Postogola electric cremator inoperative for 21 years

The Dhaka City Corporation has decided to sell a Tk 3 crore electric cremator at Postogola crematorium as it remained out of order for 21 years, said the corporation officials.

The corporation sources said the device was the only of its kind in the country which had gone out of order just a

few weeks after being installed at the crematory.

The chief social welfare officer Khandker Millatul Islam told New Age that he was unable to give any information about the cremator as the crematorium was maintained by the corporation's regional office of zone-1.

When approached, the zone's regional executive officer Bimal Chandra Das said that the electric cremator could not be used in its full capacity as very few dead bodies arrive at the crematory a day.

He said that daily one or two bodies arrived at Postogola crematorium on an average while the device could be cost effective if 20-25 bodies arrived a day because the cremator consumed a lot of electricity.

'I think, it has not been wise on the part of the corporation to install such an expensive device,' he said.

Bimal Chandra Das said that a few days ago the corporation had taken a decision to sell components of the device as they were decaying day by day.

The corporation also took a decision in principle to install two gas burners at the Postogola crematory, he added.

'The DCC has already invited tender for installing the gas burners but got no response yet as there is hardly any company experienced in operating gas burners at crematoria,' he said.  

The crematorium's caretaker Ratan Das told New Age that the corporation had set up the device in 1990 to modernise the process of cremation.

'The device took about four hours to heat up and another 30 to 40 minutes to burn a body and as a result we had to pay a high electricity bill,' he said.

Ratan Das also said frequent power outages interrupted the burning process contributing to the increased electricity bill.

'Charge for cremation of a body is between Tk 1,500 and Tk 2,000 while most of the families could not afford the expenses,' he said.

He said that despite repeated reminder, the corporation had not taken any steps to solve the problem.

Source: New Age

Young man commits suicide over stock losses

A young man has committed suicide allegedly after losing huge amount of money in share trade as the market crashed recently.

Rony Zaman, 23, committed suicide by hanging in his rented house at Arichpur in Tongi near Dhaka on Saturday night. His body was brought to his parents late on Sunday night for burial at family graveyard in Pirojpur town.

Lamenting the death Rony's mother Shaharannussa said share market crash had taken away the life of her son. She said her son during telephonic talks from Dhaka expressed worries and used to cry at the loss of about Tk 5 lakh in the share business.

His newly married wife Ananya Zaman, teacher of a primary school in Gaibandha, burst into tears saying Rony could not withstand the shock of loss of money. He committed suicide with the feeling that he would never be able to repay the money he borrowed and invested in the share market.

Source: New Age

Amendment to ICT Act challenged

A Supreme Court lawyer on Monday filed a public interest litigation, challenging the legality of the incorporation of a new provision amending the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 in 2009 to make it possible to try any person or group of persons on charge of committing war crimes in 1971.

In the writ petition the lawyer, Md Rezaul Karim, said that by inclusion of the new provision to try individuals or groups besides members of the defence and auxiliary forces and prisoners of war, the fundamental right

of the individual to move the Supreme Court for any remedy has been taken away.

The petition also said, 'The insertion of the words — any 'individual' or 'group of individuals' — in the Act of 1973 by its amendment in 2009 is a violation of Article 47 (3) of the Constitution which stipulates that the fundamental rights can only be taken away from four categories of people, which include members of the armed, defence and auxiliary forces and prisoners of war.'

The writ petition said that due to incorporation of the terms 'any individual' or 'group of individuals', about 70 million people of 1971 have become vulnerable and subjected to prosecution, which was not contemplated in Article 47(3) of the Constitution.

Rezaul Karim also challenged the incorporation of another provision in the Act which permits the appointment of Supreme Court judges as chairmen or members of the International Crimes Tribunal for holding war crimes trials.

The petition also said that the inclusion of the provision for appointing Supreme Court judges to the Tribunal as members or chairmen was also violation of Article 94(3) of the Constitution which permits the High Court judges to sit only in the HC division.

Source: New Age

Improving human resources main concerns for LDCs: Hasina

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has said enhancing productive capacities and improving human resources to get benefit from globalisation are the main concerns for the least developed countries.

She highlighted the concerns while speaking as the key-note speaker at the thematic session on 'enhancing productive capacity of the LDCs' at Lutfi Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Centre in Istanbul on Monday.

The thematic debate was co-chaired by foreign affairs minister of Senegal Madicke Niang and under-secretary of state of development policy and cooperation Ritva Koukku-Ronde.

Joseph Deiss (Switzerland), president of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly, UN Conference on Trade and Development secretary general Supachai Panitchpakdi, under-secretary general and executive secretary of ESCAP Noeleen Heyzer, director general of UNIDO Kandeh K Yumkella, director general of World Intellectual Property Organisation Francis Gurry, executive director of ILO Juan Somavia, and deputy secretary general of International Telecommunications Union Houlin Zhao also spoke at the session.

Hasina urged all to discard past myopic strategies and opt for a win-win arrangement benefiting all.

She said the first Action Plan of the LDCs in '80s recognised that LDCs must produce more goods and services to escape from poverty and deprivation.

'To be able to do so, LDCs would need to improve human resources, ensure macro-economic stability, enhance trade and establish good governance.'

The prime minister mentioned that after the first LDCs' Action Plan, both the LDCs and development partners made a specific commitment to enhance the productive capacity of the LDCs.

In this regard, she said to enhance productive capacities and improve human resources, the LDCs required investment, manpower training, transfer of knowledge and also resources.

'Primarily, inadequate resources in the form of development assistance and investment, and insufficient access to trade and integration in the market of developed countries, have hampered development of infrastructure, manpower development and hence the productive capacity of the LDCs.'

Hasina also said restraining the transfer of technology and of the accompanying knowledge and skills also added to retarding development of the LDCs.

Citing example of Bangladesh, she said in order to enhance productive capacity and take advantage of the globalisation process, the government had strived to frame appropriate monetary, fiscal, trade and investment policies and initiatives in infrastructure, power, energy, communications and transport sectors.

'We've also progressed reasonably well in human resource development, social safety nets, micro-credit in alleviating poverty, domestic resource mobilisation, transforming our agriculture and rural economy by integrating the domestic market, and making technological advance.'

The prime minister also said the present government lately introduced public private partnership for development activities, and was seeking FDI and remittance from expatriate Bangladeshis to meet the domestic gap.

To develop the LDCs from their precarious situation, she urged the Istanbul Programme of Action to include a structure of genuine commitment for a reinforced partnership between the LDCs and the development partners to ensure production of more goods and services in the LDCs.

Hasina said she believed that improvement of the economies of LDCs meant improvement of their purchasing power, and becoming stronger and more viable markets for the developed countries.

Source: New Age

995 bullets seized in Sherpur

The police have recovered 995 bullets from Bankakurha cluster village in Jhenaigati upazila in less than five months into the seizure of a huge cache of ammunition from the same village.

Police superintendent Mohammed Anisur Rahman said Ashraful Islam, 26, of Dupuria village, had been arrested in connection with the latest recovery of ammunition from the house of Mohammad Ali, alias Ali Chora, 30, of Bankakurha on Monday morning.

He said Ali had been arrested from the Sherpur district headquarters on Sunday and the drive in his house had been conducted based on his statement to the police.

Islam was arrested following Ali's information after the recovery of the bullets, he added.

A joint team of the Jhenaigati police and a detective unit, led by assistant police superintendent (circle) Mohammed Salah Uddin Shikder, conducted the drive around 6:00am.

'The joint team recovered the 995 bullets of rifles, wrapped in a polythene sack, from a hole in the house,' Rahman said.

Detective Branch's assistant sub-inspector Sajib Khan filed an arms case with the Jhenaigati police station.

Jhenaigati police officer Abdur Rob Pradhan said Ali was accused in eight cases, including one for robbery.

Ali told reporters at the police station that he had been unaware of the ammunition.

Earlier on December 18 last year, 13,680 rounds of sub-machine gun bullets were recovered from an abandoned house at Bankakurha.

Border Guard Bangladesh had claimed that the ammunition belonged to Indian outlawed separatist group United Liberation Front of Assam.

Source: New Age

Govt agencies pay back Tk 628cr ADP funds

A number of ministries and divisions have refunded to the finance ministry Tk 628 crore allocated to them under the current Annual Development Programme as they failed to implement efficiently, accurately or to the end the development projects the money was meant to

fund, planning ministry sources told New Age on Monday.

The communications ministry refunded to the public exchequer the highest amount of Tk 92.5 crore, followed by the housing and public works ministry sending back

Tk 86.8 crore, the sources said. The allocation

made for the communications ministry in the original ADP was Tk 4,613 crore and that for the housing and public works ministry Tk 599 crore, they added.

Among the other government agencies, the Election Commission Secretariat paid back Tk 73.47 crore of unutilised development funds, water resources ministry Tk 36.89 crore, industries ministry Tk 55.78 crore, liberation war affairs ministry Tk 10 crore, energy and mineral resources division Tk 16.64 crore, Internal Resource Division Tk 16.8 crore, and expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry Tk 7 crore.

A planning ministry official said, 'Some ministries and divisions have returned Tk 628 crore allocated funds. The main reason for doing this is weak implementation of projects.'

The official said the refunded parts of the allocations would be given to the ministries and divisions that needed additional funds to execute other ADP projects.

'The amount of allocations made to the government bodies will be updated in the revised ADP. The ministry has already set the revised ADP at Tk 35,130 crore, trimming the original Tk 38,000 crore ADP by Tk 2,870 crore,' said another planning ministry official.

Among the government agencies short-listed for receiving additional

development allocations, Power Division will get Tk 400 crore, local government and rural development ministry Tk 30.51 crore, Food Division Tk 15 crore, fisheries and livestock ministry Tk 7.28 crore, and Disaster Management Division Tk 3.37 crore.

The sector-wise allocations in the revised ADP are likely to be approved in the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.

Source: New Age

Euro steadies as Greek euro exit fears calm

AP, LONDON, May 9: The euro steadied Monday as a string of official denials calmed investor fears of a Greek exit from the common currency.

It became increasingly apparent, however, that Greece will need to ask for more money or easier terms for paying back a euro110 billion ($160 billion) European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout package it was given last May.

"We think that Greece does need a further adjustment programme," Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said after a Friday evening meeting with the Greek, French, German, Italian and French finance ministers, along with the EU's monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.

Officials vehemently rejected a report from German magazine Der Spiegel that the country was seeking to exit the eurozone and bring back the drachma. Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said Greece was working on what to do over the coming two years given that the markets appear closed.

"In essence this will surprise no one; it had already become apparent that Greece probably cannot meet its debt obligations over the next couple of years without further assistance," said Jane Foley, senior currency strategist at Rabobank International.

"Rather than return to the market next year as the original bailout has assumed, is now seems fairly likely that Greece will instead ask for more funds from the EU," Foley added.

There were concerns in the markets that the EU's policymakers and institutions are once again struggling to keep up with broader market developments. The markets are clearly of the view that Greece will have to restructure its debts in some form or another, voluntarily or involuntarily — the yield on the 10-year bond was up another 0.11 percentage points at a staggering 15.62 percent.

At present, the eurozone rules don't allow for a restructuring until 2013 at the earliest.

"The chain of events is increasingly proving the limits of the EU's muddle-through strategy," said Christian Carrillo, an analyst at Societe Generale.

By early morning London time, the euro was up 0.3 percent on the day at $1.4416. In late European trading Friday, the single currency slid to a low of $1.4306 from around $1.45 before the euro exit speculation mushroomed.

Softbank reports robust earnings on smartphones

Ap, TOKYO, May 9: Softbank Corp., the only Japanese mobile carrier offering the hit iPhone, said annual profit nearly doubled despite suffering damage from the March 11 quake and tsunami that battered northeastern Japan.

Softbank, which did not break down quarterly numbers, reported Monday that profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 swelled to 189.71 billion yen ($2.37 billion) from 96.72 billion yen the previous year.

It said the increase was driven by a booming smart phone business that offset a special loss of 14 billion yen ($175 million) caused by the disasters.

Those losses were from fixing telecommunications networks and equipment destroyed by the magnitude-9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami, as well as offering free services to those in the disaster zone whose mobile phones were out of operation for any period, according to Softbank.

The Tokyo-based Internet and communications conglomerate said sales for the fiscal year climbed nearly 9 percent to a company record 3 trillion yen ($37.5 billion) from 2.76 trillion yen.

Separately, Softbank said it had invested $62.5 million in Gilt Groupe Inc., which operates an online shopping service, offering fashion clothing. Softbank has also agreed to acquire 50 percent of the Japan subsidiary of Gilt Groupe, to accelerate its expansion in Japan, it said.

Softbank, long the underdog in Japan's telecom industry, has seen its fortunes improve in recent years with the popularity of the iPhone and iPad from Apple Inc.

Its founder and president Masayoshi Son, often praised as the Bill Gates of Japan for having pushed Internet businesses, has been outspoken in criticizing the government's recent handling of the nuclear reactor crisis that was spawned by the tsunami.

Son, who owns 21 percent of Softbank Corp., has donated 10 billion yen ($125 million) toward the disaster effort, in addition to the 1 billion yen ($12.5 million) donated by Softbank Group.

"We want to be the kind of company that is liked by society," he told a news conference.

Son said sales results show Softbank is growing in the mobile business at a time when its two major rivals in Japan, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp. were strugggling to grow. Softbank mobile users had grown from 15 million in 2005 to 25.4 million today, said Son.

"Our numbers were all good," he said of the earnings results.

Son said Softbank has gotten over the damage to its bottom line from massive broadband investments it made six or seven years ago.

But he promised to make key investments in response to complaints that Softbank cell phones had poor connections, instead of chasing immediate profit growth.

He said the company will invest 500 billion yen ($6.25 billion) this year in equipment, and another 500 billion yen ($6.25 billion) in 2012. Softbank invested 420 billion yen ($5.25) last year, he said.

Softbank did not disclose sales numbers for the iPhone or iPad in Japan. But long lines have formed outside stores whenever new models have arrived. Son said the new white iPhone 4, as well as the iPad 2, which both went on sale in Japan on April 28, were proving popular.

The company did not give a forecast for this year.

About 19 percent of Softbank's telecommunications equipment nationwide was damaged by the March 11 quake and tsunami, but nearly all of it has been fixed, including using substitute satellite connections, Son said.

In the long term, Son said he was banking on growth in Asia, and positioning Softbank group companies to become No. 1 in the region in the Internet business, with strategic investments, such as Renren Inc., which runs an online social network in China.

Softbank shares edged down 0.8 percent to 3,230 yen ($40) in Tokyo, shortly before the earnings were announced.

Asia shares boosted by US jobs growth, Europe down

AP, BANGKOK, May 9: Better-than-expected growth in U.S. jobs and a bounce back in commodity prices led to modest gains in Asian markets Monday, but Europe opened broadly lower amid concerns over Greece's debt crisis.

Oil rose above $100 a barrel, regaining some ground after last week's plunge. In currencies, the dollar weakened against the euro but was up against the yen.

The possibility that Greece — mired in recession because of austerity measures — may need more time to repay its debts, weighed on markets in Europe. Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.3 percent lower to 5,959.40. Germany's DAX slipped 0.9 percent to 7,431.45 and France's CAC-40 lost 0.9 percent to 4,022.36.

Wall Street appeared set for a higher opening, however, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 46 points to 12,615 and S&P 500 futures 5.4 points higher to 1,340.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that private employers hired 268,000 people in April, the most since February 2006. Taking into account job cuts of government workers, the economy added a total of 244,000 jobs overall last month, well above the 185,000 jobs that analysts had predicted and easing worries that the economic recovery was faltering.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8 percent to 23,336, with retail, raw materials and energy companies among the leaders. Anhui Conch Cement Co. Ltd. rose 2.9 percent and PetroChina Co. Ltd., the publicly traded unit of China's biggest oil and gas company, was 1.7 percent higher.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent to 4,756.80, with BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, gaining 0.4 percent and rival Rio Tinto Ltd. up 0.6 percent.

A rebound in oil and commodities following last week's slide gave investors the confidence to wade back into shares, said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

"There were oversold sectors — sold off on concerns that overall, the markets would crash. But everything is stabilizing, so investors are buying," Wong said.

But Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average ran into headwinds as the country struggles to rebuild following the March earthquake and tsunami. Down 0.7 percent at 9,794.38, the index has lost 4 percent since the March 11 disasters killed more than 25,000 people, destroyed towns, upended a nuclear power plant and washed away entire industries.

Shares of Chubu Electric Power Co., which operates the Hamaoka nuclear plant along Japan's Pacific coast, plunged 10.3 percent after the government asked the company to shut three reactors while the utility builds a seawall and improves backup systems to protect the reactors from a major earthquake and tsunami.

Nuclear energy provides more than one-third of Japan's electricity, and shutting the three reactors would likely worsen power shortages expected this summer.

South Korea's Kospi finished lower, by 0.4 percent lower at 2,139.17.

Mainland Chinese shares edged higher as investors snapped up bargains after last week's big losses.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 2,872.46 and the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.7 percent to 1,203.07. Shares in nuclear energy and railways led the gains.

"Nuclear shares led the advance because of reports that approvals for nuclear projects might resume by August," said Yang Yining, an analyst at Capital-edge Investment & Management, based in Shanghai. China halted approvals of new nuclear plants in March after the tsunami crippled Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

On Wall Street on Friday, better-than-expected job growth helped send shares higher after a four-day slump.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 54.57 points to close at 12,638.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.10 to 1,340.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 12.84 to 2,827.56.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was up $2.96 to $100.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.62 to settle at $97.18 on Friday.

The euro rose to $1.4406 after tumbling to $1.4337 late Friday in New York. The dollar strengthened to 80.66 yen from 80.58 yen.

Central Japan nuclear plant to temporarily close

AP, TOKYO, May 9: The operator of a coastal nuclear power plant agreed Monday to the Japanese government's request to shutter three reactors there until it builds a seawall and other tsunami protections.

Chubu Electric Power Co. acted at a special board meeting after Prime Minister Naoto Kan requested the temporary shutdown at the Hamaoka plant amid concerns a earthquake magnitude 8.0 or higher could strike the region within 30 years.

The government acted after evaluating Japan's 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability after the March 11 disasters that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan.

"We understand that the prime minister's request is based on increased concerns over nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident," Chubu Electric President Akihisa Mizuno said at a news conference.

About 79,800 people live within a 6-mile (10-kilometer) radius of the Hamaoka plant about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Tokyo.

Nuclear energy provides more than one-third of Japan's electricity, and shutting the Hamaoka plant is likely to exacerbate power shortages expected this summer.

The three reactors account for more than 10 percent of Chubu's power supply. The Hamaoka plant is a key power provider to central Japan, including nearby Aichi, home of Toyota Motor Corp.

Since the March 11 disasters, Chubu Electric drew safety measures that include building a 40-foot-high (12-meter) seawall nearly a mile (1.5 kilometers) long over the next two to three years, company officials said. Chubu also promised to install more emergency backup generators and other equipment and improve the water tightness of the reactor buildings.

The Hamaoka plant lacks a concrete sea barrier now. Sand hills between the ocean and the plant are up to 50 feet (15 meters) high, deemed enough to defend against a tsunami around 26 feet (8 meters) high, officials said.

The government earlier estimated the improvements to the Hamaoka plant could take two years.