Fall in imports poses threat to achieve growth target
Policy planners in the government still maintain public stance that growth rate would be six per cent or so in the current fiscal (2009-10), although, at the back of mind, they think it might be 5.6 per cent or so. Fall in exports in the last three months
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New onshore bidding for gas, oil to begin soon
The government is going for a fresh round of onshore bidding for oil and gas exploration by foreign firms although it is yet to sign contracts with the successful bidders of the previous round, top government officials said.
The energy ministry has recen
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Freight forwarders unhappy over enlistment rules
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Monday issued a circular relating to air transport of goods amid sharp criticism from freight forwarders.
The country's freight forwarders said that the procedure for enlistment as air-freight forwarders with the CAA wo
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Australia, ADB support women entrepreneurship development
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Government of Australia are providing support to further develop women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.
A technical assistance agreement was signed today between the Government of Bangladesh and ADB at the Economic Rel
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€75m Danish aid for water treatment
Denmark will provide an interest free loan of 75 million Euro for constructing a large new water treatment plant at Sayedabad in the capital with a production capacity of 2,25,000 cubic metres (cumec) per day.
An agreement was signed in Dhaka yesterday b
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Daimler agrees to pay $185m after admitting bribery
German carmaker Daimler has pleaded guilty to corruption in the US and will pay $185m (£121m) to settle the case.
The charges relate to US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into the company's global sales practices.
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Mobile phone charges to fall in UK
Callers to UK mobile phones could see cheaper bills from 2011 under plans announced by telecoms regulator Ofcom.
It has proposed cutting the cost mobile phone firms can charge for connecting a call from another network from 4.3 pence per minute to 0.5p b
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Govt raises retirement age of workers to 60
The Cabinet approved Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act-2010 to increase workers' retirement age to 60 years.
The approval came at the 62nd meeting of the Cabinet at the Bangladesh Secretariat Monday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
While
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BB goes solar
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has got solar power to shed power crisis with the renewable and green energy resource.
BB Governor Atiur Rahman will inaugurate the solar power system at 11am at the central bank's headquarters in the city.
The solar power system
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Sony, Toshiba to sell liquid crystal display plants
As the volatile liquid crystal display industry continues to restructure after the global slump, Japanese electronics giants Sony and Toshiba said Wednesday they were selling LCD plants to rivals.
With high competition and falling prices forcing a reeval
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Govt to launch API park
The government is going to launch active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) park in April aiming to produce raw materials for the sector that faces the challenges after 2016 when the duty exemption facility for least developed countries, including Bangladesh
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Power backup items on high demand
Technologies that offer power backup for long hours are becoming lucrative for both traders and buyers in Bangladesh because of a persistent power crisis.
Laptops with two to three hours of power backup sometimes go off, as power may be out even longer.
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Barack Obama eases offshore oil drilling ban
US President Barack Obama has announced proposals to expand offshore oil and gas exploration in a bid to reduce foreign energy dependency.
The White House says drilling will be allowed off Virginia and consideration will be given to allowing it off much
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BASF to set up chemical plant
BASF - the world's most admired chemical company - is planning to establish a chemical formulation plant in the country aiming to reach its rapidly-growing construction sector consumers more efficiently.
"In order to serve the construction market segment
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Energy ministers demand oil market transparency
World energy producers and consumers pledged greater cooperation and called for transparent markets here on Wednesday to tackle oil price volatility seen as damaging to economic recovery.
"With regard to energy market volatility, energy markets should be
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Britain expecting solar energy boom
A carbon-free energy future is expected to create a boon for the solar energy sector in the European markets, solar advocates said in London.
The Pew Environment Group found in March that China set some of the strongest targets for renewable energy as it
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Iraq boosts energy links with Turkey
Baghdad and Ankara reinforced energy links with a new agreement that will keep Iraqi oil pumping from the northern Kirkuk oil fields to Turkey's Ceyhan terminal on the Mediterranean.
Meantime, Turkey's state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corp. is negotiating t
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Six Skills You Need To Succeed
While we all aspire to climb to the top of our respective professions, from time to time we come up against a roadblock, a barrier that slows our climb to the top. Whether you are being consistently overlooked in favor of someone else who is a bit more pr
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Seven Career Questions You Were Afraid to Ask
1. I have a degree but no work experience. What's the best thing to do?
If you have the qualifications, but lack the experience, consider volunteering, charity work or internships with local businesses to build up your experience. Breadth of experience
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Biman gets old logo
The state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to take off its newly introduced logo after the cabinet backtracked.
"A letter was issued to Biman Monday, asking the airlines to continue with its old livery," a Biman high official told the FE.
Though
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IBFB, BICF sign agreement
The International Business Forum of Bangladesh partnered with the Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund to strengthen the private sector's ability to identify constraints and design solutions that will help create jobs in Bangladesh.
BICF, managed by the In
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MCCI for reduced duty on input import
The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) yesterday asked the government to cut duties on the import of raw materials and intermediate goods in the next budget for 2010-2011.
In a meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR), MCCI lead
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New Singer Plus outlet opens
A new Singer Plus shop has been inaugurated at Madhavpur in Habiganj recently, said a press release.
Managing Director and CEO of Singer Bangladesh Ltd AM Hamim Rahmatullah formally inaugurated the new outlet.
Marketing Director Sajidur Rahman Khan and
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Withdrawal of SIM card tax urged
Mobile telecom operators have urged the government to withdraw tax on SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card and fix Tk 100 as tax for import of each mobile set from the next fiscal in a bid to accelerate growth of the telecom sector.
They have made the p
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BIA training on insurance
Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA), in cooperation with General Insurance Corporation of India, organised a day-long training programme on 'Life Insurance' at its training centre in the city Tuesday.
A total of 34 officials from 16 life insurance co
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CSR to help gain duty-free access to US
Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman has said increased corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in garment sector would help Bangladesh gain duty-free access to the US market.
He said this at the MoU signing ceremony b
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Gulf Air turns 60
Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, touched 60 years of operations on March 24, the airline said in a statement.
The airline's first flight, an Avro Anson seven-seater aircraft, took off from Bahrain to Sharjah via Doha in 1950. The fare was Rs130
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Bharti acquires Zain
Indian telecoms tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal has finally achieved his dream of breaking into the African market with a 10.7-billion-dollar deal to buy Kuwait-based Zain's Africa assets.
But now comes the tough part -- making the purchase pay off.
Mittal's
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IIDFC signs deal with Indian company
Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IIDFC) Ltd has signed a deal with India's National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Ltd to get technical support to help set up the first private sector ICT village in Bangladesh.
Also, IIDFC
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Thrust on better business with Canada
Foreign Affairs Minister Dipu Moni urged Wednesday the local business community to explore the untapped potential of Bangladeshi products in Canadian market.
She was speaking at a ceremony marking the milestone of the annual two-way trade between Bangla
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SME Foundation AGM held
Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Foundation held its 4th Annual General Meeting (AGM) Tuesday in the city, a press release said.
Aftab-ul-Islam, chairman of SME Foundation presided over the meeting while Syed Rezwanul Kabir, managing director and chief
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DCCI, Katalyst to promote jute, jute goods
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Katalyst, a market development project, will work together to promote jute, jute goods and small market entrepreneurs.
"DCCI and Katalyst will join hands to promote sectors such as jute, jute goods, awar
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Performance auditing yet to be introduced
The country is yet to introduce performance auditing though accurate auditing is very important in case of public funds, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.
"Auditing is not only a matter of accounting but a step towards a bigger objective. And we stil
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Southeast Bank declares 35pc stock dividend
The shareholders of Southeast Bank Ltd Monday approved 35 per cent Stock Dividend (Bonus Share) for the year ended December 31, 2009.
The approval came at the 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank held on the day at Bangabandhu International Conf
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SEC okays KPCL direct listing
The securities regulator has approved the direct listing of Khulna Power Company Limited (KPCL).
At a meeting it also decided to forfeit an amount of 10 per cent from the refund-warrants for duplicate applications in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of
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Citi strikes bond deal with Prime Bank
The closing ceremony of the country's first unsecured, non-convertible, subordinated tier-II bond issue of BDT 2,500 million by Prime Bank Ltd. was held in the city recently.
Citigroup Global Markets Pvt. Ltd. was the sole placement agent for the transa
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MTB okays 20pc stock dividend
The annual general meeting (AGM) of Mutual Trust Bank yesterday approved a 20 percent stock dividend for the financial year ended December 31, 2009.
The bank achieved a net profit of Tk 82.1 crore in 2009, a whooping 169 percent rise over 2008. The opera
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Mercantile Bank okays 22pc stock dividend
The shareholders of Mercantile Bank Limited Monday approved 22 per cent stock dividend for the year ended December 31, 2009, said a press release.
The approval came at the 11th Annual General Meeting of the bank held held on the day in presence of a larg
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'City Global ' launched
City Bank has introduced its very own brand of foreign currency solutions called 'City Global' in the market targeting the country's growing banking subscribers who regularly deal with the overseas currencies.
This package will largely remove the existin
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Dhaka Bank approves 25pc stock dividend
The shareholders of Dhaka Bank Limited approved 25 per cent bonus share as the dividend for the year 2009 at the 15th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company.
Dhaka Bank Chairman Altaf Hossain Sarker presided over the meeting held at Bangabandhu Inte
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ICB AMCL announces NAV of eight mutual funds
ICB Asset Management Company Ltd (ICB AMCL), asdubsidiary of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), has announced Net Asset Value (NAV) of its eight mutual funds recently.
The total NAV of ICB AMCL First Mutual Fund stood at Tk 314,641,539.96 on the
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AT Capital AMC gets asset mgt licence
Asian Tiger Capital Partners Asset Management Limited ('A T Capital AMC') has been awarded an Asset Management Licence by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company started operations with a paid up capital of Tk.50 million.
A T Capital AMC is
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Bank Asia opens SME service centre
The 5th SME service centre of Bank Asia was inaugurated at Jurain in the city Monday with a view to promoting small and medium enterprises in the area, said a press release.
Erfanuddin Ahmed, president and managing director of the bank inaugurated the ce
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Indian exporters nervous over strong rupee
A sharp rise in the value of the rupee against the US dollar has made Indian exporters worried, and they want the government to step in and peg the fixed exchange rate, taking a cue from Bangladesh and China.
Almost 70 percent of India's foreign trade is
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Rio Tinto fallout can only hurt Australia
The British-Australian iron ore giant Rio Tinto is probably a household name now in China. But such a sudden fame may not bear positive results in the long run, especially on the people-to-people level.
The months-long dispute between China and Australia
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RTI yet to be operative
The Right to Information (RTI) Act in Bangladesh enacted about a year ago was a laudable step forward in bringing about drastic changes in the information world. But ironically, this Act which is full of significance in creating conditions for good govern
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How TV viewing became a social experience
Do you ever watch television and surf the net at the same time? If you do, you might already be sharing your thoughts about TV programmes on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Social TV, where people exchange opinions about the content
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Small lenders help developing entrepreneurs
The sun is yet to rise. Atuna, a single mother, carries her stock of cassava through the narrow winding alleyways of Dar Es Salam, Tanzania.
Fried cassava is a popular breakfast food in East Africa and for Atuna it is her new business opportunity.
Like
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Unruly elements in AGM
It has become a general practice in the country to give gift to the shareholders while they attend any AGM in addition to any dividend recommended by the Board of Directors. Unfortunately this practice forced on the listed companies few years back, is now
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British Airways strike's 'toxic' staff legacy
When the BA strike is finally resolved, what might be hard to rectify is the working relationships between staff and bosses and among employees.
The union claims 14 staff have been suspended for membership of a Facebook group that discussed a list of pil
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No quick solution for boosting power supply
Finance minister AMA Muhith has said that Bangladesh's energy and power crisis is the "worst" in South Asia and he warned that there was no quick-fix for boosting supply.
"We're having the horrible crisis in energy and power supply right now - worst in S
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Ban on air conditioner use
The government has banned use of air conditioners during peak hours from 6pm to 11pm daily to cope with the mounting electricity supply shortfall.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) in an order Tuesday, which came into force with immediate ef
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Sharecroppers gets little response from banks
The instruction of Bangladesh Bank to the commercial banks for giving priority to the sharecroppers for disbursing agriculture loan received little response from them.
Local touts, middlemen and 'elites' are still playing major role in influencing the ba
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Bapex to explore new gas fields
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production (Bapex) Company is going to start searching for new gas fields from June to increase the fuel's supply in the country.
"We have selected some sites including Sundarpur in Begumganj, Srikail in Comilla and
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Reduced ADP allocation for poor performers
The government is likely to curtail annual development programme allocation for under-performing ministries and the amount will be diverted to those ministries who showed better performance in implementing ADP.
"The decision will be taken after reviewing
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Aktel becomes Rabi
The name of mobile phone operating company Aktel has been changed to 'Robi', the rising sun and a symbol that brings the first gleam of light to show the day.
The company's transformation came amid its strong optimism to stimulate massive economic benefi
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Irrigation for Aman farming
The government Monday took an unprecedented decision to bring 'Aman' farming under irrigation to reduce its vulnerability to drought and help boost the country's food-grain output.
"Since Aman cultivation is heavily dependent on seasonal rains, productio
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Malaysia plans major economic overhaul
Malaysia Tuesday unveiled plans for bold economic reforms including an overhaul of racial preferences for majority Malays, in a roadmap to achieve developed-nation status by 2020.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who came to office last year, said the "New Ec
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SEC drags its heels over floating of two SoEs
Finance ministry has asked the securities regulator to speed up its efforts to help clear the way for floating of two major state-owned enterprises (SoEs) in the local bourses, officials said.
The directive comes after the government was slammed by the o
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China mulls proposals to revalue yuan
The Chinese government is reviewing proposals to adjust its currency exchange rate system next month, Chinese media reported, as international pressure grows on Beijing to revalue the yuan.
The proposals include giving the yuan a more flexible exchange r
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