Eid sales frustrate shop owners

Afternoons are usually a busy time for any shop-owners in the run up to the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest festival for Muslims, but things are pretty much the other way around this year.
Mostafa Sarkar, owner of Taiyeba Fabrics at Bashundhara Shopping Mall in the capital, and his four employees were yesterday afternoon seen larking for customers as sales during the holy month of Ramadan have fallen astonishingly.
“We know that customers mostly buy items in the last weeks of Ramadan, but visit the stores the whole month. As of this year, the number of customers visiting the stores is also less compared to that of previous years,” said Sarkar.
“We, however, do not know why,” he told The Daily Star.
He said Taiyeba Fabrics had sold items worth Tk 1 lakh a day during the last Ramadan, but this year the average sale did not exceed Tk 20,000 per day.
Sarkar apprehends his hope of making a bigger sale would soon dismiss on him since he sells unstitched garments, which shoppers normally buy a long time before the Eid as the items need tailors to turn them into complete dresses.
Eid-ul-Fitr is the culmination of the biggest selling season of the country, when majorities of the population at least buy apparel items and footwear.
The Eid is less than two weeks away but shop-owners say their sales have not peaked yet compared to that of the previous years. The shop-owners at the city's top stores and markets said the sales had gone down by 50 percent compared to that of last year.
Habibur Rahman, a sales assistant of Dorjibari at Bashundhara Shopping Mall, also shared the same feelings. "We hope the sales will go up after the 20th Ramadan."
Ahsan Habib Shiplu, a lecturer of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, came to Bashundhara Shopping Mall with his two friends. He said the price of the items is high.
“So, the shoppers are giving much thought behind every purchase,” said Shiplu, 28, who bought panjabis for his four cousins.
HSC student Hridoy Hossain, who came to shop with his seven-year-old cousin Nishat, agrees with Shiplu as far as the price of items is concerned. He said, "I bought a pair of shoes with Tk 1,700. The same pair cost Tk 1,100 last year."
"Price of every item has gone up in the similar fashion," he said.
Delwar Hossain, a manager of boutique house Onnomela, said the price of items at his store had to be enhanced by 15 to 20 percent this year compared to last year, as the production cost had increased sharply.
Nurul Islam, a sales manager of Milon Garments in New Market, the country's largest shopping centre, said the customers were mostly struggling with their limited incomes.
Shop-owners fear although the sales shoot up in the last week of Ramadan, particularly on the last couple of days, this time it may happen otherwise, as the city-dwellers may start leaving the capital for village homes as early as August 14, when the 11-day holiday starts.
The bearish trend in sales has also hit other businesses, such as furniture and electronics.
Biplob Saha, a managr of Hatil, one of the renowned furniture-makers in the country, said the average sales are lower than the previous years'.
The dip in sales also hit shopping bag-seller Nowsher Ali. The 22-year-old, who has been selling bags at the New Market for 10 years, said he used to sell at least 20 bags a day last year, but this Ramadan he is selling 12 to 15 bags a day.

Mishuk Munier’s work and life

The exhibition was opened at Dhaka Art Centre, 5:00 pm on 22 July, 2012. Professor Abdul Momin Chowdhury lighted the candles and Professor Anisuzzaman inaugurated the show. M Shah Alam Sarwar, Managing Director and CEO of Trust Bank Limited, was presented as a special guest. The exhibition remained open till 31 July, everyday from 3:00 to 8:00 pm. On the closing day, at 3:00 pm, friends and relatives remembered Mishuk Munier. Muhammad Jahangir facilitated the discussion, while Mustafa Monwar graced the session as the chair.

His full name was Ashfaque Munier. Everybody knew him as Mishuk. He was the second son of Shaheed Professor Munier Chowdhury and well-known drama artiste Lily Chowdhury.

 
It’s almost a year since Mishuk died in a road accident. He was not yet 52 years old.

With a head full of greying hair, uncannily like Einstein, and a face ready to burst into laughter, Mishuk lived every moment of life with fullness. His compassionate but penetrating gaze had the curiosity of a child, touching every person he met, seeking to uncover the mystery of everything he saw.

He loved life and the people around him deeply. He lived and worked with deep devotion and commitment, following his own whims and desires, his own bohemian ways.

Mishuk Munier was talented and versatile in many fields. He was a photographer, a cinematographer, a teacher of journalism, a pioneer and guru of broadcast journalism in Bangladesh, a fan of new media technology and a passionate amateur cook. He was very dear to all who knew and loved him, a huge charismatic presence to all who worked with him.

His colleagues will remember his invaluable contribution to the news section of three different TV channels, one in North America. Mishuk was responsible for developing the audiovisual department in the National Museum. He designed and developed the ‘Media Center’ project introducing photo journalism, video journalism and computer-based publishing in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism in The University of Dhaka.

Mishuk worked behind the camera, both nationally and internationally, in the making of documentary films, alternate feature films, telefilms and drama, puppet movies and television news. He identified himself primarily as a ‘cameraman’.

He grew up taking photographs—photographs of his friends and family, of the construction of Aparajeyo Bangla, of artist S M Sultan and his works, of the DU Campus alive with protests and marches.

For a number of months after his death last year, his wife Manjuly Kazi and son Shuhrid, both of whom live in Toronto, had been scanning thousands of mouldy negatives of pictures that Mishuk had taken. Mishuk’s friend Ali Morshed Noton in Dhaka has diligently restored them. These photographs, along with others, Mishuk’s glasses, his books, his camera, his spoons and his spatula... are presented in this exhibition.

The journey of cinematographer Mishuk Munier and director Tareque Masud had started with their documentary on S M Sultan, Adom Surat. The lives of these two talented persons were cut short by the road accident last year. Their assistants Motahar Hossain Wasim and Jamal Hossain and their driver Md. Mustafijur Rahman died as well.

Train services between Chittagong and other parts of the country resumed partially after an Rail link with Ctg restored after 8hrs

Eight-hour disruption caused by a collision between a train and a truck at Fouzdarhat in Sitakunda on Thursday.
Chittagong-bound Nasirabad Express collided with a truck when the vehicle was passing an unauthorized level crossing around 4:30am.
The engine of the train and a bogie veered off the tracks following the collision, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
The train services resumed partially around 12:30pm after two relief trains from Chittagong and Laksam stations rushed to the spot and rescued the compartments, said Mizanur Rahman, public relation officer of Bangladesh Railway East Zone.
The trains are now running on a single track while work on the two other damaged tracks was going on.
A four-member investigation committee led by Divisional Signal and Telecommunication Engineer Shushil Kumar Halder has been formed to probe the incident and asked to submit a report in seven days to railway authority.
The trucker, who was injured during the collision, was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital

News Analysis

link: http://www.brecorder.com/business-a-finance/banking-a-finance/71933-us-concerned-over-bangladeshs-grameen-bank-decision-.html




Arming the cabinet decision about Prof Yunus unprecedented, the government has taken the move being envious of his success. He was the first Nobel Prize winner of our country. It’s really very shameful decision of government
The cabinet decision about Dr Muhammad Yunus is unprecedented in the world history. The cabinet decision about a person like Dr Yunus is painful,” he told a human chain in front of the National.
 the government is trying to interfere in the activities of Grameen Bank by amending the GB Ordinance of 1983 to appoint a managing director which is an attempt to humiliate the Nobel laureate.
On August 2, the cabinet approved a proposal for amending the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983. It also asked the Banking and Financial Institution Division to inform it in consultation with the Bangladesh Bank how much salary and allowances Dr Yunus, the former managing director of micro lender, had withdrawn after his 60 years of age.
It also directed the Banking and Financial Institution Division to be sure whether the withdrawal of those salary and allowances was done legally.
Directives were also given to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) whether there was any evidence of tax evasion in case of Dr Yunus’ foreign currency income shown as wage earners income.
Reacting to the cabinet decision, the government is tarnishing the image of the nation by taking such illogical steps against a personality of international repute. But they forgotten this is not a personal issue this is a international issue.  
 Dr Muhammad Yunus is not only the issue of our country this is the issue of international relation. International reelection is more important for any country, and also he is the only Nobel Prize winner of our country and government is really very partial about this topic. They can even break rules and regulations, laws about this topic.

The government widowed this cabinet decision. Or the government will have to face a dire consequence for it.

Traffic Jam in Dhaka City

Traffic jam is a very common problem of our regular life. Traffic jam has become intolerable in Dhaka. Although government has taken many steps to bring it on an acceptable level but due to ineffectiveness and lack of monitoring system those are not working properly. As a result, people lose valuable working hours as well as automobile's costly fuel every day. Although a modern city should have 25% of its total area for road uses but unfortunately in Dhaka have only 7% area for roads.

  

Traffic congestion has a number of negative effects: Wasting time of motorists and passengers ("opportunity cost"). As a non-productive activity for most people, congestion reduces regional economic health. Delays, which may result in late arrival for employment, meetings, and education, resulting in lost business, disciplinary action or other personal losses. Inability to forecast travel time accurately, leading to drivers allocating more time to travel "just in case", and less time on productive activities. Wasted fuel increasing air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions owing to increased idling, acceleration and braking. Wear and tear on vehicles as a result of idling in traffic and frequent acceleration and braking, leading to more frequent repairs and replacements. Stressed and frustrated motorists, encouraging road rage and reduced health of motorists Emergencies: blocked traffic may interfere with the passage of emergency vehicles traveling to their destinations where they are urgently needed. Spillover from congested main arteries to secondary roads and side streets as alternative routes are attempted, which may affect neighborhood amenity and real estate prices.

Traffic congestion occurs when a volume of traffic or modal split generates demand for space greater than the available road capacity; this point is commonly termed saturation. There are a number of specific circumstances which cause or aggravate congestion; most of them reduce the capacity of a road at a given point or over a certain length, or increase the number of vehicles required for a given volume of people or goods. Traffic jam has become intolerable in Dhaka city; general people are very much suffering from it.