Railway incurred Tk 8.70b loss

The railway sector incurred losses to the tune of Tk 8.7 billion (870 crore) in the last fiscal year, according to statistics placed by Railway Minister Mazibul Hoque in the Parliament on Wednesday, report agencies.
The expenses of the railway sector were about Tk 15.77 billion against its revenue income of Tk 7.07 billion till early June of the 2013-14, he said replying to a scripted question.
The country's raw jute export sharply declined in the last fiscal year, according to statistics presented by Textiles and Jute Minister Md Emaz Uddin Pramanik in Parliament Wednesday.
The raw jute export came down to 0.984 million bales (1 bale= 181kg) in the fiscal year 2013-14 from 2.05 million bales in 2012-2013, the minister said replying to a starred question.
Since the jute sector was affected due to the global recession, the export and export income from the jute slightly dropped in the last fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal years, he explained.
On the other hand, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the government had taken an initiative to ensure road safety for reducing accidents in the country.
"We have taken a project involving Tk 1.65 billion (Tk 165 crore) to improve road safety at black spots on national highways and sent it to the planning ministry for approval," he said while replying to a question from the opposition bench member AKM Maidul Islam in the House.
He said the ministry has prepared counter measures for 144 accident-prone places out of 227 under the project, which is waiting for final nod.
"Construction of road dividers at 31 points on Dhaka-Chittagong and 10 places on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highways along with the improvement of the two highways into four-lane ones is going on," the minister told the House.