$400m WB loan for coastal people protection

The government will get a concessional loan of USD 400 million from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank (WB) to enable the coastal people to combat flood and other natural disasters. An agreement to this effect will be signed between the Economic Relation Division (ERD) and the WB at the WB’s Dhaka office on Tuesday, ERD sources said.
With the approval of this project, the WB’s total concessionary lending to Bangladesh will reach USD 1.6 billion in the fiscal year 2013-14.
On June 27 this year, the WB had approved USD 375 million in concessional financing and USD 25 million in a grant to Bangladesh to increase the coastal population’s resilience to climate change-induced flooding and other natural disasters.
The Coastal Embankment Improvement Project will upgrade the country’s embankment system by increasing the area protected by polders from tidal flooding and frequent storm in six coastal districts.
The project will rehabilitate 17 polders in six coastal districts-- Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Barguna, Patuakhali and Pirojpur.
The rehabilitated polders would protect 760,000 people living within the polder boundaries. Around 8.5 million people living in these six coastal districts would also benefit from agriculture development, employment and food security.
Earlier, Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Nepal, said, “Climate change is no longer only an environmental issue, it has become a development issue.”
“Adaptation to increased risks from climate-induced weather events is essential for development in Bangladesh. The project takes into account climate change induced sea level rise and increase in the intensity and frequency of tidal surges and floods while designing and climate-proofing the polders,” he added.
Bangladesh’s coastal zone spreads over 580 km, where 28 per cent of the country’s population resides. A higher percentage of population lives below absolute poverty line in the coastal area compared to the rest of the country.
The new project will help reduce poverty and stimulate economic progress by facilitating the growth of farm and non-farm activities in the coastal area.
The project would increase agricultural productivity as the reconstructed polders would prevent saline water intrusion.
A recent WB study on the cost of adapting to extreme weather estimated that currently eight million people
are vulnerable to inundation depths greater than three metres due to cyclonic
storm surges. This number will increase to 13.5 million by 2050 and by an additional nine million due to climate change.
Rehabilitating and upgrading the polders’ height will enhance the resilience of coastal areas to cyclones, tidal and flood inundations, and salinity intrusion.
This, in turn, will increase agricultural production during normal weather and reduce the loss of life, assets, crops and livestock in the event of a disaster.
The IDA credits have 40 years of maturity with a 10-year grace period; they carry a service charge of 0.75 per cent.
According to the detailed project plan (DPP), the objectives of the First Phase of the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project for Bangladesh are to increase the area protected in selected polders from tidal flooding and frequent storm surges, which are expected to worsen due to climate change; improve agricultural production by reducing saline water intrusion in selected polders; and improve the Government of Bangladesh’s capacity to respond promptly and effectively to a crisis or an emergency.

Islami Bank launches ‘Waqf cash deposit account’

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) launched its latest product Cash Waqf on Sunday.
The said account provides a unique opportunity for making investment in different religious, educational and social services, says a press release. Earlier, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) has introduced “Mudaraba Waqf Cash Deposit Account” (MWCDA) with aim to assist the underprivileged people in society. Waqf, a perpetual endowment, by the well-off and the rich people of the society and the income generated from waqf may be spent for different benevolent purposes.
The objectives of this deposit is to assist mobilization of social savings by creating Cash Waqf with a view to commemorating alive or deceased parents, children. The account is also to strengthen the integration of the family relationship of the well-off people and the rich, to increase social investment and to transform the social savings into capital, to benefit the poor sections of the people out of the resources of the rich, to create awareness among the rich regarding their social responsibilities and to make a unique integration of social security and social peace.
The Account can be opened in foreign currency. Any bonafide adult citizen of Bangladesh with sound mind may open this Account with any of IBBL with a title selected by the Waquif.
Two passport size photographs of the Waquif will be required to open this Account.
Bank will spend the fund in the following purposes and the Waquif will have the right to choose the purposes to be served either from the list or any other purposes permitted by the Shari'ah.

Scrap voters’ list, appeals Saber

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, one of the two high-profile candidates of the much-talked about polls of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), yesterday demanded the cancellation of the ongoing election procedure until the election commission obtained a certified copy of Appellate Division’s verdict on BCB constitution.
Saber also demanded a fresh draft list of voters under the supervision of the election commission, claiming that present list of councillors has been prepared and provided by the BCB, which has no constitutional rights to prepare such a list.
Saber made these serious allegations to the election commission at the National Sports Council (NSC) yesterday, the day for filing objections and hearing on the draft voters’ list of the BCB polls.
According to election commissioner Abdur Rahman the commission accepted nine objections against 14 disputes.
“I wanted to know from the members of the election commission whether they had the certified copy of the Appellate Division verdict [on the BCB constitution]. Because, activities cannot proceed without the Appellate Division’s written copy which is considered like a law and it has an importance.
“As they have no copy, the schedule of the polls must be cancelled or suspended until the certified copy is collected. The next steps regarding polls should be taken after analysing the verdict of the Appellate Division,” Saber told the crowded press conference, emerging from the hearing of the election commission.
Saber also said that he wanted to know the terms of reference of the election commission but the commission showed him only a circular of the NSC which has instructed the commission to hold the polls in line with the amended 2012 BCB constitution.
“As per article 19 of the BCB constitution, the election commission will do everything regarding the polls and the commission will prepare the guidelines, but it has not done so,” said Saber. “I want to make it clear that the BCB, as per the constitution, has no jurisdiction, authority and power regarding holding the elections. It can only inform its affiliated organisations in a bid to form the general council but they have asked to send councillors for forming both the general council and for the forthcoming BCB elections, but it has no legality.”
Saber said that there was no opportunity to proceed on the basis of the existing voters’ list, which has been prepared by the BCB instead of the election commission.
The former BCB president also alleged that a vested  group was not following any rules and regulations, but he wanted a free-fair and sustainable election which would not create any confusion in future and would not be criticised at home and aboard.
Abdur Rahman, chief election commissioner, meanwhile said that they would give their decision on the objections tomorrow after analysing every aspect. However, he opined that the commission didn’t need to have a certified copy of the Appellate Division as it had been working as per the directives of the NSC circulation.

Ensuring workers’ compensation as a right

Getting due compensation is the most important right of every worker. In fact, almost all rights of the workers are violated intentionally in Bangladesh. In recent times, we experienced two huge accidents in garment sector. The consequent events always remain the same in such accidents. Compensating the victims is the most important thing usually ignored by all. But do we have any law regarding compensation? How do we determine the amount of monetary compensation and other damages that should be given to specific victims?
The prime minister handed over cheques to the victims of Rana Plaza and the government also provided them with medical costs and other supports. Besides, many humanitarian organisations and philanthropists also provided the victims with financial support. The BGMEA said they gave the victims one month’s salary. My point is, we gave them grant, not compensation. Giving due compensation needs specific procedure and law. Providing grant is easier than paying compensation. The government should pass legislation on workers’ compensation so as not to deprive them of their basic rights.

Vanishing wetlands

IT is extremely disheartening to see the catchment areas in an around Dhaka city reducing at an increasing rate every year. More than 70 percent of the catchment areas in the eastern fringes of the city have already been filled up, illegally. And what is galling is the fact that there has been an increased propensity to grab more low lands ever since the government gazette on the Detailed Area Planning was issued in 2010. Not only wetlands but even parts of rivers that provide sustenance to the Capital have been illegally gobbled up.
The matter raises some serious concerns about not only a lack of committment on the part of the successive governments but also collusion of the administration with the illegal land grabbers. The bleak picture was revealed at a seminar on “Saving Rivers and Water Bodies in an around Dhaka City” held in the Capital on Saturday.
That there has been a brazen lack of supervision is very clear. We call upon the relevant agencies of the government including the District Administration to explain how, in spite of the Gazette and judicial orders to protect wetlands, more than 700 acres of low lands, i.e. double the amount before the gazette was issued on October 22, 2010, have been filled up by land encroachers.
It is matter of life and death for Dhaka city that would become well nigh unlivable if the remaining water bodies are not spared the grabbers’ clutch. The administration should move fast to arrest the situation.

Worker leaders demand hike in textile wages

Worker leaders yesterday protested against the recent police attacks on garment workers in Dhaka and Chittagong and demanded an immediate hike in the textile sector wages.
They asked for an increase in the minimum wage to Tk 8,000 at the entry level, in the backdrop of the rising prices of essentials and skyrocketing house rents. They also demanded their salaries and bonuses be paid before Eid-ul-Azha.The government and owners should take proper steps to stop the ongoing unrest, said Sukkur Mahmud, president of Jatiya Sramik League, the workers’ wing of the ruling Awami League.
He spoke at a press conference on the causes and solutions to the labour unrest, organised by Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), a labour organisation, at its office on Topkhana Road in the city.The owners’ proposal to hike the garment workers’ wages by only Tk 600 has fuelled the unrest, he said.The minimum wage is Tk 10,000 in Pakistan’s garment industry, so the amount should be at least Tk 8,000 in Bangladesh, Mahmud said.Wajedul Islam Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra, another platform, termed the workers’ demonstration for a wage hike logical.The owners are making wealth exploiting cheap labour, he said.Khan also turned down the claim that most owners will not be able to pay Tk 8,000 as minimum salary.
The owners often claim they are making losses despite rising exports and new orders, said Rajekuzzaman Ratan, general secretary of Samajtantrik Sramik Front, another national trade union federation.“Their claim is baseless,” he said, adding that some big factories often grab business of the small ones and subcontract work to noncompliant units.In 2010, the government had set the minimum monthly wage of garment workers at Tk 3,000, raising the amount from Tk 1,662.50 though workers demanded Tk 5,000.The garment sector earns about $20 billion a year from exports and employs around 3.6 million workers, mostly women.

Supplier decries Tesco’s threat to cancel orders

Liberty Fashion Wears Ltd yesterday demanded justice after British retailer Tesco threatened to cancel its work orders.The apparel exporter claimed the threat was based on a “flawed” inspection report that largely contradicted the assessment by local authorities and experts.“We are a victim of a plot. There are no ethics in the business,” Mozammel Huq, chairman and managing director of Liberty Fashion, told reporters at a briefing at the National Press Club in Dhaka.His company organised the press conference to protest Tesco’s decision to cancel an order worth $2 crore from the Savar-based factory, which has been making products for the world’s third largest retailer for 14 years.The factory is eager to resume production in one of its buildings, which has remained closed following an inspection report from Medway Consultancy Services (MCS), a British surveyor appointed by Tesco that called for immediate closure of the unit for safety reasons.Surveyors of MCS visited the factory in May to check the structural design. In its report, MCS marked building 2 “Red”, while indicating that the factory can continue production in 11 of its other buildings, said Huq.Tesco’s surveyor team recommended immediate evacuation of the building due to the precarious state of its columns, beams and slabs.The MCS inspectors forced the company to close the building, said Huq.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) found Tesco’s withdrawal from Liberty Fashion rather heavy-handed.An expert panel, comprising professionals from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Rajuk, has also inspected the factory and cleared Liberty Fashion’s building of any immediate risk, a direct contradiction to the findings of MCS.“The factory owner does not need to evacuate the building immediately. However, he must conduct a comprehensive test analysis to find out if there are any big risks for the future,” said the expert panel.Huq said he has started to act on the recommendations of the expert panel.The civil engineering department of Buet also did not raise any major question about its safety and structural design and only urged the factory to reduce its moveable loads in the storage areas and advised against adding any new floors.Ali Asgar and Associates, a professional engineering firm, also gave clearance to the factory.The building was constructed in 2005 and was extended in 2007 to its present form—three-and-a-half stories high, with each floor spanning 44,000 square feet.Huq, who employs 5,000 workers to manufacture 30,000 pieces of jeans, said he is losing Tk 50 lakh a day because of Tesco’s decision. “The MCS inspectors also told BGMEA that the building would collapse within 60 years. But that has not happened,” said Huq.The building in question is a key part of the factory’s production chain. The factory’s production has dropped to 4 lakh pieces a month from 6.5 lakh pieces because of the closure.Other buyers are also not placing orders with us, as work has stopped and panic unduly created by MCS,” said Huq. The company is currently working on orders that were previously placed by buyers.However, Tesco said it would reconsider its decision if the test results from Buet’s investigation team favours Liberty Fashion, Huq previously told The Daily Star.“Now that the Buet team has cleared the building, I hope Tesco sticks to its word and reinstates the order,” he said.Liberty Fashion wrote 19 letters to Tesco’s Bangladesh office in Dhaka since the first week of June this year, but the retailer has not responded to any of the letters properly, he added.Huq has already sent an open letter to Sir Richard Broadbent, chairman of Tesco, urging him to intervene and compensate the factory Tk 300 crore it lost due to closure of the building in the last four months.“If the factory shuts down, it will not only lose Tk 300 crore, but 5,000 of its workers, 80 percent of whom are women, will be unemployed,” Huq said.

Energypac awaits indicative prices for IPO

Energypac Power Generation will obtain indicative prices for its shares tomorrow, as the company completed its roadshow on Saturday as part of an initial public offering to raise funds for business expansion.The roadshow was mandatory, as the power company is using the book-building method for its IPO.The company presented key factors such as nature of the business, financial performance, future growth and plans and information about the owners before the institutional investors, who will now set the indicative price and bid for shares.Energypac Power Generation will float 4.54 crore ordinary shares of Tk 10 each. Of the shares, 1.81 crore have been kept for eligible institutional investors, 68.10 lakh for mutual funds, 45.40 lakh for non-resident Bangladeshis and 1.59 crore for the general public.The company will use the IPO proceedings to set up an LPG bottling and distribution plant, establish condensate fractionate plant and repay bank loans, said Rezwanul Kabeer, director of Energypac. He presented the company’s profile and prospects at the roadshow.He said a mere 60 percent of the population has access to electricity and the per capita electricity consumption in Bangladesh is only 292 kwh, which is one of the lowest among other developing countries.“So demand for electricity is expected to increase along with economic growth,” he said, adding that new electricity generation plants with a capacity of about 9,500 MW will be installed in between 2013 and 2016.As of June, the company’s paid-up capital was Tk 115.33 crore, earnings per share were Tk 5.48 and net asset value per share was Tk 27.89.Founded in 1995, Energypac is a leading power engineering company in Bangladesh and is engaged in several diversified businesses including supplying standby and base-load generators, JAC brand automobiles and construction machinery.The company is also engaged in installing power plants under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts, operating and installing CNG refuelling stations and conversion kits, and installing and maintaining power plants.IDLC Investments is the issue manager for Energypac IPO.

Tax return deadline to be extended

The National Board of Revenue plans to extend the deadline for submission of income tax returns following a strong demand from leading business chambers.However, officials of the tax authority could not say immediately what the new deadline would be as the current one ends today.No decision was taken in this regard until yesterday, NBR officials said.
Leading chambers, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), demanded the extension by a month.Extending the deadline for filing tax returns is not new. The governments have extended the deadline almost every year in recent past.

NBR’s e-cash register project flounders

The electronic cash register (ECR) machine was just there on the sales counter of the eating joint, but the cashier seemed least bothered about providing sales receipts.At one point, though, one of the customers did ask for one and the cashier got himself all worked up. “I’m sorry, there is a problem with the machine,” he said, while instructing one of his aides to fix the cable of the ECR.In the meantime, he served more customers; and neither he nor the customers were bothered with the receipt from the ECR. The use of such cash registers has been made mandatory for stores and eating joints more than five years ago to ensure that the value-added tax goes to the national coffer.After fiddling with the cable for a good 20 minutes, the ECR, apparently, was still not up and running, so the customer had to leave — without the receipt.This, however, is not an isolated case. Rarely do the businesses comply with the rule of providing electronic sales receipts to customers, spurred to a great extent by the absence of monitoring by the National Board of Revenue.The massive drive that accompanied the onset of the rule in 2008 to motivate the businesses, too, faded over time.So far, 3,100 ECRs or point-of-sale machines have been installed against its target of 9,000, said a senior official of NBR on condition of anonymity.“The rate of installation of ECR or POS has been very slow. And the ones that have been installed are gathering dust—the level of compliance is just embarrassing. We are embarrassed with the whole ECR fiasco.”
The official went on to condemn the store operators’ lack of honesty for the failure of the ECR. “Is it possible for us to assign inspectors at every store to check compliance?”
Some revenue officials, however, pointed to the unholy alliance among businesses and VAT inspectors or revenue officials, as ECR-based transactions hurt the interests of both: electronic transaction records bar taxmen from demanding bribes from store operators to cover their VAT evasion.But this issue is simply swept under the carpet; officials are more interested in, unfairly, blaming the consumers for their lack of awareness.“Customers do not force sellers to provide electronic sales receipts.They should come forward to ensure that the VAT they pay are recorded properly,” said Shahnaz Parveen, the commissioner at the commissionerate of customs, excise & VAT in Dhaka (South).But, as is practice, if a customer demands VAT receipt for transactions, they are asked to pay additional amount to their bills.The NBR officials, however, said that should not be the case as the VAT is included in the prices that the restaurants, food courts and stores charge.“That is the whole point of the ECR,” said Muhammad Abdul Mazid, a former chairman of NBR and a vociferous supporter of ECR.“ECR was introduced to save time of inspectors. At the same time, it was for the benefit of sellers and to give confidence to the consumers that the VAT they pay go to the state coffer.”He said the benefits of ECR cannot be reaped without proper enforcement.

Govt knew of it, took no steps

The Bangladesh government had known for the past six months that 79 of its nationals, held in Iraq for illegal entry from neighbouring Iran, were being kept in a Kurdistan prison without trial.But no step was taken to free them despite repeated requests by the Bangladesh embassy in Iraq.“We sent four letters in phases to the ministries of foreign affairs and of expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment respectively with details of the detained,” an official of the embassy told The Daily Star over phone, seeking anonymity.“But nothing was done for them,” he said, adding that the embassy had passed the information to the ministries right after the detainment in March.The embassy’s Labour Counselor Lt Col Ziadur Rahman also confirmed to The Daily Star that they had informed the ministries of the issue months ago.However, talking to The Daily Star on Saturday, Shameem Ahsan, director general (external publicity) of the foreign ministry, claimed that he had just got to know about the matter.Yesterday, he said they had previously tried to resolve the issue but was unsuccessful. He claimed that “now” they would look into the matter “seriously”.The Bangladeshis used to mainly work for different municipalities as garbage collectors, house cleaners and construction workers.The detainment came to light through a report of Rudaw English, a private online newspaper from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, last week.It reported that the Bangladeshis were in fear of being deported to Iran instead of being sent back home.The embassy’s labour counselor confirmed that the Kurdistan administration wanted to send the Bangladeshis to Iran as they had entered through the border.There were 121 Bangladeshis, including the 79, who had gathered at the Iran-Iraq border on arrival from some neighbouring Middle-Eastern countries at different times, he said.On entering Kurdistan, 30 of them were able to manage jobs immediately but the rest went into hiding and were finally caught by the Kurdistan security forces, he addd.Expatriates’ Welfare Secretary Zafar Ahmed Khan said they had communicated with the embassy and were hoping for the detainees’ release before Eid-ul Azha.

Trinamool ‘softens’ its position

Dhaka and New Delhi are expecting a positive development towards ratification of the land boundary agreement (LBA), as Trinamool Congress has indicated its willingness to allow the introduction of a constitution amendment bill in Indian parliament.Both the sides were encouraged by recent signals from Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool, which had opposed the agreement and, along with Asom Gana Parishad and Bharatiya Janata Party, resisted placing the bill in the last session of Rajya Sabha, said diplomatic sources.Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s fresh commitment to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, when they met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Saturday, has brightened the prospect of ratification of the 1974 agreement.Ratification of the LBA requires a constitutional amendment through approval of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.Foreign ministry sources said the Indian premier had pledged his government’s intent to bring the bilateral pact to parliament this December, as his government anticipated no opposition to placing the bill in the winter session of the House.A three-member Trinamool team had recently told Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid that though the party retained its concerns over the land pact, it would not block the bill’s introduction, foreign ministry officials quoted Indian sources as saying.The United Progressive Alliance government has assured Dhaka that it is also negotiating with BJP and Asom Gana Parishad, an opposition party in Congress-ruled Assam, so that they refrain from opposing placement of the bill.The LBA envisages a transfer of 111 Indian enclaves with a total area of 17,160.63 acres and a population of 37,334 to Bangladesh, while Dhaka will transfer 51 enclaves with an area of 7,110.02 acres and a population of 14,215 to India.

Tk 1cr looted from bank staff

Armed robbers snatched in broad daylight Tk 1 crore from a private car that was carrying the money from Brac Bank’s Sylhet city branch at Zindabazar to Bishwanath branch yesterday.At about 3:15pm, the robbers waylaid the car near Lalabazar at Dakkhin Surma upazila on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway and took away the money at gunpoint, said Mohammad Ayub, additional deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP).Apart from the driver, only Gaohar Chowdhury, assistant manager of the bank’s Bishwanath branch, was in the car, said Officer-in-Charge Ranjan Samonta of Dakkhin Surma Police Station.Zishan Koushik, the bank’s head of communications and services, told this correspondent that the bank official had collected the money from the city’s Dakkhin Surma and Bandarbazar branches as usual.Zishan mentioned that one of the attackers first hit the driver in the head with his pistol and grabbed the car keys.Police were informed that the money would be sent to Bishwanath, he said, adding, however, that the branches carry money without any additional security.However, SMP Additional Commissioner SM Rokon Uddin said the bank had not informed the police about the matter.SMP Deputy Commissioner Mushfiqur Rahman said it was mysterious that the bank official had taken neither police nor the bank’s own security with him when carrying such a big amount of money.Police were interrogating the bank official and the driver while preparations for filing a case were under way, he added.

8 new power plants given green light

The cabinet committee on purchase yesterday approved eight power plants — to be built, owned and operated (BOO) by local private companies — in a bid to tackle the country’s growing energy crisisThe committee at a meeting chaired by Finance Minister AMA Muhith also okayed the second phase of techno-feasibility study of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.The eight plants — five coal-based, one gas-fired and two furnace oil-fuelled — will generate 2,706 megawatts of power. The government will purchase it at a price of Tk 6.6 to Tk 6.79 per kilowatt (kW).Talking to journalist after the meeting, Muhith said the companies who got the job will decide from where they will procure coal. They will have to specifically mention the source of coal during the signing of agreements.The agreements will also stipulate punishment to the companies if they fail to go for production in time. They have informed the Power Division that foreign sponsors will also be with them but they (companies) will be accountable to the government.Of the eight power plants, Orion Power and Associates will set up three coal-based ones in Dhaka and Chittagong with a maximum generation capacity of 1,400 MW, and the tariff will be Tk 6.69 to Tk 6.76/kW.Orion had previously installed a couple of rental power projects but it lacks experience of building base load large power plants.Two other coal-based plants will be set up by a joint venture of S Alam Steel Ltd, S Alam Super Edible Oil Ltd, S Alam Cement Ltd and HTG Development Group Co Ltd in Chittagong and Barisal. Generation capacity of the two plants will be a maximum of 1,100 MW and tariff will be Tk 6.60 and Tk 6.79/kW.S Alam and HTG Group have no experience of building commercial power plants.Besides, a gas-fired 50 MW power plant will be built in Fenchuganj   by Liberty Power consortium, whose main sponsors are expatriate Bangladeshis. Tariff for electricity from the plant would be Tk 2.14/kW.The cabinet committee gave the nod for two more furnace oil-fuelled power plants with a generation capacity of 156 MW  to be set up by the  Consortium of Summit Industrial & Mercantile Corporation (Pvt) Ltd and Summit Power Ltd at Madanganj in Narayanganj and at Barisal.It also approved a hard-term export credit of $265 million to be received from Russia for primary work, including techno-feasibility study of the nuclear power plant.
Of the $500 million primary work, $45.9million was already approved by the committee in the first phase in June.Russian state-owned company Atomstroyexport will work as contractor for these jobs, Muhith said.Appointment of a consulting firm for Detailed Engineering Design of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line from Shahjalal International Airport to Jheelmil project area was also okayed yesterday.The finance minister said the site of Rooppur plant has been selected on the basis of study. It does not seem to fall on any earthquake fault.The minister mentioned that after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in Russia, an international covenant was signed that says if  any such accident occurs in future the country that supplied the nuclear reactor will bear the responsibility for it.He said he thinks there is such a clause in the agreement between Bangladesh and Russia on the Rooppur plant and added that the energy ministry could give details about this.

Despite setbacks, garment to rule

Bangladesh will continue to be among the top three apparel sourcing destinations over the next five years, despite the recent industrial accidents, a new survey by American consulting firm McKinsey & Co found.The country’s $20 billion garment sector came ahead of smaller rivals Vietnam and Cambodia in the ranking of countries with the highest potential for future sourcing.But the twin disasters of Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen fire did have an impact on the international buyers’ minds: some 52 percent of the respondents ranked Bangladesh among the top three country hotspots as opposed to more than 80 percent in the previous edition of the survey conducted in 2011.“Nevertheless, Bangladesh remains the number one alternative to China,” McKinsey said on the study, “The global sourcing map—balancing costs, compliance and capacity”.McKinsey surveyed leading apparel buyers in Europe and the US, who are responsible for an annual total sourcing value of $39 billion, and found that they plan on increasing their sourcing share in Bangladesh through 2020, despite the ongoing debate over safety issues and political developments in the wake of disasters.Some 86 percent of the survey respondents ranked labour cost advantage among the three most important reasons for sourcing in Bangladesh.“Capacity, productivity and supplier capabilities are also critical factors—and Bangladesh still has a huge advantage in these new areas over other promising destinations.”The prospective destinations will have to be able to guarantee potential buyers that they can take on large volumes, are able to deliver against expectations and will provide the long-term investments necessary to secure success.“Based upon our experience, it is unlikely (in many cases) that promising alternative sourcing destinations would be able to take on any sizeable share of the export market within the next five years,” McKinsey said.The respondents, who are chief purchasing officers (CPOs) of 29 European and American brands, also said they are devoting more attention to compliance issues in the aftermath of the tragic events in Bangladesh.“Questions of fire and building safety have replaced infrastructure as the number one key concern of CPOs regarding sourcing in Bangladesh.”Nearly 50 percent said they will likely or definitely revise their supplier base in the country. And the compliance situation in Bangladesh has also had a broader impact on auditing standards for other low-cost sourcing countries, the study said.
Although many players have already shifted larger parts of their sourcing from China to countries with lower labour costs, it will still remain “the largest sourcing market by far”.
Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the garment makers’ platform, said the findings of McKinsey’s latest apparel CPO survey are very positive for the sector.“But, we have to keep the five ‘Ps’ of power, port, people, politics and place positive to materialise the survey’s findings,” he said, while stressing on the need for a stable political situation.“We must remember that the garment business came to us in the first place because of violent politics in Sri Lanka.”
The previous edition of the survey tipped the country’s apparel exports to double by 2015 and nearly triple by 2021 to $42 billion. In fiscal 2010-11, Bangladesh fetched $12.59 billion from garment exports, according to data from Export Promotion Bureau.Meanwhile, Daniel Seidl, executive director of Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which collaborated with McKinsey for the survey, lamented the lack of a national strategy for the garment sector.“I personally think the knowledge lies within Bangladesh, but still it could not come up with a national RMG [readymade garment] strategy. There is no transparent communication towards the buyers—I do not see any marketing and communication strategy.”

Mitford medicine shops kept shut

Traders of the country’s largest wholesale medicine market in the capital’s Mitford yesterday kept their shops shut, protesting Saturday’s drive against the sale of illegal and unauthorised medicine.
A mobile court jointly raided the market with the help of Rapid Action Battalion-10, the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), and seized medicine worth Tk 5 crore.
A total of 94 people were arrested in this connection, and more than Tk 1.28 crore was realised in fines.
The traders alleged that the Rab personnel had harassed them, arrested their fellow traders, and seized their goods indiscriminately. They urged the Bangladesh Chemists and Druggists Samity (BCDS) to come up with measures to free the arrested traders.
Out of 94 arrestees, 22 are still serving different terms in jail, whereas the remaining 72 were freed after realising fines from them.
To realise their demands, the traders blocked the road in front of the BCDS Bhaban at Mitford from 9:00am to 4:00pm, causing untold sufferings to customers and outdoor patients of Mitford Hospital. The relatives of the patients were seen travelling to other parts of the country to collect medicine for their dear ones.
The traders claimed that the mobile court had considered the medicine sold at cheaper rate to be of substandard quality.

Patients coming out of nearby Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital had to walk since vehicles were not available there because of the protest. 

“It is the responsibility of the DGDA to check the quality of the medicine, and fix the price. They should fine the companies who produce these drugs, not us, the sellers,” one of the traders said.
Regarding import-banned items, traders questioned how it was possible for such items to have entered the country through following import procedures if they were banned.
“Doctors prescribe many of these items, and therefore, we have to keep those in the shops,” said Borhanuddin Ahmed, who was fined Tk 1 lakh for selling unauthorised foreign ointments and surgical items.
Another trader, who was fined Tk1 lakh, wishing anonymity, said he had tablets of Aventis Company in his shop. He questioned: “Is it my fault that the company did not put the Drug Administration Registration (DAR) number on it?”
Refuting the allegation of wholesale arrest, Sharif Md Forhad Hossain, magistrate of Rab-10, said, “Had the allegation of wholesale arrests been true, there could have been 500 detainees as we checked 500 shops and godowns. Out of these 500, we found problems only in 80 shops.”
Many of the shops did not have drug licences and pharmacists as per rule, he said.
In the absence of pharmacists, the traders themselves often cannot differentiate between the medicine of foreign original brands and approved drug companies from the counterfeit ones made in China, he added.
Forhad said they had found hundred percent doctor’s sample medicines at eight to nine shops.
Many previously registered local companies, which have been banned by the government, still use their previous DAR number. “It is often impossible for an uninformed person to notice this discrepancy,” he explained.
A source in the DGDA explained that a wholesale drug shop does not require a pharmacist, but a retailer does. “Most of the shops in the Mitford area have retail licences. But they have been carrying out wholesale business. Most of these shops do not have pharmacists.”
The source also rejected the version of BCDS Deputy Secretary ASM Monir Hossain, who claimed that expired medicine was not being sold at any shops in Mitford. “We found some expired medicines. But I cannot give the exact number right away,” he said.
The BCDS is scheduled to hold a meeting today around 11:00am to decide whether medicine traders across the country will keep their shops closed till the detained traders are released.
Monir Hossain also said around 2,000 medicine shops in 43 markets at Mitford were kept shut in protest of Saturday’s drive.

Jalaluddin Rumi and poetry of mysticism

One wonders in amazement at the enduring mystery that poetry written 750 years ago by Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi continues to “” quicken the soul”" and “”radiate light of Love”"–words  by Rumi — to citizens of the twentieth and twenty first centuries.  Above the entrance door to the grave of the great Mowlana the following is engraved in Persian;
“”Come, come whoever you are,
An unbeliever , a fire worshipper, come
Our covenant is not of desperation.
Even if you have broken your vows a few times ,
Come, come again.”"
This clarion catholic call by the Mowlana to all mankind is based on the Koranic assurance that man will be forgiven of his sin if he returns sincerely to Allah (Sura al Imran).Molla Abdur Rahman Jami, the fifteenth century Persian  sufi poet,  described the Dargha of Rumi in the following words, “”"This station has become the Kabaa of Lovers. Whoever comes here deficient will become complete.”
Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi was born on 30 September 1207  at Balkh, now in Afghanistan. His father, Mawlana Bahauddin Walad (died 1231) was celebrated for his religious learning and great spirituality. His book , “Maarif” is a collection of ecstatic and earthly reflections translated into English by Coleman Barks and John Moyne in the US. Bahauddin emigrated from Balkh with his family and close relations to Konya in Turkey, then under Seljuk rule. On their way they broke their journey at Nishapur, Khorasan , which was then a centre of learning and a Sufi hub. The great sufi poet and saint Fariduddin Attar(d1220)  hosted them . Attar presented to young Jalaluddin his book, “Asrarnama”, which Rumi treasured much in his later life.
While Jalaluddin grew up under the tutelage of his famous father and after his death succeeded to his position as a teacher and religious leader, his esoteric learning   and training  did not begin until Burhanuddin Muhaqqiq ,a deputy and disciple  of his  late   father, arrived in Konya   and guided him.  On his advice,  Jalauddin spent three years in Damascus studying in madrasas there. And it was there that he came in contact with sufi masters  and scholars of the time, including the great Andalusian, Hazrat  Ibnul Arabi ,the Shaikh ul Akbar.  Mawlana  Shams e Tabrizi, who was later to become the mentor  of Rumi,  was also living in Damascus.
Back in Konya, Jalaluddin was living the life of a teacher , scholar and religious leader. But it was his tryst with Shams e Tabrizi, the itinerant, enigmatic fakir who appeared from Damascus, that completely transformed the scholar and teacher in  Rumi. He abandoned religious and scholarly pursuits and ensconced himself for days in the company of Shams e Tabrizi ,the mendicant dervish. They found in themselves soul mates of each other and they drowned themselves in the ecstasy of divine love and beauty  unknown to the common man. Jalauddin”"s  inseparable companionship with the wild and enigmatic dervish gave rise to conspiracies. They thought it was an outrage. One night Shams vanished suddenly, allegedly to have been killed  and thrown into a well . A grave said to be belonging to Shams e Tabrizi is preserved in Konya covered in  green silk  near the madrassa  where Rumi used to teach.
The tragic disappearance of Shams, the soul mate, lit an unquenchable fire of pain and tears in the heart of Jalaluddin. This pang of pain and love gave birth in turn to a torrent of touching poetry at once ecstatic and divine , a beautiful “foaming torrent that leaps and plunges in the etheral solitidue of hills”, in the words of Professor  R.A. Nicholson, who translated ,  “Divan -e-Shamse –Tabrizi”, a book of odes by the Mawlana. Rumi lamented in one of the poems of the  Divan,
At last thou has departed and gone to the unseen;
Its marvelous by what way thou wentest from the world.
Thou did”st strongly shake thy wings and feathers and
having broken the cage
Didst take the air and journey towards the world of soul.
But the enduring fame of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi rests naturally more on his magnum  opus, “Masnavi -E- Manavi”, dubbed as the “Koran in Pahlavi language”, by Molla Jami for its spiritual  couplets scanned from the holy Koran and given a beautiful poetic expression.
It is an absolute amazement that Masnavi, which is twice the size of Dante”s “Divine Comedy”, more than the combined poems in the Greek epics “Iliad and Odyssey”, more than the ” Slokas” in the Hindu epic Ramayana, was the bestselling book of poetry in the United States in the mid nineties. Masnavi has 25,700 couplets and it took 12 years for Rumi to compose it. The Scottish fiction and travelogue writer, William Darlymple, has observed, “It seems almost unbelievable in the world of 9/11, Bin Laden and the clash of civilizations ,but the bestselling book in the US in the 1990s was not any of the giants  of American  letters — Robert Forst, Robert Lowell, Wallace Steavans, or Sylvia Plath nor was it Shakespeare or Homer or Dante or any European poet. Instead,  remarkably  it was a classically trained Muslim cleric who taught the Islamic code of law in a madrassa in what is now in Turkey.” It goes to the credit of Prof. Coleman Barks that he freed the Masnavi poems “from the cage” in modern English free verse.
The beginning of the writing of Masnavi has a sweet and surprising note. Hushamuddin Clelebi, the Mawlana”s  favorite disciple and companion, one day asked Rumi to write book of poetry book  like Sanai”s (d1131)   “Haqiqa”, or Attar”s (d1220)  “Monteq ur  Tayar” for the benefit of the students and the learned. The Mawlana quietly brought out a piece of paper from his turban and handed it to Hushamuddin, wherein were written the opening  lines of the famous Masnavi:
Listen to the reed how it tells a tale ,
Complaining of separations, saying,
Ever since I was   parted from the reed bed,
My lament has caused man
and woman to moan.
I want a bosom torn of severance,
That I may unfold (to such a one) the pain of love desire.
The reed flute’s cry to go back to its origin is the metaphor for the human soul’s yearning to travel back to its source, the “Reed -bed” of God”s  presence .  Even today a flute symbolically plays a plaintive note in the Dargha of Mowlana Rumi day in and day out. In the Masnawi the Mowlana  sings,
In your  light I learn how to love.
In your beauty how to make poems.
You dance in my chest.
Where no one sees you
but sometimes I do
and that sight becomes this art.
The Masnavi  has been described by its English translator, Professor R. A. Nicholson of Cambridge, as a” majestic river calm and deep  meandering through  a varied landscape to the immeasurable ocean “.
The green dome on the grave of the Mawlana beckons humanity to love and to the purification of the soul. It also asks humanity   to prepare itself for the “Urs”, the spiritual wedding when one is lowered into the grave.
Another aspect of the Mawlavi Dervish order is called “Sama”", the music acompanied with a whirling dance. This dance of the Dervishes was institutionalised  by Rumi”s son, Sultan Walad. Visitors to the Dargha are inevitably drawn to this spectacle. But it was not intended for entertainment or for tourist attraction when it began. The esoteric spirit of Sama is expressed  by the  Mawlana in these words;
The souls that have clung to water and clay,
And pleased on being freed from them,
And begin to dance in the air and breezes of love,
Becoming perfected like the full moon.
The dance of the Dervishes was correctly understood by the German poet Friedrich Ruchert, says the late Professor Annmarie Schimmel of Harvard, who translated the following ghazal written  by the poet in 1819 in celebration of the spirit of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi:

FOREST FEARS

Imagine the world’s largest mangrove forest gasping for air. The once-green landscape is turning a dull gray, yellow and brown. In certain places where the rivers intertwined with the forest have turned black. The air is as harsh as the fading wilderness. One can hardly breathe due to the heat; animals and small creatures are dying. Trees and rivers are heavy with the smell of the dead. Towering concrete chimneys spew out clouds of toxic gas, fly ash and heat into the air amidst the dying forest.
These are the possible consequences that the Sundarbans may face as a result of the ambitious construction of a thermal power plant in Rampal. Massive industrialisation from Rampal to Mongla will add to the catastrophe. Locals fear an environmental backlash as these two sites are located 14-kilometre northwest of the Sundarbans and four kilometres from the declared Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).Vijay Shanker Tamrakar, Managing Director of Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company, however, tells the Star that this is the best location in the country for a coal based thermal power plant. “Since it is closer to the Sundarbans we thought about the mitigation process very closely. We are following every recommendation of the Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) and using modern technology to minimize the ill effects. But it is also true that you cannot fulfil everything in a site.”
Interestingly though, the state’s initiative to set up a power plant and the low price of land has drawn many investors in the adjacent areas. At least 30 different business groups have acquired lands over the last four years to set up industries in Burirdanga, a neighbouring union of Rampal. Pillars and signboards of power plants, shipyards, pharmaceutical companies, LP Gas and other commercial enterprises have already been put up, demarcating land ownership across the river bank.
After the land acquiring began, locals and the environmentalists started to protest against the proposed power plant. The fear is that the exclusive flora and fauna and the Bengal Tiger may disappear in the process of massive industrialisation. The trees, many of which have already been cut, had worked as an environmental shield during Cyclone Sidr for the people living in the country’s south-western region. Without them these areas will become even more vulnerable to natural disasters.

Grooming storytellers in the bud

Twenty young Bangladeshi filmmakers produced four films in Cox’s Bazar, as a part of a weeklong residential workshop (September 20-27) organised by the British Council, in partnership with Children’s Film Society, Bangladesh and First Light. The workshop was led by British filmmakers Daniel Smith and Nina Jones.These four short films will be premiered at the upcoming International Children’s Film Festival Bangladesh in January 2014.Speaking there, Executive Member of Bangladesh Children Film Society Morshedul Islam said this kind of film-residency was unprecedented in Bangladesh.One of the conductors of the workshop, Nina Jones said she was not expecting to find a bunch of young adults with such fantastic knowledge of film and endless enthusiasm, adding that she was “in awe” of their work.The pioneering initiative by the British Council and the partners has generated considerable interest among Bangladeshi film enthusiasts. It is aimed at developing future filmmakers of Bangladesh, and bridging the gap with British filmmakers.

GP test-launches 3G in Bashundhara

Mobile operator Grameenphone yesterday launched its 3G services or wireless internet broadband on a test basis for the customers of Bashundhara residential area in the capital.Grameenphone has initially offered the services to its employees and a select group of customers to receive feedback from them ahead of the commercial launch, the operator said in a statement.“As announced previosly, Grameenphone plans to launch commercial 3G services by early October for selected areas of Dhaka and Chittagong.”All divisional cities will be covered by December, while the 64 district towns will come under the network by the end of the first quarter of 2014.Telecom Minister Shahara Khatun, Telenor President and Chief Executive Officer Jon Fredrik Baksaas and Grameenphone CEO Vivek Sood jointly launched the services at the operator’s head office in Bashundhara.The minister made a video call to Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Mahmud Hossain to experience the services.Shahara said, “I hope Grameen-phone will reach 3G services to the masses the way it had taken mobile telephony to the people of the country.”She also called upon the operator to provide 3G services at affordable prices in the rural areas.Baksaas said, “Grameenphone has been a long-term contributor to the development of Bangladesh through its 16 years of operation. With 3G, Grameenphone is taking an important step in its mission to help the country move ahead by providing the opportunities of internet access for all Bangladeshis.”Baksaas also thanked the government, saying the 3G spectrum auction was conducted in a transparent way.Grameenphone, the largest operator with 4.47 crore users, bought 10 MHz of spectrum in the auction on September 8.In the statement, the operator also said it will roll out the nationwide 3G network, which will actually have the capacity of 3.9G technologies.