Strong earthquake shakes Asia also BD: 4 Feb

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 jolted the country on Friday night, panicking many people in the capital as well.

The Met office in Dhaka said the tremor was felt in different parts of the country at 7:58pm.

Meteorologist Sadequl Alam told banglanews that they confirmed the magnitude as 6.4 after analyzing the seismic data and records received from all the four seismological centers in Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong and Rangpur.

Similar reports also poured into banglanews newsroom from Gaibandha, Bandarban, Rajshahi, Gazipur, Feni, Bhola and Rangpur. There were no reports of damage or casualty as yet.

According to US Geological Survey, an earthquake “measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale” originated in the India-Myanmar border region. The epicentre of the quake was 455 kilometres off Dhaka.

News agency AFP said the epicentre of the quake was 85 km off Imphal, the capital of northeastern Indian state of Monipur.

Apple begins iPad sales in India

Apple Inc's popular iPad tablets finally hit Indian stores on Friday, nearly 10 months after its US sales began, giving more options to customers in the world's fastest-growing mobile market that is also seeing a surge in sales of smartphones and other high-end devices.

Apple is selling the iPad through its authorised resellers and partner stores across the country, an India-based company spokesman told Reuters. Apple has priced the iPad in India between 27,900 rupees and 44,900 rupees ($612-$985), depending on the model.

The iPad model with 16 GB of memory that works only on Wi-Fi is priced at 27,900 rupees, while the one that can operate on both Wi-Fi as well as third-generation (3G) mobile networks costs 34,900 rupees.

Customers have the option to buy an iPad with 16, 32 or 64 GB of memory and can choose a model that works only on Wi-Fi or on both Wi-Fi and 3G.

The 64 GB iPad model that operates on both Wi-Fi and 3G costs 44,900 rupees, according to Apple's website. iPad India prices and details, click r.reuters.com/gag77r

Apple first introduced the iPad in January last year and began sales in April. The company shipped a total 14.79 million iPads as of Dec 25 last year and research firm iSuppli expects 36.5 million to be sold in 2011.

The India launch comes at a time when the company is expected to announce in weeks the next version of the iPad, known as iPad 2. Last month, Asian manufacturers sources told Reuters that Apple was working on a smaller iPad tablet with built-in cameras that could ship early this year.
The current iPad has a 9.7-inch screen.

Apple's iPad will compete in India with tablet computers from Samsung Electronics and Dell Inc who launched the devices in 2010. Samsung, which started selling its Galaxy Tab tablet computer in India in November last year, expected total industry tablet sales of 750,000 to 1 million units in one year.
India is the world's second biggest mobile market after China with 730 million mobile customers, but the price-sensitive market is still small in base for sales of smartphones.

($1=45.6 rupees)

Obama rejects view of India as "land of call centers"

MUMBAI (Reuters) – President Barack Obama hailed India on Saturday as a vital source of U.S. growth and jobs as his administration announced relaxation of U.S. export controls to spur trade between the two countries.

"As we look to India today, the United States sees an opportunity to sell our exports in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. For America this is a jobs strategy," Obama said as he kicked off a 10-day tour of Asia.

Obama's Democrats lost control on the U.S. House of Representatives in congressional elections on Tuesday as voters punished the party for high U.S. unemployment after a campaign marked by criticism of China and outsourcing hubs like India.

Acknowledging that anger, Obama said India was still seen by many Americans as "a land of call centers and back offices that cost American jobs," but he rejected that view.

"It is a dynamic, two-way relationship that has created jobs and growth and higher living standards in both our countries and that is the truth," he told business leaders.

In an address to a business summit, the president said U.S. companies were finalizing deals worth around $10 billion.

"Today's deals will lead to more than 50,000 jobs in the United States," he said.

Deals include previously announced transactions involving General Electric for aircraft engines and gas turbines, and Boeing for 737 passenger planes. But details on a key $4.5 billion sale by Boeing of C-17 military transport planes were still being ironed out.

White House aide Michael Froman told reporters Obama would ease export controls imposed after India's 1998 nuclear tests, and support Indian membership of four key global nuclear nonproliferation regimes.

"This really includes India as a major player in a non- proliferation world... and it recognizes the nature of the strategic relationship we now have with India," Froman said.

The four regimes are the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australian Group, which aims to reduce the spread of chemical and biological weapons, and the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multinational effort to control the transfer of conventional arms dual-use technology.

Obama will remove almost all of the remaining Indian defense and space organizations from a list of entities maintained by the U.S. government to curb proliferation, and relax so called dual-use rules for Indian firms that regulate technology with both civil and defense applications.

"We will end up treating India similar to other close allies and partners other than as a country of concern," Froman said.

Obama begins 10-day overseas tour in India:: 6 NOV' 2010

US President Barack Obama flew into India's commercial capital on Saturday aiming to boost ties and seal big-ticket business deals to secure jobs and exports days after voters punished his Democrats in mid-term elections.

Obama will also visit Indonesia, South Korea and Japan on a 10-day tour that will see Washington push to prevent countries unilaterally devaluing currencies to protect their exports, a top theme at the Group of 20 heads of state meet in Seoul next week.

In Mumbai, Obama's first stop will be the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, where he will pay respects to the victims of the 2008 attacks at one of the primary targets of gunmen who slaughtered 166 people.

One of the first diplomatic tests for Obama will be at the Taj. Indians will want a strong statement against Pakistan for fostering militants, but Washington must tread a fine line between appeasing New Delhi and supporting its regional ally.

Across town, police have removed coconuts around Mani Bhavan, where Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi stayed while in Mumbai and which now serves as a museum that Obama will visit on Saturday.

He will then attend a meeting with hundreds of US and Indian business leaders. He arrives in New Delhi on Sunday.

Obama's Saturday-to-Monday trip to India started just four days after his Democratic party sustained big election losses tied to the weak economy, raising some doubts over how much the trip can yield given the pressures at home.

But Obama clearly outlined that his goal was to strike "billions of dollars in contracts that will support tens of thousands of American jobs", and stated his intent to "reduce barriers to United States exports and increase access to the Indian market".

"It is hard to overstate the importance of Asia to our economic future," Obama wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Friday.

"It can be tempting, in times of economic difficulty, to turn inward, away from trade and commerce with other nations. But in our interconnected world, that is not a path to growth, and that is not a path to jobs. We cannot be shut out of these markets."

BNP rejects ' free' transit

BNP has called upon the government to decide on transit for India after assessing its economic benefits. The opposition party has no qualms if it is beneficial to the country.

The opposition on Thursday also claimed that the government is vague on the matter of transit and trans-shipment. It called for a politically unanimous decision on the issue.

BNP leader M K Anwar, who is known for his political rhetoric against transit, clarified the opposition's stand on the matter at a press conference at the party's Gulshan office.

The clarification came two days after finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith gave a statement in support of transit, but only if Bangladesh charged fees for the facility. "Government's decision to allow free transit to Indian goods is unacceptable. It makes Bangladesh look like an Indian state, like West Bengal or Assam. This is yet another step towards selling out our sovereignty."

The finance minister on Tuesday said that Bangladesh could not charge VAT on transit. "Transhipment may have such duties. However, we may charge a fee for transit since we are allowing use of our territory." Citing examples from international laws and policies, ex-minister Anwar said, "European and ASEAN nations charge duties and service charges for transit of neighbouring countries' goods."

Anwar asked the government to conduct a research to judge costs and benefits of transit. "If the research shows that transit will be of use to the country, BNP will have no objections." When asked whether BNP had moved away from its earlier stand of opposing transit, Anwar replied in the negative.

"BNP has always said that it does not endorse anything that is against the interest of the country. Benefits of transit-transhipment and port usage to India have to be analysed. It is unacceptable that the government is taking steps without prior assessment."

Anwar accused the government for not paying any attention to obtaining the Tk 240 billion required to develop roads and infrastructure for the transit.

"The prime minister has been pressurised into the agreement while visiting India. Chittagong port usage, changing the route of the Asian Highway, all these are being done to protect Indian interests.