China to remain long-term Europe debt investor

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday he was 'still confident' that Europe can overcome the debt crisis and said China would remain a long-term investor in Europe's debt market.

The Chinese premier spoke at a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a visit to Hungary.

'I have confidence in European economic development,' he said. 'China is a long-term investor in Europe's sovereign debt market. In recent years we have increased by a quite big margin holdings of euro bonds.'

'In the future, as we have done in the past, we will support Europe and the euro,' Wen added.

He said China stood willing to help Europe 'work for expeditious recovery and stable growth,' but did not give exact figures on how much euro zone sovereign debt China might buy.

Wen also said China was willing to buy a 'certain amount' of Hungarian government bonds and aims to boost bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2015. He did not specify the amount of Hungarian bonds China would be willing to purchase either.

He said China's state development bank would provide 1 billion euros for development projects between Hungary and China.

The Chinese premier is visiting Europe as the euro zone grapples to contain Greece's worsening debt crisis and possible default which analysts fear could roil global markets and trigger another financial crisis.

China has large holdings of euro-denominated assets in its vast $3.05 trillion foreign reserves and is desperate to do what it can to preserve the value of its holdings, though analysts say the extent to which China may commit fresh funds toward purchasing distressed European debt as a market-calming gesture, will likely be limited.

Wen Jiabao, the first Chinese head of government to visit Hungary for 24 years, is also seeking to explore greater trade ties with the country given its strategic location and increasing role as a logistics and trade processing hub in Eastern Europe for Chinese goods.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said China's buying of Hungarian government bonds would increase the security of debt financing for Hungary in the medium term.

'The purchase of government bonds is also important for Hungary as Hungary is able to finance itself from markets but the fact that China will buy further will bring huge security,' Orban said.

While Wen is expected to face a barrage of protests and criticism from governments in Britain and Germany over China's human rights record and its recent clampdown on dissent, the release of prominent activist and artist Ai Weiwei on the eve of Wen's visit could ease some pressure on this front.

The 54-year-old artist Ai was freed on bail on Wednesday, while a batch of Ai's associates and other activists have also been freed since then, marking a climbdown of sorts by Chinese authorities, who have rarely flinched in prosecuting critics of Party rule.

Source : New Age

Economists for incorporating special steps in budget

Economists at a dialogue in Dhaka called for incorporating special steps in the national budget of 2011-12 fiscal year for addressing the problems of the country's ultra-poor people.

The government should increase allocation in social security sector in the budget and take up programme in this sector for elimination of ultra-poverty, they said, calling for ensuring transparency and accountability in the implementation of anti-poverty programmes.

They made the remarks while addressing the dialogue titled 'Agriculture, Food Security and Social Security: Analysis of Proposed National Budget 2011-2012' at BRAC Centre in Dhaka on Saturday.

BRAC and Bangladesh Rice Foundation jointly organised the dialogue. BRAC executive director Mahabub Hossain presented the keynote paper while former finance minister M Syeduzzaman chaired the session.

CPD head of research Fahmida Khatun, Dhaka University economics teacher MM Akash, Bangladesh Agricultural University vice-chancellor MA Sattar Mandal, former FBCCI president Abdullah Awal Mintoo and former adviser to the interim government AB Mirza Azizul Islam, among others, took part in the dialogue.

Remarkable portion of country's population are ultra-poor despite reduction of overall poverty. Being deprived of basic needs of life, the ultra-poor are leading miserable life and they cannot take part in development activities. Different programmes taken for them proved ineffective, they said.

It is impossible to build a poverty-free country if we cannot involve them into mainstream of our development, they said.

The speakers hoped that lawmakers would present a poor-friendly budget taking into consideration the interests of the ultra-poor.

Source : New Age

Inflation fears as India hikes fuel costs

The cost for fuel consumption of Indians increased on Saturday after the government announced a hike in the price of some petroleum products, increasing inflationary pressures in the fast-growing economy.

Petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy late Friday raised the price of diesel by 3 rupees (7 cents) per litre, in a move that will pile added pressure on prime minister Manmohan Singh's embattled government.

The government also increased the price of kerosene by 2 rupees per litre, and of liquefied petroleum gas by 50 rupees per cylinder, in a bid to cut its fuel subsidies and help state-owned oil firms, which currently suffer big losses by selling fuel to consumers at prices far below market rates.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters late Friday that the increase was 'very modest,' according to the Press Trust of India.

The opposition criticised the price hike. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said there would be a cascade effect likely leading to increased inflation.

Annual inflation spiralled to a higher-than-expected 9.06 per cent in May from 8.66 per cent the previous month, heaping misery on hundreds of millions of India's poor.

The increase in the cost of kerosene, which is seen as the 'poor man's fuel' could prove especially damaging for the ruling Congress Party, which counts the rural poor as a key electoral constituency.

Source : New Age

DSE returns to black on hope for undisclosed money investment

Dhaka stocks returned to black in last week riding on the speculation that the government might finally include a provision in the budget for fiscal 2011-2012 allowing legalisation of undisclosed money for investment in the capital market as the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry started lobbying for it.


The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, or DGEN, in the week gained 71.08 points or 1.23 per cent to finish at 5,847.26 points. In the previous week, the index had lost 213.64 points.
The average daily turnover in the last week dropped by 18.93 per cent to Tk 442.89 crore, which is Tk 103.43 crore less than that in the previous week as institutional investors had remained mostly inactive due to June book closing of the banks.
Investors on Monday took to the street again protesting at the relentless fall in share prices and demanding immediate resignation of finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman M Khairul Hossain, and DSE president Shakil Rizvi for their failure to stabilise the market.
Market operators said a number of moves made by the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank in the last week boosted the investors and helped the bourse rebound.
They said the central bank's decision to allow the commercial banks to calculate the credit-deposit ratio considering other banks' deposits as a source of fund would help them minimise the liquidity crisis prevailing in the money market.
They, however, said investors were hoping that the move would also ease the liquidity crunch in the capital market but only if that money was invested in equities.
They also said the market continued to gain after the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry, AHM Mostafa Kamal, had announced on Tuesday that the committee would request finance minister AMA Muhith to allow legalisation of undisclosed money meant for investment in the equities market while finalising the proposed budget.
The committee on Thursday recommended that the finance ministry should include a provision in the final budget allowing legalisation of undisclosed money meant for investment in the stock market.
The DGEN had gained 162 points in the last four trading sessions riding on the hope that a provision would be there in the final budget allowing legalisation of undisclosed money. The index had shed 213 points in the week since June 9, the day the finance minister had tabled the proposed budget in the parliament, ignoring the request of the Jatiya Sangsad body to allow legalisation of undisclosed money for investment in the capital market.
The DGEN on Sunday lost 89.45 points, or 1.54 per cent, in line with the previous week's downtrend as individual investors became unnerved by the post-budget proposal volatility.
On Monday, the index inched up 9.05 points, or 0.16 per cent, while the aggravated investors took to the street to protest the free fall in share prices.
The DGEN on Tuesday made a moderate gain of 49.31 points, or 0.86 per cent, on the move made by the central bank to ease the liquidity crisis in the money market.
On Wednesday, the DGEN advanced by 63.11 points, or 1.09 per cent, as AHM Mostafa Kamal had announced on the previous day that the JS body would request Muhith again to include a provision in the proposed budget that would allow legalisation of undisclosed money for investment in the capital market.
Speculations about the legalisation of undisclosed money issue continued on Thursday, with the DGEN gaining 39.05 points, or 0.67 per cent, to end the week at 5,847.25 points. 
Of the total 266 issues traded in the week, 152 advanced, 106 declined, and eight remained unchanged.
United Commercial Bank Ltd topped the list
of turnover leaders of
the week with shares worth Tk 109.02 crore changing hands. The rest of the top-10 turnover leaders of the week were Lankabangla Finance, BEXIMCO, MI Cement Factory Limited, National Bank Ltd, City Bank Ltd, One Bank Ltd, Aftab Automobiles, AB Bank Ltd, and Pubali Bank Ltd.
Source : New Age

SEC hopes for capital market friendly budget

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman M Khairul Hossain on Saturday said the commission hoped that the government would include some 'positive provisions' in the final budget for the next fiscal year and withdraw the proposed tax hike on brokers' commission.




'Considering the current market scenario, the Securities and Exchange Commission has recommended that the final budget should include some incentives [for the capital market],' Khairul told a meeting on 'restoring investors' confidence' organised by the Chittagong Stock Exchange in its office in the port city.
'We have requested for a capital market-friendly budget as the market has been depressed for a long time now,' he said.
Asked about the possible positive decisions after the seminar, the
SEC chief told New Age, 'We have requested for withdrawal of the proposed tax increment on brokerage income and reinstate the tax rebate for investors in the final budget.'
Finance minister AMA Muhith in his proposed budget placed in the parliament on June 9 increased the tax on brokers' commission to 0.10 per cent from 0.05
per cent and scrapped
the 10 per cent tax rebate on share market investment.
'Not only the general investors, the policymakers also don't understand yet the importance of the capital market for the country's economic growth,' Khairul told the meeting chaired by CSE president Fokhor Uddin Ali Ahmed.
SEC member Helal Uddin Nizami said, 'At present, reforming the necessary laws is the priority of the commission and we are considering demutualisation of the bourses.'
He, however, criticised the demutualisation roadmap proposed by the Dhaka Stock Exchange. 'The timeframe proposed by the DSE seems unreasonably long and shows their reluctance about the move.'
SEC member Arif Khan said, 'After observing the last debacle, we can say that chartered accountants should be held as the prime responsible party for overvalued scrip.'
'They are the ones who certify a company's
financial statements,
even the faulty ones,
and millions of people invest money from their trust in those statements,' he said.
Source : New Age

Access to $661b global halal food market opens

Bangladesh is set to enter the 661 billion dollar market of halal foods as the Malaysia's Department of Islamic Development has approved Islamic Foundation Bangladesh as a halal certification body.


The IFB will act as the board of certification with technical support from the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution and the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
A senior commerce ministry official said on Thursday, 'Malaysia's Department of Islamic Development has approved Bangladesh Islamic Foundation as a halal certification body and included it in the list of halal certification bodies across the world, which will open a huge opportunity for grabbing a share of the global halal food marker.'
Earlier, the DID of Malaysia sought list of halal certification bodies from different Muslim countries. Bangladesh named the IFB as the supreme authority for halal product certification with technical support from the BCSIR and the DID of Malaysia approved the proposal.
Food products prepared following a set of Islamic dietary laws and regulations, which determine what is permissible, lawful, and clean, are classified as halal.
The exporters have been urging the government to strengthen the IFB and help them start exporting halal foods from the country.
World Halal Forum data shows the halal food market has grown fast over the past decade and is now worth an estimated 661.6 billion a year. As such, it represents close to 17 per cent of the entire global food industry and marks a 4.2 per cent rise from the value of $634.5 billion in 2009.
Having a halal certification body is mandatory for a country to export halal foods.
'The national committee on halal certification body recommended to the government that it should improve the capacity of the IFB and ensure proper implementation of halal food certification responsibility,' said Jalal Ahmed, chief of the committee and also the vice chairman of Export Promotion Bureau.
The committee has representations from the ministries of fisheries and livestock and religious affairs, the BIF, the BSTI, The BCSIR, Bengal Meat, and Meghna Condensed Milk. This body will take necessary steps to form a halal certification board and monitor the certification process.
Jalal Ahmed told New Age that the DID of Malaysia approved the proposal of Bangladesh to establish a halal certification authority, where the IFB would issue certificates and the BCSIR would ensure the product quality and deal with other relevant issues.
'The interested companies can apply for halal certification after the formalities of commerce ministry are completed,' Jalal added.
Commerce secretary Ghulam Hussain said, 'Bangladesh can earn a huge amount of foreign currency from halal food export but the lack of certification has barred us from entering this prospective market.'
'The government will soon launch the certification process,' he added.
The DID of Malaysia recommended that the Bangladesh government should follow standards, which include the regulation of shariah-compliant systems ratified by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a grouping of businesses of 56 Islamic countries.
The largest contributors to the halal food market in Asia are Indonesia, China, India, Malaysia, and the Gulf Cooperation Council members including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.
Commerce ministry sources said five companies, who already had received large orders from abroad to supply halal food, demanded formation of a certification body to move forward.
The companies are Modern Abattoir, Bengal Meat, Premier Abattoir, Meghna Food Industries, and Bangladesh Organic Food Processors.
'The Malaysian government is working with Bangladesh to expand the halal food market and to import food items from Bangladesh,' said Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Syed Moazzam Hossain.
He said, 'Already, some companies have signed contracts with Malaysian importers to supply halal foods.'
Source : New Age

Social awareness stressed to combat drug addiction

Right activists at a discussion in Rajshahi on Saturday underscored the need for raising social awareness to combat drug addiction and trafficking.

They also stressed rehabilitation of the drug addicts to bring them back to a happy, healthy and peaceful life.

They demanded that the government should allocate funds for the organisations working to check drug addiction and trying to rehabilitate the addicts.

Non-governmental organisation Banchte Chai Society organised the programme at Young King Community Centre in the city marking International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in the afternoon.  

The speakers said it was very alarming that at present drug addiction had become widespread irrespective of educated and illiterate, rich and poor, teachers and students.

About 50 to 60 lakh people of the country are drug addicts, they told the discussion, adding that the government must rehabilitate them as they were a part of society.

There are 200 centres working to rehabilitate drug addicts in the country and at present 2500 addicts are taking service in the centres, they said.

The speakers said at present the injecting drug users were creating grave concern among the government and non-government organisations and these people were in high HIV/AIDS risk.

Rajshahi civil surgeon Shahidul Islam addressed the discussion as chief guest while Anowar Hossain, president of Banchte Chai Society, was in the chair.

The programme was also addressed, among others, by the deputy director of Narcotic Department Rajshahi sub-region Moloy Vushan Chakrabartee, coordinator of Bangladesh Rehabilitation and Assistance Centre for Addicts Bakul Francis Kosta and coordinator of Banchte Chai Society Shamsul Kaonain.     

Representative of civil society, newsmen from electronic and print media, social welfare activists also took part in an open discussion as part of the programme.

Source : New Age

Diarrhea situation ‘favorable’ in city

The diarrhoeal situation in the capital city has improved considerably as indicated by the number of patients admitted to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh.

The patients reporting to the hospital is now around 300 every day since June 20, compared to about 1,000 daily during April-May last year, said an official of ICDDR,B.

Talking to the news agency on Saturday, Dr Azharul Islam Khan, head of the short stay unit of ICDDR'B described the present diarrhoea situation as 'favourable'.

He said although the patients are found getting admitted to the ICDDR'B hospital, the number has come down substantially.

Dr Khan mentioned that the 'climatic change' is the main cause for better situation this season. The country experiences heat one day and rains on the other two days. This has helped to the change the climate to a favourable situation.

Meanwhile, doctors suggested the city dwellers to drink water after having it boiled for at least 10 minutes.

Source : New Age

Change in temperature unlikely

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at most places over the Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at many places over the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions till 6:00pm today.

Moderately heavy to heavy falls are also likely at places, Met Office said.

Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in the capital today at 6:50pm and rises tomorrow at 5:14am.

The country's highest temperature, 35.3 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Saturday in Bogra and the lowest, 24.0 degrees, in Satkhira and Sandwip.

Source : New Age

3 unnatural deaths in city

Three people died in separate incidents at Rayerbagh, Badda and Azimpur in the capital on Saturday.

At Rayerbag, an 85-year man died in a road accident when a bus ran him over while he was crossing the road in front of Rayerbagh Cinema Hall at around 9:30am Friday.

The deceased was identified as Mahbubur Rahman Mollah, son of Mohammad Nazim, a resident of East Rayerbagh. Police seized the bus and arrested its driver.

The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.

At Badda, a construction worker died after falling from the rooftop of a six-storey building in Maddya Badda area Saturday morning.

The victim was identified as Shariful Islam, 25, son of Betabu Islam, a resident of Fatehpur of Chapainawabganj.

The police said Sahriful was critically injured after he fell from an under-construction building of High Homes Limited at around 3:30am.

He was rushed to the DMCH where the physicians declared him dead at about 11:00am.

At Azimpur, a factory worker was electrocuted at Eden College Complex.

The deceased was identified as, Amirul Islam, 19, son of Shaowkat Miah of Khulna.

Witness said the worker was electrocuted when he came in contact with a live wire while he, along with some other workers, were working in an under-construction building in the college area at about 2:00pm.

Seriously injured, Amirul was rushed to the DMCH where duty doctors declared him dead.

Source : New Age

Afforestation campaign launched in Ctg

Bangladesh is most vulnerable to natural calamities triggered by the global warming, said Mesbah ul Alam, secretary, ministry of environment and forest, on Saturday.

About 17 per cent per cent area of Bangladesh might go under water if the seal level rises only one metre, he said while inaugurating 'Afforestation Campaign 2011 and Sapling Distribution'.

The British American Tobacco organised the programme at Mercantile Marine House Ground in the Chittagong city in the afternoon.

Source : New Age

Urdu-speaking people demand dignified rehab

Social activists and lawyers at a community consultation on Saturday demanded dignified rehabilitation of Urdu-speaking people of the country through providing them with all sorts of citizen facilities.

Research-based organisation Refugee and Migratory Movement's research unit organised the programme on 'dignified social inclusion of the Urdu-speaking camp-based Bangladeshis' at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in the capital.

They said at first the government should recognise the Urdu-speaking people as the citizen of the country.

Representatives of Urdu-speaking people at the programme said they still faced problem in getting passport.

They said the home affairs ministry said people living in camps must show their citizen certificates, which they have to collect from the ministry, to get passports.

They urged the government to ensure their basic human rights including proper health, education and livelihood facilities.

They called on the government, civil society and donor agencies to help the Urdu-speaking communities for their dignified rehabilitation in Bangladesh.

They also said once Urdu was the language of this region and they had the rights to preserve their culture and language.

RMMRU's executive director CR Abrar, Democracy Watch's executive director Taleya Rahman, advocates Adilur Rahman Khan and Asaduzzaman, Association of Young Generation of Urdu-speaking Community's secretary general Mohammad Hasan were also present at the programme.

Source : New Age

RU students on demonstration for TSCC

Students and cultural activists formed human chain at Rajshahi University on Saturday, demanding immediate activation of Teachers and Students Cultural Centre.

Around two hundred students and activists of different cultural organisations of the university joined the human chain in front the university central library at about 12:30am, campus sources said.

The progressive students' alliance and also general students of the university joined the rally expressing their solidarity with the demands.

During the rally the agitated students alleged that there was no place for the cultural organisations to run their activities.

They said that several times the university authorities had assured them of meeting their demands but they never kept their word.  

RU vice-chancellor Professor Abdus Sobhan told New Age that the authorities had sent a recommendation to the University Grants Commission, seeking budget to reconstruct the TSCC building. The students are on their strike since June 2 on the demand.

Source : New Age