| All govt, pvt offices asked to appoint RTI staff by Dec 19 :::: The Daily Star |
| The government has asked all public and private offices covered by the Right to Information Ordinance 2008 to appoint officials within December 19 for providing information to people seeking it. The Press Information Department issued a reminder in this regard yesterday. Section 10 of the ordinance promulgated on October 20 has made it obligatory for all organisations to nominate an officer-in-charge for each information-providing unit within 60 days of the promulgation of the ordinance.
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| Asia-Pacific ready to push ahead WTO talks :::: AFP, Lima |
| Twenty-one Asia-Pacific economies making up half of global trade are prepared to agree by next month on a formula to tear down tariff walls stalling global liberalization talks, a draft communique said yesterday. "We are ready to engage to secure a full modalities agreement this year," said the draft of a statement to be issued by trade and foreign ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum at the end of their meeting in Peru. |
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| US seeks $300b from Gulf states :::: AFP, Kuwait City |
| The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday. Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait. Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession. |
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| LG Commission framing policies to strengthen local govt bodies: Commission team meets president :::: UNB, Dhaka |
| The newly formed Local Government (LG) Commi-ssion is formulating policies to strengthen the local government institutions, as a comprehensive reform recipe is under implementation.
The commission has already held four meetings in connection with the updating of local government bodies. A three-member delegation of the commission led by its chairman Md Faizur Razzak called on President Iajuddin Ahmed at Bangabhaban yesterday and apprised him of their activities. The delegation members told the president that the commission started its function on November 9. |
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| Emerging priorities :::: The Daily Star |
| BANGLADESH is no longer the marginal, poverty-ridden basket-case on the global economic stage as it perhaps was three decades ago. It is the 9th largest country in the world in terms of population, and the 58th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP. After a decade of consistent mid-single digit economic growth, Bangladesh can achieve a higher growth path and become a prosperous middle-income nation by 2016 by sustaining and accelerating its growth momentum, significantly reducing the incidence of poverty, and delivering better living standards for all its citizens. However, political turmoil, poor governance, a weak banking sector, and unreliable power supply are major drags on growth.
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| ADB safeguards under review : Second draft seen underplaying concerns over resettlement, environment :::: The Daily New Age |
| The Asian Development Bank’s reputation will be put to a test as it began a multi-stakeholder consultation on its new safeguard policies at its headquarters in Manila, Philippines, on Wednesday. Sections of citizens and a number of organisations have expressed strong dissent over the lending agency’s second draft of the Safeguard Policy Statement, claiming that it was essentially regressive compared to the existing safeguards. The Asian lender’s policies on environment, indigenous peoples and involuntary resettlement have been up for review since 2005. These issues would be crucial in the implementation of projects like the Phulbari open pit coal mine that the ADB had initially agreed to finance through its private sector financing mechanism. |
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| Economy not immune to global crisis : BB study suggests supports for RMG cost cuts, rationalising regulatory structure :::: The Daily New Age |
| Bangladesh is not immune to global financial meltdown that has already snowballed into recession in many big economies, though little integration to world financial market has so far shielded its economy from any immediate fallout, a central bank study reveals. It feels that the government needs to take right strategies to cope with the persisting global scourge and keep the economy more or less safe from any adversity. The observations were made in the study of Bangladesh Bank’s Policy Analysis Unit which diagnosed the possible impacts of the present global situation and suggested remedies. |
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| Emerging priorities :::: The Daily Star |
| BANGLADESH is no longer the marginal, poverty-ridden basket-case on the global economic stage as it perhaps was three decades ago. It is the 9th largest country in the world in terms of population, and the 58th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP. After a decade of consistent mid-single digit economic growth, Bangladesh can achieve a higher growth path and become a prosperous middle-income nation by 2016 by sustaining and accelerating its growth momentum, significantly reducing the incidence of poverty, and delivering better living standards for all its citizens. However, political turmoil, poor governance, a weak banking sector, and unreliable power supply are major drags on growth.
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| Justice Amirul made chairman of National HR Commission :::: The Daily Star |
| Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury, a former judge of the Supreme Court, has been appointed the chairman of the newly formed National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). President Iajuddin Ahmed has given the appointment to him as per recommendation of the selection body. Justice Amirul retired from the Appellate Division on June 23 last year. Prof Niru Kumar Chakma, a teacher of the Department of Philosophy of Dhaka University, and Munira Khan, former chairperson of Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (FEMA), were also appointed as members of the commission. The government has formed the commission on September 1 in order to investigate human rights violations and advise the government on the enforcement of international human rights covenants.
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| A challenge before RMG export: Improved negotiating capacity called for :::: The Daily Star |
| The Daily Star Editorial
EVEN though the volume of our readymade garments export is on the rise, with any possible knock-on effect of the global economic downturn on the demand side yet to be visible, the international garment buyers appear to be pressing newer levers on the bargaining counter. For instance, they are asking for rebates and discounts on shipped products, more intensely than before, following the onset of the financial meltdown. As it is, fierce competition in the global apparel market has already had the selling prices plummet, and now comes the scraping for discounts and rebates raising the prospect of denuding profit margins of the manufacturers and exporters.
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| Rehabilitating Sidr victims Accelerate pace, contain corruption |
| The Daily Star Editorial
Rehabilitating Sidr victims Accelerate pace, contain corruption PEOPLE in the coastal districts, battered by Cyclone Sidr in November 2007, are still having to grapple with miseries as the rehabilitation programmes undertaken by different agencies are yet to be fully implemented. The projects financed by overseas donors, with assurance of technical assistance, under which cyclone homes for the people in the most vulnerable areas were to be built have not made the desirable degree of progress. It seems the projects are either stuck at the planning and sanctioning stages or have hit implementation related snags . It is perhaps the magnitude of the disaster, and the human sufferings caused by it, that prompted the people concerned to commemorate the day through organising a discussion meeting. Obviously, the memories of the terrible cyclone were revived and many loopholes in our cyclone preparedness and rehabilitation approaches were identified. |
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| Column - Ifty Islam : Remittance risks and skills training :::: The Daily Star |
| It is becoming increasingly evident that remittance inflow from Middle Eastern countries is likely to be adversely affected. Bangladesh sent a record 832,000 people abroad in 2007, most of whom chose to go to the oil-rich Gulf countries after sky-rocketing crude prices led to a construction boom in the Middle East. Bangladeshi migrant workers are mainly exported to the Middle Eastern countries along with a small percentage (6-7 percent) to Southeast Asia. According to a Danida report, a majority of the migrant workers that go to the aforementioned regions are unskilled workers, employed, mostly as menial labourers and construction workers. |
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| Bank borrowing leaps on 100-day job plan :::: The Daily Star |
| Though only nine percent of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) allocation was spent in the first three months of the current fiscal year the government borrowed 48 percent of the annual target from the banks in the first four months.
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| Better rice seed can yield production revolution :::: The Daily Star |
| Over 8.93 million tonnes of additional Boro and Aman paddy production worth Tk 13,395 crore can be achieved every year if a slightly-tweaked traditional seed processing technology is used across the country. The technology may also save more than Tk 55.39 crore a year by not importing seeds from abroad to cultivate Boro and Aman on 1,10,77,560 hectares of land. |
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| RMG under rebate pressure :::: The Daily Star |
| Bangladesh's ready-made garments (RMG) sector, it seems, is stuck between two walls made of glass. On one hand, exporters operate under intense competition, pushing selling prices to rock bottom. On the other hand, international buyers are playing ace after ace, as they demand rebates or discounts on shipped products. A mirror image appears when it comes to issues of importing raw materials for production. The local traders import virgin cotton, accessories and capital machinery from foreign exporters who do not give any rebates or discounts to them, not even when prices of such products in the world markets fall. |
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| International Business News Wolseley to axe 2,300 jobs :::: AFP, London |
| Wolseley, the world's biggest distributor of plumbing and heating products, said on Tuesday it planned to cut more than 2,300 jobs, mainly in Britain but also in the Nordic region, as its profits slump. Wolseley had already axed 5,000 jobs, mainly in the United States, during the three months to October 31, the group's first quarter. "Given the growing impact of the recent turmoil in the financial markets on the broader world economy and the construction industry, the group expects the markets in which it operates to continue to deteriorate," the British company said in a trading update.
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| Dalits subjected to serious human rights violations : Speakers tell seminar :::: The Daily Star |
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| 'Include child rights issues in election manifestos' :::: The Daily Star |
| Presenting a keynote paper, Shakkhor Chairperson and Convener of Shadhin Samsun Nahar Aziz Lina said the political parties did not ever take any steps for the welfare of children though they undertook political commitments several times. The parties should pledge on establishing child rights once they come to power and should not forget the commitments they make in their manifestos after forming a new government, she added. Shadhin chief said the consortium will work to ensure child rights through creating mass awareness in every sector and persuading the government and people regarding the issues.
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| US deputy asstt secy of defence arrives today :::: The Daily Star |
| US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence (DASD) for South and Southeast Asia James Clad arrives in Dhaka today on a two-day visit, says a press release.
The purpose of Clad's visit is to discuss a range of bilateral and multilateral security issues as well as future opportunities for cooperation between US and Bangladesh armed forces.
Clad will meet with senior officers from the Bangladesh military as well as other security forces.
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| Global financial crisis will hamper aid funding: Red Cross :::: AFP, Johannesburg |
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