Bangladesh Export grows but off traget

During July-May in the current 2012-13 fiscal, the country fetched around $24.32 billion from export, which is 10.67 percent higher than the amount earned in last fiscal.
Still, the growth missed the target of $25.16 billion for the eleven months though it has remained stable for the last few months.

Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) revealed these statistics on Sunday.
According to the EPB, the export revenue for 10 months starting from July fell 3.31 percent short of the target.
Analysis shows in May alone, exports earned around $2.54 billion – 3.54 percent less than the targeted goal.
Last year, the earning was almost $2.20 billion from export in May alone.
Quoting the EPB, Reuters news agency said on Sunday Bangladesh's exports rose 15.43 percent in May to $2.54 billion from a year earlier thanks to stronger clothing sales even as the country reviews safety standards at factories after two deadly incidents.
It added garment exports totaled $19.3 billion for the 11 months that ended in May, nearly 12 percent more than a year earlier.
The sharp increase comes as the government weighs industry reform after the collapse in April of the Rana Plaza factory complex killed 1,129 people. A fire at another factory last year killed 112.
The incidents have put the government, industrialists and the global brands that use the factories under pressure to reform an industry that employs four million and generates 80 percent of Bangladesh's export earnings.
Reuters also said monthly exports had fallen year-on-year from March through June as the global economic slowdown weighed on demand. But exports have since picked up, with a 10.67 percent rise in the July-May period.
Duty-free access offered by Western countries and low wages have helped make Bangladesh the world's second-largest apparel exporter after China, with 60 percent of clothes going to Europe and 23 percent to the United States.
The European Union and the United States had threatened punitive measures in order to press Dhaka to improve worker safety standards after the collapse in April of the illegally built factory.

Money-laundering case against BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman Giasuddin Al Mamun

The High Court has cleared the way for continuing a money-laundering case against BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman and his business partner Giasuddin Al Mamun.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in October 2009 filed the case with Cantonment Police Station accusing the duo of laundering Tk 20.41 crore to Singapore between 2003 and 2007.

On Sunday, the HC rejected a criminal revision petition filed by Mamun in April challenging the legality of the case proceedings.

Mamun, now in custody, said a special court during the regime of military backed caretaker government in 2007 had sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment in a case where the charge of laundering Tk 20.41 crore was involved.

The ACC has later filed another case against Mamun involving the same charge, which is illegal and unconstitutional, he said.

ACC’s counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said there is no legal bar to continue the trial proceedings of the money-laundering case against Tarique and Mamun at the trial court following the HC order.

Barrister AKM Fakhrul Islam, a lawyer for Mamun, that his client will move an appeal before the Appellate Division against the HC verdict.

Export defies Bangladesh RMG disaster gloom

Garment exports grew by 22.11 percent to $2.53 billion in May compared to that in the previous month, on the back of higher demand for garment items, jute and jute goods.

In April export was recorded at $2.07 billion.

It however was still 3.54 percent less than the targeted at $2.63 billion export, according to data from the state-owned Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

In year-on-year comparison, export earning recorded at 15.43 percent rise in the month of May compared with the corresponding period of last May, the data showed.

Vice-chairman of EPB Shubhashish Bose attributed the export growth to rising export trend to new destinations, export diversification and price competitiveness compared with other peer countries.

“The trend is still good, despite some odds like hartals and building collapse. I hope the export will also increase in June,” Bose by phone.

The periodic data also showed a positive growth trend. During July-May period of the current fiscal year (2012-13) country’s exports grew by 10.67 percent to $24.32 billion compared with the same period of the last fiscal. The target for July-May period was fixed at 25.16 billion, the data showed.

Of the major products, Bangladesh exported knitwear worth $9.40 billion and woven garments worth $9.92 billion in the July-May period registering a year on year growth at 9.56 percent and 14.10 percent.

During the July-May period, Bangladesh exported jute and jute goods worth $947.91million against the periodic target at $972.80 million registering at growth at 6.57 percent from the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The bad impact of political violence and some accidents in the garment sector could be understood at least three months later, said Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), garment makers’ platform,

The international buyers are now negotiating the prices now for the next spring season.

“We are expecting a stable situation after the next general election,” he added.

Bangladesh Tazreen garment 37 workers still missing HC asks for police report on June 19

A writ petition submitted to the High Court has claimed that 37 garment workers are still missing since the deadly Tazreen fire on November 24 last year.
After the hearing on the petition yesterday, the High Court directed the inspector general of police to get DNA tests of the relatives of the missing people done and to submit a report to it on June 19.
The home ministry and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in December last year said the inferno at Tazreen Fashions Ltd in Ashulia had killed at least 112 people and injured many others.
Anthropologists Naznin Akter Banu, Saydia Gulrukh Kamal and Mahmudul Hasan Sumon on April 28 filed the petition with the HC along with a list of the names and addresses of the 37 missing people. They sought directives on the government to arrest the owner of the Tazreen garment, Delwar Hossain, and punish him.
Jyotirmoy Barua, a lawyer for the petitioners, said his clients had collected the names of the missing people from their relatives.
Yesterday, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the home ministry’s failure to submit a probe report on the inferno even after it had been given time twice. The HC said the government must submit the report on June 19 and action would be taken against the people responsible otherwise.
The home ministry a day after the Tazreen fire formed a committee to investigate the incident and prepare a report, Jyotirmoy said.
On May 30, the court directed the government to submit the probe report yesterday as it failed to submit it on that day as per an earlier court order.
Assistant Attorney General Jahangir Alam yesterday prayed to the court for two more days for the submission of the report.
He, however, that Deputy Attorney General Bishwojit Roy had already received a copy of the home ministry’s probe report in regard to another case and that this report would be submitted to the HC on the basis of an affidavit.
DAG Roy was not in court yesterday owing to matters of a personal nature, he added.
Delwar appeared before the court yesterday as per its May 30 order. The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain asked him to appear again in court on June 19.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) reacts to Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam remark

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Sunday blasted Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam for questing Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya’s ‘right to comment’ on the budget proposals on behalf of the Dhaka-based think-tank.

Speaking at a discussion on Saturday, the minister said Debapriya had no right to make such comments as he had made under the banner of the CPD.

“Usually, the CPD chief executive makes such remarks after every budget. It’s not Debapriya, but Mustafizur Rahman who is the chief executive of the CPD. Debapriya is a former chief executive of the CPD. So, he has no right to make such comments on behalf of the CPD,” Ashraf mentioned.

The CPD in a press statement on Sunday said, “In view of this, CPD would like to make it clear that it is the prerogative of the CPD management to decide who will present CPD’s analysis on behalf of the team.”

It added Debapriya is a distinguished fellow of the CPD and his presentation at the media briefing held by CPD on June 7th was based on CPD’s assessment of the Budget FY2014 which was prepared by the team of professionals at the think-tank.

Presentation and observations made by Dr Bhattacharya at the media briefing reflected the views of the entire team which also includes the executive director, CPD. CPD’s assessment of macroeconomic performance and budgetary proposals are always prepared through evidence-based analysis which has also been the case with the aforesaid budget analysis, the press release said.

Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Ghulam Rahman chief to quit

A Supreme Court lawyer filed a writ petition with the High Court on Sunday challenging the legality of holding the office of Anti-Corruption Commission chairman by Ghulam Rahman.

Advocate Mirza Al Mahmood filed the petition seeking HC directives upon Rahman to explain under what authority he has been holding the office of the ACC chairman since his tenure expired on May 1.

The petitioner said the government appointed Rahman on May 2 in 2009 for four years as the chairman of the ant-graft body and his tenure was valid till May 1 this year.

Rahman on Wednesday however that he had joined the office of ACC chairman on June 24, 2009.

On Wednesday, Mahmood sent a legal notice to Rahman asking him to leave the office in two days.

The SC lawyer in his legal notice also said appropriate legal step will be taken against Rahman if he does not leave the office in two days.

The High Court may hear the writ petition later in the day.

Bangladesh Law Minister Shafique Ahmed calls corruption a disease

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed has said the country could build the Padma bridge alone if corruption could be checked.

Corruption as a disease in the developing countries like Bangladesh, the minister said at a roundtable in the city’s Jatiya Press Club.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) organised the roundtable styled “The progress made by Bangladesh in implementing the United Nations Convention against corruption”.

Regarding black money, he said, “People those who earned black money through bribery and other unfair means will not get rid of legal tangle through paying tax. ACC [Anti-Corruption Commission] can always proceed against them.”

“But the person failing to pay tax in time and their money having consequently turned black money, will get respite from legal action after paying government fixed tax,” he said.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman who moderated the roundtable said for implementing the convention it needs national unity including ruling and opposition parities.

TIB Trusty Board Chairman Sultanan Kamal who presided over the programme said due to lack of accountability, corruption is spreading fast.

Crude, stinky BNP's Rehana Akhtar Ranu and Syeda Ashifa Ashrafi Papiya 2 women MPs abase JS

Two BNP lawmakers — Rehana Akhtar Ranu and Syeda Ashifa Ashrafi Papiya — yesterday launched blistering attacks on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and some of her cabinet colleagues using vulgar and abusive words in parliament.
This reminded many of the days when some lawmakers of the treasury and opposition benches in the present parliament repeatedly used vulgar words to attack their opponents in its sessions in the past.
Until yesterday, none of the MPs from both benches used any abusive words nor made any derogatory remarks about each other in the present session of the House.
Lawmakers from the ruling Awami League strongly protested the abusive words and derogatory remarks of the two BNP MPs, who were elected to the reserved seats for women.
Whip ASM Feroz said, “In our childhood, we had heard such words were used in the red light districts. It’s unfortunate that such words are now being used in parliament.”
The whip also demanded that the Speaker expunge all the “abusive” words from parliament proceedings.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said she would expunge the unparliamentary words.
Taking the floor on a point of order, BNP lawmaker Papiya termed  Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman a “hero” and “future leader” of Bangladesh. The government is trying to bring him back from abroad to foil the opposition movement, she said.
Papiya also said the prime minister announced that Tarique would not be spared. “The prime minister’s statement is indecent, inhuman and nonsensical.”
The BNP lawmaker said Foreign Minister Dipu Moni is a “hybrid” politician who has entered politics all of a sudden. “She does not have mental balance and political capability.”
Then AL lawmakers Fazle Rabbi Mia and Abdul Mannan took the floor and protested her remarks.
Later, taking part in discussion on the supplementary budget for the current fiscal year, BNP lawmaker Rehana Akhter Ranu said by visiting “atheist” blogger Rajib’s house after his death, Sheikh Hasina proved that she is the prime minister of “atheists”.
She also said the prime minister’s family members are involved in taking two percent bribe in the Padma bridge project.

Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) prepares for fair polls

With only five days to go, the Election Commission (EC) and mayoral and councillor aspirants in four divisional city corporations are making final preparations for elections.
The electoral campaigns end 48 hours before the polling starts at 8:00am on June 15, and any sort of campaign activity after then would be a considered violation of electoral code of conduct.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed yesterday asked the local administration and others concerned to carry out their duties impartially for holding free, fair and credible elections.
“We have taken adequate steps to hold city corporation elections in a free, fair and credible manner,” he said.
The CEC was speaking at a view-exchange meeting with mayoral and councillor candidates at the Khulna deputy commissioner’s office.
Urging the candidates not to take the law in their own hands, he said they had deployed 15 vigilance teams to monitor whether electoral code was being violated in the city corporation areas, reports our Khulna correspondent.
The executive magistrate would take legal action, if any candidate violates the code of conduct, the CEC said.
Three more vigilance teams comprised of Judicial magistrates and adequate number of BGB, Rab and other security agency personnel would be deployed before the Khulna City Corporation polls, he added.
Meanwhile, the Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) had transferred officers-in charge (OC) of five police stations on Saturday evening. They would join their new offices by June 10, said KMP Commissioner Shafiqur Rahman.
Pointing to the reshuffle, BNP-backed mayoral candidate Moniruzzaman Mony told the meeting the transfer was not enough for holding a credible election. “We want all politicised officers in KMP to get transferred,” he added.
Expressing satisfaction over law and order situation in the district, Awami League-backed mayoral candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque said only 17 days for campaign were not enough for a mayoral candidate.
To ensure a free and fair poll, the EC was conducting training programmes for the candidates and election officials in the city corporation areas.
At Madan Mohan College in Sylhet, the commission ended its two-day training on electoral rules for 2,811 officials.
Yesterday, election officials held a mock voting through electronic voting machines (EVM) at three centres of ward no. 2 in Sylhet city while thousands gathered at ward no. 8 in Rajshahi city as the regional election office held trial voting there using EVMs.
Law enforcement agencies have already set up several checkpoints in the four cities on security grounds.
Candidates who have been conducting door-to-door electoral campaign for more than two weeks were revving up their campaign activities yesterday as the time was running out fast.

Jamalpur Tortured, left to die

Tortured at home and then left to die in a field, Fahima Khatun survived but has been fighting for her life. Unable to walk following the attack by her in-laws over dowry, she is now undergoing treatment.
The assault on her took place early on May 25 in which her parents-in-law Sirajul Islam and Afroza Begum, her husband Ariful and his two brothers — Anwar and Amanullah — were allegedly involved.
Fahima, 21, alleged her in-laws tortured her as she had failed to give them Tk 2 lakh in dowry. She was allegedly threatened with divorce if she failed to meet the demand.
“My father is not rich.  I tried to win their hearts through love and respect,” Fahima said. “I was determined not to leave my husband.”
Her father, Gulam Rabbani, is a farmer at Amirtee village of Jamalpur. He married Fahima to Ariful of Charband village of the same district in December 2011, spending Tk 1 lakh on gold ornaments for her.
Within six months of the marriage, her in-laws demanded Tk 2 lakh in dowry.
Torture on her actually began in February this year in the middle of her SSC exam, in which she got GPA 3.5, culminating in the attack on May 25, she said.
On that night, she was locked in the house with her hands tied and mouth gagged. The four men then mercilessly beat her with an iron rod, she said. She was also stabbed in her right hand.
The assault left her unconscious. Thinking that she was dead, her in-laws took her to a nearby field and left there.
But sometime later she regained her consciousness and started crying for help. Hearing her scream, two neighbours — Nazmul, 40, and Sohrab Ali, 45 — rescued her.
“Thus I escaped death,” Fahima said.
Despite extensive bleeding from her sex organ, which continued for three days in hospital, Fahima’s in-laws forcibly took her back home after Nazmul and Sohrab rescued her.
Concerned over her safety, Nazmul contacted one of Fahima’s relatives, Abul Hashem. She was then rescued from her in-law’s house around 7:30am and taken to hospital.
Doctors at the Maderganj upazila health complex, where she had been treated until a few days ago, said her condition was not critical but she would take time to recover and walk again.
Meanwhile, Fahima has filed a case against five members of her in-laws’ family, including her husband, under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
The accused went into hiding following the incident, said investigating officer Abdul Gani of Maderganj Police Station.

Bombs hurled at Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu’s home

Four homemade crude bombs were hurled at Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu’s residence in the capital’s Mirpur area yesterday.
According to eyewitnesses, four youths in their early twenties on two motorbikes came near the five-storied residential building on Darus Salam Road.
Mohammad Lokman, a security guard of MA Khalek Residential area adjacent to the minister’s house, “As soon as they left after a very short conversation with me, the explosions took place and smoke engulfed the minister’s house.”
The crude bombs exploded as they impaled the walls and windows of the first and second floors of the building around 2:30pm. The minister lives on the first floor with his family, while his sister, advocate Laila Rashid, lives on the second. Neither of them was at home during the blasts.
Afroza Haq Rina, the minister’s wife, said, “I was busy with house-chores in an inner room. Hearing the repeated loud bangs, I came to the front of the room and saw two motorbikes pass by quickly along the road next to our building.”
She said no one was hurt, and nothing in the room was damaged.
Other witnesses said that the explosions left marks and residue on the glass and the walls where they were hurled at.
Inu alleged Jamaat-Shibir men to be behind the attack and told reporters, “The consecutive attacks on the houses of ministers, 14 party leaders and innocent people are to foil the war crimes trial. But despite their repeated attacks, we will try the war criminals.”
Law enforcers including police, Rab and the Detective Branch of Police cordoned off the area and later a bomb disposal unit collected the remains of the bombs as evidence.
Sanwar Hossain, senior assistant commissioner of DMP’s bomb disposal unit, confirmed the explosives were homemade bombs.
Khalilur Rahman Patwari, officer-in-charge of the Darus Salam Police Station, said they started an investigation to find those responsible for the attack, but had not yet arrested anyone.
Meanwhile, local Chhatra League activists staged demonstrations in front of the minister’s house and demanded immediate arrest of the attackers.
Workers Party of Bangladesh and Sector Commanders Forum condemned the attack and demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the culprits.
Three crude bombs were also thrown at Foreign Minister Dipu Moni’s residence on May 28, a day before a nationwide strike called by the 18-Party alliance.

Jackfruits Profit gets priority over safety

Harmful chemicals are widely used in Tangail district to quicken the ripening of jackfruits to make windfall profits from early sales.
Jackfruit, the country’s national fruit, is produced in huge quantities every year in four hilly upazilas of the district — Madhupur, Ghatail, Sakhipur and Mirzapur. Traders send much of the produce to other districts, including the capital, during the season.
Wholesalers said that to ripen a jackfruit early, they pierce a hole in it with an iron rod and inject chemicals — calcium carbide, ethrel, copper sulfide, ripen etc — into the hole. The fruits are then piled up and kept covered by polythene sheets until they ripen, which usually takes less than 24 hours.
Some traders spray chemicals on jackfruits to ripen them.
Not only jackfruits, traders use chemicals on all seasonal fruits that grow abundantly in the district, such as pineapples, bananas and mangoes, though they are well aware of the hazardous impacts on health.
Consumers of such fruits become vulnerable to various diseases, including cancer, liver and kidney disorders, asthma and dysentery, said Nazrul Islam, civil surgeon of Tangail.
Jackfruits bring handsome profits to growers and are often seen as an alternative to rice among the poor for several months during the rainy season, local people and traders say. But the taste declines due to their premature ripening.
There are at least 273 government-approved chemical shops in Madhupur upazila alone. Besides, plenty more unauthorised chemical shops have sprouted in all the upazilas of the district.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president:Realistic, not ambitious

Terming the proposed national budget for the upcoming fiscal a realistic one, the country’s apex trade body said Saturday that it would be a challenge for the government to implement.

“The budget is not ambitious, rather realistic,” Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said while giving formal reaction on the finance minister’s proposed budget.

The FBCCI chief stressed that good governance and political stability will be prime requirements for the implementation of the budget.

Akram,  also a member of the ruling Awami League’s advisory council, thanked the prime minister for allocating funds for the Padma bridge.

Finance minister AMA Muhith on Thursday proposed a Tk 222,491-crore annual budget outlays for fiscal 2013-14.