14-01-2021

THuRSDAY, JANuARY 14, 2021
2
The Bangabandhu Engineering Council BEC of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) unit
commissioned a farewell ceremony for its outgoing 2017-20 committee. The event held on Monday,
January 11, 2021. Engineer Md. Abdus Sabur, the former president of Bangladesh Engineers Institution
and the secretary of Awami League's science and technology affairs graced the event as the chief guest.
The director general of BWDB, Engineer Mohammad Ali and the general secretary of BEC's central
committee, Engineer Mohammad Nuruzzaman were present as special guests on the occasion. The
council's newly elected president engineer, Md. Mizanur Rahman presided over the function. Engineer
Md. Kohinur Alam, organizing secretary of the council articulated the event's progress and general secretary
of the council, Engineer Md. Mahfuzur Rahman and other leaders were present in the ceremony.
During the program, the achievements of the outgoing president of the council, Engineer Md.
Habibur Rahman and other leaders were celebrated through recognizing them. Photo : Courtesy
With Geographical
Indication rules
Pakistan can secure
export markets
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has
finally notified the
Geographical Indication
(GI) Rules strengthening its
case against India over safeguarding
its claims of basmati
rice and Himalayan
pink salt, reports Dawn.
The rules, prerequisite for
any GI claims, will allow
Pakistan to fight India in
the European Union as the
latter asserts that basmati
rice is an Indian product.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has
already challenged India's
claims over the rice.
"Now as the GI Rules
have been notified,
Pakistan will be able to
secure its export markets
with legal backing," a senior
official of the Intellectual
Property Organisation of
Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan)
told Dawn.
The formulation of GI
rules have been pending in
the county for almost 18
years, but the move picked
pace after India submitted
an application with the EU,
claiming sole ownership of
basmati rice.
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The UAE warns US shale companies
against pumping more oil
Dubai: Any attempt by US shale and other oil producers
to boost output this year will backfire and
lead to lower prices, according to the energy minister
of the United Arab Emirates.
Oil prices have surged in the past two months
with the development of coronavirus vaccines.
They jumped again last week when Saudi Arabia
said it would unilaterally cut crude output by 1 million
barrels a day in February and March, a move
the kingdom described as a "gift" to other producers.
That's led the International Energy Agency to
state that shale firms - whose output plunged last
year when the virus spread and demand for energy
crashed - would again be profitable. With
demand still fragile, they "are wise not to jump the
gun and overproduce during the recovery year,"
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in
an interview on Tuesday before a forum organized
by Gulf Intelligence, a Dubai-based consultant.
They "need to be careful not to flood the market."
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries and partners such as Russia, a grouping
known as OPEC+, agreed to cut output by almost
10 million barrels a day in April. Their efforts and
a rapid improvement in energy demand in China
and India buoyed oil prices. Brent crude has risen
11 per cent to $57.30 a barrel this year. But it's still
down more than 10 per cent from pre-pandemic
levels and below what most major exporters need
to balance their budgets.
U.S. crude stockpiles climbed with the onset of
the virus and as economic activity plunged.
Though they fell from a peak of 541 million barrels
in June to 485 million on Jan. 1, they're still up 12
837 12.01.2021
per cent from a year ago. The IEA sees the global
glut enduring for the rest of 2021. "It's not going to
be easy to just go and build production, seeing the
inventory levels where they are today," Mazrouei
said.
Shale companies in the U.S. pumped about 8.1
million barrels daily in January. That compares
with 9.3 million in March 2020.
At a virtual meeting last week, OPEC+ agreed to
keep production in February and March
unchanged for all 23 members bar Saudi Arabia,
Russia and Kazakhstan. The latter two will
increase output by 75,000 barrels a day. The UAE
pumped 2.5 million barrels daily in December,
making it OPEC's biggest producer after Saudi
Arabia and Iraq.
The Saudis' decision to cut production for two
months comes amid renewed lockdowns in
Europe and Asia and a spike in US cases. Those
have forced OPEC+ to slow the pace at which it
eases last year's curbs.
Global demand won't return to pre-pandemic
levels until the end of 2021 or early 2022,
Mazrouei said. When that happens, Mazrouei
said he's confident OPEC+ countries can regain
any market share they'll lose to others by curtailing
output.
"We are the lowest-cost producers as OPEC
countries," he said. Abu Dhabi plans to expand
production capacity to 5 million barrels a day by
2030 from 4.2 million now and to start trading its
Murban crude on an exchange this quarter, in an
attempt to make it a benchmark for Middle
Eastern oil. Those moves "will enable us to compete
and will enable us to put those volumes
because they will be needed," Mazrouei said.
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Saudi Aramco
seeks $7.5 billion
loan for oil
pipeline investors
Dubai: Saudi Aramco is
lining up a loan of about
$7.5 billion for potential
investors in its oil
pipelines, according to
people familiar with the
matter, reports Gulf
news.
The world's biggest oil
producer has begun talks
with lenders to secure
favorable terms for the
funding package that
would then be offered to
investors, the people
said, asking not to be
identified as the information
is private. The discussions
are occurring in
parallel with the sale of a
stake in a pipeline unit,
which could raise about
$10 billion for Aramco,
the people said.
A pipeline deal would
be the first phase of
Aramco's effort to raise
money from leasing
rights or stakes in noncore
assets, mirroring
what Abu Dhabi National
Oil Co. has done in the
past few years. The Saudi
company is working with
advisers including
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
and Moelis & Co., the
Wall Street investment
bank that's also involved
in the Adnoc deals.
Aramco didn't immediately
respond to requests
to comment.
Ford, Toyota face US
production slowdown
over semiconductor
shortage
NEW YORK : Toyota and
Ford said on Monday they
will slow down or even stop
production at US factories
as the auto industry grapples
with a shortage of vital
computer chips.
The shortage is caused by
an increase in demand for
consumer electronics during
the coronavirus pandemic,
which has left semiconductor
producers
struggling to keep up.
Ford spokeswoman Kelli
Felker said the automaker
will this week close its
plant in Louisville,
Kentucky, which employs
about 4,100 people making
the Ford Escape and
Lincoln Corsair models.
The company already
planned to idle the plant
temporarily, but moved up
the timeframe due to the
shortage.
"The global semiconductor
shortage is presenting
challenges and production
disruptions - for the global
auto industry, including
Ford, which could have a
significant knock-on effect
on jobs and the economy
given the importance of
auto manufacturing," the
auto giant said.
Toyota said production
of its Tundra pickup truck
at a factory in San Antonio,
Texas also has been affected
by the shortage.
"At this point we are
assessing the longer term
impact, but for the month
of January, we anticipate
reducing Tundra production
by as much as 40 percent,"
a company
spokesperson said.
The Wall Street Journal
reported Fiat Chrysler will
stop Jeep production at a
plant in Mexico and production
of other models at
a factory in Canada due to
the shortage.
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Tesla takes another step on
road to launch in India
Tesla Inc has moved a step closer to its launch
in India later this year by registering a company
in the country, a regulatory filing showed
on Tuesday.
Tesla Motors India and Energy Private
Limited was incorporated on January 8 with
its registered office in the southern city of
Bengaluru, a hub for several global technology
companies.
The filing shows the Indian unit has three
directors including David Feinstein, who is
currently a senior executive at Tesla, according
to his LinkedIn profile.
India's transport minister Nitin Gadkari
told a local newspaper in December that the
United States electric carmaker would start
with sales and then might look at assembly
and manufacturing.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has tweeted
several times in recent years, including as
recently as October 2020, about an impending
foray into India.
The move comes as Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is promoting the production
and use of electric vehicles to reduce the country's
oil dependence and cut down on pollution.
But efforts have been stymied by a lack of
investment in manufacturing and infrastructure
such as charging stations.
Pakistanis drove only European and
American cars until the 1960s. Then the
Japanese automakers arrived. They received a
cold response initially owing to concerns
about the quality and reliability of their vehicles.
With time, however, Japanese carmakers
achieved domination. Their cars emerged as
more reliable, durable and economical than
European and American ones, reports Dawn.
More recently, Chinese companies tested
their luck in Pakistan's auto market but failed
due to outdated products and lack of features
and quality. Another reason for their failure
was their poor choice in terms of local partners.
But the situation is different now.
Chinese carmakers have been trying hard to
improve their products, introduce advanced
models and set up new plants.
With advanced technology and better safety
features in commercial, passenger and SUV
segments, some Chinese vehicles have attracted
consumers and their acceptability ratio has
gone up. This is the beginning of a new era
and, the local assemblers of Chinese vehicles
say, it will belong to the Chinese auto manufacturers.However,
price-conscious buyers
still believe Chinese cars will take time in gaining
trust of consumers who usually buy
Japanese cars. They say that Chinese twowheelers
made deeper inroads into the
Pakistani market owing to their lower prices
(and despite not-so-great quality). But the car
segment is a different ball game and they will
take time to gain a bigger market share.
Australian vegetable 'squash' is now being cultivated in Manirampur,
Jessore. An educated young man named Habibur Rahman Habib has started
cultivating this vegetable commercially for the first time. He was
inspired by the cultivation of squash on YouTube. Photo : Star Mail
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