Haque Specialized Group's News

Awami League-led 14-party combine will hold separate rallies at Mirpur slaughtering place (Badhyabhumi) in Dhaka on March 25 and Chuknagar of Jessore on March 30 marking the Genocide Day. Spokesman of the 14-party alliance and Awami League presidium member Mohammed Nasim told journalists after a meeting of the alliance at Awami League President Sheikh Hasina's Dhanmondi political office on Tuesday afternoon. Nasim, also the health and family welfare minister, said, "We have taken various programmes to observe the 25 march as Genocide Day. . . On the day we will pay rich tribute to the martyrs at the Mirpur Badhyabhumi at about 11 am and a public meeting will be held there later." Besides, 14-party will hold a meeting at Chuknagar slaughtering place in Jessore at about 3 pm on March 30, he added.- source BSS  ....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06

The government is expected to sign four separate deals on metro rail tracks, stations, coaches and depot of the long-cherished Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 in April this year. "We are evaluating the tender documents submitted by different foreign firms for the contracts to build structure of the depot, set up metro rail tracks, construct stations and manufacture and supply coaches under four separate packages," Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Mofazzel Hossain told BSS on Tuesday.  ....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06

Bangladesh's historic Test victory in Sri Lanka should encourage more teams to find space in their schedules to play the fast-improving minnows, according to the head of the country's cricket board, reports AFP. In their 100th Test, Bangladesh beat Rangana Herath's men by four wickets in Colombo on Sunday -- their first victory away from home against top-class opponents. Bangladesh's only other victories on foreign soil since gaining Test status in 2000 came against fellow strugglers Zimbabwe, and a West Indies side which had been weakened by a strike among their main players. Sunday's win has stoked hopes that Bangladesh are now finally becoming a force to be reckoned with after they beat England for the first time in a five-day match in October. Their lack of success has been one of the reasons major cricketing nations have been reluctant to schedule matches against Bangladesh, with last month's one-off Test in Hyderabad their first ever match in India. Their only tour of Australia was also way back in 2003, but Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan told reporters that the victory in Colombo could mark a sea-change in attitudes and that more matches with Test teams were already being pencilled in. "There is no doubt that every team will show their keen interest to play with us, way more than it has been in the past," Hassan said late Monday. "They will field their full strength team against us. All the teams will see Bangladesh in a different way. "We have done our groundwork for the next one year, what and how we need to do things. Actually, we will play 10 Test matches within this period. "The BCB president said the victory over Sri Lanka was part of a larger upturn in performances which dated back to Bangladesh's qualification for the quarter-finals of the one-day World Cup in 2015. Since that tournament, Bangladesh have won bilateral one-day series against Pakistan, India and South Africa, reached the final of Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament and defeated England and Sri Lanka in Tests.....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06

Agriculture loan disbursement grew by more than 22 per cent or Tk 25.53 billion in the first eight months of this fiscal year (FY) than that of the same period of last FY due to a higher demand for the credit during the ongoing boro season, officials said. The disbursement rose to Tk 139.29 billion in the July-February period of the FY 2016-17 from Tk 113.76 billion in same period of FY2015-16, according to the latest statistics of Bangladesh Bank (BB). Of the amount, eight state-owned banks (SoBs) disbursed Tk 65.04 billion while the remaining Tk 74.25 billion by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs). All the scheduled banks have already achieved 79.37 per cent of their collective farm loan target for the current FY, which was set at Tk 175.50 billion, the BB data showed. The central bank is set to review the credit disbursement and recovery performances of the eight SoBs by the end of this month, according to a senior official of the BB. He said the public banks will be advised at the meeting to boost the recovery drives in the coming months. The recovery of farm loans, however, rose to Tk 123.16 billion during the period under the review from Tk 107.55 billion in the same period of the last FY. "We'll also ask the banks to provide adequate credit support to farmers in time and without any harassment to facilitate the overall agriculture output," the central banker saind. The eight state-owned banks are Sonali Bank Limited, Janata Bank Limited, Agrani Bank Limited, Rupali Bank Limited, BASIC Bank Limited, Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL), Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB). Talking to the FE, another BB official said the central bank will also review the performances of both agriculture credit disbursement and recovery of all PCBs and FCBs in April to know the overall situation. "We're still working to achieve the disbursement target by the end of this fiscal year," the BB official noted.     siddique.islam@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06

Bangladesh's investment policies should be targeted to welfare of the most disadvantaged section of the population to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth, Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr. Gowher Rizvi has said. "Countries that have reduced poverty and eliminated social sufferings are the ones whose policies are targeted at those who need assistance", Dr Rizvi told a seminar on 'Bringing Impact Investors Together' in the capital on Tuesday. Leading think-tank 'Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)' organised the event.   Citing the example of Sri Lanka, Dr Rizvi said the South Asian island-nation achieved the same social outcomes in 1970s with a per capita income of only US$ 500 as South Korea did with a per capita income of US$ 5,000. "If Sri Lanka did not have policies targeted towards the poor and if they had focused only on per capita income, it would have taken them 74 more years to reach the same level of social outcomes as South Korea attained", he said. Noting that Bangladesh has already made great strides in terms of poverty reduction, he cautioned that there are already signs of growing income disparity in the country. "Dangers already loom large on the horizon as there are some evidences that income polarisation is taking place", Dr Rizvi said. "Therefore, unless we target those who are the most disadvantaged, inclusive growth of the nation would not be possible".    Speaking at the event, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi M Aminul Islam said, "We need investment, but not any kind of investment. Rather we need more 'impact investment' in health, education and sanitation".     He noted that there is a huge resource gap both at local and international levels in terms of investment that is required for achieving targets of various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like health. The BIDA Chairman emphasised on awareness, understanding, commitment, concerted efforts and supportive regulatory regime for increasing the flow of 'impact investment' in the country. World Bank's Lead Economist Zahid Hussain in his speech stressed the need for maintaining a balance between policy coherence and dynamism to boost the flow of investment.   Speakers at the event also discussed opportunities to attract local and global 'impact investment' and also sectoral priorities for attracting such investment in Bangladesh. President of BUILD Bangladesh Farhadur Reza and Managing Partner of CARE Enterprise USA Marilia Bezerra also spoke on the occasion. mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05