Haque Specialized Group's News

The first-ever two-day international conference on water of the deltaic countries concluded in the city on Sunday with adoption of a 12-point Dhaka Declaration on Water. The declaration was adopted at the concluding session of the conference along with commitment to reducing gap between the poor and rich, emphasis on recycling and reuse of water and trans-boundary cooperation on common services. Other commitments of the Dhaka Declaration on Water include paying special attention to the needs of girls and women, providing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in educational institutions, health centres and public places, experience sharing and community participation. The two-day water conference started on Saturday with participation of 83 participants from 23 countries. Local government minister Engr Khandker Mosharraf Hossain was present as the chief guest at the concluding session with prime minister's principal secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury in the chair. Local Government Division additional secretary Nasrin Akter read out the Dhaka Declaration. The Dhaka Declaration recognised the facts that water requirement is increasing with the population growth, but availability of fresh water is decreasing fast due to urbanisation, inefficient use of water, water pollution, salinity intrusion, water demanding economic activities and climate change. The declaration committed to protecting ecologically-sensitive areas, restoring damaged ecosystem, and aligning development activities with that of the area to halt decline of natural ecosystem, to protect biodiversity and to ensure uninterrupted ecological services. It also committed to expanding international and regional cooperation in water and wastewater management to avail of technical assistance and financing (including climate funds) and strengthen capacity building as well as participation of local communities in implementation, adopt basin-wide, ecological and integrated water resources management approach and trans-boundary cooperation in common rivers and aquifer management for sustained economic growth in the region and maintenance of water supply, sanitation, health and hygiene programmes and resources management. In his speech, Mr Mosharraf Hossain said, "Proper implementation of the recommendations as laid down in the declaration is to be ensured by all the participating countries". He said the Delta Coalition Conference emphasized on generating adaptive livelihoods and water management practices in the deltaic countries where manifestation of the adverse impacts of climate change is obvious. fesultana@outlook.com....

Published at: 2017-07-31 00:00:06

The number of income-tax returns filed by individual taxpayers registered a sharp growth to 1.55 million in the last fiscal, mainly due to mandatory submission of tax returns by government officials having monthly salary above Tk 16,000.      Officials attributed the leap to government's budgetary measures and consequent drives for augmenting the revenues from this segment of taxpayers by breaking a cycle of around a million in their number. Individuals' tax returns had been almost steady at 1.0 to 1.1 million during the last three years despite several efforts and enforcement by the field-level tax officials. In FY 2015-16, the number of individual tax returns was 1092,000, according to compiled data from the tax offices across the country. An additional 0.5 million individual taxpayers contributed Tk 46 billion in revenue last year that was Tk 25 billion in FY 2015-16. A senior official of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said the number of tax returns by individuals is expected to increase to 2.0 million in FY 2017-18 due to new tax measures in the budget. "A significant number of government officials having above Tk 16,000 as monthly salary submitted their tax returns during the last fiscal due to mandatory provision in the income-tax law," he said. From this year, private-sector executives and officials in the managerial positions will have to submit tax returns mandatorily, he added. Employers will be held responsible if the taxmen found non-compliance on part of the private-sector officials, he said. The number of tax returns will also go up with a significant increase in electronic Taxpayer Identification Number (e-TIN) to nearly 3.0 million, he expressed the hope. Talking to the FE Sunday, former income-tax-policy member Aminur Rahman said salaried taxpayers contributed to the impressive growth in individual tax returns last year due to fiscal measures in the budget. "Many people pay tax indirectly through bank accounts but avoid submission of tax returns for fear of harassment by the taxmen," he said. The number of tax returns would go up if marginal taxpayers having annual income above the tax-free threshold Tk 250,000 to Tk 300,000 feel comfortable to get onto tax net. "Currently, all of the tax returns go through scrutiny assessment. Marginal taxpayers should get relief from the scrutiny for at least three years of their tax-return submission," he said. Compliance cost of marginal taxpayers is high as they have to pay some Tk 12,000 instead of Tk 5,000 as minimum tax, he added. Tax rates for a marginal taxpayer are also high due to minimum tax, he said. For example, an individual taxpayer having annual income of Tk 260,000 needs to pay tax Tk 1,000 at a rate of 10 per cent on a Tk 10,000 taxable income, but he has to pay Tk 5,000 as tax due to minimum tax slab. "Rate of tax slab goes up to 40 per cent for the marginal taxpayers," he said about such an incongruity in tax payment. India has introduced a relief for marginal taxpayers in its budget for the current FY, like one-stop package, he pointed out. The tax policy framed by the NBR is often misused by the field-level officials, he said. An insignificant part of revenue comes from audit of individuals' tax files, except Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU), he added. Individual taxpayers contribute 40 per cent of the total income-tax collection as a significant number of taxpayers pay advance income tax (AIT). doulot_akter@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-07-31 00:00:06

An alleged robber was killed in a reported gunfight with members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in front of RAB check post near Dhaka-Khulna highway in Kahalpur area in Mollahat upazila early Monday. The deceased could not be identified immediately, reports UNB. Khandakar Rafiqul Islam, commanding officer of RAB-6, said that a team of RAB signalled two motorcycles ridden by six robbers while they were passing the RAB check post on the highway around 3:00am. They avoided the signal and tried to flee away, said the RAB official. When the elite force tried to nab them, the bikers opened fire on them, prompting them to retaliate that triggered a gunfight. After 15 minutes of gunfights, they found a robber bullet-hit while five others fled away. Later, the injured were rushed to Mollahat Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared him dead. The RAB members seized a pistol and three bullets from the spot. Besides, a RAB member was injured in the gunfight, added the official.....

Published at: 2017-07-31 00:00:06

The government has decided to formulate a time-bound strategy for the garment factories, inspected under a national initiative by the end of next month (August). The strategy will aim at mending the flaws in remediated units.   The government has already asked the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and the factory owners to complete remediation by the deadline. A labour ministry presentation made the disclosures at a meeting between top government officials and foreign diplomats held at the secretariat in the city on Sunday. Foreign, commerce and labour secretaries Shahidul Haque, Shubhashish Bose and Mikail Shipar respectively, head of the EU delegation to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon, US ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, Canadian high commissioner Benoît-Pierre Laramée, Dutch ambassador Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere, British high commissioner Alison Blake and ILO Bangladesh country director Srinivas B Reddy, among others, were present in the meeting. "Under the national initiative, 21 per cent remediation has been completed," according to the paper that also added that 95 per cent remediation of 418 factories operating in own buildings will be completed by December 2017 and the rest by February 2018. About 75 per cent of the factories will not require structural retrofitting, it said, adding that consultation with the owners of factories operating in rented or shared buildings is underway for completing the remediation by 2018. Some 1,500 garment factories which remain outside the inspection purview of Accord and Alliance have been inspected by a joint initiative of the government and ILO.   Citing a recent boiler explosion in a garment factory-Multifab, Mr Mayaudon said, "…we continue to pay highest attention regarding safety of the factories."   The Bangladesh government made several very important commitments in the ILC (International Labour Conference) held in June in Geneva regarding the total adjustment of Bangladesh Labour Act and redrafting the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) law and improve labour rights and situation in the country, Mr Mayaudon told the reporters after the meeting. The government has committed to finalizing the draft amendments to labour and EPZ laws accommodating all labour-rights issues raised by western stakeholders. If it fails, Bangladesh's European GSP may also be at risk. According to the commitment, the draft of the amendments has to be sent to the ILO (International Labour Organisation) by August 31. Terming the progress in this regard 'well advanced', he said they were informed about the high-level meeting to be held on August 02 to finalise the drafts. Terming the extension of Accord 'still a debated issue' he said they had discussed it and highlighted that focus would be on substances rather than modalities. He, however, did not go into detail. The commerce secretary said the envoys wanted to know about the possible changes to be made in the amendments to the labour law and EPZ law.  "We could not mention the specific changes," he said, adding that further recruitment of inspectors would be done shortly.   A technical committee is working in this regard while the high-level committee would finalise the proposed changes, the labour secretary explained.   munni_fe@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-07-31 00:00:06

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that 755 staff must leave US diplomatic missions, in retaliation for new US sanctions against Moscow. The decision to expel staff was made on Friday, but Mr Putin has now confirmed the number who must go by 1 September. It brings staff levels to 455, the same as Russia's complement in Washington. This is thought to be the largest expulsion of diplomats from any country in modern history, says the BBC's Laura Bicker in Washington. The number includes Russian employees of the US diplomatic missions across Russia, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow adds. Staff in the embassy in Moscow as well as the consulates in Ekaterinburg, Vladivostok and St Petersburg are affected, she says. The US said the move was a "regrettable and uncalled for act". "We are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it," a state department official said. Mr Putin did strike a conciliatory note, saying he did not want to impose more measures, but also said he could not see ties changing "anytime soon". Mr Putin told Russian television: "More than 1,000 people were working and are still working" at the US embassy and consulates, and that "755 people must stop their activities in Russia." Russia has also said it is seizing holiday properties and a warehouse used by US diplomats. Mr Putin suggested he could consider more measures, but said: "I am against it as of today." He also noted the creation of a de-escalation zone in southern Syria as an example of a concrete result of working together. However, in terms of general relations, he added: "We have waited long enough, hoping that the situation would perhaps change for the better. "But it seems that even if the situation is changing, it's not for anytime soon." The new US sanctions were in retaliation both for Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russian interference in the US election. In December, the Obama administration ordered the seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds and expelled 35 Russian diplomats in response to alleged hacking of the US Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign. The new US sanctions on Russia were overwhelmingly approved by both houses of Congress despite objections from the White House. US intelligence agencies believe Russia tried to sway the election in favour of President Donald Trump and now there are several investigations looking into whether anyone from his campaign helped. Russia has always denied interfering and Mr Trump insists there was no collusion.   ....

Published at: 2017-07-31 00:00:06