Haque Specialized Group's News

Landslides triggered by heavy rains have left a woman killed in Bandarban with four others still missing, reports bdnews24.com. The incident was reported on Sunday in the hill tract district's Ruma Upazila. Upazila administration chief or UNO Muhammad Shariful Haque said the local army camp launched a rescue operation after the landslide which blocked the Bandarban-Ruma Road. The deceased is yet to be identified. Four people have so far been rescued alive with as many still around 11am, a landslide struck the road in the Daniapara area forcing a bus to stop on the road, said UNO Haque. "Passengers of the bus then started walking to cross the area. Four or five of them managed to cross, but suddenly a second landslide struck, burying at least six people," he said. The Upazila administration chief said there were 12 passengers on the bus and that a team from the local army camp has managed to rescue four people alive and that the rescue efforts were ongoing. Meanwhile our correspondent adds from Chittagong, most parts of the Chittagong city have again been submersed with water triggered by daylong incessant rainfall added with high tide leaving the city in knee-deep to waist-deep water. The areas gone under water includes Bakolia, Chandgaon, Mohra, Khatungonj, Chaktai, Asadgonj, Boxirhat, Kaptai Road, Railway gate 2, Prabortak, Agrabad Access Road, CDA residential area, Gosaildanga, Beparipara, Shantibag housing, Halishahar, Bahaddarhat, Muradpur and Kapashgola. Met office at Patenga recorded 87.6 mm of rainfall in 24 hours preceding 12.00 noon on Sunday. Local said many areas in the city experienced unusual rise of tide water flooding the roads, lanes and by-lanes. Thousands of people failed to attend offices and children, school and college-going students and teachers waited in long queue at most of the intersections to avail transports for destinations. Only a limited number of pedalled and battery-run rickshaws and three-wheeler vans were seen on the city roads. The main thoroughfares saw some tempos and minibuses plying at long intervals with passengers packed up from the starting points. Rain coupled with tide water poured into several hundred shops, godowns and storehouses in the Khatungonj and Chaktai wholesale consumer market Chal Patti and Shukti Patti at Asadgonj in the city. Former ward councilor of Boxirhat ward in the city Md Jamal Hossain said vast area on the east bank of the Chaktai Khal has been flooded and most people were confined in their houses as the ground floors of those buildings went under knee-deep to waist-deep water. General secretary of Khatungonj Trade and Industries Association Syed Sagir Ahmed said consumer goods including, rice, onion and red chili worth about Tk 10 million (1.00 crore) have been damaged as per rough estimate. The extent of damage could be much more if spot estimates are available, which is not expected in one or two days, he said. Weather office said the city could experience more rains in next two days and issued cautionary signal number 3 for the Chittagong Port, Cox's Bazar Outer Anchorage, Mongla Port and Payra Port. Deputy commissioner of Chittagong Md Zillur Rahman Chowdhury said there will be more rain as per report of the Geological Survey, Bangladesh and he has asked people living in the risky areas in the city and district to move away to safe areas nearby. He said there may be incidents like landslide following heavy rain and over-flood in the rivers. pankajdastider@gmail.com ....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:04

The non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) can obtain housing finance facility at a maximum debt-equity ratio of 75:25 instead of the existing debt-equity ratio of 50:50. Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a circular in this connection on Sunday. Bankers at a roundtable on Thursday urged the government to allow a debt-equity ratio of 80:20 for home loan to the NRBs, so that they show more interest to invest in home building in the country. They said it would also help to boost inward remittance. On December 06, 2015, BB issued a circular on facilitating the NRBs to purchase apartment or land through taking loans in Bangladesh currency. The circular, issued by its Foreign Exchange Policy Department, said Authorised Dealers (ADs) may extend mortgage loans in Taka to the NRBs working abroad for housing purpose of in Bangladesh. The home loan would be issued in line with the existing guidelines on Prudential Regulations for Consumer Financing, issued by Banking Regulation and Policy Department, it also said. The housing finance facility would be provided to the NRBs at a maximum debt-equity ratio of 50:50, which means that a bank will give Tk 50, if an expatriate deposits Tk 50 against the loan. The equity portion would be provided by the borrower or the NRBs, either through their inward remittance or through debits to their non-resident bank accounts fed by foreign sources. The ADs may obtain securities and savings instruments, held by NRBs in Bangladesh, as additional collateral beside registered mortgage of the house with registered power of attorney. The repayment against the loans would be made out of inward remittance. BB has asked the scheduled banks to develop Product Programme Guidelines for the NRBs' housing finance. bdsmile@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:04

The volume of classified loans in the agricultural sector bloated by over 27 per cent or Tk 11.16 billion in the just-concluded fiscal year, dodging a close watch by the central bank. According to Bangladesh Bank (BB)'s latest statistics, the non-performing loans (NPLs) lying with farmers rose to Tk 52.41 billion in the FY 2016-17 from Tk 41.24 billion a year before. "The volume of NPLs increased mainly due to higher growth in outstanding loans in the agriculture sector," a BB senior official told the FE Sunday. The total amount of outstanding loans in the sector rose to Tk 390.47 billion in the July-June period of the FY 17 from Tk 344.77 billion in the same period of last fiscal. "We've already asked the banks for taking effective measures so that fresh loans do not turn into classified ones," said the central banker However, the share of NPLs in the outstanding loans rose to 13.42 per cent in the FY 17 from 11.96 per cent in the previous fiscal, the BB data showed. The volume of NPLs from eight state-owned banks stood at Tk 51.01 in the past FY 17 against Tk 40.13 billion in the FY 16, while the classified loans from both private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs) rose to Tk 1.40 billion from Tk 1.12 billion.  Meanwhile, the central bank is set to announce agricultural and rural credit policy and programme for the ongoing FY 18 Thursday (July 27). "We'll sit with eight state-owned banks on Sunday (July 30) to discuses implementation of the announced agricultural and rural credit policy," the BB official said in reply to a query. The banks are Sonali Bank Limited, Janata Bank Limited, Agrani Bank Limited, Rupali Bank Limited, BASIC Bank Limited, Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB), Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) and Bangladesh Development Bank Limited. He also said the central bank will sit with the PCBs and the FCBs in the third week of August. On the other hand, disbursement of farm credits increased by nearly 19 per cent or Tk 33.52 billion to Tk 209.99 billion in the FY 17 from Tk 176.46 billion a year before. Of Tk 209.99 billion, eight state-owned banks disbursed Tk 96.98 billion, and the remaining Tk 113 billion was handed out by the PCBs and FCBs. All banks have achieved 119.65 per cent of their annual agricultural loan-disbursement targets for FY 17, fixed at Tk 175.50 billion. However, the recovery of farm loans rose by 10.46 per cent or Tk 17.85 billion to Tk 188.41 billion in the FY 17 from Tk 170.56 billion in the previous fiscal. siddique.islam@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:04

CHITTAGONG, Jul 23: Lighter vessel workers were scheduled to start their indefinite strike from Sunday midnight, amid heavy congestion of cargoes at the seaport here. Two associations of the workers-Nou Paribahan Shramik Federation and Nou Shramik Union-took the decision about enforcing the strike at their recent meeting to press home their 21-point charter of demand. The workers discharge cargoes from the lighter vessels at different stations across the country and a part of the cargoes are destined for different production units. The seaport has been suffering from severe congestion of vessels and containerised cargoes for the last few weeks due to heavy rain. The cargoes were being discharged at slower pace from the jetties at the port and outer anchorage in the deep sea. The businesses expressed concern over the logjam of containers, hindering production in factories and disrupting shipments of export cargoes, especially the readymade garments. The trade body leaders expressed the fear that the situation would get worse due to the 'so-called' strike. President of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Mahbubul Alam said the strike called at this stage of critical business atmosphere would only deteriorate the situation. "There cannot be any logical ground of this strike now." He, however, urged the authorities concerned to negotiate with the workers' leaders for finding out a solution to the problem. Md Abu Taher, president of Chittagong Lighter Vessel Shramik Federation, said they have long been urging for meeting their 21-point demand as assured earlier by the vessel owners as well as the government. The demands include issuance of appointment letter, ID cards, service book, release of 16 workers detained in Bangladesh and India, payment of outstanding wages and benefits as per the gazette of the government-declared minimum wages. pankajdastider@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03

An acute skill gap haunts Bangladesh's labour market and the situation may worsen further unless innovative supply-side approaches can be pursued, an official study reveals.   "The supply institutions are weak -- both in the public and private sector-which suggests acute labour market failures," BIDS director-general KAS Murshid said while presenting findings of the study on 'Labour Market and Skill Gap in Bangladesh' at finance ministry's conference room Sunday. Finance Minister AMA Muhith unveiled the cover of the study report, prepared by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). While there are reports about the existence of a large number of unemployed educated youths -- including those from disciplines like engineering and medical science--the researchers from the official think-tank found out that due to skill shortages it became difficult to fill vacancies. The existing skills gap is the highest in the agro-food sector followed by the RMG sector, the study revealed while analysis sector-wise skill gap. It identified overall skill gap in agro-food sector at 76 per cent where the scarcity of skilled labour is 77 per cent, semi-skilled 75 per cent, and unskilled 75 per cent. The readymade garment (RMG) industry lacks 119,479 skilled workers, 48,130 semi-skilled and 8,577 unskilled ones. The overall skill gap in construction sector is of 200,000 labourers, ICT sector 88,000 hands, leather-goods sector is in shortage of 62,246 skilled, 6,664 semi-skilled, and 6,935 unskilled workforces, and the light-engineering sector is shorthanded by 43.3 per cent skilled manpower. The study team found a surplus in the supply of doctors in the healthcare sector while nurses are in short supply. In the report the institute opines that the training demand will be the largest in RMG sector-- 1.5 million in 2021 and 2.1 million in 2026. The study suggests a thorough evaluation of the appropriateness of current training programmes being pursued. Mr Murshid said the scale of the problem centring skill gap of labourers is enormous and set to get even bigger. He suggested the setting up of adequate number of training institutes alongside the existing one and providing proper attention to quality training. Commenting on the study Mr Muhith said the report will play a pivotal role in raising skilled manpower in the future. "In the current budget we have taken projects to create 0.5 million skilled labour force," the finance minister said, adding that the number will rise in the future. Principal Co-ordinator (SDG Affairs) of Prime Minister's Office Md. Abul Kalam Azad and senior secretary at finance division Hedayetullah Al Mamoon were among others present on the occasion. syful-islam@outlook.com....

Published at: 2017-07-24 00:00:03