhaustion the stock of fishes in the ponds and ''beels'' of the district, they added.
Many of the water bodies and ''beels'' were flooded due to the onrush of water of the river Padma while the late monsoon rain also caused scanty deposit of water at the bottom of ponds, beels and tributaries of the district.
According to the sources of the Department of Fisheries, the annual demand of per head fish was only 12 kilogrammes whereas the district requires about 36,000 tonnes of fish annually (45 grammes per head per day for 2.2 million population).
The sources said only 23,000 tonnes of fishes are produced in the water bodies of the district. Of the total production, 12,000 tonnes are produced in ponds (cultured) and the rest 11,000 tonnes are produced in natural and free water bodies like ''beels'', tributaries and rivers.
Besides, around 6,000 tonnes of fishes are carried to Dhaka, Chittagong and other places of the country annually from various places of the district.

Top

LONDON: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is at a crossroads. If it is to move beyond a little light airbrushing round the edge of the annual report companies and government have to engage with it where it really matters, at the point where public policy and corporate purpose intersect, according to a recent report from the Green Alliance.
The report, The Public Life of Private Affairs, reveals a black hole at the heart of the social responsibility agenda. Leave aside for the moment the triviality of much of what passes for CSR, and the conspiracy of silence over things that everyone knows are wrong, such as executive greed.
Much worse are the double standards of companies that pose as models of social and environmental responsibility while their trade associations are actively lobbying to water down or delay progressive legislation. This undermines companies'' CSR pretensions as a sham and may come back to haunt them. More insidiously, it saps the whole drive of government policy to make green action mainstream.
A classic case is the climate change levy. The aim of the CCL, a central plank of the Government''s environmental strategy, was to convey a consistently rising price signal for carbon dioxide. Many companies supported it; some, such as Shell and BP, have made cutting greenhouse gas emissions an essential part of their green credentials.
Yet as a result of a spectacular barrage of whingeing and special pleading by industry organisations, not least the CBI, the Government lost its nerve, first toning down the levy, then making exemptions and finally freezing it this year - stripping it of all its economic raison d''être.
Eroding a proposal so that it eventually becomes as meaningless or unworkable as its opponents predicted is a favourite lobbying ploy. Others are characterised in the report as: ''Deny the problem, deny the solution, exaggerate costs, ignore benefits, suppress dissenting voices, argue for more research and if all else fails pro pose lowest-common-denominator voluntarism.''
All these are on triumphant display in reactions to the proposed new European chemicals regime. The policy is by no means perfect - many experts believe that it doesn''t go nearly far or fast enough. But unlike today''s bureaucratic and environmental shambles, it is explicitly designed to be both sustainable and industry-friendly, rewarding innovation and prodding an often conservative industry to phase out existing toxic substances for newer, cleaner ones.
None of this could be gauged from industry responses, however, which have been vituperative, bordering on the hysterical. The hardline European chemicals association, Cefic, has lost no opportunity to declare the proposals unworkable and says they will destroy the European industry by driving it offshore. It has ignored or played down the reactions of forward-thinking members which see little threat in the proposals, and major customers, which have a strong interest in gaining more information about the chemicals they use.
Such scaremongering is unfortunately typical - the US auto industry predicted that the 1975 Clean Air Act would wipe out car manufacturing overnight; the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned that the European Environmental Liability Directive could be ''the last nail in the coffin of manufacturing'', and, sure enough, the chemicals policy ''could be the death knell for some companies in the chemical industry''.
But all claimed threats to competitiveness, the national interest and jobs from environmental legislation should be taken with kilo bags of salt. Most of them are economically bogus as well as socially irresponsible - as pointed out by none other than Adair Turner, a former director general of the CBI. There is no evidence that environmental regulation harms an economy''s job-creation capacity, or its growth.
The scare stories are always wrong because they deny the impact of firms competing to offset regulatory costs by developing more economical processes, inventing better products and pioneering new markets. This can also benefit shareholders. Cleaner companies are less wasteful, more innovative and more attractive to potential employees and customers than dirty ones - in short, they are lower-risk investments.
As examples such as cleaner air and water show, market-based environmental intervention works. As Turner again points out, there is a strong economic, let alone environmental, case for more, not less, of this kind of regulation. Indeed, creative regulation favouring sustainable development is emerging as a critical policy area for government, an instrument that has immense potential both to advance citizens'' wellbeing and provide a consistent framework for industrial strategy.
But to take advantage of what the Green Alliance calls ''the economics of opportunity'' requires companies to live up to their CSR promises and support, rather than undermine, attempts to move the economy on to a more sustainable trajectory. This will involve reining in trade associations, or at least refusing to condone by silence their Neanderthal positions, and persuading them to put their resources into devising sustainable industry strategies instead of pursuing column-inches with scare stories.
The new frontier for CSR is not voluntary do-gooding but engaging in honest debate with government about how to frame market-based interventions, whether by taxes or regulation, to reward good behaviour and penalise those that dump their environmental costs on others.
Meanwhile, green campaigners are promising to step up efforts to out companies that they see as speaking with forked tongues. Warns Stephen Tindale, director of Greenpeace: ''One of the largest reputational risks a company can face is exposure as a hypocrite. The current gulf between a company''s greenspeak and the behaviour of trade associations is just such a risk, and exposure will not be long in coming.''
(Source: Internet)

Top

Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said Wednesday that there was no alternative to total integration with all stakeholders to develop the country''s shrimp industry.
"A close coordination among the shrimp industry stakeholders is imperative to ensure traceability and quality of the country''s second largest export item," the minister said while opening two-day international conference on global shrimp industry in the city.
Arranged by the Bangladesh Shrimp Foundation (BSF) and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), the first meeting of the Global Aquaculture Discussion Forum has brought some 75 representatives from USA, Europe and Asian countries together to share experiences and ideas on trade in the shrimp aquaculture sector and to seek positive solutions to problems and constraints.
BSF chairman Syed Mahmudul Huq, president of Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), George Chamberlain, environment specialist of NACA, Michael J Phillips, acting chief of Party of ATDP, Ron Gillespie and USAID acting mission director Beth Paige also addressed the function.
"In order to win the global market competition and bring the premium price, we need to ensure that our shrimp is produced in compliance with the international codes of conduct for food safety, human rights, labour rights and environment," the minister said.
The GAA chief said only united efforts of the stakeholders can positively respond to government and regulatory actions and also NGO challenges.
"A collective approach is also the only means of generating broad-based consumer messaging to stimulate demand to balance growth in supply," GAA president George Chamberlain said.
Buyers, international organisations, NGOs, donors and trade associations supplying shrimp will discuss the increasing demand for higher standards and certification of shrimp supply chains and constraints faced by the developing countries.

Top

The World Bank (WB) has agreed to provide $150 million as short-term assistance package for setting up a peaking power plant and development of power transmission and distribution system.
WB country chief Christine Wallich made this pledge during a meeting with State Minister for Power Iqbal Hasan Mahmood at his Secretariat office Wednesday. WB officials Salman Zahir and Mohamad Iqbal were also present at the meeting.
Wallich also assured the minister of providing funds through International Finance Corporation (IFC) to set up a power plant with a generation capacity of 450 megawatt (MW) daily at Sirajganj.
"We are happy with the ongoing reforms in the power sector. The minister has briefed us about his development plans and we have assured him of providing financial support," she said while talking to newsmen after the meeting.
The power ministry has been requested to submit its plan as early as possible as the matter will be discussed and initially finalised during a visit of a WB team to Bangladesh on December 14 next.
"We have sought a total of $7.6 billion for some short, medium and long term development programmes. The WB has agreed to provide $150 million under a short-term assistance package," State Minister for Power Iqbal Hassan Mahmood told journalists.
The ministry has taken a short-term plan with an estimated cost of $150 million. The mid-term programme will be implemented within the next three years and a total of $3.1 billion will be required for the purpose.
Meanwhile, the 10-year long-term programme will be undertaken at an estimated cost of $4.5 billion.
Under the short-term plan, a peaking power plant having a generation capacity of 115 MW will be constructed with an estimated cost of $38 million. Besides, the entire distribution system under Chittagong zone will be corporatised with an estimated cost of $60 million.
The peaking power plant has been undertaken by the ministry to meet the peak-hour demand of electricity.
The ministry has planned to spend $6.0 million for system metering project and $6.0 million for the development of a central power generation maintenance unit.
The mid-term programme includes 10 distribution and transmission projects and two reform projects. The WB has requested the power ministry to submit necessary documents in this connection.
The power sector has to enhance its daily generation capacity from the existing 3235 MW to 5386 MW by 2007 for meeting the increasing demands of all types of consumers.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also recently pledged to provide $1.0 billion for power sector development.

Top

Passengers and tourists on jam-packed small fishing trawlers are forced to commute between Saint Martin''s Island and the mainland risking their lives everyday.
It is a common scene in the narrow canal of the Naf river in Teknaf where more than 20 fishing trawlers regularly squeeze in passengers and tourists on way to the country''s lone coral island in the Bay of Bengal.
Heated quarrel between passengers and the private trawler operators over the overloading issue, a panicky situation even during mild sea rolling and discomforts during the two-and-a-half-hour-long journey are also parts of the daily routine.
Only one sea-truck of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) travels to and from the Teknaf land-port and the island with 150 passengers daily.
The BIWTC introduced the ferry service last year as passengers and tourists started to pour in between November and March.
Sources said the organisation was supposed to commission another sea-truck from this season. But they failed to implement the plan due to non-cooperation from the private operators, they added.
The prevailing non-cooperation between the BIWTC and the private operators subsequently forced tourists and islanders to rely on private operators to maintain communication with the island, which is separated by an eight km channel from the mainland.
Ahmed Zaman, who was travelling with his wife and his one-year-old child, said he failed to collect a ticket of the sea-truck due to heavy rush and boarded a fishing trawler.
"The sea was calm but I felt continuous discomfort as the operators did not provide us with life-saving jackets and lifebuoys despite promising the same", he said, adding the small trawler was packed and hardly allowed passengers any room to move.
"But they charged Tk 100 for the one-way trip by a trawler, which was Tk 50 only a couple of years back", said another tourist Shimul. The sea-truck charges Tk 140 for a single trip.
Local people said during the peak tourists'' season nearly 2,000 passengers travel daily to St. Martin''s Island, which is becoming the fastest-growing tourist destination in the country.
Of the 2,000 passengers, 500-plus stay overnight in the coral island, while the rest return the same day.

Top

CHITTAGONG, Dec 3: The Chittagong Customs House (CCH) will withdraw the escorting system from the privately-owned customs freight station (CFS) over transportation of containers loaded with exportable goods.
Necessary orders are going to be issued in this respect very shortly, CCH sources said.
The sources said with the enforcement of the orders, the practice of realising bribes by the preventive staff of the CCH in the name of escorting charge will come to an end.
It was resolved in a meeting held between the Customs House administration and the representatives of the shipping agents to withdraw the escorting system with effect from December 1 last.
However, no order was issued from the CCH in this respect. The CCH made a similar announcement following meetings with the port users'' forum but it was not implemented in view of the conspiracies of different quarters.
Some vested quarters are alleged to disrupt the move mentioned above this time too despite its being at the final stage. They are not in favour of withdrawal of the escorting system under any circumstances as it would stop the source of realisation of bribes for them, they alleged further.
However, the executives of different shipping companies said that practically they had no headache about the system but the matter of realisation of bribes has rather emerged as a great problem for them.
The allegation of realising bribes by the preventive staff has been raised since the launching of the system by the CCH administration. The preventive staff have allegedly realised millions of taka so far in a very illegal manner by resorting to this practice.
When contacted, a senior official of the CCH on the matter told this correspondent that the relevant file for withdrawal of the escorting system had been sent seeking approval of the concerned authority. He expected that it would come into force immediately.

Top

BOGRA, Dec 3: The people of Sariakandi and Dhunut upazilas of Bogra district are anxious as the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting held on November 5 did not approve the project "Prevention of merger of two rivers - Bangali and Jamuna - at Titporal and Debdanga points" under Sariakandi Upazila here.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia passed necessary orders on August 13 to take permanent steps to prevent the mighty Jamuna''s merger with the Bangali river.

Top

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia stressed Wednesday the need for improving the processing system of agri-products for value addition and boosting their export, report agencies.
"The country''s agricultural sector has immense potential and the impossible can be made possible through proper utilisation of the agricultural resources," she said inaugurating a three-day international ''Agri-Invest 2003'' exhibition in the city.
The Prime Minister in her speech called upon local and foreign investors to invest more in the farm sector, enjoying special support from the government.
She called for modernisation of the agricultural sector and increase in agricultural output to enhance its export and create more employment opportunities.
Khaleda Zia also underscored the need for carrying out specific development programmes with a professional approach to encourage the setting up of industries in the agricultural sector, alongside other programmes of the government for development of agro-based industries.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to develop the existing Export Processing Zone (EPZ) at Ishwardi as an exclusive one for agro-based industries.
The Ishwardi EPZ, located in the country''s northern region, will be able to have the natural advantage of abundance of agri-outputs of the area.
The Prime Minister also directed the authorities to ensure all necessary infrastructural facilities for the EPZ.
A total of 67 stalls of farm products and support organisations from 10 countries have been set up at the show. The farm fair is being held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship International Conference Centre.
Besides host Bangladesh, Denmark, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Norway, India, Switzerland, Italy and Britain are participating in the exposition.
Jointly organised by the Board of Investment (BOI), the Ministry of Agriculture and SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF), the meet is aimed at attracting local and foreign investment in the sector.
The PM told her audience that her government had taken initiative to build a time-befitting agricultural system, matching with national interests, in the light of agricultural agreement of WTO, SAFTA and other agreements.
She said the government attached priority to agriculture and increased subsidy three times now for the agricultural sector. An amount of Tk 500 million has been allocated in the current financial year to assist in setting up agro-based industries.
Referring to a wider scope of investment in agro-processing, preservation and marketing, she urged the industrial entrepreneurs to set up industries for preservation and processing of farm products.
The Prime Minister called for taking appropriate measures for preservation and marketing of products like mango, jackfruit, litchi, banana, pineapple, papaya, vegetables, potato, meat and milk.
She sought well-conceived counsel from the concerned quarters to help the government provide support for setting up agro-based industries.
Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman, State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Ukil Abdus Sattar, State Minister for Agriculture Mirza FakrulIslam Alamgir, General Manager of SEDF and Executive Chairman of the BOI Mahmudur Rahman also addressed the function.

Top

BAGHDAD, Dec 3 (AFP): Iraq''s interim leadership reached no decision Wednesday over Shiite demands for immediate polls after talks with US overseer Paul Bremer, amid continuing divisions over the coalition''s blueprint for a rapid transfer of sovereignty to an unelected caretaker administration.
"We did not reach clear results ... The door is still open and the discussions are ongoing," said Abdelaziz al-Hakim, the current president of the Governing Council. His Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) backs the demands of the Shiite religious hierarchy.
"We hope there will be positive results accepted by everybody," Hakim told a Baghdad press conference after the meeting.
The interim council is deeply divided over Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani''s rejection of the coalition''s blueprint for the handover of sovereignty by June next year.

Top

Heart assessments exaggerate risk
The standard methods used by doctors to work out an individual''s future risk of heart disease appear to overestimate the true risk by about 50 per cent, according to a study in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal. The research team, led by Peter Brindle of Bristol University, also found that 84 per cent of the coronary heart disease deaths that occurred during the 10-year study period were in men predicted to be at low risk.
General practitioners base the decision to offer treatments, such as station drugs to reduce cholesterol level, on their patients'' coronary "risk". If this is exaggerated, patients and doctors cannot make an informed choice about starting long-term treatment that may have side-effects, requires regular monitoring and may cause anxiety.
Current methods for assessing this risk are based on a vast US study carried out during the 1960s and 1970s in Framingham, a town in Massachusetts. The Bristol researchers tested the accuracy of the Framingham coronary risk predictions in 6,643 men from the British regional heart study. They calculated each man''s coronary risk and compared these predictions with the number of coronary events that occurred over 10 years. Only 2.8 per cent of men died from coronary heart disease, compared With the 4.1 per cent predicted by the Framingham score.
"While we acknowledge that performing a coronary risk assessment using the Framingham score, which takes into account up to eight different risk factors, is better than using purely clinical judgement, it is important that GPs and their patients understand the limits of the accuracy of the Framingham coronary risk score," Dr Brindle says.
Conservationists foxed by wild pigs
The complexities of wildlife conservation - and the competing demands of different protected species - are illustrated vividly in the latest issue of the journal Science. An ecological study of Southern California''s Channel Islands shows that the survival of the rare island fox depends on the complete removal of the golden eagle, a protected predator that eats the endangered foxes.
The real villains of the story are people who introduced pigs to the offshore islands, close to Los Angeles. The pigs escaped and ran wild, drawing golden eagles to the islands. While the eagles feast on feral piglets, they also prey on the island fox - a species no larger than a domestic cat, which exists only on the Channel Islands and has no natural predators.
The authorities are now trying to remove the pigs, which are damaging the islands'' rare flora.
But a study led by Gary Roemer of New Mexico State University shows that if all the pigs were removed while some eagles remained, the consequences for the foxes could be disastrous since they would be eaten by hungry eagles.
"This exemplifies how solving conservation problems is often more complex than redressing its primary cause - here, pigs," the scientists comment.
Maggot therapy to tackle ''yuk'' factor
Scientists at Exeter University have set up a company to bring maggot therapy into the 21st century. They aim to isolate and synthesise the biochemical compounds that make live maggots so effective in cleaning wounds and promoting healing.
Maggots - blowfly larvae - have been used in medicine for centuries. They fell out of favour in the mid-20th century with the advent of antibiotics but have made a comeback over the past decade, driven by the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria.
However, there are disadvantages in using live maggots. Most obvious is the "yuk factor", which puts some patients off the idea of larvae feeding off their wounds - even if they are reassured by doctors and nurses that the maggots break down and consume only dying tissue, leaving the healthy tissue beneath in a better state to heal. Maggots have to be bred, handled and distributed in sterile conditions and then applied to the wound in a way that will keep the larvae in place without suffocating them.
The company, called MediLarv, is supported by BioElf, the Exeter-based incubator for universities and laboratories in Devon and Cornwall. It is preparing to screen larval secretions biochemically for their anti-bacterial properties and their ability to break down dying tissue.
"We want to obtain all the benefits of larval therapy without the larvae," says Jamie Stevens, one of the Exeter scientists. But he concedes that more research will be required to discover how important the mechanical action of the living maggots is for cleaning the wound.

Mapping the genes for plump turkeys
To celebrate Thanksgiving, the US turkey industry has announced preliminary results of the turkey genome project. A "first-generation map" has been published in the journal Genome, placing about 100 of the estimated 25,000 genes in their genetic context. But most of the turkey genome remains gobbledegook.
The genomes of most other farm animals, including cow, pig and chicken, have been well mapped but researchers had neglected the turkey. A gene map is an essential prelude to DNA sequencing. Turkey breeders are keen to find genes that help to resist viral and bacterial infection, as well as identifying the genetic basis of plumper birds and juicier meat.
"Using naturally occurring variations, it is possible to build a better turkey - for example, one that expresses a natural genetic resistance to certain diseases," says David Harry, who is leading the project at Nicholas Turkey Breeding Farms in California, in collaboration with the universities of Kentucky and Minnesota.
According to the National Turkey Federation, Americans eat about 270m turkeys a year - about 30 per cent of them during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

Top

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will offer certain concessions to its arch rival India during fourth round of talks under The South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (Sapta) being held in Kathmandu in order to finalise exchange of concessional items, according to a report available on the internet.
The list of such concessional items would be tabled in the upcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Heads meeting for final approval, sources confided to The Nation, a national English daily in Pakistan.
The Saarc Heads meeting to be held in Islamabad from January 4 to 6, 2004 in which certain trade concessions will be exchanged among the member states in a bid to promote regional trade. Pakistani officials are attending the meeting under Sapta arrangements.
Pakistan has already finalised a strategy to hold upcoming trade talks with India under Sapta and South Asian Free Trade Association (Safta) arrangements and various concessions will be offered to all Saarc countries keeping in view the attitude of all member states towards Islamabad''s initiatives, the sources said.
At the end of third Round, Pakistan had granted concessions on 23 items to non-least developed countries (LDCs) and 52 items to LDCs. During the three rounds of talks under Sapta, Saarc countries have exchanged tariff concessions on more than 5000 items.
However, this progress in promoting regional trade is not as encouraging as has been in other regions of the world under the fora like Asean, Nafta or European Union, the official added.
Pakistan''s trade managers have decided that they would pursue India for taking steps to get more openness as Indian tariff concessions under Sapta were hampered by administrative regulations. "India''s stance at the 4th Round will be watched very carefully," the official said.
Since the third round, there have been significant developments in Indian economy. India has also concluded a Free Trade Agreement with Sri Lanka and New Delhi is also negotiating trade deals with different regions.
The official said that Sapta has not taken off because of closed trade regime by India. Moreover, the industrial structures have been parallel particularly in key sectors i.e textile, agriculture, light engineering etc.
"Sapta can be successful only if India opens up on non-reciprocal basis or exchanges concessions in a differentiated timeframe as done in India/Sri Lanka free trade agreement," the official said.
For Pakistan, the official said the most suitable course is to use provisions for extra concessions for LDCs to capture those smaller markets in the region while avoiding more trade concessions to India. For Safta, the sixth meeting of experts was held at Kathmandu two days back to finalise draft agreement for promotion of free trade among the member states, the official said.
An earlier report from Islamabad also available on the internet, said: The third meeting of the Saarc technical committee on communications and transport here explored ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation among the member countries in the fields of transport and communication.
The moot was formally inaugurated by Nooruddin Baqai, member telecom of the Ministry of Information Technology, aiming at formulating recommendations to be put forward for formal approval to the 12th Saarc Summit to be held in Islamabad next month.

Top

KARACHI, Dec 3 (AFP): The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said Wednesday it will fly Jumbo aircraft to Indian destinations after an expected revival of air links between the two countries in January.
Meanwhile officials said Wednesday Pakistan will send a four-member delegation to New Delhi this month for technical level talks with India on restoring passenger train service between the two countries.
The delegation headed by Mohammad Iqbal Khatri, additional general manager of Pakistan Railways, will leave December 17.
India has proposed December 18-19 for talks to restore the sus-
pended Samjhota Express between the two countries.

Top

Veteran politician and former foreign minister Dr Kamal Hossain Wednessday said they would set a time for the government from a national convention to meet some fundamental demands, failing which an ultimatum will be issued from a united platform,reports UNB.
Addressing a press conference he said a united platform would be formed at the convention to launch a movement if the country is not run according to the Constitution, corruption and terrorism is not uprooted and the judiciary not separated within their set timeframe.
Kamal, also an eminent jurist and chief of Gono Forum, alleged that those who are taking oath to govern the country abiding by the Constitution are violating it.

Top

GENEVA: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled against preferential tariffs granted to Pakistan under of the European Union (EU) special arrangements for countries combating illicit drug production, saying the move discriminated unfairly against India, which brought the complaint, and other developing countries.
The EU is expected to appeal the verdict, reached by a rare two to one majority on the three-member dispute panel. If upheld, the ruling could oblige the EU and other rich WTO members to scrap extra benefits for particular groups within their Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) schemes for poor countries.
India says the EU scheme for Pakistan, introduced in January 2002, has affected $250m of its textile exports, which face higher EU tariffs than rival products from Pakistan.
Under a 1971 decision by Gatt, the WTO''s predecessor, rich countries can give preferential trade benefits to poor ones, but preferences are supposed to be "generalised and non-discriminatory" and should not "raise barriers to or create undue difficulties for the trade of any other [members]".
The EU, which in October decided to extend its GSP system by a year to end-2005, has a WTO waiver for its special scheme for the 70-plus African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
However, the EU has not won a waiver for its arrangement for drug-producing countries, all 12 of which are central and south American nations apart from Pakistan. In a previous challenge to the arrangement by Brazil, concerning instant coffee, the EU and Brazil reached a bilateral settlement, so avoiding a legal WTO ruling.
India originally also challenged the EU''s practice of enhancing the trade preferences it grants to developing countries if they comply with labour and environmental standards. It subsequently dropped this part of the complaint but reserved the right to restart it.
Another FT Syndication Service report by Ray Marcelo from New Delhi adds: India has signed a $16.7m trade co-operation agreement with the European Union (EU) and pledged to invest in Galileo, the European satellite navigation system being developed to rival the Pentagon-controlled Global Positioning System.
The agreements came as part of the fourth EU-India summit held recently in the Indian capital city, an annual round of talks that aim to tighten political, diplomatic and trade links between the two sides.
Yashwant Sinha, India''s foreign minister, and Christopher Patten, the EU''s external relations commissioner, signed a "Trade and Investment Development Programme", which mostly plans to help Indian food exporters comply with strict European standards on food safety.
The two sides also endorsed customs co-operation and a maritime transport agreement, which are meant to strengthen legal rules to simplify trade.
A joint statement welcomed the latest ceasefire between the Indian and Pakistani armies along the Line of Control that divides the disputed state of Kashmir, and expressed hope that the move would lead to dialogue.
And in several statements alluding to US supremacy, India and the EU referred to each other as "global actors in the multi-polar world committed to strengthening the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security".
Javier Solana, the European Union''s foreign policy chief, said: "India shares with the EU the same ideas on multilateralism and we share a common vision of how to run the world" - a reference to what some European governments fear is an emerging US unilateral agenda.
Reflecting European worries about US power, the EU has pushed the Galileo satellite navigation system to counter the US military-controlled Global Positioning System, which has become a de facto public navigation service.
By contrast, Galileo, a multi-billion dollar joint venture between the European Commission and the European Space Agency, is being designed for civilian rather than military applications.
India has now joined China, which paid $200m as an initial investment in Galileo, in supporting the project, which is planned to have 27 satellites in space by 2008.
Indian officials are understood to regard Galileo membership as recognition of India''s own space programme, which has launched several satellites, most through partnership with the European Space Agency.
According to Stefano Gatto, trade and economic counsellor at the European Commission in New Delhi, India can now influence the research of new applications for the satellite navigation system. "It''s more of a strategic issue. You want to be on the boat when it leaves the port," he said.
Indian and European officials will hold talks over the next few months to determine the value of India''s initial investment in Galileo but several reports say New Delhi could contribute $350m to the satellite project.

Top

KARACHI, Dec 3 (Reuters) :Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $11.873 billion in the week to November 22, up $103 million from the previous week, the State Bank of Pakistan said yesterday.
The cental bank gave no reason for the rise.
But bankers say the steady increase in reserves was partly due to higher remittances from expatriate Pakistanis who have been using official channels for money transfers since a crackdown on money laundering after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Top

BOMBAY, Dec 3 (Reuters) : India’s central bank proposed yesterday to introduce new tools in its struggle to manage excess cash with banks in the face of surging flows of foreign money into the economy.
Under the proposals, overnight IOUs that the Reserve Bank of India buys from banks or issues to them — repos and reverse repos — would be extended to a one-week maturity, giving them a stronger effect on the money market.

Top