Mohammad Suman

Thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis employed in the Middle East but currently stranded at home for months amid the coronavirus pandemic have been facing difficulties flying to their destinations due to limited access to air tickets.

Import of raw materials for the cement industry fell nearly 13 per cent year-on-year to Tk 6,481 crore in the fiscal year 2019-20 because of the stagnation in construction activities across the country after the Covid-19 outbreak.

The National Board of Revenue has amended the Customs Act, 1969, setting a minimum penalty that is at least double the amount of fine for under-invoicing and ending a five-decade-old system of nominal fines.

The first ship under the trial run of transshipment of Indian goods to its north-eastern states through Bangladesh berthed at Chattogram port yesterday.

India has begun its first ever trial run of the much-talked-about transshipment of goods to its north-eastern states through Bangladesh’s Chattogram port.

Chattogram Custom House has fallen short of its revenue target for fiscal 2019-20 by 28 per cent or Tk 16,445 crore.

Chattogram customs house will auction off around 3,000 tonnes of abandoned items today, including four luxury cars, which had arrived in the port between 2018 and mid-2019.

Amid a shortage of ICU beds equipped with lifesaving ventilators in most hospitals in Chattogram, Premier Cement has provided seven medical ventilators to the recently introduced Covid-19 unit at Chattogram Maa O Shishu Hospital.

Legal action is yet to be taken against Standard Asiatic Oil Company Limited (SAOCL), a partner company of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), which was found to be embezzling Tk 134 crore in two years.

Multiple drives are underway in the port city against shops selling fake hand sanitisers. In many cases, the traders are making the product themselves and selling them, without approval of drug administration department.

An owner of around 60 warehouses in Chattogram has been missing since Thursday, worrying importers and traders as they said goods worth Tk 200 crore remained stocked there.

A doctor of Chattogram Maa O Shishu Hospital has applied for cancellation of her maternity leave to serve Covid-19 patients at her hospital.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed imposing a 50 percent penalty on misdeclaration of exports, imports and investments in overseas countries as the government aims to increase tax revenue and prevent money laundering, according to the budget proposal for fiscal year 2020-21.

With cases of coronavirus infection increasing among staffers, officials at Chattogram Customs House have started a token system to limit the number of visitors on the premises from Sunday.

Medicine traders are hiking price of pain and fever medicine and disinfectant items with the excuse of supply shortage amid the coronavirus pandemic in Chattogram city.

Export and import activities through Chattogram port may face a fresh round of setback as the fear of contracting the novel coronavirus is spreading like wildfire among the employees of the premier seaport and the customs house.

With great trepidation and no other choice, about 1.5 lakh workers in Chattogram have joined their workstation from April 26.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is facing trouble as it can’t store imported fuel oil anymore. Its tanks are almost full as the demand for fuel in the country decreased by 60 percent due to the nationwide shutdown since March 26.

The retail price of bleaching power in Chattogram almost tripled over the past month due to a rise in demand for disinfectants following the coronavirus outbreak.

Local production of personal protective equipment (PPE) gained momentum yesterday after a joint initiative got approval from the government about the design and fabrics in a development that would boost morale of the health professionals fighting the coronavirus.