Manzur shocks Mohiuddin, becomes CCC mayor
BNP-backed M Manzur Alam has shocked his former mentor, A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the long serving pro-government mayor, by beating him by 95,528 votes.
Alam obtained 479,145 votes with Chowdhury lagging far behind with just 383,617 votes, apparently pa
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Khaleda thanks people of Ctg
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia has thanked the people of Chittagong for electing M Manzur Alam the mayor of the port city, her press secretary said on Friday.
Maruf Kamal Khan, quoting the former prime minister, said, "People's mandate against the oppress
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Utility crisis hit businesses hard
Gas and power crisis has continued to take heavy toll on businesses and day to day activities as output of both the utilities is on wane in the past few days, said officials.
Drastic fall in gas supply along with frequent power outages has aggravated pub
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China to provide $537m soft loan for fertiliser factory
The Chinese government will provide $537 million soft loan for setting up proposed Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory.
"We are hopeful to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard by September," Industries Minister Dilip Barua said after a meeti
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Crop prices to rise as global recession easing: FAO, OECD
A 'two-speed recovery' from the global economic crisis favours poor countries, and several factors may push crop prices higher, the UN food agency and the OECD club of wealthy nations said on Tuesday.
'A two-speed recovery appears to be under way charact
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Weak capacity biggest challenge in budget implementation
The budget announced for the fiscal (2010-11) by the finance minister AMA Muhith gives no surprise or stunt. So, many terms the new budget 'as usual' with some proposals for enhancing revenue collection to support development and non-development expenditu
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Mahmudur tortured in police custody: IPI
The International Press Institute is deeply concerned by reports that acting editor of suspended Bangladeshi newspaper Amar Desh, Mahmudur Rahman, may have been tortured in police custody.
"Your honour, please save my life," the editor was quoted by loc
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Ministers spared of filing wealth statement
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has spared her cabinet colleagues and some other VIPs from submission of wealth statements to the finance ministry, according to a minister.
At a cabinet meeting on Thursday, she suggested the ministry collect statements of
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Defamation cases filed against journos
South Asia Media Commission has published a news item on repressed journalists in Bangladesh. In the report it said that seven defamation cases have been filed against two journalists, Faridpur Press Club General Secretary Arif Islam and Mahmudur Rahman,
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Exporters worry over VAT on rents, unchanged AIT
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has said that the government has let down the exporters by increasing taxes and imposing Value Added Tax on the rents of factory floors.
At a post-budget briefing, the BGMEA demanded that loc
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Bangladesh: Checking Islamist Extremism in a Pivotal Democracy
Continued from last issue...
2) Education and expertise: If position within the firm doesn’t inoculate one from the fears of speaking up, perhaps qualifications do. After all, experts know more about their specialty areas than others (including senior
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CCC Election
The win of BNP-backed M Manzur Alam at the Chittagong mayor election has given a strong signal to the government that the honeymoon period is over and people are rejecting the activities of the government.
Manzur, a protégé of A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury,
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Transparent budgets
The fact that disclosure of government budgets has become a key public concern marks a step forward in the political democratization of the country. Yet, governments at various levels have done little to inform the public on how their money is being spent
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Letter To The Editor - World Cup Football
For South Africa, and by extension, Africa as a whole, the World Cup is of paramount importance. It is the first time that an African nation is hosting the tournament and for some Africans, football is their only sense of the world outside of their countr
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Letter To The Editor - Budget 2010-11
Though there are divergent views about the budget, its advantage to the power sector is welcomed by all. On the other hand, if anybody expected even a few innovations in budgeting this year, they must have been rather disappointed. The budget has proposed
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Citi gets social recognition
Environmental Finance, a monthly magazine based in the United Kingdom covering the impact of environmental issues on the lending, insurance, investment and trading decisions affecting industry, has ranked Citi top in five categories in socially responsibl
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Bank Asia opens SME branch
With a view to promote small and medium entrepreneurs and provide support to agricultural activities in Ashulia area, Bank Asia Limited has opened the first SME/Agricultural branch at Ashulia in Savar Thursday, said a press release.
Director of the bank
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India to sell stakes in 2 state-run firms
India on Tuesday approved stake sales in two highly profitable state-run mining firms as it aims to raise billions of dollars for policies including tackling poverty.
The government will sell 10 per cent of its stake in Coal India Limited, India's larges
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JB subsidiary gets new CEO
Mr Md Jahangir Miah has joined the Janata Capital and Investment Ltd., a subsidiary of Janata Bank Limited as Chief Executive.
Before joining this position he was the DMD (on LPR) of Janata Bank Ltd., Mr Jahangir during his long Banking career served in
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Govt sets target to get Tk 208b foreign aid
The government has set a target to mobilise Tk 207.77 billion foreign assistance, 15.71 per cent of the total Tk 1321.70 billion national budget, from development partners in the next fiscal to finance the budget expenditures.
The expected overseas loans
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Southeast Bank's workshop ends
A workshop on "ICT Risk Management: IT System Audit" organised by the Training Institute of Southeast Bank Limited (SEBL) ended at its head office in the city recently, said a press release.
Bangladesh Bank DGM Abdul Matin Mahboob gave the keynote presen
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IBBL to invest Tk 79b in SME sector
Islami Bank will invest Tk 79 billion in SME sector along with the investment amount of Tk 24.0 billion this year. At present the Bank's total investment in SME is Tk 55.0 billion which is 24 per cent of its total investment and 10 per cent of the country
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AB Bank gets award
AB Bank has received the International Quality Summit Award in platinum category from the Business Initiative Directions, an organisation based in Madrid, Spain.
BID president and chief executive officer Jose E Prieto handed over the award to Kaiser A C
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Former boss of US lender accused of $1.9b fraud
The former boss of the now bankrupt US lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) has been charged with 16 counts of fraud, worth more than $1.9bn (£1.3bn).
Lee Farkas, who was chief executive and then chairman of TBW, was accused of trying to misappropriate
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New MD of Dhaka Insurance
AQM Wazed Ali has joined Dhaka Insurance Limited as Managing Director (MD). Prior to this he was the Managing Director of Prime Insurance Company Limited, said a press release.
After obtaining M.Sc degree from the Department of Botany, Dhaka University h
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Murdoch's News Corporation in BSkyB takeover bid
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is seeking to take full control of satellite broadcaster BSkyB, by acquiring the 60.9% of the shares it does not already own.
News Corporation's initial offer of 700 pence a share, which values BSkyB at around £12bn, wa
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EBL to provide home-loan facility
Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) will provide special home-loan facility to the clients of Rangs Properties Limited for purchasing flats and apartments.
In this connection, an agreement was signed between EBL and Rangs Properties Limited in the city recently,
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Brussels, Athens attack Moody's over Greece downgrade
The European Union's top economic commissioner Olli Rehn criticised US-based rating agency Moody's on Tuesday for slashing its sovereign debt rating for Greece to 'junk' status.
Rehn told a debate in the European parliament that the decision to cut Greec
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Nintendo unveils 3DS handheld games console
Nintendo has unveiled its new 3D handheld gaming system at a briefing in Los Angeles at the E3 games show.
Called 3DS, the system has two screens and can display 3D images that can be seen without using special glasses.
Nintendo said the novel handhel
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Sony shows off PlayStation 3D and its motion controller
Sony has lifted the lid on the games it hopes to release over the next 12 months, with 3D a key aspect of the new range.
At a press briefing at the E3 games expo, Sony outlined its plans for PlayStation 3 and its PSP handheld.
Sony said a recent softw
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Govt move to use of jute goods compulsory hailed
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) has hailed government's recent initiative of making the use of jute products compulsory in a number of sectors.
"Lost glory of our golden fibre is expected to be revived by this decision as the domestic demand
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Bank tax must go ahead, say Merkel and Sarkozy
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have renewed calls for a global bank levy and a financial transaction tax.
The two leaders said they would call for the measures in a joint letter to the president of the G20 ahead of
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ACI okays 105pc dividend
The shareowners of Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited approved the recommendation of 105 per cent cash dividend at the 37th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre at Agargaon in the city Wed
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ACI okays 105pc dividend
The shareowners of Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Limited approved the recommendation of 105 per cent cash dividend at the 37th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre at Agargaon in the city Wed
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UK to stop development aid to Russia and China
Britain will stop giving aid money to China and Russia, as "it is not justifiable" any longer, the UK government has said.
International Develope-ment Secretary Andrew Mitchell announced a review into how the UK funds overseas development work in around
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Body formed to probe consumers' allegations
The government has formed an interim investigation team to examine the consumers' allegations and thus assist the Consumers' Right Protection Directorate, commerce ministry officials said.
Presided over by Commerce Minister M Faruk Khan, the third meetin
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China set to overtake Japan in advertising market
China will overtake Japan to become the world's second-largest advertising market within five years, according to a new report released Tuesday.
The report on the entertainment and media industry by accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predicts
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Withdraw VAT on local powdered milk plants
Bangladesh Agro Processors' Association (BAPA) Wednesday said local powdered milk producing plants would suffer to a great extent following withdrawal of regulatory duty on imported powered milk.
BAPA, on the other hand, urged the government to withdraw
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Square Textiles approves 16pc cash dividend, 15pc bonus
Square Textiles Ltd. approved cash dividend at the rate of 16% and Stock Dividend (Bonus Share) at the rate 15% to its shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2009.
The approval came at the 15th Annual General Meeting held at the Factory Premises, S
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BSRM Steels okays 15pc stock dividend
BSRM Steels Limited has approved a 15 per cent stock dividend for its shareholders for the year 2009, according to a press release.
The approval was given at the eighth annual general meeting (AGM) of the company in the city recently.
Chairman of the c
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Beximco invests Tk 1.6b for Westin expansion
Beximco Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in Bangladesh entered in to hospitality sector by investing around Tk 1.60 billion in Westin Hotel.
Mr. Salman F Rahman, Deputy Chairman of Beximco Limited and Mr. Mohd. Noor Ali, Managing Director
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China Education Exhibition'10 at North South University
A daylong 'China Education Exhibition 2010' was held in North South University (NSU) on May 13, 2010 at Student Plaza. Dilip Borua, Industry Minister was the Chief Guest, Zhang Xianyi, Ambassador of China in Bangladesh was the Special Guest, The Guest of
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South Carolina State University Professor Joins EWU
Dr. Abdul Malek Miah, Professor, Department of Industrial and Electrical Engineering Technology, South Carolina State University, USA has joined EEE Department, East West University in the Summer 2010 semester as a visiting faculty. Prof. Malek Miah had e
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AIUB's Summer Freshmen Orientation Holds
The orientation program of the American International University - Bangladesh (AIUB) for about 650 newly admitted students in undergraduate and graduate programs for the summer semester 2010 was held on May 19 and 20, 2010 at the AIUB Auditorium. The stud
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CV Center - Is Your Resume Authentic?
If you perused resume advice when writing your resume, you learned the basics such as the importance of including accomplishments, creating a qualifications summary, customizing the resume to your goal and proofreading to make sure it's perfect. But now t
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Dr Baaquie talkson Integrated Science at IUB
Dr Belal E Baaquie, Professor at National University of Singapore delivered a talk on his new book entitled "Exploring Integrated Science" organized by the Independent University, Bangladesh, on 2 June 2010 at the University's Baridhara campus. In his tal
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UK unemployment increases to 2.47 million
The number of people unemployed in the UK increased by 23,000 to 2.47 million during the three months to April, official figures have shown.
The unemployment rate was 7.9%, up from 7.8% in the quarter to January.
However, the number of people claiming
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French raise retirement age to 62
France's retirement age will be raised from 60 to 62 over the next eight years as part of sweeping pension reforms, the government has announced.
French labour minister Eric Woerth told reporters that working longer was "inevitable", and necessary to ba
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Carbon trading to fetch Tk 168cr
The government is set to get around Tk 1.68 billion in carbon trading after replacing 28 million incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs, Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq -e- Elahi Chowdhury said Wednesday.
He said state-run
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Gas production resume from Sangu field
UK-based Cairn Energy has resumed gas supply from its offshore Sangu field Wednesday night, 13 hours after suspension of its production on technical glitches, a company senior official said.
"Cairn has resumed gas supply from Sangu at 8:30 pm Wednesday,"
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Pak to welcome India joining Iran gas pipeline project
A day after sealing final pacts with Iran on a long-talked gas pipeline, Pakistan on Monday said it will welcome India joining the project and will guarantee safe delivery of the fuel.
With New Delhi boycotting talks on Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline over
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BP to fund $20bn Gulf of Mexico oil spill payout
Oil firm BP is to place $20bn (£13.5bn) in a compensation fund for victims of the Gulf oil spill and will not pay shareholders a dividend this year.
Barack Obama announced the compensation deal after talks at the White House with senior BP executives.
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Emerging economies 'to enjoy food production boom'
The emerging economies of Brazil, India, China and Russia will enjoy an agricultural boom over the next decade as production stalls in Western Europe, a report says.
Agricultural output in the Bric nations will grow three times as fast as in the major d
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Bank of Japan unveils $33bn loan scheme
Japan's central bank has announced plans to provide up to 3 trillion yen (£22bn; $33bn) in low interest loans in an effort to spur economic growth.
The bank plans to make the money available to commercial banks to encourage them to lend more to private
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Spanish borrowing costs at new high
The Spanish government's cost of borrowing has hit a new record amid renewed concerns over the state of its economy and public finances.
The interest rate Spain is being asked to pay by investors is now 2.23 percentage points higher than that being dema
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BB limits capital market exposure for banks
Bangladesh Bank has directed the bank companies not to invest more than 10 per cent of their deposits in share trade with a view to restricting their growing investment in the stock market.
The central bank issued a circular on the day after it found tha
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Govt approves PPP policy, strategy
The government has approved proposal to set up an office to deal with Public Private Partnership projects as part of its efforts to kick-start much-needed infrastructure schemes, officials said.
The Cabinet led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the ap
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ADP implementation may hit 90pc this fiscal
The government implemented 68 per cent of the annual development programme (ADP) in the first 11 months this fiscal planning ministry officials said this week.
Despite impressive performance by most of 10 largest spending sectors, the fifth highest funde
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Jute genome to bring back glory for golden fibre
Decoding of jute genome would bring lustre back to the golden fibre, help it farm throughout the year, make it climate change-resistant and better its fibre quality, said the scientist who led the sequencing job.
Dr Maqsudul Alam said local farmers could
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JS body questions telecom ministry on BTRC
A parliamentary watchdog has questioned the justification for initiating an amendment bill which would slash the powers of the Bangladesh Telecomm-unication Regulatory Commission.
The parliamentary standing committee on post and telecommunications minis
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EU to publish bank data in drive to calm markets
EU leaders have agreed to publish "stress tests" of banks next month to show investors where any potential risks lie.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the results would be published "on a bank by bank basis - this should reassure investo
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Dhaka for tri-nation body to implement BD-China link
Dhaka has proposed a tri-national committee involving Bangladesh, China and Myanmar for implementation of the proposed road and rail links between Bangladesh and China via Myanmar, the prime minister said.
'I have already raised the matter to the Chinese
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BFFEA against increased tax at source
Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association has demanded of the government to withdraw the proposed 1 per cent tax at source during export and retain previous 0.25 per cent to save the frozen food sector.
In a statement, BFFEA president Musa Meah said t
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Over $1b in debt paid since 2009
Bangladesh repaid over $1 billion in 15 months in debt till April this year.
Finance minister AMA Muhith revealed the information in the parliament on Tuesday.
Of the amount, $865.60 million was principal and $247.53 million interest.
In reply to a q
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World Cup boosts UK retail sales
UK retail sales rose strongly in May, with analysts citing the World Cup as the main reason for the pick-up.
Sales volumes rose by a bigger-than-expected 0.6% from April, helped by a 1.7% jump in household goods sales and a 1% increase in food sales, th
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