The Bangladesh Today (11-02-2018)

NEWS
SUNDAY,
FEBRUARY 11, 2018
2
43 BNP men held in
Magura, B’baria
DHAKA : Police in separate drives arrested 43 leaders and
activists of BNP from different areas of the districts in last 24
hours since Friday morning, reports UNB.
UNB Magura correspondent reports: At least 15 leaders
and activists of BNP were arrested from different areas of the
district.
Milton Mallik, general secretary of Shalikha upazila unit of
BNP, was among the arrestees.
Police arrested the BNP men carrying out vandalism and
obstructing vehicular movement, said Tariqul Islam,
additional superintendent of police.
In Brahmanbaria, law enforcers in special drives arrested
28 leaders and activists of BNP from different areas of the
districts.
Special drives are being conducted in all upazilas of the
district to maintain law and order, said Md Imtiaz Ahmed,
DIO-1 of special branch of district police.
Worker dies in Sylhet
stone quarry
SYLHET : A worker was killed in a mudslide while he was
extracting stones from a quarry in Bichhnakandi area of
Gowainghat Upazila on Saturday morning, reports UNB.
The deceased is identified as Ruhel Mia, 25, son of Jolal
Mia of Chakua village in Nabiganj upazila in the district.
Officer-in-charge of Gowainghat Police Station Hillol Roy
said Ruhel died on the spot as a chunk of mud fell upon him
while extracting stones from a deep pit around 11 am.
The body was sent to M.A.G. Osmani Medical College
Hospital for autopsy, he said.
2 women slaughtered,
1 arrested
KISHOREGONJ : A man was arrested in an allegation of
slaughtering his wife and his sister-in-law to death in sequel
to a family feud at Borobangla village in Nikli uazila on
Saturday, reports UNB.
The deceased are Aysha Khatun, 22, an expecting mother
and wife of the alleged killer Shaokat Ali, and Salma Akter,
30, sister-in-law of the alleged.
Local sources said, Shaokat beheaded her wife with a sharp
weapon around 11am at one stage of their altercation over a
trifling matter. Later, the furious Shaokat rushed to his
father-in-law's house at nearest Purbopara village and also
slaughtered his sister-in-law there.
Police, with the help of the locals, managed to nab the
alleged killer while he was trying to flee the scene, said
Kishoregonj District Police Super Md. Anwar Hossain.
British pipeline outage puts
drain on economy: data
Britain's industrial output plunged in December and the
trade deficit widened following a shutdown of a major North
Sea oil pipeline, official data showed on Friday.
Industrial production dived 1.3 percent compared with
activity in November, the Office for National Statistics said in
a statement.
That was the largest decline since 2012 and was worse than
market expectations of a 0.9-percent drop. It also followed a
0.3-percent increase in November, the ONS said.
"Mining and quarrying provided the only downward
contribution, falling by 19.1 percent as a result of the
shutdown of the Forties oil pipeline for a large part of
December," the statistics office added.
However, manufacturing output, which excludes mining
and quarrying, electricity, gas and water supply, grew by 0.3
percent.
The Forties pipeline system, which normally carries 40
percent of UK oil and gas production in the North Sea, was
offline for three weeks.
Over the whole year, industrial production expanded by 2.1
percent compared with 2016. That was the strongest increase
since 2010 when it grew 3.2 percent.
Manufacturing output meanwhile gained 2.8 percent
during 2017.
Separately, the ONS also revealed Friday that Britain's
deficit in goods and services-the gap between exports and
imports-widened by o3.8 billion ($5.3 billion, 4.3 billion
euros) to o10.8 billion in the three months to December.
A drop in Britain's oil exports-as well as large increases in
the price of fuel imports-had the largest impact on the trade
in goods deficit, which widened by o3.3 billion in the same
period to o37.2 billion.
The trade surplus in services narrowed by o0.5 billion to
o26.4 billion.
The Forties pipeline, owned by oil group Ineos, transports
around 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Its temporary closure came after a routine inspection
found a hairline crack in the pipe just south of Aberdeen in
Scotland, prompting emergency repairs that stopped oil and
gas from platforms feeding into the system.
Chad vows no more pay
cuts under austerity drive
Chad's finance minister says the country will not impose further
cuts on civil servants' pay this year, after strikes and
protests erupted over one of the most unpopular measures in
an austerity programme.
"There won't be further cuts this year," the finance and
budget minister, Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, told AFP in an
interview on Thursday.
The government last month reduced civil servants' bonus
pay by 50 percent, adding to a previous 50-percent cut in
2016.
Income tax was also hiked but "the lowest-income workers
are now exempt" from it, Sabre Fadoul said.
The impoverished state is enforcing cuts in public spending
that the finance ministry says are vital to stave off bankruptcy.
But the cuts have increased social tension and anger
towards President Idriss Deby, in power since 1990.
Trade unions initiated an indefinite general strike in the
state sector on January 29, and followed this with strikes in
the private sector on Monday and Tuesday.
They also called for a "Day of Anger" on Thursday, but the
protest drew only a meagre turnout amid tight security.
Chad's economy has been badly hit by a downturn in the
price of oil exports since 2015.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened up a
three-year $312 million (254 million euro) credit line last
June under a stabilisation programme.
Chad has received $48.8 million of this but to gain access
to a second tranche has to make progress in improving state
finances. It also has to conclude negotiations with the
world's biggest commodities trader, Glencore plc, over outstanding
debts that Sabre Fadoul put at $1.36 billion.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) organized a press conference at National Press Club yesterday.
Photo : Star Mail
China, UNDP, UNFPA
distribute relief materials
in Nilphamari
NILPHAMARI : United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP),
United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) and the Chinese Embassy in
Dhaka along with the district
administration have distributed relief
materials among the flood victims of
Nilphamari on Saturday, reports
UNB.
In presence of Cultural Affairs
Minister Asaduzzaman Noor,
ilphamari Deputy Commissioner
Mohammad Khaled Rahim handed
over trunks to the flood victims,
together with household materials
and CGI sheets to help affected
families recover from the damages.
In Bangladesh, the 2017 South-
Asian monsoons inundated the
northern flood plains of the country,
severely affecting 7 million people in
31 districts.
Flood waters destroyed 82,000
houses and damaged many more,
leaving 320,000 people in need of
support to repair their homes and
replace their damaged belongings
once the flood waters receded.
To support the flood response, the
Ministry of Commerce (MoFCOM) of
the People's Republic of China have
partnered with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) to
provide $4 million for early recovery
efforts in Bangladesh.
As part of this joint initiative of
UNDP and China, Rohingya women
through the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA), received
life-saving reproductive health kits,
medicines and supplies to health
facilities particularly for women and
girls of reproductive age.
In total 13910 families in Kurigram,
Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Bogra and
Nilphamari districts received the relief
materials and 118,000 women
received emergency Reproductive
Health kits in Cox's Bazar.
Attending the distribution event, Li
Guangjun, Chinese Economic and
Commercial Counselor to Bangladesh,
said that China "sympathized with the
flood victims and refugees in
Bangladesh" and "appreciated the
humanitarian assistance provided by
UNDP in partnership with other
organizations."
He hoped that the materials would
help to improve the flood victims and
refugees' lives.
Asaduzzaman Noor said, "I hope
this kind of support from UNDP and
China will continue in future,
whenever there is any disaster."
He thanked the government of
China and UNDP for extending their
support. He also praised UNFPA, for
taking extra care of the women and
girls of reproductive age, considering
gender-based violence.
Sudipto Mukerjee, Country
Director, UNDP Bangladesh said,
"China has been increasingly
supporting developing countries in
humanitarian relief and recovery as
well as advance the UN's 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda.
This partnership is a reflection of
South-South Cooperation".
Highlighting UNFPA's contribution,
Iori Kato, Deputy Representative,
UNFPA Bangladesh said, "UNFPA
supported 26000 flood affected
women and girls of reproductive age
to ensure their reproductive health
and rights needs and promote dignity
of women and girls, improving their
mobility and be able to access the
lifesaving humanitarian aid".
Among others, representatives from
local government, NGOs, spoke at the
event.
US stocks end brutal week on benign
note; European, Asian stocks dive
Wall Street stocks ended a bruising
week on a benign note courtesy of a
late-session surge Friday, while equity
markets in Europe and Asia fell
sharply in volatile trading.
US stocks lurched back and forth in a
rollercoaster session, opening
decisively higher, then tumbling deep
into the red at midday before rising
again and finishing strong.
Europe's key markets extended the
recent days' downturn to show
substantial losses at the close following
another spectacular drop in Asian
shares.
"How long can the selloff last? That
is the million-if not billion-dollar
question," Fawad Razaqzada at
Forex.com said, adding that the
absence of massive buyers at current
low price levels was a worry.
"We had plenty of volatility today
and we'll see more next week," said Art
Hogan, chief market strategist at
Wunderlich Securities.
"You have to go back to the financial
crisis days to see this kind of volatility."
DR Congo sees 10% levy
on 'strategic metals'
The world's biggest producer of cobalt, a key ingredient
in modern batteries, plans a five-fold increase in tax on
the commodity as part of an overhaul of its mining
laws, industrial sources said Friday.
The Democratic Republic of Congo would impose a
tax of 10 percent on so-called "strategic metals" under
the plan, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
The government last year signalled its intention to
reform its 2002 mining code, which it considered to
favour foreign investors at the expense of the economy.
A first version of the draft law-examined by the lower
house, the National Assembly, in December, and then
by the Senate in January-envisaged a tax take of five
percent.
This has been revised upward to 10 percent, under a
new draft approved by a joint commission of the Senate
and National Assembly on January 27.
At present, the state levies a tax of two percent on
non-ferrous metals-copper and cobalt-which is based
on the value of sales, from which some costs are
deducted.
The draft law is now in the hands of President Joseph
The market's best hope for escaping
the current cycle is if next week's US
inflation data contain no bombshells
and bond yields do not increase from
their current range, Hogan said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
ended up 1.4 percent at 24,190.90 after
swinging more than 1,000 points
during the session.
In spite of the robust finish, the
Dow's weekly losses were the worst
since January 2016 and investors are
bracing for more turbulence ahead.
"No one can say for sure, but things
don't look pretty out there, given that
the sharp falls haven't been bought this
time around. So, things could get ugly
really quick," Razaqzada said.
Paris, London and Frankfurt all lost
more than one percent.
Asian trading floors were a sea of
red, with concerns about tighter
interest rates, particularly in the
United States.
Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo
were among the worst hit as investors
piled into haven assets such as gold
and the yen.
Oil prices also tumbled, with US
benchmark West Texas Intermediate
losing $1.95 to $59.20 per barrel to
suffer its biggest weekly loss in two
years.
Analysts attributed the drop to
worries about oversupply given strong
US oil output and to a spillover in
volatility from equity markets.
"Investments over the coming weeks
could be something of an emotional
roller-coaster ride," Rebecca O'Keeffe,
head of investment at Interactive
Investor, told AFP.
A key trigger of the stocks pullback
was a strong US jobs report a week ago
that also showed rising US wage
growth, fueling speculation the Federal
Reserve will lift rates more than the
three times already forecast this year.
At the same time, the European
Central Bank is on the verge of ending
its crisis-era stimulus, while the Bank
of England warned its main interest
rates could rise faster than expected in
2018.
Kabila, Mining Minister Martin Kabwelulu said at an
annual mining conference in South Africa this week.
Sources in the mining industry said the prime
minister will issue a decree to spell out the
commodities on the "strategic metals" list, as the term
does not exist under the current mining code.
But, they said they had been informed by government
experts that cobalt would be included.
Shareholders in big mining corporations with
interests in DRC, including Glencore and Rangold,
have written to Kabila to express their concern, hoping
that the latest version of the law will be revised, they
added.
The global boom for smartphones and electric cars
has pushed up the price of cobalt to more than $80,000
(almost 63,000 euros) a tonne, compared with less
than $23,000 a tonne two years ago.
DR Congo is also the top African producer of copper,
which last year recovered from a slump that hit in 2014.
Copper is currently trading at more than $6,800 a
tonne, around 50 percent higher than at the trough of
the downturn in February 2017.
City high-rise catches fire
DHAKA : A fire broke out at a 20-storey building in Purana
Paltan area of the capital on Saturday morning, reports UNB.
The fire broke out on the second floor of the high-rise,
adjacent to Shawon Tower, in the area around 9:10am, said
Mahfuz, duty officer at the fire service control room.
Informed, five firefighting units from the headquarters and
Khilgaon Fire Station rushed to the spot and are trying to
douse the flame.
It was not clear what caused the fire.
2376 cases lodged for
traffic rule violation
DHAKA : Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in a daylong
drive on Friday lodged 2376 cases and realized Taka 7.76
lakh on charges of violation of traffic rules, reports BSS.
It also dumped 48 vehicles and put wrecker in 158 others,
said an official release.
Traffic department of police lodged the cases and realized
the money from owners and drivers of different vehicles after
conducting raids at different thana area in the capital city.
The cases were lodged on charges of using hydraulic horn,
hooter, beckon light, and tinted glasses.
Vote for AL again to
continue development: Amu
JHALOKATI : Awami League Advisory Council Member and
Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu yesterday said
Bangladesh is progressing fast and it is believed that the
country would turn into a developed one before 2041, reports
BSS.
"Bangladesh is developing fast...If you want to continue
this development, you have to vote the AL to power again
under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he
said, speaking at a view exchange meeting at Nabagram High
School ground here.
Amu was exchanging views with local Awami League
leaders and workers with AL Nabagram Union President
Kanchan Ali Mia in the chair.
AL district unit General Secretary Khan Saifullha Panir,
Joint Secretary Sultan Hossain Khan and Organizing
Secretary Mojibul Haque Akandh, among others, addressed
the meeting.
Amu said BNP and Jamaat are conducting destructive
activities to take the country backward. But, Awami League
is working relentlessly for the betterment of the country, he
added.
"Awami League is working in every sector including health,
education, women empowerment and power for the welfare
of the common people," Amu said.
Later, Amu joined the annual sports competition
programme and distributed prizes among the winners at
Haji Joyan Uddin Dwini Dakhil Madrasha.
Advertisement floated to
recruit 10,000 constables
DHAKA : A circular has been published relating to recruit
10,000 trainee recruit constable (TRC) with a view to
augmenting the manpower of the police force.
In accordance with the circular, 8500 men and 1500
women will be recruited as TRC, said an official release.
The aspirants have been requested to attend the physical
and written examinations with necessary papers in the police
lines of their home district on the particular date mentioned
in the circular.
Iraq banks on private sector
for post-IS reconstruction
Months after declaring victory over jihadists, war-battered
Iraq hopes to attract billions of dollars from private investors
as well as donors to fund its reconstruction.
Baghdad is looking to drum up funds at a reconstruction
conference in neighbouring Kuwait from February 12 to 14
after announcing the defeat of the Islamic State group at the
end of last year.
The country is still reeling from the rise of IS and the
punishing fightback it took to crush the jihadists, with
swathes of its territory in ruins and millions of people
displaced.
Authorities in the resource-rich nation say there has been a
heavy toll on oil, electricity and manufacturing
infrastructure, as well as basic services such as water and
sanitation.
Iraq needs to raise $100 billion to rebuild, Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi has said, after the fight against IS and
decades of sanctions and war.
"It's a huge amount of money. We know we cannot provide
it through our own budget," he said at the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month.
"That's why we now resorted to investment," he said.
Iraq sits on some of the world's largest crude reserves,
which Baghdad puts at 153 billion barrels, but the war against
IS and a slump in world prices have diminished its oil
revenues.
The Kuwait conference's second day will be devoted to the
private sector's role in rebuilding Iraq, with more than 2,000
companies and businessmen due to attend, according to the
Gulf country.
International organisations are to speak on the first day,
while attending donor countries are expected to make
announcements on the third.
The US State Department has said that rather than "direct
contributions", Washington has "focused on the private
sector. It has teamed up with the US Chamber of Commerce
to organise a delegation of over 150 American companies to
travel to Kuwait" for the conference.
Iraq-the second largest producer within OPEC after Saudi
Arabia-has already called for help from investors worldwide,
even as it seeks to ramp up output from its largely untapped
reserves.
Kuwait is setting aside its past differences with Iraq to host
the summit.
In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait after accusing its
neighbour of "stealing" Iraqi oil from a field straddling the
border.
That sparked the first Gulf War, which ended after a US-led
coalition ousted Iraqi forces from the emirate.
Iraqis have since weathered international sanctions, a USled
invasion in 2003 and the battle against IS.
Today, some 2.6 million people remain displaced across
the country, the International Organization for Migration has
said.
Satellite imagery shows some 26,000 houses are destroyed
or seriously damaged, including more than 17,000 in the
jihadists' former bastion of Mosul.
"There is huge destruction and a huge need to mobilise
support," said Erfan Ali, Iraq representative of the UN
Human Settlements Programme.