Haque Specialized Group's News

At least 12 people were killed and 38 others reportedly missing as flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Golestan, Khorasan and Khorasan Razavi provinces of Iran, country’s state TV reported Saturday. Ali Bakhtiari, spokesman for the country's disaster agency, said the number of people killed in the floods rose to 12 in the three northeastern provinces, according to the TV website irinn.ir.  Iran's Red Crescent chief, Mojtaba Ahmadi, told state TV that it's difficult to know the exact death toll because the flooding took place over the weekend, when many Iranians take to the riversides for picnics. Ahmadi added that there are 38 people missing in Khorasan Razavi province. He said six ambulances, three rescue vehicles and an air ambulance have been deployed to the area to provide aid. The country's meteorological organisation says the rainfall was expected to continue until next Friday. In April, at least 30 people were killed in flash flooding in eastern Azarbaijan, reports AP.....

Published at: 2017-08-13 05:00:03

A bomb exploded near a crowded market in the Pakistani city of Quetta on Saturday, killing at least 15 people, officials said, the latest attack to hit the restive southwestern province of Baluchistan. Middle East-based Islamic State, which has a branch of loosely affiliated fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed the attack shortly afterwards, saying a motorcycle suicide bomber had killed 17 soldiers. The powerful blast hit as a paramilitary patrol passed by on the road, Baluchistan provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti said, adding the patrol may have been the target. "According to the information we have received so far, there are around 15 casualties, people who were martyred, and around 40 people were wounded," Bugti said. He said a state of emergency had been imposed in the city and all hospitals were on alert. Quetta's chief of bomb disposal squad, Aslam Tareen, said initial information was that a suicide attacker rammed a motorcycle into a military vehicle. Pakistan's army press wing said the patrol was the target and there were at least seven civilians among the 15 killed. It cited army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa as saying terrorists were trying to disrupt Monday's celebrations of 70 years of independence from Britain. "Our resolve won't succumb to any challenge," Bajwa was quoted as saying in an official tweet from a top military spokesman.....

Published at: 2017-08-13 05:00:03

Roger Federer maintained his superb run of form with a straight-set win over Dutchman Robin Haase in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup. The Swiss, 36, won 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in Toronto to extend his winning streak to 16 matches and close in on a third Canadian Masters title. Federer is undefeated at Grand Slam and Masters 1000 level this year. He will play Alexander Zverev on Sunday as the fourth-seeded German defeated Canada's Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5 for a spot in the final. "I'm happy - most happy that I'm actually really healthy going into the finals," said second seed Federer, who has won Masters titles in Indian Wells and Miami in 2017. "I haven't wasted too much energy. I've been able to keep points short. I've been really clean at net. I think my concentration and just my playing has gone up a notch. I'm just playing better."....

Published at: 2017-08-13 05:00:02

A move to bring the country's courier service operators under monitoring and regulation still remains a far cry as the concerned authority is functioning with inadequate manpower.   Amid rapid growth of courier business by private sector companies, the 'Mailing Operator and Courier Service Rules, 2013' was adopted in November 2013 and Mailing Operator and Courier Service authority was formed in February, 2014. But the move hardly brought any changes for the sector, the people in the business said. Only 55 domestic courier operators took license from the authority till date although the number could be as many as 500. The Courier Service Association of Bangladesh (CSAB) has become a part of the authority following the new law as getting a membership of the association is a precondition for securing a license. But only 55 members of 115-member association got licenses from the authority so far. According to the law, agencies of courier service operators also require a license. But not a single agency took license to date. Contacted, CSAB president Hafizur Rahman Pulok said new members are not interested to spend money on licenses and its renewal as an already-licensed operator does not get any protection from the authority. "There are around 500 domestic courier services doing business and the authority does not care to bring them under its watch," he said raising question why the licensed operator would pay money if they do not get protection from the authority. He said the association members are losing business to unlicensed courier service operators as they always offer lesser prices.   The courier service operators also stopped paying compensation fees to the authority as they termed the clause in the law as 'funny'. The law says courier service operators have to pay 0.20 paisa to the authority per package they carry as the government thinks the private sector is harming the government's postal service by doing business. "Is there any private sector business in the country that pays compensation to the government after incurring loss? This is the funniest-ever law," Mr Pulok exclaimed.   The license-issuing authority was formed with the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry Additional Secretary as its chairman, Additional Director General of the Postal Department as the member secretary of the authority while Deputy Secretary of the ministry is its member. But they are all ex-officio. Mr Humayun Kabir is the only person who works fulltime at the Mailing Operator and Courier Service Authority. Identifying himself as an accountant of the authority, he told the FE that the organogram of the authority is still lying at the ministry for approval.   Talking about mandatory license for courier service business, he said, there are several hundred courier services doing business without license. "But it is not up to us. Police will see if there is any courier service operator doing business without license. We don't have police," he said. The recent development in digital communication and electronic money transfer hit the courier service business hard but e-commerce compensated the loss. "We used to receive 1,000 documents from Sonali Bank every day to send those across the country seven years back. Now it has come down to 500 due to digitalisation," said Uttam Kumar Gupta, general manager of the country's Continental Courier Service. "But digitalisation compensated the loss. Now the sector is getting increased volume of business from e-commerce though we mainly carry documents," he said. According to officials in the CSAB office, some of the biggest e-commerce firms have applied for association memberships as they want to carry their own goods to customers. The police department often alleges that the courier service operators in the country carry arms, ammunition, drugs and other contraband goods. CSAB President Pulok said there must be coordination among courier services, the authority and law-enforcing agencies. "We asked law-enforcing agencies to provide scanner machine to scan goods but fruitlessly," he said. Mr Pulok said smugglers are sending drugs and other banned goods by giving false declarations to pass them off as 'mango baskets' or such harmless commodities. The law enforcement agencies have seized a few of such dubious parcels. The authority hoped that around Tk 500 million will be collected as license, agency permission and compensatory fees in the first year while the collection would gradually increase in the coming years with the license renewal process. But they could make only a few millions in the last three years, according to the association. Of the major duties and responsibilities, the license issuing authority issues licenses to mailing operators and courier service providers alongside providing consent for agency operations, realising license, agency permission and other compensatory fees. The government works out its collection method, determining the standard of services provided by mailing operators and courier service providers as well as monitoring of those. Under the rules, mailing operators and courier service providers are classified into three categories - domestic mailing operator and courier service provider, on-board mailing operator and courier service provider and international mailing operator and courier service provider. There are 27 on-board and 61 international courier services operating their businesses in the country besides domestic couriers.       bdsmile@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-12 05:00:03

Many plastic recycling and manufacturing units in old Dhaka are switching over to production of different kinds of toys and other small diversified products mainly for their sustainability and profitability, sector insiders have said According to them, as toy market is lucrative both in local and international markets and other important plastic products are being produced by large established companies, they are switching to produce different kinds of toys and other small plastic products. Mohsin Alam, a manager of plastic factory at the city's Islambag area, told the FE two years ago they used to produce different plastic items like jug, bucket etc but now they are only producing different kinds of toys. "At that time, we struggled to survive with the traditional plastic product manufacturing but now our condition is much better," he said. Mr Mohsin Alam said there is a huge demand for toys in both local and international markets. "We see a lot of companies of our sector also moving to toy manufacturing from other products because of increased demand and profitability," he added. Mr Shah Alam, owner of a plastic factory at Chawkbazar area told the FE that after struggling with traditional recycling products, they stopped their factory one and half years ago. "Eight-nine months ago, we started producing different kinds of toys along with a small quantity of home appliances. Now we are in a comparatively good situation," he added. Talking to the FE, office secretary of the Bangladesh Plastic Good Manufacturing and Exporters Association Mohammad Jony said the number of such units is continuously increasing in different parts of the old city. He said now there are around 500 to 600 such small units scattered at various parts of the city most of which manufacture toys and small home appliances. He said the important thing is that such small factories are also upgrading their technologies which also give them the opportunities to ensure quality and varied products at low cost. "Besides quality products, we see that such technological upgradation also helps them to reduce labour costs significantly though a large number of workers were terminated," Mr Jony said. However, Mr Jony said interestingly the terminated workers are also doing well. "They have been provided training by different organisations and now they are working in different renowned factories with salary that is double of what they used to get earlier," he said He said their association also provided training to about 250-300 workers who are now working for different renowned companies. Mr Tushar Uddin, who worked for such a small factory, told the FE that he also lost his job one year ago as the owner opted for automation manufacturing from the traditional one. He said there were around 12 workers at their unit and five of them lost their jobs after the upgradation. "Though we passed tough time after losing jobs, all of us are now comparatively better than our previous days as we have got the opportunity to work in various established companies with lucrative compensation after training," he added. Md Selim, secretary of the Bangladesh Plastic Business Association told the FE that these manufacturers have been playing crucial roles in meeting local demand and fetching foreign exchange through exports.  He said if a toy manufacturer gets required support including financing at single-digit interest and modern technologies, it will be possible for them to raise the volume of toy exports after meeting local demand. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data, the country's plastic product exports registered about 31 per cent growth in FY 2016-17. The EPB data shows that in FY 2016-17, exports by the plastic sector earned about US$ 116.95 million and in FY 2015-16 and FY 2014-15, the earnings were about $ 89 million and $ 100 million respectively.     wazeddu@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-12 05:00:03