Haque Specialized Group's News

A study on 'ICT Job Market in Bangladesh' will be conducted to collect information for preparing an effective work plan for the sector's development. Daffodil International University (DIU) in association with jobsbd.com will conduct the study as announced at a launching ceremony at the conference room of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) in the city Sunday. The BASIS and Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) will support conducting the study that would take around six month to be completed. It was told at the function that lack of adequate information regarding human resources' skills and job market atmosphere were considered to be the major challenges for a desired growth of the country's information communication technology (ICT) sector. Secretary of post and telecommunication division Shyam Sunder Sikder attended the function as chief guest while BASIS president Mustafa Jabbar and BCS president Ali Ashfaq as special guests, presided over by DIU board of trustees (BoT) chairman Md. Sabur khan. Mr Shyam Sunder stressed the need for availability of enough data on the ICT job market and the ability of ICT graduates for preparing an effective working plan for the sector's development. He said various subjects are taught in the tertiary level of education, but many of those have already become obsolete while some trendy subjects were not included in the academic curriculum. "Around 250 skilled IT personnel will be required for the operation of Bangabandhu Satellite in the country, but it is not taught in the country's universities," he said. Underscoring the need for such study, the secretary said that when approached, many foreign investors wanted to know about the statistics of ICT job market and the number of human resources in respective fields. Thanking the DIU for taking the initiative of conducting the study, he said several attempts of the government to conduct such study have already failed. Mr Mustafa Jabbar said the gap between the country's academics and the industry is still vast, which is a major challenge for the ICT sector's growth. "Educational institutions only teach the students, but don't ensure employment for the graduates," he said. "Greater collaboration between those will make both education and employment more meaningful."     saif.febd@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-21 05:00:05

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said all damaged roads and highways will be readied before holy Eid-ul-Azha for smooth traffic of the homebound passengers, reports BSS. "Currently 23 points of different national and regional highways from one to three kilometres are under flood water. The flood water wiped away some 18 points of northern roads and highways," he told this emerging from an emergency meeting on flood and its damage and Eid preparation at his ministry's conference room in the city on Sunday. The minister said repair works are now going on day-night aimed at keeping the roads and the highways smooth for vehicle movement during the Eid. He hoped that all the damaged roads and highways would be repaired before the Eid for movement of motorised vehicles. "There is no scope of setting up cattle market on or adjacent to the highways and cattle will not be allowed to transport on vehicles without fitness certificates." He asked Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) leaders to grant Eid holidays in phases to avoid traffic jam during the Eid and also called upon the power and energy ministry to keep CNG refilling stations open for 24 hours nearby highways five days before and after the Eid- ul- Azha. "Trucks, covered vans, lorries along with heavy vehicles will not be allowed to ply the highways three days before the Eid to reduce traffic jam. Besides, vigilance teams would also be active at bus terminals to check charging extra fare from the Eid holidaymakers," Quader said. Secretary of the division MAN Siddique, Roads and Highways chief engineer Ibne Alam Hasan, BRTA chairman M Mashiar Rahman, DTCA executive director Syed Ahmad and officials concerned were present at the meeting.....

Published at: 2017-08-21 05:00:05

A BNP senior leader alleged on Sunday Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda's recent statements demonstrate that he has taken a secret oath to the Prime Minister to help Awami League (AL) return to power, reports UNB BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the allegation while speaking at a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office in the city. "The Chief Election Commissioner is believer in Awami League's ideal. His remarks give an impression that he has taken an oath secretly to the Prime Minister to put Awami League in power," he said. Referring to the CEC's comment that it is not the Commission's responsibility to bring all the political parties to the election, the BNP leader said it seems working in favour of Awami League is the main duty of the current Commission. He alleged  Huda has been working as a puppet of the ruling party to hold the next general election unilaterally. "He (CEC) is moving ahead to implement Awami League's agenda forgetting his constitutional responsibility." The BNP leader also said the Election Commission's ongoing dialogue is nothing but eyewash. "It has now become clear to us that he (Huda) won't take any effective step to hold the next election in fair and credible manner." Rizvi said the government has become worried of losing power following the Supreme Court's verdict that annulled the 16th constitutional amendment.....

Published at: 2017-08-21 05:00:05

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) arrested the managing director (MD) of Keya Yarn Mills Ltd on Sunday for allegedly misappropriating Tk 1.11 billion from Karwan Bazar Corporate Branch of Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) in the capital. Keya Yarn MD Abdul Khaleque Pathan was detained from the city's Segunbagicha area in the afternoon by ACC headquarters deputy director Md Shamsul Alam, ACC deputy director (public relation) Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee told the FE. Earlier on the day, Mr Alam filed a case with Tejgaon police station, accusing Mr Pathan along with seven other people for embezzling a total of Tk 1,111,465,031 from BKB from July 27, 2010 to July 21, 2011. Mr Pathan's two daughters Khaleda Parvin, Tansin Keya and son Masum Pathan, who are currently the chairman and director of Keya Yarn respectively, are also accused in the lawsuit. The four other accused persons are - former senior principal officers (SPOs) of BKB Karwan Bazar Corporate Branch Md Abul Hossain and Golam Rosul, former assistant general manager Sarwar Hossain, and former deputy general manager and branch manager Jubair Manjur. According to the case statement, Keya Yarn Mills Ltd, situated at Konabari in Gazipur, manufactures yarn from imported raw cotton to sell it only to 100 per cent export-oriented garments factories. But, ACC in its investigation found that despite paying LC and LTR liability as well as non-submission of any export document to the bank, Keya Yarn frequently applied for deferred LC crossing the LC limit.     ahb_mcj2009@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-08-21 05:00:05

Bus operators are charging exorbitant and arbitrary fares for advance tickets from the home-goers on the occasion Eid-ul-Azha. A visit to some of the city's bus counters revealed that the operators have raised bus ticket prices by Tk 100 to Tk 1,000 each, based on destinations, violating the government direction. September 2 is likely to be the Eid day, while the last office day is likely to be August 31 (Thursday).   Prices of bus tickets for the dates from August 28 to September 1 have been increased by 25 to 35 per cent (non-AC) and 80 to 85 per cent (AC) for different routes, including Rajshahi, Rangpur, Bogra, Pabna, Kushtia, Khulna and Jessore regions, according to passengers. The highest fare surge has been found in case of tickets of AC busses, operated by Hanif Enterprise, SR Paribahan and Nabil Paribahan, a spot visit to their different counters at Gabtoli, Kalyanpur and Shyamoli in the city revealed. Md Sarowar Hossain Sumon, a private bank official, bought a ticket of August 29 for Nilphamari of Nabil Paribahan's Scania AC service at Tk 2,200. The normal fare of the ticket is Tk 1,200, he said. Hanif Enterprise has also raised its AC Volvo service fare by Tk 800 (Rangpur) to Tk 1,000 (Nilphamari and Panchagarh) per ticket, which shows an 80-85 per cent surge. Fares of non-AC busses of most of the private operators have also been raised, violating the directives of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), said insiders. Redwanul Islam, a school teacher, bought tickets of Eagle Paribahan of August 28 for Jibannagar in Chuadanga at Tk 650 each, whereas the BRTA-fixed regular fare is Tk 450. Nabil, Hanif, SR, Agomoni, Eagle, Shyamoli, Al Hamra, Dipzol, Babul and other big operators are charging additional - 27 per cent (Sirajganj) to 35 per cent (Panchagarh) - from the home-goers. However, the bus operators in the second week of this month promised not to raise fares to Ministry of Communication and BRTA. Manager of Nabil Paribahan Md Shafiq told the FE that the number of busses will reduce in this Eid following deplorable condition of the highways. Besides, most of the busses will return empty from the districts before three to four days of the festival. He also said the ticket fare of all the busses have been fixed through discussion. Asked on raising fare of each Volvo bus ticket by 85 per cent, manager of Hanif Paribahan Md Samad Mandal said the usual fare of the buses is Tk 1,550-1,600 for Saidpur-Nilphamari route. He said they charge the same amount for Chittagong-run passengers, although the port-city is more than 130 km nearer to Dhaka than Nilphamari. President of Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association (BTOA) Faruque Talukder Sohel told the FE that all the bus operators have been told not to raise any fare ahead of the Eid festival. His company - Shohag Enterprise - has not raised any fare, he claimed. Passengers should inform the law-enforcement agencies, if they are charged additional money for tickets, he added. Secretary General of Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said most of the bus owners have been violating BRTA rules by fixing ticket prices as per their whim. Strict action should be taken against the wrongdoers by BRTA and the law-enforcement agencies to give the limited-income passengers a relief, he opined. However, he expressed concern over the ramshackle condition of the roads and highways, following the recent flood and inundation in many districts across the country. When contacted, no comment regarding the exorbitant fare was available from BRTA.   Meanwhile, Kamalapur Railway Station (KRS) in the city witnessed a huge rush of ticket-seekers on Sunday, as advance tickets for the trains on August 29 were released. The crowd for rail tickets is much higher this year following the dilapidated condition of the highways in many districts. Above 22,000 tickets of different routes were sold from KRS counters on the day. A number of the ticket-seekers had to return empty-handed due to shortage of tickets. Most of the tickets of different routes were sold out within 1.30 pm as per the announcements of KRS authority. Many people were seen thronging KRS from Sunday noon to secure 'better' place on the queues for today (Monday), when tickets for August 30 will be sold. The advance ticket for August 31 will be put on sale tomorrow (Tuesday). Besides, sale of return train ticket will begin from August 25 at district-level. On the other hand, private launch operators have also started selling advance Eid tickets for the coastal region passengers. tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-21 05:00:05