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The European Commission believes that Bangladesh’s exports are still exposed to vulnerability for “overwhelming dependency” on a single item of readymade garments, as well as for stiff competition from the neighbouring countries.
   ‘There are indications that Bangladesh may face problems from neighbouring countries,’ Esko Kentrschynskyj, the Commission’s Ambassador in Dhaka, told journalists, adding that the commission wants to assist least developed countries like Bangladesh in improving their trade-related technical capacity.
   The European Union consumes for more than half of Bangladesh’s exports, especially readymade garments, and export growth was 16.6 per cent in 2004 and 12 per cent in 2003. Current average volume of export from Bangladesh to the EU is worth 4 billion euros against imports valued one billion euros.
   ‘Having a narrow range of exportable products, Bangladesh needs to diversity its exports and it requires policy measures,’ Kentrschynskyj told a press conference on the eve of the Europe Day-2005 at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Sunday.
   He, however, expressed optimism that Bangladesh would be benefited when the European Union’s new generalised system of preference (GSP) would take into effect from next July. Also, he pointed out that they are taking other measures to help Bangladesh.
   ‘We are keen to least developed countries like Bangladesh, which are under the threats of being marginalised.’
   Kees Beemsterboer, the Netherlands Ambassador to Bangladesh, announced that the European Union would provide Bangladesh with 480 million euro as development grants this year.
   The EU assistance in the previous year ranged between 400 million euros and 450 million euros.
   German Ambassador Dietrich Andreas informed the press that his country is going to resume negotiation with the government for bilateral assistance programme from next June.

Price of edible oil has been on the rise over the last two weeks which market sources attributed to syndicated manipulation by a section of importers and refiners.
   Prices of loose palm and soybean oils increased by Tk 50 to Tk 120 per maund (37.3 kilogram) during the period, said market sources.
   Price of ordinary grade palm oil rose to Tk 1270-1280 a maund at Maulvibazar on Saturday from Tk 1240 a week back and Tk 1210-1220 two weeks before.
   The ‘super palm,’ a fine grade palm oil that makes up over 60 per cent edible oil marketed as soybean, rose to Tk 1410 per maund on the day from Tk 1350 a week back and Tk1290 two weeks before.
   Price of loose soybean oil increased to Tk 1650 per maund on Saturday from Tk 1590-1600 two weeks back.
   Retail market has also started mirroring the wholesale price jump, adding Tk 1-2 to the loose oil price per kilogram.
   Country’s monthly consumption of edible oils is about 90,000 tonnes and at least two-thirds are met by loose palm and super palm oils, said traders at Maulvibazar, country’s largest market for edible oils.
   They said during the summer, light and clear palm oils are usually sold in retail market in the name of soybean. Refiners take the advantage of price gap in summer when low-cost palm oil is not solidified and can easily be labelled as soybean oil, they said.
   Some popular brands of edible oils like Rupchanda have also started revising price of canned oils upward by Tk 2 on an average per litre.
   ‘Price hike this time is a syndicated manipulation by importers and they do it often,’ said a trader at Maulvibazar.
   Importers and refiners have tightened supply of oils despite satisfactory stocks and stable prices in international market.
   Fakhrul Alam, country manager of the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MOPC), Bangladesh chapter said that country’s edible oil stock is satisfactory at 1.5 lakh tonnes including 1 lakh tonnes of palm oil as of May 1.
   Asked about the reason of the recent price hike of edible oils in local market, Alam said, ‘Refiners may be adjusting the prices to offset their additional import cost when oil prices hiked international market a month back.’
   Crude soybean and palm oils were traded at $540 and $440 respectively in the international market at the end of the last week, which was stable for the previous two weeks, Alam said.
   In the previous couple of weeks, price increased by $50 per tonne in international market he said.
   Country’s edible oil market is controlled by a syndicate of 9 to 10 importers and refiners based in Dhaka and Chittagong, market sources said.

The government is likely to start a project to double the capacity of Eastern Refinery in Chittagong and set up a desulphurisation plant by the next fiscal year.
   The energy and mineral resources division decided on Sunday to merge two Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) projects to double the refinery’s capacity and to set up the plant, as planned in 2001.
   The division asked the BPC to prepare a project proposal of Tk 1,700 crore for increasing the refinery’s capacity to 30 lakh tonnes a year from 15 lakh tonnes, and set up the desulphurisation plant to remove sulphur from petroleum products.
   The demand for petroleum products including diesel, kerosene, petrol, octane and jet fuel in the country is 38 lakh tonnes a year. Of them, about 12 lakh to 15 lakh tonnes are produced in the refinery by refining imported crude petroleum, while the remaining volume is imported as finished products.
   A meeting of the division, chaired by the state minister for energy and mineral resources, AKM Mosharraf Hossain, observed that if the capacity of the refinery could be doubled, import of finished petroleum products would be reduced to 7-8 lakh tonnes a year.
   Around $8 could be saved for each barrel of petroleum products if the crude oil is refined at the refinery, observed the meeting.
   Besides, the amount of sulphur in the crude petroleum could be reduced at the refinery for producing environment-friendly petroleum products, said the meeting.
   The meeting was told that Tk 1,100 crore would be sought from development partners and Tk 230 crore from the government, while BPC would provide Tk 370 crore for the project.
   The investment would be returned in 5 to 6 years as a huge amount of foreign currency would be saved by not importing finished products.
   Mosharraf told New Age that he had asked BPC officials to prepare the project proposal as soon as possible. ‘It will be sent to the Planning Commission soon,’ he said.
   He said that the project might be placed for inclusion in the revised budget of the next fiscal year, subject to approval of the executive committee of the National Economic Council.
   ‘We are hoping that the project will be started by the next fiscal year,’ he said.
   The minister said that they might approach the Islamic Development Bank for the project’s fund.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Sunday reiterated that the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh Ltd should play more active role in stabilising the capital market and defusing the fears that still haunt investors.
   The stock market watchdog made the call while discussing the prevailing market situation with the state-owned securities investment institution.
   ‘Today’s meeting was the follow-up of Thursday’s one. We asked them [ICB] to play more stabilising role since it is a leading market player,’ the SEC chairman, Mirza Azizul Islam, told New Age.
   The commission also advised the ICB to be more careful about its loan margin to avoid any pro-cyclical effect, he said, adding that the SEC will soon set margin guidelines specifying lending limits for the institutions.
   The ICB informed the commission that it has already increased the volume of share purchase during the past few days, said a top official of the commission.
   Market observers, however, believe that as some of the major institutional players are still playing hooky, leading the market towards instability and creating panic among investors through aggressive sales of shares.
   After a drastic fall on last Monday, DSE general index recovered 155 points to 1590 on Thursday.
   However, stocks opened the week with pessimistic note as share prices fell or the second straight session on Sunday with index closing at 1536.96 points.

A three-day Mega Expo’2005 began on Sunday to popularise export-oriented products like construction materials and electronic equipment.
   The exhibition held at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel was formally opened by former adviser to caretaker government Begum Rokeya Afzal Rahman.
   About 86 stalls have been set up in the exhibition venue where 56 companies under three different categories are displaying their products.
   The inaugural function was attended by CEMS Managing Director Meherun N Islam and Director Shahed S Sarwar.
   The entry fee for the exhibition is Tk 10 for each person.

Bangladesh received spot orders worth US$22 million for export of seafood during the three-day European Seafood Exposition 2005 in Brussels on April 26-28.
   Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association (BFFEA), and Seafood Exporters and Buying Agents Association of Bangladesh apprised Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of the orders secured in course of negotiation, said an EPB statement today (Sunday).

Shares of the In Tech Online Ltd will be traded electronically through the central depository system from May 22.
   The Securities and Exchange Commission on Sunday gave the IT Company the go-ahead to convert its paper shares into scrip-less ones.
   With the inclusion of this, the number of scrip-less securities will be 57 with around 10.7 crore shares in the category A.
   As per the declaration, no paper shares of the company will be accepted at the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchange with the introduction of the electronic trading, a SEC statement said.
   Shares of the company will be traded at spot market on May 17 while their trading will remain suspended from May 18 to 21 to complete the de-mat process.

National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd signed a loan agreement with Credit and Development Forum at the bank’s head office in Dhaka recently, says a press release.
   Under the agreement, the NCCBL will provide Tk 1 crore credit facility to the CDF for undertaking resource linkage micro-credit programme.
   Kazi Md Shafiqur Rahman, additional managing director of NCCBL and Abdul Mannan, executive director of the CDF, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
   The NCCBL managing director, Md Nurul Amin and other senior executives of the bank and CDF were also present in the signing ceremony.

Prime Bank Limited observed its 10th founting anniversary on Thursday, says a press release.
   To mark the occasion, the bank arranged a programme titled ‘Family Night’.
   Marina Yasmin Chowdhury, former director of the bank, inaugurated the function by cutting a cake.
   Former and current chairmen, directors and all executives of the bank were present at the programme with their spouses.
   Azam J Chowdhury, chairman of the bank and Qazi Saleemul Huq MP, chairman of the bank’s executive committee, were present as chief guest and special guest respectively.
   Azam J Chowdhury, chairman, board of directors, Qazi Saleemul Huq MP, chairman of the executive committee and M Shahjahan Bhuiyan, managing director, spoke on the occasion.
   Saheda Pervin Trisa, director, Manash Kumar Ghosh, secretary and executive vice-president of the bank conducted thefunction.
   A cultural programme was also arranged on the occasion and it was followed by a dinner.

SA Chowdhury has recently joined Union Capital Limited as managing director, says a press release.
   Earlier, Chowdhury served as the managing director of Jamuna Bank Ltd.
   He was also the managing director of Sonali Bank and Janata Bank, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Shangstha and Bangladesh Krishi Bank and the deputy managing director of Agrani Bank.
   Graduated from the Institute of Business Adminstration of Dhaka University, Chowdhury has a long management experience in the areas of banking, credit and financial management, corporate planning, capital market development, organisation development and reforms.

Janata Bank signed a remittance agreement with South Korea’ Woori Bank, Dhaka branch, on Sunday, says a press release.
   Mahbubul Huq Choudhuiy, deputy general manager, overseas banking division, Janata Bank head office and Jin Wan Kwon, deputy general manager of Woori Bank, Dhaka branch, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.
   The agreement will help in facilitating remittance inflow from South Korea, the release said.
   Janata Bank has expanded its network globally by establishing such arrangements for collecting remittances of Bangladeshi expatriates in different countries.

A dealers’ conference of Paradise Cables Ltd was held in Dhaka recently, says a press release.
   The chairman of Paradise Group, Md Mosharraf Hossain, presided over the programme titled ‘Dealers’ Night’ held at BDR Darbar Hall.
   The managing director of the Group, Md Mubarak Hossain, the director of Paradise Marketing Ltd., Habibur Rahman Khan and the deputy general manager (marketing) of Paradise Cables Ltd., AKM Ahsanul Haque, among others, spoke on the occasion.

A workshop on ‘scheduled bank statistics’ organised by Pubali Bank Training Institute was held in Dhaka recently, says a press release.
   The deputy managing director of Pubali Bank Ltd., Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, attended the workshop as chief guest.
   In his speech, Helal Ahmed urged the managers of the bank to send monthly SBS to the Pubali Bank head office timely so that the bank can send it to Bangladesh Bank in time.
   The principal of the bank’s training institute, Badruddin Ahmed, and the assistant general manager of the bank, Shushil Kumar Paul, were present on the occasion.

Higher oil prices are creating major problems for Asian countries which subsidise fuel costs, threatening economic growth if the subsidies are kept in place and consumer outrage if they are not.
   Malaysia raised the price of fuel between seven per cent and 23 per cent last week in a bid to cut the soaring cost of government subsidies, but analysts warned the country could face a ‘double whammy’ in the form of a slowdown in the growth rate and a hike in inflation.
   Subsidies for petroleum cost the government 4.8 billion ringgit (1.2 billion dollars) last year and would reach 8.9 billion this year if prices were not increased to help cope with rising international oil costs, the government said.
   A diesel shortage crippled Malaysia’s transport industry last month after the government introduced a quota system in an attempt to curb smuggling of the heavily-subsidised fuel to neighbouring Thailand.
   Thailand began subsidising fuel in January 2004, but the scheme quickly became a budget-buster as world oil prices kept rising.
   Petrol subsidies were scrapped after nine months, and the government in March reduced its diesel subsidy, sending prices at the pump jumping by 20 per cent.
   Thailand has spent 84.7 billion baht (2.1 billion dollars) on both petrol and deisel subsidies.
   In India, the government has been trying to keep a cap on inflation in the face of rising global oil prices.
   Fuel cost rises can be political dynamite in a country where around one quarter of the population of more than one billion live on less than a dollar a day, but oil subsidies weigh heavily on the Indian budget and attempts to contain a soaring budget deficit.
   The government resorts to ‘off-budget’ subsidies for specific products like diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas.
   It subsidises the cost of LPG and kerosene, used largely by India’s rural poor, by charging more for gasoline used by more affluent car and vehicle owners.
   But that hasn’t managed to cover costs as demand for the cheaper fuel grows as firms and consumers mix it with gasoline.
   The government estimated the cost of the subsidy at three billion dollars in the fiscal year ended March 31.
   In Indonesia, despite strong opposition from the public and in parliament, the government increased fuel prices by between 22 and 47 per cent to help cut costly subsidies as of March 1.
   The price of kerosene, mainly used by low-income families for cooking and so a very sensitive commodity, was not raised.
   Top economy minister Abu Rizal Bakrie said after the announcement that the cash-strapped government was forced to act after having to spend some 61 trillion rupiah (6.4 billion dollars) on subsidies in 2004.
   The 2005 target for the subsidies was set at 39 trillion rupiah (4.2 billion dollars).
   Last year’s fuel subsidy spending exceeded the initial budget amount by more than four times because of higher than expected world oil prices.
   The subsidies had also led to rampant smuggling to Singapore and to East Timor, officials and police have said.
   The Asian Development Bank said last month that state subsidies on oil products were doing great harm and barely any good in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
   The Manila-based ADB urged its four member-countries to scale back subsidies and align prices with the market.
   ‘Current market conditions should be taken as an excellent reason to push through with reform, as the fiscal costs rise and as the escalation in the oil price may be more than just transitory,’ it said in its annual publication Asian Development Outlook.

US companies managed for the large part to beat Wall Street expectations this quarterly earnings season even if their performances did not manage to lift the stock market out of its lethargy.
   With nearly all of the companies listed on the Standard and Poor’s 500 index having given their results for the first quarter, profits are on average up 13.6 per cent over the same period last year.
   That compares to consensus forecasts for a rise of just 8.6 per cent over the year, so America Inc. would appear to be in far more vigorous health than previously credited by analysts.
   ‘It’s an enormous ramp-up,’ commented David Dropsey, an analyst at the financial information agency Thomson Financial, the source of the comparative figures for this earnings season.
   But while the corporate earnings news overall was better than expected, US stock markets failed to liven up during the quarter.
   Dropsey noted that normally, positive earnings news is ‘one of the key drivers of the market’, but indices like the Dow Jones and Nasdaq benchmarks failed to rally.
   Investors appeared to be more concerned with signs of flagging economic growth, high oil prices and successive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the period, he said.
   Two-thirds of companies did stronger than expected in forecasts by investment houses published before the earnings season got under way.
   The best performances came from producers of raw materials and chemicals, with profits in the latter sector averaging a stunning 68 per cent increase over last year.
   Dow Chemical for instance nearly tripled its earnings on turnover that was up a quarter.
   Helped by record-high oil prices for much of the period, energy groups were also stars of the earnings season.
   Energy broker Raymond James said the sector’s average profits were up 45 per cent, even if some individual oil majors like ExxonMobil did worse than expected.
   Financial groups, which were predicted to do less well this time round, were one of the surprises with their earnings actually going up 10 per cent on average.
   Profits at technology companies were 15 per cent higher on average.
   Standard and Poor’s analyst Ken Shay said that demand for personal computers ‘isn’t very robust’ but demand for tech services is. ‘Companies like EMC, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM should continue to benefit from this trend,’ he said.
   For most semiconductor makers, Shay said, ‘things looks a bit low’. Nevertheless, Intel Corp. managed a surprisingly strong first quarter and on Friday pledged double-digit revenue growth this year.

As growing concerns about dwindling global reserves help maintain oil prices close to the $50 a barrel mark, a major supply route linking newly developed oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea with western markets is due to be opened.
   Within the next few weeks, oil from the Caspian will start flowing into a 1,762 kilometres long pipeline.
   The pipeline will run from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, via near Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and across eastern Turkey to the port of Ceyhan, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
   The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is being built by a consortium of companies led by energy giant BP.
   The project, costing an estimated $3.6bn (£1.9bn), is described by BP as the world's biggest energy scheme. Just to fill a pipeline of such length with oil will take up to five months.
   'Building work is generally progressing on schedule,' says a BP spokesperson in Baku.
   'We expect to be loading tankers in Ceyhan with Caspian crude before the end of the year.'
   The pipeline project is highly controversial.
   Governments involved have welcomed the project.
   The whole region needs this pipeline,' says Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan's president.
   However, from long before work started on the pipeline in early 2003, concerns were raised about running it through such a volatile political region.
   In Azerbaijan, the pipeline goes close to the ceasefire line separating the forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia, its neighbour and bitter enemy to the west.
   The two countries are locked in a bloody territorial dispute and, despite the ceasefire, clashes often occur.
   Elsewhere en-route, concern has been raised about the pipeline's vulnerability to attack from anti government groups.
   Georgia battles various separatist conflicts, while in Turkey the pipeline skirts the heartlands of Kurdish areas.
   'We have secured the pipeline to the highest standards,' insists Tamam Bayatly, BP's communications manager in Baku.
   'Governments involved are responsible for security. The pipeline is buried and no one will be able to see where it runs.
   'Unarmed local people, trained by BP, will guard the length of the pipeline.'
   Non-governmental organisations have complained.
   Some about human rights being abused, others about the pipeline's environmental impact.
   Green groups question the presence of such a project in what is a highly active seismic zone, saying any rupture of the pipeline would cause widespread damage.
   In Georgia in particular there have been strong protests about the pipeline's route through the Borjomi Valley, one of the country's most scenic areas and a centre of tourism.
   'I cannot say that there are not any problems,' says Faig Askerov, who monitors the environmental impact of the project for BP.
   'We use technology that makes the minimum impact on the environment. We are not ideal, but we're good.'
   Western governments and financial institutions have given strong backing to the project.
   The United States has given significant political support, seeing the pipeline as a way of transporting vital energy supplies out of the Caspian, avoiding alternative routes to the south through Iran, or to the north through Russia.
   But Russia has been unhappy with the project, seeing it as further evidence of the West seeking to exert power and influence in an area Moscow has traditionally seen as its own backyard.
   The Caspian Sea's oil and gas riches have long been known, but difficulties in transporting energy reserves to markets outside the landlocked area have been a handicap to further exploration work.
   BP says the pipeline is the solution to the problem, but critics say the future is uncertain, insisting that the pipeline is a big gamble in an unstable region.

A strong British economy under the stewardship of finance minister Gordon Brown is widely recognised as the major factor behind a third successive general election victory for Prime Minister Tony Blair.
   Labour Party leader Blair clinched an unprecedented third term on Friday, but a sharply reduced majority owing to voter anger at the Iraq war has left many political pundits believing Brown would replace his boss sooner rather than later.
   But whether Brown remains as chancellor of the exchequer or takes over the running of the country, economists agree on one thing—Britain’s economy is about to slow down.
   ‘There is no denying that in recent years the UK economy has been among the best performing in the industrialised world,’ Standard Chartered economist Gavin Redknap said.
   ‘While Labours first two terms were associated with a strengthening economy, its third is likely to be associated with a weakening one.’
   In particular, the Labour government has given rise to fears it may have to raise taxes soon.
   Brown would likely be ‘forced to raise taxes further if, as we expect, tax revenues disappoint as the economy fails to grow at the pace currently projected by the Treasury’, Redknap said.
   The British economy grew by 3.1 per cent in 2004, outperforming European neighbours France and Germany.
   British gross domestic product was expected to grow by between 3.0-3.5 per cent this year, Brown indicated in his budget speech in March.
   But the longest-serving finance chief to serve Britain without interruption, Brown could soon be leaving management of the purse strings to somebody else.

A three-month government program designed to grant unregistered immigrant workers in Spain legal status ran out Saturday evening with the Socialist administration qualifying the scheme a great success.
   Some 40,000 people rushed to beat the 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) deadline, taking the total estimate to around 700,000
   people, according to calculations by Labour Minister Jesus Caldera.
   ‘The scheme has been a great success,’ Caldera told Spanish radio, forecasting that around 90 per cent of the parallel economy would surface thanks to the amnesty, designed to crack down on the black labour market.
   Secretary of State for Immigration Consuelo Rumi had earlier in the week noted that beneficiaries ‘will pay taxes and contribute towards social security,’ while rejecting calls by some pressure groups for the plan to be extended.
   ‘I think there’s been enough time’ to deal with the 672,347 demands for papers which had come in before Saturday, Rumi said.
   Caldera, who Friday had put at 800,000 the maximum number of immigrants who would be able to get papers under the amnesty, said 39,953 requests had been logged for Saturday for processing at 193 local authority centres dealing with the paperwork.
   He added that some centres would stay on ‘until midnight’ if necessary.
   But in many major cities, including Madrid, even by the end of the afternoon the queues of previous days had reduced to a trickle.
   Caldera said he estimated that non-working partners and dependents of those who obtain papers will number some 400,000 and that the government would seek to repatriate around 150,000 immigrants believed set to shun the scheme.
   Under the terms of the deal immigrants will only benefit if they have work contracts and had been living in the country at least six months before the program took effect.
   They must provide proof of registration with a local council prior to August 7 last year, show they have no criminal record and possess at least a six-month work contract.
   In the northeastern city of Barcelona, Enrique Mosquera, spokesman for the Assembly for the Unconditional Regularisation of those without papers, said around 120 people who do not meet the plan’s employment and residency requirements had embarked on a protest hunger strike.
   Also in Barcelona, Hakim, a Pakistani aged around 30, was reluctant to heed advice to join a queue in another office.
   ‘We’re used to them telling us one thing and then another,’ said Hakim, employed in Spain’s booming construction sector.
   ‘If I get the papers I’ll no longer work for 600 euros (750 dollars) a month but get a job from eight in the morning to six in the afternoon,’ he said.
   Horacio Juarez, a 27-year-old Uruguayan, said he was in
   Spain as ‘I saw no future in my country.
   ‘I came here at midnight as I thought things would go slowly. I brought sandwiches, a sheet and a thermos flask,’ he explained.
   The restaurant worker added that ‘the restaurant owner has gone to a lot of trouble to help get me legal.’
   Official figures put the total of unregistered non-Spanish nationals based in Spain at 1.7 million and after the one-off scheme runs out, the government is set to ramp up checks on illegal workers.
   Most of those who have applied are Ecuadorians (24.5 per cent), Romanians (16.5), Moroccans (11.5) and Colombians (9.5).

India’s second budget airline takes off Monday as the battle begins for the potentially enormous no-frills sector.
   Kingfisher Airlines, named after a beer and with models as flight attendants, is the first to challenge low-cost pioneer Air Deccan but five more budget carriers will be introduced over the next year.
   The new airline has a marketing strategy unashamedly aimed at attracting a new generation of ‘high-fliers’ by pampering them with top-quality entertainment at budget prices.
   ‘We have extremely attractive and well-trained flight attendants. We have a brand new fleet of aircraft. We have individual entertainment systems where every single seat has video screen,’ said Kingfisher beer baron Vijay Mallya, the owner of the new airline.
   ‘I believe this is a unique value proposition to the customers. And therefore, I am very sure of its success,’ he told AFP.
   The first flight will be Monday from India’s entertainment and financial capital Bombay to IT hub Bangalore.
   ‘If you look at the emerging India, by 2010 there will be a new generation of consumers of about 150 million,’ said Mallya.
   ‘Who are these people? These are youngsters who are earning money out of information technology, biotechnology, entrepreneurs ... people who have a much greater propensity to spend than when I was young.’
   With Air Deccan and Kingfisher due to be joined by Spice Air, Go Air, Indigo, Indus one and Air One in coming months, India’s skies could soon be getting crowded.
   Mallya, however, said there was ‘room for everybody’.
   He could be right. Aviation Minister Praful Patel has forecast 20 per cent annual growth in domestic and international air traffic, with passenger numbers due to hit 50 million in five years.

Sri Lanka's peace bid is in tatters, the coalition government is battling a mutiny, the economy is in trouble but despite all the bad news the stock market has turned into one of the world's top gainers.
   The tiny exchange has been hitting new record peaks virtually every day in recent weeks with the All Share price index now at 1,893.8 -- over 52 per cent higher than a year ago.
   'Investors are ignoring fundamentals,' said Hasitha Premaratne, head of research at HNB stockbrokers. 'They're taking a bet on peace. Even though the peace process is not moving, no one expects a return to war.'
   There is no sign of a breakthrough in peacebroker Norway's attempts to bring Colombo and Tamil rebels back to the negotiating table they left in April 2003 while the December 26 tsunami has compounded economic woes.
   Year-on-year inflation jumped to 17.3 per cent by February.
   There has also been a spate of internecine killings in the island's east where the main Tamil Tiger rebel group is trying to re-establish its authority following an unprecedented split last year.
   The tsunami that killed nearly 31,000 people raised prospects of big donations but the government has only got a dribble.

Dhaka Bank withdraws representative
   Dhaka Bank Ltd, a DSE member, has withdrawn one of its authorised representative Md Faruque Hossain, with immediate effect.
   
   Square Tex director to buy shares
   Samuel S Chowdhury, one of the directors of the Sqaure Textiles, has reported his intention to buy 50,000 shares of the company at prevailing market price through Dhaka Stock Exchange within next 30 working days.
   Lexco accumulated loss
   
   stands at Tk1.47cr
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2004, the Lexco has reported net loss of Tk (2.19) million with EPS of Tk (5.76) as against net profit of Tk 0.33 miillion and EPS of Tk.0.86 respectively as on December 31, 2003. Moreover, accumulated loss of the company was Tk (14.78) million as on December 31, 2004.
   
   No trading for Alpha Tobacco
   The Alpha Tobacco shall be kept outside the financial adjustment system from May 8 to till the date of holding next the annual general meeting on June 5.
   
   CMC Kamal reports Tk 9.88m
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2004, the CMC Kamal has reported net profit of Tk 9.88 million with EPS of Tk 5.75 as against Tk 9.76 million and Tk 5.68 respectively as on December 31, 2003.
   
   Beximco Pharma and Beximco Infusion
   Trading of the shares of the Beximco Pharma and Beximco Infusion will remain suspended on record date ie today.
   Sources : DSE, CSE

HP introduces
dual-core server
HP introduced four-processor server ‘HP ProLiant’ powered by the company’s first x86 dual-core processors, says a press release. The new server will increase application performance of an enterprise by nearly 75 per cent. Using AMD’s new dual-core AMD Opteron™ processor, the new server blade – HP ProLiant BL45p for the HP BladeSystem – and dual-core HP ProLiant DL585 redefine four-processor performance and price-to-performance ratios with benchmarks that continue HP’s leadership across a broad set of applications. As the No. 1 vendor of industry-standard x86 servers worldwide and the leading provider of AMD Opteron processor-based server systems,(3) HP is positioned to drive the adoption of dual-core technology. ‘DreamWorks has a very strategic relationship with HP and we glad to see the HP ProLiant server family introduce Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor technology from AMD,’ said Ed Leonard, chief technology officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG.
— New Age

Three months’ ban on fishing in Kaptai Lake
District administration is likely to impose ban on catching fish from Kaptai Lake for three months, like other years, to ensure fish breeding properly. Bangladesh Fish Development Corporation (BFDC) made a proposal to the district administration to impose the ban from May 15. BFDC sources said they would release 32 maunds of fish fry from the current month to boost fish production in the lake. Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdullah Al Noman is expected to inaugurate the programme of releasing fish fry.
— UNB

CSE closes down
Trading at Chittagong Stock Exchange closed lower Sunday with the losers outnumbering the gainers. The CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) decreased by 19.02 points or 0.63 per cent to close at 2998.52 points from 3017.54 points on Saturday. CSE-30 Index shed 1.98 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 2791.74 points on Saturday’s 2793.72 points. A total of 54 issues traded Sunday, of which only 13 gained, 35 declined and six remained unchanged. Some 757,300 shares and debentures worth Tk 4.25 crore changed hands against 1,112,753 shares valued at Tk 5.10 crore on the previous trading day.
— UNB

S America to improve trade ties with ME
South America will seek to improve economic and trade ties with the Arab countries during the South American-Arab League Summit due for Monday and Tuesday in Brazil, Brazilian authorities said Saturday. The summit will bring leaders and ministers from 12 South American and 22 Arab countries together for the first time, which could serve as an initial step toward negotiations for a free trade agreement between two regions that have insignificant business links with each other. Although South America has been the destination of millions of Arab immigrants, the region and the Arab countries have inadequate economic relations with each other, analysts said. The Middle East is South America’s weakest regional trading partner, with Brazil, South America’s largest economy, exporting just 4 billion US dollars annually to the Middle East and importing 4.1 billion dollars, mostly in petroleum.
— Xinhuanet

India to become KPO destination
India is all set to move from being the most preferred business process outsourcing (BPO) destination to a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) destination. A paper prepared by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has revealed that KPO would grow at 46 per cent to reach a staggering 17 billion US dollars by 2010. According to the CII paper ‘India In The New Knowledge Economy’, India could emerge as a global KPO hub as the business requires specialised knowledge in respective verticals and the country’s large number of engineering and technical institutes are geared to address the manpower demand. The paper states that by 2012, the healthcare sector could account for 7 per cent to 8 per cent of GDP and provide direct and indirect employment to around 9 million people. Asserting that India could be an emerging healthcare hub, the CII paper states ‘India has the opportunity to provide the best of the western and eastern healthcare systems.’
— Xinhuanet

China reports rising export of textiles
China’s textile export grew steadily in the first quarter of 2005, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The export value reached US$22.4 billion during the period, growing 19.1 per cent year-on-year. The growth rate dropped 5.6 per cent year-on-year. The export of textile yarn, fabric and products grew 24.8 per cent and that of clothes grew 15.9 per cent. The rate of growth for all products was lower than in first quarter 2004. Meanwhile, the export of electromechanical products rose by 34.4 per cent to US$85.4 billion, and that for high-tech products also grew by 32.3 per cent to US$43.7 billion in the first three months.
— Xinhuanet

Tata Motors’ vehicle sales down
Tata Motors Ltd, India’s biggest bus and truck maker, said on Sunday its total vehicle sales stood at 23,889 units in April, down 4.3 per cent from the same month a year earlier. ‘There was an increase in undispatched stock of vehicles due to unanticipated difficulties in certification and procurement of some critical parts,’ it said in a statement. ‘Efforts to streamline the availability of vehicles are currently underway and the company expects to make up in the next two months.’ Tata Motors’ sales of cars and utility vehicles stood at 12,736 units in the past month, the statement said, without giving details of sales in April 2004. Sales of its Indica hatchback rose 7.9 per cent on year to 7,819, while sales of its Indigo sedan were up 5.8 per cent to 2,881.
— Reuters

Kodak accountant accused of
diverting $4M
A corporate tax accountant at Eastman Kodak Co. was accused in federal court of channeling more than $4 million in kickbacks into a personal business over the last six years. Mark Camarata, 42, who oversaw the photography company’s state and local tax assessments, was charged Thursday with mail fraud and money laundering. If convicted, he could draw up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Since 1999, Camarata authorised inflated payments to three companies he hired to help lower Kodak’s tax burden in return for more than $4 million in kickbacks that he diverted into his own shell business, Assistant US Attorney Richard Resnick said.
— AP