Haque Specialized Group's News

Army members in Bandarban rescued a local Awami League activist from Betchhara area in Roangchhari upazila early Sunday, two days after he was abducted by a group of miscreants, reports UNB. Lt Col Mashiur Rahman, the captain of Bandarban Sadar Zone of Army, said army men rescued Monghshoithui Marma, an activist of Nuapatang union unit of AL, from inaccessible Betchhara area around 6:00am. The miscreants released Monghshoithui, also the village head of Bhitorpara at Nuapatang union, in the face of constant drives by the Army men, Mashiur added. He was taken to Betchhara Army Camp for giving primary treatment. On Friday night, a group of miscreants picked Monghshoithui up forcibly from his home at Bhitorpara village. Meanwhile, police arrested two people, including a member of Nuapatang UP, in this connection.....

Published at: 2017-02-05 00:00:07

LifeSpring has recently announced its soft launch at an event ‘Breaking the shackles’ recently at the MIDAS Financing Limited auditorium, Dhaka. With the objective of building a connection between welfare and mental health in Bangladesh, LifeSpring hosted the event where celebrated figures from the sphere of psychology and psychiatry have enlightened the audience with their wisdom and experience. Professor Dr. Jhunu Shamsun Nahar (Chairperson of Department of Psychiatry, BSMMU), psychiatrist Dr. Mekhala Sarkar (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, NIMH), Professor Dr. Mohit Kamal (Head of Psychiatry, NIMH) were the key speakers of the event. Professor Dr. Jhunu Shamsun Nahar focused on the importance of mental health care. Dr. Mohit Kamal talked about various addictions in the society and ways to overcome these addictions, he emphasized, “Drug addiction is curable”. Dr. Sushama Reza Rakhi discussed in details about the regular exercises to be done in order to enjoy happiness. “Lack of social connection is increasingly becoming a cause of unhappiness in our daily lives, whereas social connection is a big predictor of success”, she said. Founder and CEO of LifeSpring, Dr. Sayedul Ashraf Kushal said, “A positive brain is 31% more productive, more focused, more prepared to take challenges, and sees stress more as a challenge instead of threat.” Founder and President of LifeSpring, Yahia Mohammad Amin talked about some very inspiring initiatives of the organization, “We have the misconception that rural inhabitants do not seek out for help regarding mental health because of lack of awareness, in reality, it is because of the lack of access. LifeSpring will set up centers to reach even the remotest areas so that people can seek help and receive counseling virtually with the help of computers and internet connection," according to a statement. -rmc//....

Published at: 2017-02-05 00:00:07

A joint feasibility study on a bilateral free-trade area (FTA) between Bangladesh and China has yet to begin even after the lapse of three and a half months of signing an accord. The two nations signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard in mid-October during Chinese President Xi Jinping's Dhaka visit. Earlier in September last year, China in a letter had formally proposed conducting the study to examine the suitability of formation of a free-trade area. Beijing then forwarded a draft of the MoU which was inked in October. A senior trade official told the FE the signed document couldn't yet reach the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Thus, the MoC could not go forward with the feasibility study. He said China will provide necessary funds for the study. "Since the signing of the MoU, the Chinese side has not communicated with us for advancing with the task. Once they contact, we will decide next course of actions through mutual discussion," said the official. Contacted over phone, a top MoC official said though the MoU was signed, Bangladesh has reservation on FTA with any country at this stage considering the possible impact on revenue earnings and interests of local industry. China in the draft MoU document said the feasibility study should be comprehensive and cover sectors of common interests. The future work plans are subject to the outcome of the joint feasibility study. According to MoC officials, signing FTA accord with China will result in a significant revenue loss for Bangladesh. They pointed out that Bangladesh's import from China reached nearly US$9.0 billion while export to the country is worth only around $800 million. Bangladesh may lose $2.70 billion or more as revenue if grants duty-free market access to Chinese products though signing FTA deal. China has granted duty-free market access to 4886 products of least developed countries (LDCs) on its market. Bangladeshi goods also enjoy the facility since the country is also an LDC.  Almost similar numbers of Bangladeshi products also enjoy duty-free access to the Chinese market under Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) since 2010, they said. The trade officials fear that Bangladesh's local industry would be hit hard if FTA is signed with a country like China having huge production capacity at a very competitive price. They said interests of exporters, importers, domestic industry, and consumers ought to be kept in balance before signing any preferential deal with any country. Country's trade leaders have also been opposing FTA signing with countries like China and Malaysia as such trade deal may disrupt domestic industrial growth.      syful-islam@outlook.com....

Published at: 2017-02-04 00:00:05

The government has cut foreign aid allocation by 17.5 per cent to Tk 330 billion in the development budget for the current fiscal year following poor project execution performance by some public agencies, officials said Friday. Economic Relations Division (ERD) officials said slashing of available project aid for the upcoming Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) will further push up the government's unutilised external assistance figure. Unutilised foreign aid, which is in the pipeline, now balloons to more than US$ 21 billion, they added. According to ERD, it has recently cut the project aid allocation by Tk 70 billion from the original outlay of Tk 400 billion in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of the current financial year (FY) 2016-17. "Most of the ministries have sought lower funds than their allocations. So, we have to slash the project assistance by nearly 18 per cent for the proposed RADP," Farida Nasreen, additional secretary of the ERD, told the FE. She said: "We had already consulted with the ministries and agencies of the government more than a month ago. They had sought lower funds than the latest revised estimation. Later, we have again tried to encourage them to revise their foreign aid demand upward. Now it has stood at Tk 330 billion." "We had sent the revised project aid proposal to the Planning Commission (PC) in a bid to finalise the RADP for the current fiscal," Ms Nasreen added. Meanwhile, the PC had started the revision works of the original Tk 1.107 trillion current ADP following the poor utilisation performance of the ministries and agencies concerned. In the current Tk 1.107 trillion original ADP in this fiscal, the government allocated Tk 707 billion from internal sources, 64 per cent of the total outlay, and Tk 400 billion from external sources as the project aid (PA), 36 per cent of total allocations. Different bilateral and multilateral development partners offer Bangladesh foreign aid-loans and grants-for implementing different development projects every year. The government allocated the money against many development projects in addition to its own funds for bearing the costs. Another ERD official said: "Project aid had already been confirmed by the development partners for disbursement against different development projects under the current ADP." But the poor utilisation capacity of the public agencies will swell foreign aid in the pipeline. Unutilised concessional foreign assistance has already crossed US$ 21 billion mark, ERD data showed. According to the official data, the government ministries and agencies have spent only 22 per cent of the Tk 1.107 trillion ADP outlay in the first six months (July-December) of the current FY 2017. Spending was one of the lowest in the last few years. The ERD has finalised the allocations for the ministries and divisions after a thorough review meeting with the project implementing agencies two months ago in an attempt to formulate the RADP for the current FY2017, the senior ERD official said. PC officials said the public agencies have performed worst in spending the project aid than the funds from the government's internal sources in the current fiscal. Out of 27 per cent project implementation during the July-December period of the current FY 2017, the government's project executing agencies spent 31 per cent funds from internal sources while 22 per cent from external sources (project aid). The PC is also working to cut the outlay from internal sources too alongside the allocations from external sources, officials said. In the last FY2016, the government cut foreign aid allocation in the RADP by nearly 15.5 per cent to Tk 291.60 billion slashing money by Tk 53.40 billion from the total Tk 345 billion project aid outlay. In the original Tk 970 billion ADP for last FY 2016, the government allocated Tk 345 billion as project aid and the rest Tk 625 billion from internal sources. Another ERD official said: "Agencies prefer to spend money from the government's exchequer instead of available foreign aid allocations. It has put the country's fiscal management under further pressure." He said the major budget spenders including the energy and power, road transport and bridges, agriculture, education, health, railway and water resources ministries had sought lower funds in the proposed RADP than their allocations in the original one. Since the donors monitor utilisation of their committed assistance for the development projects, most of the government agencies try to avoid spending allocated foreign assistance, preferring instead the money in the flexible government's exchequer, the official added. The government usually takes loans and grants from different bilateral and multilateral donors to complete the country's development projects and ensure socio-economic development as its local sources cannot fulfil the entire fiscal expenditure.     kabirhumayan10@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-02-04 00:00:05

Bangladesh in a survey ranked among the least attractive logistics markets among emerging economies -- lagging behind even war-torn Arab countries and Sub-Saharan Ethiopia.     The country, however, figured relatively well in terms of market size and growth attractiveness moderately well in market compatibility. "Corruption and poor infrastructure are the factors that most inhibit growth, while a range of efficiency-sapping bureaucratic impediments are also having a significant effect," says the survey report about the undesirable overall ranking as a logistics market. The survey, sponsored by a global think-tank, was conducted by logistics and supply-chain executives worldwide. When asked to rank the emerging countries in terms of their potential as logistics market, Bangladesh has been placed just behind the war-torn countries like Syria, Libya and Iraq as well as Sub-Saharan Ethiopia to take the fifth slot. The findings have been published in the latest edition of the Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index prepared by 'Agility Global Integrated Logistics' with support from 'Transport Intelligence'. Transport Intelligence -- a leading think-tank on the global logistics industry -- conducted this survey on more than 800 logistics-industry professionals worldwide between August and November of last year. The report also revealed that looking forward, Bangladesh is not perceived as the 'Major Logistics Markets of the Future' either by the world's leading logistics companies. In fact, when asked which countries have the most potential to grow as logistics markets in the next five years, Bangladesh was ranked 18th among 20 countries that were surveyed. Apparently, less than two percent of the survey respondents ranked Bangladesh as a major logistics market of the future, while its giant neighbour India topped the chart following China. In the overall Agility Emerging Market Logistics Index, Bangladesh's position remained unchanged from last year, as the country maintained its 27th position in the ranking among 50 emerging countries worldwide. China has retained its top position in the index while India moved one notch up from last year to take the second position. These two Asian giants are followed by UAE, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia in the index. In ranking the emerging markets in terms of logistics, the Agility Logistics Index used three matrices. These are: market size & growth attractiveness, market compatibility, and market connectedness. Analysing the sub-indices, it was found that Bangladesh has performed relatively well when it comes to market size and growth attractiveness while it has also done moderately well in terms of market compatibility. However, the country's performance is dismal when it comes to market connectedness which assesses a country's domestic and international transport infrastructure and how well they connect. As par this matrix, Bangladesh has come out 47th out of 50 emerging economies that were ranked. Now in its eighth year, the Agility Logistics Index has come to include many new emerging economies like Iran, Myanmar, Ghana, Angola and Mozambique. mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-02-04 00:00:05