Haque Specialized Group's News

Interns at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, Bogra continued their strike for the second consecutive day on Monday, increasing the sufferings of patients. The doctors went on the indefinite strike to press for their four-point demand, including taking action against a patient's relatives for their alleged misconduct, reports UNB. Sources at the hospital said the patient, Alauddin Sarkar, 60, of Konagati area of Sirajganj was admitted to the hospital on Saturday midnight. There had been an altercation between his son Rauf Sarkar and intern Najer Uddin around 11:30am on Sunday over switching on a fan in room No 475 of the hospital. Intern Najer then started beating up Rauf, when the other interns joined him and took the youth into a room and beat him up further. They also locked the emergency unit of the hospital and went on an wildcat indefinite strike claiming that patients' relatives 'misbehaved' with them.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-20 00:00:09

At least six godowns of jhut (garment factory wastes) in Deuliabari area of the city were gutted in a fire on Sunday night. Gazipur Fire Service's Deputy Assistant Director Md Akhtaruzzaman said the fire broke out in a warehouse around 9:00pm and it soon engulfed the adjoining five godowns. On information, four fire-fighting units from Gazipur and Kaliakoir rushed to the spot and doused the blaze after three hours of frantic efforts. The extent of losses caused by the fire could not yet be known; according to UNB.....

Published at: 2017-02-20 00:00:09

Malaysia's foreign ministry summoned North Korea's ambassador on Monday over allegations he had made over the Southeast Asian country's handling of the investigation into the murder in Kuala Lumpur of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother, reports Reuters. Malaysia also recalled its envoy from Pyongyang "for consultations", the foreign ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the North Korean ambassador Kang Chol was summoned for "an explanation on the accusations he made against the Government of Malaysia in his press conference on 17 February 2017". "In his press conference, the Ambassador...insinuated that...the Malaysian Government had 'something to conceal'. The Ambassador also alleged that Malaysia was 'colluding and playing into the gallery of external forces'," the statement said.....

Published at: 2017-02-20 00:00:09

Government's overall electricity-supply cost rises for relying heavily on expensive oil-fired power plants by keeping the cheaper base-load units 'idle', said sources. Currently almost all the oil-fuelled power plants, including the expensive rental and quick-rental ones, are operational while over a dozen low-cost gas-fired ones remained shut, they said. A less-expensive lone coal-fired power plant at Barapukuria and hydropower plant at Kaptai are also running far below the capacity. The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the lone buyer of electricity from power producers, purchases high-cost electricity for unavailability of low-cost electricity in the national power grid, said a senior BPDB official. Currently, 14 gas-fired power plants remained shut, statistics from the state-run Petrobangla revealed Sunday. "The closure of so many gas-run power plants at a time is rare," said one of the sources. Electricity generation from the hydropower plant currently amounts to around 90 megawatts against the capacity of 230 MWs and from the coal-fired power plant 80MWs against its generation capacity of 250MWs. Officials concerned see no signs of coming up shortly the large base-load coal-fired power plants that were contracted much before.  Government subsidy allocation in power sector is set to shoot up further if the trend continued. According to the BPDB, its fuel costs against the country's overall electricity generation of around 7,800 megawatts were worth Tk 365 million as of February 18. Of the total fuel costs, Tk 292 million, or 80 per cent, accounts for oil. Several large gas-fired power plants located at Ghorashal, Haripur, Meghnaghat and Siddhirganj have been shut or nominally operated for long. Gas-based power plants of Bibiyana, Ashuganj, Kumargaon and Baghabari were added onto the closure list, according to BPDB statistics. Several state-run oil-fired power plants also remained closed for long, making room for operations of privately owned power plants, it has been alleged. The BPDB currently purchases electricity from the large gas-fired power plants within the range of Tk 2.0-3.5 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour), while it purchases electricity from the oil-fired plants at rates ranging between Tk 13 and Tk 23 per kWh. It seems that the government is not serious about bringing the less-expensive base-load power plants into operation, sources alleged. They said the ever-increasing dependence on oil-fired power plants, most of which were built following unsolicited deals, since mid-2010 is raising the electricity-supply costs substantially. The proposed allocation of Tk 160.64 billion for the fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 for power sector might fall short of requirement if the government continued on the swap for expensive oil-fired power plants for electricity generation. The government has already raised electricity tariffs several times to pass on the rising electricity-generation costs to the clients. A senior Petrobangla official said a significant quantity of natural gas is currently being supplied to fertiliser factories, shutting down some gas-fired power plants. Some gas power plants were also laid idle for maintenance, said the BPDB official. When contacted, Professor M Tamim, Head of the Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said the country should have a priority list to utilise natural gas. "The old, gas-guzzling fertiliser factories should be shut permanently," he said. "The government should also focus on building new less- expensive base-load power plants to reduce electricity- generation costs," said the engineering professor in the discipline. Mazizur.rahman@outlook.com  ....

Published at: 2017-02-20 00:00:09

US food company Kraft Heinz Co withdrew its proposal for a $143-billion merger with larger rival Unilever Plc, the companies said on Sunday, raising questions about whether Kraft will turn its focus to another target. Kraft had made a surprise offer for Unilever to build a global consumer goods behemoth that was flatly rejected on Friday by Unilever, the maker of Lipton tea and Dove soap, reports Reuters. Kraft withdrew its offer because it felt it was too difficult to negotiate a deal following the public disclosure of its bid so soon after its approach to Unilever, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations. Kraft had not expected to encounter the resistance it received from Unilever, one of the people said. Some key concerns raised during talks included potential UK government scrutiny, as well as differences between the companies' cultures and business models, the person added. “Kraft Heinz’s interest was made public at an extremely early stage," Kraft Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen said in a statement. "Our intention was to proceed on a friendly basis, but it was made clear Unilever did not wish to pursue a transaction. It is best to step away early so both companies can focus on their own independent plans to generate value.” Kraft was forced to publicly disclose its offer on Friday to comply with Britain's takeover regulations, after rumors of its approach to Unilever circulated among stock traders. Under UK takeover rules, Kraft's public withdrawal of its offer precludes it from reviving takeover talks with Unilever for six months. A combination would be the third-biggest takeover in history and the largest acquisition of a UK-based company, according to Thomson Reuters data. The combined entity would have $82 billion in sales. The premature exposure of Kraft's bid left the aggressive acquisition machine scrambling to craft an appetising message for shareholders, the press, Unilever's rank and file, and British and Dutch leaders. Prime Minister Theresa May ordered top officials to investigate if the proposed deal posed potential threats to British economic interests, the Financial Times reported. May has been adamant the government should be more active in vetting proposed foreign acquisitions of UK companies. She had previously singled out Kraft's 2010 acquisition of another British household name, Cadbury Plc, as an example of a deal that should have been blocked.....

Published at: 2017-02-20 00:00:09