Asia bond outflows surge to 4-year highs on inflation concerns

Asian bonds recorded their largest monthly foreign outflows in four years in March as disruptions to oil and gas supplies from the Middle East conflict fueled inflation concerns, weighing on demand for fixed-income assets, reports Reuters.Investors pulled a net $7.57...

Hassan O. Rashid takes charge as EBL MD

Hassan O. Rashid has taken charge as the managing director (MD) of Eastern Bank (EBL). Rashid served as the chief executive officer of Prime Bank before joining EBL, according to a press release.With over 31 years of professional experience across...

PRIME BANK INKS DEAL TO PROVIDE DISCOUNTS ON DFSK VEHICLE PURCHASE-

PRIME BANK INKS DEAL TO PROVIDE DISCOUNTS ON DFSK VEHICLE PURCHASEPrime Bank recently signed an agreement with MA Enterprise & MRM Ventures (DFSK BD) to offer exclusive benefits to its customers on purchases of Dongfeng Sokon (DFSK) vehicles. The signing...

Masud Khan reappointed chairman of Unilever Consumer Care

Masud Khan has been re-appointed for a second term as chairman of Unilever Consumer Care Ltd, a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world's leading consumer goods companies.The company's board of directors on Monday approved his appointment.Following the meeting convened...

MTB HOSTS WORKSHOP ON FDI -

MTB HOSTS WORKSHOP ON FDI Mutual Trust Bank, in association with the MNC Banking Department, successfully organised a workshop on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country through its training institute recently. The event brought together key stakeholders including policymakers,...

Titas Gas to issue 283m preference shares to govt

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company has received regulatory approval to issue nearly 283 million preference shares to the government against accumulated share money deposits, in a move aimed at complying with a five-year-old directive.According to a disclosure filed with...

Tigresses survive late scare to take 1-0 ODI lead against Sri Lanka

An impressive 86-run innings from Sharmin Akter Supta guided the Bangladesh Women's Cricket Team to a thrilling three-wicket victory over the Sri Lanka Women's Cricket Team in the opening ODI of the three-match series at Rajshahi Divisional Stadium in the...

Rubel given BCB farewell after announcing retirement

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday ahead of the second ODI against New Zealand gave veteran fast bowler Rubel Hossain a formal send-off following his retirement from international cricket, according to Cricbuzz.Rubel's former teammates gathered at the Sher-e-Bangla National...

Rana's 5-for propels Tigers to level ODI series

A ruthless spell of fast bowling from Nahid Rana and a fluent top-order response from Tanzid Hasan powered Bangladesh to a commanding six-wicket victory over New Zealand, levelling the three-match series 1-1.On a surface expected to favour spin, it was...

Bridge collapse disrupts communications

OUR CORRESPONDENTBENAPOLE, Apr 20: A decades-old dilapidated bridge in Dihi Union of Sharsha Upazila in Jashore collapsed under the weight of a sand-laden truck, disrupting communication between several surrounding villages.The incident occurred on Friday afternoon in Raghunathpur village along the...

Tangail road crash kills two

A bus driver's assistant and a supervisor have died after their vehicle collided head-on with a truck at Ghatail upazila in Tangail district, reports bdnews24.com.The accident occurred at 6am on Monday in the Hamidpur area along the Tangail-Mymensingh road, said...

Noise pollution in Rajshahi exceeds legal limits

RAJSHAHI, Apr 20: Noise pollution in Rajshahi has reached alarming levels, with commercial zones experiencing average sound readings far exceeding the legal limits, according to recent field measurements.On Sunday, sound monitoring at Railgate- one of the city's busiest intersections-recorded a...

Major quake hits off Japan

TOKYO, Apr 20 (Reuters): A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Monday, prompting authorities to urge residents to stay away from coastal areas where tsunami waves of up to 3 metres (10 ft) were expected.Two...

Russia-friendly Radev sweeps Bulgaria's election

SOFIA, Apr 20 (Reuters): When Rumen Radev stepped down from his role as president of Bulgaria in January to run in Sunday's parliamentary election, he urged voters to ditch the "corrupt officials, conspirators and extremists" that he said were running...

EU highlights backing for Palestinians, push for two-state solution

BRUSSELS, Apr 20 (AFP): European backers put on a show of support for the Palestinian Authority and the push for a two-state solution Monday, as the US-Israeli war with Iran has dragged focus away from Gaza.The efforts to bolster the...

Iran reopens main airports in Tehran

TEHRAN, Apr 20 (AFP): Iran reopened its main Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad airports in capital Tehran on Monday, the country's aviation authority said, after closures caused by the weeks-long war with the United States and Israel."Authorization for passenger flights at...

US man kills 7 of his children in Louisiana mass shooting

SHREVEPORT, Apr 20 (BBC): A father has killed seven of his children and another child in Shreveport, Louisiana, in a mass shooting that police called a "domestic disturbance".Officers said the shooting began about 05:00 (10:00 GMT) on Sunday. After attacking...

Inflation straining the middle class

In recent months, the prices of essential goods such as food, fuel and transportation have increased significantly. This situation is creating serious difficulties for middle-class families, who largely depend on fixed or limited incomes.Middle-class households are among the most affected,...

Gold-backed lending

The Bangladesh Bank's Banking Regulation and Policy Department (BRPD), through its Circular No. 15 dated November 27, 2024, issued the latest Master Circular on Loan Classification and Provisioning. This circular provides comprehensive guidelines on determining provisioning requirements, including a clearly...

Double whammy of fuel and fertilizer crises

Production at the state-owned Diammonium Phosphate Fertilizer Company Limited (DAPFCL) at Anowara Upazila in Chattogram came to a halt on Saturday (April 18) due to an acute shortage of ammonia. Notably, until early last month, ammonia to the DAPFCL was...

Informing parliament of treaties

In a constitutional democracy, the making of international commitments cannot be treated as a private craft exercised behind closed doors. It is a public act, undertaken in the name of the people, and it must therefore be subject to public...

In search of an integrated statistical data warehouse

Groundwork, according to a report carried in this newspaper, is on for putting in place an integrated statistical data warehouse (ISDW). With the integration, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is set to undergo a transformation unlike any in the...

Higher education at the crossroads

This is an era-defining period we are experiencing. There is no doubt that there are rapid advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, large data sets, and biotechnology, among others. Together, these forces make up what we now...

Cronyism, kleptocratic legacy stalling Bangladesh's reforms

Speakers at a programme on Sunday stressed that entrenched cronyism, weak political accountability, and a longstanding "kleptocratic legacy" were continuing to stall Bangladesh's reform agenda, despite repeated policy commitments over the decades.Speaking at a plenary session of the ninth SANEM...

Oil-price hike not under IMF pressure: Khosru

This government won't borrow from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by agreeing all the conditions set with the ousted Awami League administration, says Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. "The lending programme was taken by the Awami League...

Octane: overflowing depots, motorists' empty fuel tanks

The government has claimed that it has sufficient stocks of octane and diesel to meet the local demand.However, supply remains sluggish, and people across the country are still enduring long and often unbearable waits at filling stations.Fuel stations have imposed...

Watermelons are unloaded from boats at Badamtoli Ghat on the Buriganga River in the capital on Sunday, as

Watermelons are unloaded from boats at Badamtoli Ghat on the Buriganga River in the capital on Sunday, as prices of the juicy summer staple rise in the retail market due to a supply shortfall, with consumers paying Tk 10-15 more...

After fuel oils, comes second successive LPG price hike

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) price is jacked up to Tk 1,940 per 12-kilogram cylinder in a second successive hike within a month, which critics say would increase pressure on household budgets.Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Sunday announced the latest "adjustment"...

Food, transport, trade costs set to spike

Food production, trade and transportation costs may increase further on fuel-price hike by Tk 15-20 per litre in Bangladesh amid an exigent global crunch.Bangladesh uses about 4.35 million tonnes of diesel annually, and around 24 per cent of it is...

Body to set up investment agency with merger of six entities

The government has initiated a fresh move to establish a unified Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) through merging six entities, aiming to streamline investment promotion and attract higher foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh.Under the latest move, the Prime Minister's Office...