Haque Specialized Group's News

The Taliban in Afghanistan may have received weapons from the Russian government, reports CNN. Two videos obtained by CNN show the Taliban in possession of improved weaponry including sniper rifles, Kalashnikov assault rifle variants and machine guns. The videos show two sets of Taliban with weapons that they say were supplied by Russian government forces. One video shows a Herat Taliban splinter group brandishing guns they say were taken after the defeat of a mainstream Taliban group. "These weapons were given to the fighters of Mullah Haibatullah by the Russians via Iran," their deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi says in the video. "The Russians are giving them these weapons to fight ISIS in Afghanistan, but they are using them against us too," he said. The other video shows a masked Taliban fighter displaying arms he claims to have obtained without payment through the Tajikistan border. "These pistols have been brought to us recently," he says. "These are made in Russia, and are very good stuff."....

Published at: 2017-07-26 00:00:08

Torrential rain, triggered by active monsoon, continued for the third consecutive day on Tuesday across the country throwing the normal life into disarray, reports UNB. The heavy rain caused landslides in Cox's Bazar killing five and snapped road link between Rangamati and Khagrachhari. The met office recorded 49.0 mm of rainfall in Dhaka in the last 24 hours from 6:00 am Monday to 6:00 Tuesday. Besides, the highest 223 mm of rainfall was recorded in Chittagong during the period. Some places in Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions are likely to experience heavy (44 - 88 MM) to very heavy (89mm or more) rains during the next 24 hours due to active monsoon, sad Met office. Due to heavy to very heavy rainfall, landslide may occur at places over the hilly regions of Chittagong and Sylhet divisions. Besides, the maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to keep hoisted local cautionary signal No 3 as squally weather may affect the ports and coastal areas of the country. In Chittagong, torrential rains for the last three-four days inundated many areas of the port city, causing immense sufferings to the dwellers. Md Shaheenul Islam, an official of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said that the intensity of rainfall across the country is likely to come down from Wednesday. Meanwhile report from Rangamati adds, the road link between Rangamati and Khagrachhari has been snapped due to 20-mitre road damage in Khamarpara area of Kutukchhari following heavy rain in the last three days. Earlier on June 13, the road was damaged due to landslides in the area. Later, the communication between the two districts was resumed on July 17. Roads and Highways Department (RHD) opened the road for light vehicular movement after repairing it. Sources at RHD said the road has been damaged again on Monday evening due to torrential rain of the last three days. In Kurigram with flood water receding, erosion on the bank of the Teesta River at Taiyab Kha in Rajarhat upazila has taken a serious turn. Speedy current is engulfing houses and farmlands rapidly as the water level of the river has been receding for the last two weeks. The erosion swallowed houses, schools, dam, road, business establishments, mosque, temple in the last few days while positive initiatives by the authorities concerned were not visible to prevent the erosion, locals alleged.....

Published at: 2017-07-26 00:00:08

Finer rice varieties are still trading at high prices in the city markets although paddy prices witnessed a fall in the milling hubs across the country over a month. Market observers said traders are cashing in on the downtrend in paddy prices, while consumers are being ripped off. Coarse rice prices, however, showed a marginal decline, thanks to the import duty cut by the government. Finer quality miniket, najirshail and jeerashail were trading at Tk 54-Tk 62 a kg and medium quality lata and Brridhan-28 at Tk 50-Tk 52 a kg in Dhaka on Tuesday-almost the same price as it was in June, according to sources at the key kitchen markets in the city. Although paddy prices have come down significantly at the district level, it is yet to be reflected in the city retail markets. In the last one month, Boro paddy prices saw a plunge by Tk 150-Tk 300 a 75-kg sack. Brridhan-28 variety paddy was selling at Tk 1500-Tk 1550 a 75-kg sack while jeerashail variety at Tk 1700-Tk 1750 in Rangpur, Dinajpur, Kushtia and Naogaon, according to trading sources. Md Kamruzzaman, a rice trader at Badamtoli in the city, said prices of finer rice varieties declined only by Tk 30-Tk 35 a 50-kg sack at the rice mills in the last two weeks. But this slight fall couldn't be reflected at the retail level, he added. Mohammad Asadullah, joint secretary of Badamtoli-Babubazar Rice Wholesalers Association, said finer paddy prices decreased by Tk 4-Tk 5 a kg in the milling hubs. So, the prices of miniket, Brridhan-28 and jeerashail should come down by a minimum of Tk 4 a kg, he added.        Bangladesh Auto Major Husking Mill Owners Association (BAMHMOA) General Secretary KM Layek Ali said the import duty cut has led to the decline in paddy prices significantly, as stockists started selling out their paddy fearing a fall in prices. He also said prices of finer and medium quality rice have decreased by Tk 2-Tk 3 a kg in rice mills in July. This downtrend would continue if paddy prices keep falling. Miniket is selling at Tk 50-Tk 54 a kg while Brridhan-28 at Tk 45-Tk 46 a kg at mill gates, he added.    He also said the big traders in the cities should adjust the new prices. Meanwhile, coarse rice varieties are now trading at Tk 43 to Tk 48 a kg at retail markets in the city, down from Tk 46-Tk 50 in June, according to sources at the key kitchen markets. These varieties were selling at Tk 38-Tk 43 a kg in Rangpur, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Kushtia and elsewhere in the milling hubs, according to the BAMHMOA. The National Board of Revenue reduced the import duty on rice to 10 per cent from 28 per cent on June 21, which helped ease coarse rice prices. Meanwhile, the number of L/Cs for importing the staple through the private sector, showed a notable rise recently, according to food ministry data. The private sector imported 0.117 million tonnes of rice in the first 23 days of this fiscal year while the total import in the last fiscal was 0.133 million tonnes, according to the ministry. Sarwar Kajol, an importer in Naogaon, said the import duty cut has led to the increase in rice import. Imported swarna variety was selling at Tk 39-Tk 40 a kg when the same variety from local sources was trading at Tk 42-Tk 44 a kg, he said.       The recent decision of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) allowing traders to import rice on three months' deferred payment (until December 31, 2017) has prompted importers to bring in more rice, he added. Last month, the central bank allowed traders to import rice at zero margin. This means importers will not have to make any advance payment to banks for opening L/Cs. According to the food ministry, prices of coarse varieties in Bangladesh are the highest among the rice-producing nations. The prices of coarse varieties imported from India, Thailand and Vietnam are Tk 35.27 to Tk 38.09 a kg now when it is Tk 38-Tk 43 a kg (mill-gate price) in Bangladesh. Farm economist Prof Gazi M Jalil said millers, traders and importers are making big profits due to the fall in paddy prices. Big millers and importers should be brought under scrutiny so that consumers with limited income could buy rice at affordable prices, he said. The government should increase its market intervention to give low-income group some relief, he added. Prof Jalil also said the public rice stock has declined to a record low, which is not a good sign for the food security of the country. The government should have at least 0.7 million tonnes of rice stock, which is now below 0.2 million tones, he added. He said the government should immediately bring rice from global sources, as another flood is likely to hit the country, which might cause further shortage of the staple. The Directorate General of Food (DGoF), however, has floated tender for initially importing 0.6 million tonnes of rice from the international market. The DGoF has, so far, purchased 0.129 million tonnes of rice from domestic sources against its target of 1.5 million tonnes, said officials. The country set a target to produce 34.98 million tonnes of rice in the FY '17. But the target might be missed as Boro production witnessed a significant fall due to flood and outbreak of rice blast disease, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) officials.     tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-26 00:00:08

CHITTAGONG, July 25: Five people including two siblings were killed in separate incidents of landslide and wall collapse triggered by heavy rains in Cox's Bazar district on Tuesday. Four other people were also injured in wall collapse on the day. Sources in Cox's Bazar fire station said Jihan (7) and his sister Saima (5) were found dead after a chunk of mud fell on their house in Ramu upazila of the district. The incident took place when they were asleep. An official said their parents Ziaur Rahman and Anar Koli were also injured and undergoing treatment in Cox's Bazar Hospital. A correspondent from Cox's Bazar said Anwara Begum (60) was killed in wall collapse at Toitong village in Pekua upazila of the district. Besides, Md Shahed (18) and Saddam Hossain (28) were killed in another incident of wall collapse in the Cox's Bazar town. Saddam was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition where the doctors declared him dead. Injured Arafat Hossain, brother of Saddam, and Delwar Hossain, another resident of the area, were undergoing treatment in the hospital. The Met office recorded 208mm rain in last 24 hours till 6:00 am on Tuesday. pankajdastider@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-26 00:00:08

Containing inflation and boosting investment particularly in productive sectors for maximum economic growth alongside job creation are at the core of the first-half (H1) yearly monetary policy the central bank is going to announce today (Wednesday). Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir will roll out the monetary policy statement (MPS) at 11:30 am for the July-December period of the fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 aiming to help real sectors in achieving sustainable economic growth with inflation held in check. "We've formulated the growth-supportive MPS giving top priority to creating more employment opportunities through boosting investment in the real economic sectors," a BB senior official told the FE Tuesday while explaining the main policy objectives. He also said the central bank will facilitate credit flow into the productive sectors as a measure for achieving 7.4 per cent GDP (gross domestic product) growth by the end of this fiscal. The policy rates are likely to remain unchanged in the upcoming MPS, the BB officials hinted. They also said the latest position on stock market, foreign exchange and money-market situation will be included in the monetary policy. The central bank may emphasise ensuring the quality of credits through strengthening monitoring and supervision by both the BB and the commercial banks instead of enhancing the target of credit growth to the private sector. The BB's latest policy stance comes in the wake of possible rising trend in the inflationary pressure on the economy in the coming months, following higher prices of food, particularly rice, owing to floods. "There is no possibility of increasing the private-sector-credit- growth target in the next MPS for the H1 of FY 18," another BB official hinted. Inflation (on point-to-point basis) in the country, as measured by consumers' price index (CPI), increased slightly in the month of March this year mainly because of rise in prices of both food and non-food items. The inflation rose to 5.39 per cent in March from 5.31 per cent a month before, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data. Food inflation stood at 6.89 per cent and non-food inflation at 3.18 per cent in March as compared to 6.84 per cent and 3.07 per cent respectively in February. On the other hand, the inflation came down to 5.39 per cent on annual-average basis in March this year from 5.41 per cent in February, the BBS data showed. The government as well as the central bank had set the inflation target at 5.5 per cent for the fiscal year (FY) 2017-18. The central bank may consider the upward trend in prices of petroleum products on the global market, declining trend in inward remittances, possible rising trend in inflation and ensuring proper use of credits in the next MPS, they hinted. It is expected to give more attention to boosting SMEs and   agriculture loans along with micro-credit to create employment opportunities across the country, according to the central bankers About the private-sector-credit growth, the BB officials said it is still witnessing a high-level growth considering the inflationary pressure on the economy. The growth in credit flow to private sector came down to 16.03 per cent in May 2017 on a year-on-year basis from 16.21 per cent a month ago. It was 16.06 per cent in March 2017. The last MPS for the second half of the last fiscal year had set a target for the private-sector-credit growth at 16.50 per cent at the end of June 2017. siddique.islam@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-26 00:00:08