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BIWTA to hold boat race marking PM Hasina's birthday
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has organised a boat race on the Turag river, on the occasion of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday.
Dhaka’s air quality ‘unhealthy’, 5th worst in the world this morning
The boat race will be held tomorrow (September 28), at the end point of the main road in Mohammadpur's Dhaka Udyan, on the Turag river, at 3:30 pm, said Senior Information Officer of Shipping Ministry, Jahangir Alam Khan.
US visa restrictions won’t impact garment exports: BGMEA
State Minister for Shipping, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, will be present as the chief guest, while Haji Mohammad Salim will be present as a special guest along with others. BIWTA Chairman Commodore Arif Ahmed Mostafa will preside over the event.
Govt refixes commission rates on sales of petroleum fuels
Twelve teams named after rivers -- Buriganga, Shitalakhya, Turag, Dhaleshwari, Ichhamoti, Karnaphuli, Surma, Kirtankhola, Arial Kha, Dakatia, Bongshi and Balu -- will participate in different segments of the boat race.
Dhaka’s air quality ‘unhealthy’, 5th worst in the world this morning
Dhaka's air quality has been categorized as ‘unhealthy’ this morning.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 155 at 8:55 am, Dhaka ranked 5th on the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality.
Pakistan’s Karachi, Kuwait’s Kuwait City and Indonesia’s Jakarta occupied the first three spots on the list, with AQI scores of 168, 158 and 157, respectively.
Dhaka’s air quality still 'unhealthy', 6th most polluted in the world this morning
An AQI between 150 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
Dhaka's air quality 'moderate' this morning
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
Dhaka's air quality 'moderate' Friday morning
US visa restrictions won’t impact garment exports: BGMEA
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Tuesday said that visa restrictions by the United States would not disrupt exports of garment products to the country, rather it may fall due to the financial crisis in the West, said the president of the sector’s apex body.
“We are sharing the latest industry statistics with you regularly. You must have noticed that in the first seven months of this year, overall apparel imports by the US and the European Union have come down at an alarming rate,” BGMEA President Faruque Hassan told a press conference in its office in Uttara.
The US is the single largest importer of Bangladeshi garment products.
Read: BGMEA installs CBC machine at its Chattogram Hospital for dengue patients
During the period, overall global apparel imports by the US fell by 22.28 percent in terms of value, while their imports from Bangladesh fell by nearly 20 percent, Faruque said.
On the other hand, in terms of volume, global imports by the US decreased by 28 percent while import share in volume from Bangladesh decreased by 29 percent, he said.
It means, in terms of quantity, the import by the US from Bangladesh has decreased by one-third over the last seven months, he said.
Read: US officials discuss bilateral trade workers' rights with BGMEA
Meanwhile, global imports by Europe fell by 7.5 percent and from Bangladesh by about 12 percent. Also, imports by the European Union from exporting countries decreased by about 13 percent, and from Bangladesh by 14.50 percent, he said.
“Our two main markets – North America and Europe account for about 80 percent of total exports. And if there is instability in these two markets for any reason, it will have an adverse effect on our industry,” Faruque said.
“We have always focused on market expansion and the creation of new markets to overcome this vulnerability. We have been doing this continuously since 2010. Recently, we held a daylong Bangladesh Apparel Summit in Australia. There we have highlighted the overall progress of our industry,” he added.
Read: BGMEA urges Chattogram Port Authority to continue capacity development efforts to meet growing trade demand
The BGMEA expects a new momentum in exports to Australia.
He said that the BGMEA is working with many more unconventional markets like South Korea, Japan, China, India, Saudi Arabia and even Iraq.
The growth of exports to new markets will help Bangladesh during this crucial time, he said.
In the press conference, the BGMEA also said that recent news coverage in Bangladesh’s media claiming that 10 companies laundered Tk300crore is not true.
Of the 10 companies, four are members of the BGMEA, two are members of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and four others are not associated with any of them.
It has been said that 3 crore 53 lakh 66 thousand 918 US dollars have been charged against 10 exporters of Dhaka and Gazipur in the name of exporting ready-made garments.
The media of the country also spread news about this. After that, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate got the initial confirmation.
“This information is false and fabricated,” Faruque said.
He demanded that the government form a separate taskforce to investigate the allegation of money laundering by the garment factories.
The BGMEA leaders said that they took the responsibility for decreasing exports amid drop of retail sales of garment products impacting the country’s export severely due to inflationary pressure in the West.
BGMEA’s Senior Vice-President SM Mannan Kochi, Vice-President Shahidullah Azim, former Presidents of the organisation Abdus Salam Murshedy and Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, and other factory owners attended the news conference.
Govt refixes commission rates on sales of petroleum fuels
The government has reset rates of commission for the dealers and agents on the sales of petroleum fuels.
Despite reducing the percentage of the commission on the sales of the petroleum products, their commission rates were increased as the prices of all petroleum fuels were raised by the government in August last year.
Also read: BPC incurs Tk 63 crore loss a day in petroleum sale, but experts suggest cut on import duty
In a gazette notification the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources announced the decision on Tuesday refixing the commission rates for the dealers and agents.
As per the gazette notification, the dealers and agents will get 4.28 percent in commission on the sales of per litre octane, 4.24 per percent on the sales of petrol, 2 percent on sales of kerosene and 2.85 percent for per litre diesel.
Previously, the commission on octane and petrol was 4.9 percent, 3 percent on diesel and 1.92 percent on kerosene.
Also read: Consumer slapped with largest ever hikes in fuel oil prices
In terms of the value of the products, as the prices of all the petroleum fuels were raised by the government by up to 51.7 percent in August last year, the petrol pump owners said that the dealers and agents will get an increased rate of commission by Tk 0.50 for octane and petrol while Tk 0.28 for diesel.
The government re-fixed the commissions in terms of value of the products against the backdrop of the demand of the petrol pump owners.
Also read: Bangladesh ‘looks unable’ to take advantage of low fuel price
They started observing a countrywide strike at the petrol pumps to raise the commission rates on the sales of petroleum products from September 2. But upon assurance from the government to raise the commission they called off their strike on September 3.
No ban can stop Sheikh Hasina: Quader
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cannot be stopped by imposing any ban, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said Tuesday.
Regarding the US visa policy and restrictions, Quader, also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister in the government, said: “Bangladesh will run according to the constitution. We could not be defeated in 1971, even today Sheikh Hasina cannot be stopped by imposing any ban. We don't care about anyone's ban.”
Also read: What could be the possible reasons to apply US visa restrictions against someone?
Quader was addressing a 'peace and development rally' organised by Dhaka district Awami League in Keraniganj on Tuesday afternoon.
“No one listens to the US sanctions. Venezuela, Gabon, Sudan did not listen. Many first world countries also do not follow UN sanctions,” he said.
“The US imposes sanctions, and the BNP threatens with sanctions. What a wonder! America seems to have made BNP an agent of intimidation,” he added.
Also read: Haas raises eyebrows by saying members of media may face visa restrictions
“If any Awami League worker is attacked, this time it will be retaliated. No concessions will be made under any circumstances. AL will not bow down to anyone and is waiting to see how BNP occupies Dhaka. Awami League will occupy the entire country with red and green flags,” the AL leader warned.
“BNP has done politics over Khaleda Zia's illness. There was not a single movement for her release even for 48 minutes,” Quader continued.
Also read: New US visa policy declared targeting next Bangladesh polls
Presided over by Dhaka District AL President Benazir Ahmed, AL presidium member Kamrul Islam and joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif spoke at the rally, among others.
Deaths from dengue now 943 with 15 more in last 24hrs
With fifteen more deaths from dengue in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, the fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh rose to 943 this year.
During the period, 3,123 more patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, according to the DGHS.
Of the new patients, 774 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside the capital--indicating a worsening situation across the country, DGHS said.
A total of 10,156 dengue patients, including 3,581 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
So far, the DGHS has recorded 193,881 dengue cases, 182,782 recoveries this year.
Islami Bank, Medix sign agreement on healthcare
Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC and Medix, a sister concern of United Healthcare Services Limited, have signed a corporate agreement.
Under this agreement clients and employees of the Bank will get special discounts on different health tests.
Muhammad Qaisar Ali, Managing Director (Current Charge) of the bank, and Mohammad Faizur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO of United Hospital Limited exchanged the documents on behalf of respective organizations on Tuesday.
Engr. A.F.M Kamaluddin, Deputy Managing Director, Mizanur Rahman, Senior Executive Vice President, Mohammad Manzurul Haque, Senior Vice President and A M Shahidul Amran, Senior Assistant Vice President of the bank, Dr. Md. Fazlarabbi Khan, General Manager of United Hospital Limited, Tareq Sami Rahman, Head of Centre Operation & Corporate Marketing and Shariful Islam Khan Yousufzai, Corporate Accounts Manager of Medix along with the executives of both institutions were present on the occasion, said a press release.
6 Ansar Al Islam operatives held by RAB from different areas of capital
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested six members of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam from different parts of the capital city.
Among the arrestees is Mezbah Abu Masroor, in-charge of the Dawati unit of Dhaka region in the Ansar Al Islam organisational setup.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB-1 and DGFI arrested them from Uttara, Banani, Banashree and Jatrabari areas of the capital on Monday night.
Two laptops, six mobile phones, pamphlets supporting extremism and diaries and notebooks related to organisational activities were recovered.
Legal action is being taken against those arrested, ASP Imran Khan of RAB headquarters media wing said.
EC will use all its powers to organise free, fair polls: Election Commissioner Anisur
The Election Commission (EC) will use all the power at its disposal to hold a free and fair election, said Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman on Tuesday.“We want to hold a free and fair election with the participation of all political parties and dialogue will be held with all parties. Already we sat with some political parties. After the dialogue with us, everyone's faith in the EC will be strengthened further,” he said.
Also read: Onus for participatory election not on Election Commission, says commissionerThe Election Commissioner said this while talking to reporters after attending an inaugural programme of NID Smart Card distribution in Gazipur’s Sreepur area on Tuesday.The schedule of the election will be announced in the first week of November and the election will be held in January next year without using Election Voting Machine (EVM), he added.
Also read: Schedule of 12th parliamentary election likely in November, says EC AnisurThis year the Election Commission has decided to send the ballot papers on the election day, said Anisur.
Also read: Powers of presiding officers have been enhanced through law to ensure that elections are fair: CEC
173 tonnes of Hilsa exported to India in 3 days through Benapole port
Bangladesh has exported 173 tonnes of Hilsa to India in three days till Monday through the Benapole port, according to Benapole Fisheries office.
The government allowed the export of 3,950 metric tonnes of Hilsa to India this year.
Kolkata dwellers are happy to get Padma's Hilsa before the Durga puja.
But export of Hilsa leads to hike in its price in Bangladesh .Buyers in the country's market are expressing anger over the increase in its price.
The price of the fish has increased by Tk 400-500 per kg in the domestic market after the export decision, said consumers.
The government stopped exporting Hilsa in 2012 due to the decline in hilsa production. Aiming to strengthen ties with India, the government allowed the export of Hilsa to India on the occasion of Puja from 2019.
Expressing anger over not being able to buy Hilsa in Benapole market, Moshiar Rahman, a consumer, said, "I could not buy Hilsa this year as the price of Hilsa doubled in the market."
Shahid, a Hilsa trader in the market, said the price of Hilsa is increasing due to export. At present, Hilsa weighing 1 kg is being sold at Tk 2,000 and 500 grams of Hilsa at Tk 1,200, he added.
Kartik Chandra, general secretary of the Indian C&F Agency Staff Association, said, "Due to good relations between the two countries we have got Bangladashi Hilsa before the puja. We're very happy."
Mahbubur Rahman, fisheries quarantine officer of Benapole Fisheries Office, said, “Export of Hilsa started on Thursday with the special permission of the government. In the last three days (Thursday, Saturday and Monday), Over 173 metric tons of hilsa were exported to India. Country's 79 hilsa exporters organizations will finish exporting the remaining hilsa by October 30."