Haque Specialized Group's News

Russian player Maria Sharapova has been awarded a wildcard for the main draw of this year's US Open. This is the first Grand Slam the 30-year-old has been given a main draw pass since returning to action in April following a 15-month drugs ban. She was denied wildcard for the French Open and did not request one for this year's Wimbledon, which she missed through injury. The five-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one is ranked 148. -BBC  ....

Published at: 2017-08-16 05:00:04

Rafael Nadal will be the new world number one from next Monday after Roger Federer withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters with a back injury. The Swiss 19-time Grand Slam winner was the only player who could have denied Spain's Nadal taking the top spot in the rankings from Andy Murray. Federer was injured in Sunday's Rogers Cup final defeat by Alexander Zverev. Briton Murray pulled out of Cincinnati last week as he continues to recover from a hip problem. Reigning French Open champion Nadal returns to the top of the rankings for the first time since July 2014. The 31-year-old went out of the Rogers Cup in the last 16 against wildcard Denis Shapovalov. Federer went all the way to the final before losing to 20-year-old German Zverev in Montreal - the Swiss' first tournament since winning Wimbledon for the eighth time in July. "I am very sorry to pull out," said the world number three. "Cincinnati has some of the best fans in the world and I am sorry I will miss them. "Unfortunately, I tweaked my back in Montreal and I need to rest this week." The Cincinnati Master leads up to the the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year, which begins on 28 August. Federer, 36, joins fellow top 10 players Murray, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic in withdrawing, while 2016 US Open winner Stan Wawrinka and 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will miss the rest of the season. -BBC  ....

Published at: 2017-08-16 05:00:04

The government has taken a move to raise gold trading licence fees by nearly 67 per cent following its sales boom in local markets in recent years, officials said. People familiar with the ministry concerned told the FE that fee hike in gold trading licences will help contribute to the national exchequer in terms of non-tax revenue. The hike of trade licence fees will range from 40 per cent to 66.66 per cent for different gold traders, jewellery makers and small gold traders, according to a commerce ministry source. Gold traders will have to pay a sum of Tk 5,000 to get licences for gold trading. It is now Tk 3,000. Besides, jewellery makers and small gold traders will have to pay Tk 700 as fees for getting trading licences. "We have taken necessary steps to increase licence fees for large and small gold traders in the country," a deputy secretary of the commerce ministry told the FE. Required amendments will be made to Gold (Procurement, Storage and Distribution) Order 1987 if needed, he added. New licence fees for different types of gold traders will take effect as early as possible. To this effect, a circulation is likely to be issued soon, he said, adding that the finance ministry has made suggestions in this regard. "Existing fees for trade licences are low. It should be increased as a high value product internally," General Secretary of Bangladesh Jewellers Samity (BJS) Dilip Kumar told the FE. The licence fees should be fixed in line with the turnover of the traders concerned. Gold traders have to renew their licences every year, he said. Gold prices have increased many times in the country and are still showing an upward trend. But existing licence fees are nominal. It should be fixed at Tk 30,000, an expert said.    Currently, there are different types of gold traders and jewellers in the country. Jewellers have recently increased the prices of gold following its hike in the international market.     rezamumu@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-16 05:00:04

The import dependence on basic raw materials for manufacturing mineral water and beverage bottles and polyester yarn can be reduced by more than 30 per cent by converting bottle wastes into recycled resins. Such conversion can save around US$ 25 million a year, sector insiders said. Resin is the prime raw material of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle industries (especially mineral water and beverage industries) and polyester textile sector in the country. Currently, only one company in the country produces about 5,000 tonnes of recycled resins per year. The major portion of pet bottle wastes is exported to China as pet flakes. According to Bangladesh Pet Flakes Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPFMEA), the country exported about 50,000 tonnes of pet flakes worth US$ 25 million (US$ 500 per tonne ) last year. China produces Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF) and packaging materials from pet wastes. Bangladesh imports nearly 142,000 tonnes of pet resins worth more than US$ 142 million (minimum price US$ 1,000 per tonne) a year for producing pet bottles and synthetic yarn. Of the total volume, about 88,000 tonnes are bottle- grade and 54,000 tonne textile-grade resins. Khadem Mahmud Yusuf, managing director of Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Limited (BPCL), said pet flakes are exported to China without any value addition. Instead of exporting flakes at a low price, it can be converted into resin. The BPCL produces recycled resins. "If all available pet flakes are converted into pet resin, Bangladesh can save US$ 25 million foreign currency," said Mr Yusuf, who is also a member of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA). The BPCL is now producing more than 400 tonnes of recycled resins from the pet bottle waste per month. At the year-end, production will increase to 700 tonnes, he mentioned.     The recycled resins are supplied to nearly 40 companies to produce pet bottles and packaging materials, he added.     "We have a plan to increase our production from 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes each month in future. But there is a shortage of raw materials in his factory," he said The present policy of the government is to discourage local production of resins. The Chinese companies get Bangladeshi pet bottle flakes at comparatively cheaper prices than the local companies following 10 per cent cash incentive to the exporters. The BPFMEA has already sent a letter to the authority to change such discriminatory policy, he mentioned. If the sector gets policy supports from the government, a good number of investors will be encouraged to invest in the industry, Mr Yusuf said. Fishing nets, different types of plastic brushes, zippers, carpets and food grade containers are also produced from recycled resins, the BPCL MD mentioned.   Apart from the resin substitute, the local industry is using pet flakes to produce geo-textiles to prevent land erosion or river bank protection Dird Group and Banjin are producing geo-textiles from pet bottle wastes. However, China is going to ban import of 24 types of waste materials including plastic wastes, as part of a campaign against 'foreign garbage' and environmental pollution by end of this year. The country notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on July 18 last. The move will affect pet flakes export from Bangladesh severely, businesses said. So there is no alternative but to set up mother industries to use the raw materials locally.     When contacted, BPFMEA senior vice president Tofail Ahmed said it would be a very good initiative if more mother industries are set up for utilising pet flakes in the country. "We would be able to survive by supplying this product to local market. But at first we have to make a study over local demand for these recycled products," he added.   He said the quality of Bangladeshi pet flakes is not very high. China mixes the low quality flakes with higher ones imported from Europe and other developed countries to reduce their yarn prices.     On an average, 4.0 billion pet bottles and jars are produced each year. About 3.40 billion pet bottles are discarded after one-time use yearly. Nearly 150 small and large pet waste-producing factories are operating in the country, involving nearly 1.0 million people. About 80 per cent of used pet bottles are collected by industries.     arafat_ara@hotmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-16 05:00:04

Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) has finalised the route of another elevated expressway on the eastern-western side of the city. Officials said consultants of East West Elevated Expressway (EWEE) project submitted their final report, proposing a 39 kilometres (kms) route connecting Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Mawa and Dhaka-Manikganj highways. They said the total cost of EWEE has been estimated US$ 1.8 billion. BBA held a meeting of the stakeholders on Thursday to take last opinions about the final route. However, two other elevated expressway projects are still hanging in the balance due to various reasons. BBA is the executive agency of all kinds of bridges over 1.5-km length, including the elevated expressways. The agency has been trying to implement Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) and Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway (DAEE) since 2010, and is yet to make any significant headway in this regard. BBA signed contract with a Thai company for constructing DEE in 2011. But its progress has been halted, firstly due to complications in handing over land and later due to lack of arranging necessary fund by the contractor under public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement. DAEE has been at the stage of signing commercial contract with a Chinese company, but its loan arrangement under government-to-government initiative has not yet started. From the beginning of the project, BBA was in a fix for taking the decision of arranging funding for the project. BBA initially planned to construct it under PPP, but later due to lack of sufficient response from interested parties, the agency moved from its decision. Finally a Chinese company showed interest in constructing the 38-km expressway, and is now at the final stage of negotiation against its $ 1.38-billion proposal. However, BBA officials said the latest expressway has been planned to construct using land of free areas or the government areas, so that no land is needed to acquire. Besides, EWEE is likely to be constructed under build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) basis. BBA Chief Engineer Kabir Ahmed said though the arrangement of funding for the project is not decided yet, it might be constructed under BOOT, so that the government has to spend less. He also said the new elevated expressway is proposed to be constructed by avoiding the hazard of land acquisition and making free the existing roads as well. EWEE has been proposed entirely over the land of free areas starting from Boilarpur of Dhaka-Manikganj Highway to Langalband of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It is planned to cross Dhaka Basila Road, Ruhitpur of Dhaka-Nawabganj Road, Bagair of Dhaka-Mawa Road, Dhapa of Dhaka-Postogola Road, Jalkuri of Dhaka-Narayanganj Ringroad, and Godnail of Dhaka-Narayanganj Road. The officials concerned said the proposed elevated expressway will be a part of the middle circular road, recommended in the revised strategic transport plan. They also said EWEE and DAEE will be finally half of the middle circular road to facilitate traffic to bypass and enter the city through five ramps. SMEC and Associated Consulting Engineers, a SMEC subsidiary, conducted its feasibility study from March 2016.     smunima@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-16 05:00:04