Noman Mosharef : InterContinental Dhaka owner Bangladesh Services Limited (BSL) suffered declining business performance throughout three quarters of fiscal year 2024. About a decade ago, the state-owned hospitality firm borrowed nearly Tk574 crore from Agrani Bank for renovating the InterContinental Dhaka as per the InterContinental Hotel Group (Asia Pacific) standards. Thanks to interest charges, the loan amount has now swelled up to more than Tk900 crore increasing the firm’s finance costs and eventually throwing the company into losses. This slump...
Gazi Anowar : The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) flagship index, the DSEX, is experiencing its worst session ever, hitting a 52-week low. Despite slight improvements in two trading days this week, DSEX fell to the 5244.13 during last Thursday (June 20) trading session, underscoring the severity of the situation. A year ago, in June 2023, the DSEX’s position was 6,300 points. Comparatively the benchmark index fell to 1056 points as per the latest market last Thursday. However, during the trading...
Business Report : The proposed budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 raises the supplementary duty (SD) and value-added tax (VAT) for the telecom sector, leading to increased sales costs for two of the three listed telecom companies on the capital market: Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC, Robi Axiata Ltd, and Grameenphone Ltd. The two key tax increases are a rise in supplementary duty (SD) on SIM/RUIM cards for mobile services, from the current 15 per cent to 20 per cent, and...
Agency : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced fixtures for the Bangladesh’s upcoming tour. The Bangladesh team led by Najmul Hossain Shanto will play 2 Test matches and 3 T20I matches during their visit. Chennai will host the first Test starting on 19th September, while Kanpur will host the second Test from 27th September. The three T20Is will be played on October 6,9 and 12 respectively at Dharamshala, Delhi and Hyderabad. Bangladesh last played...
Staff Reporter : Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed’s wealth has sparked widespread debate due to significant assets allegedly acquired beyond his known income, including properties in Dhaka and elsewhere registered under his and his family’s names. Joining this controversy is former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah, whose wealth has also come under scrutiny following his retirement on September 13, 2019. The discussion around Asaduzzaman Miah’s assets intensified on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha, triggered by reports...
Staff Reporter : The plight of the Rohingya Muslims, driven out of Myanmar by a brutal military campaign in 2017, remains a stark reminder of unresolved human suffering. Nearly seven years on, their future remains uncertain in the congested environment of Cox’s Bazar, with repatriation efforts stalled and international support waning. On the occasion of World Refugee Day, local and international experts are advocating for the formal recognition of the Rohingyas as’refugees’ by the government of Bangladesh. They suggest following...
Business Desk : To support sustainable textile manufacturing and improve the sector’s resource efficiency in Bangladesh and India, IFC announced a partnership with EPIC Group, a leading player in the global apparel industry, to help finance its green capital expenditure program and create higher-skilled jobs. IFC is providing EPIC Group with a $100 million debt financing package in the form of a $70 million sustainability-linked loan and a $30 million green loan. This funding will support EPIC Group’s expansion in...
Staff Reporter : Grassroots vendors, who were hoping for higher prices to benefit the underprivileged, are dissatisfied despite tanners’ promises to purchase cowhides for more than Taka 800 and salt-preserved ones for more than Taka 1,000. Mahbub Ul Alam, an accountant in Brahmanbaria, expressed his disappointment, stating that no commercial collectors were willing to offer a higher price than Tk 150 for a bull they had purchased for Tk 91,000. Farhan, who sacrificed a cow purchased for Tk 2.1 lakh...
AP : President Joe Biden is taking an expansive election year step to offer relief to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants without legal status in the U.S., aiming to balance his own aggressive crackdown on the southern border earlier this month that enraged advocates and many Democratic lawmakers. The White House announced Tuesday that the Biden administration will, in the coming months, allow certain spouses of U.S. citizens without legal status to apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship....
AFP, Moscow: North Korea’s relations with Russia have reached a new high point and President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang will further strengthen ties, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday. Putin landed in North Korea earlier, in a trip set to boost defence cooperation between the two nuclear-armed countries as Moscow pursues its offensive in Ukraine. “Relations between our countries are entering a new era of blossoming, which cannot be compared even with the period of Korean-Soviet relations of...
NN Online Report: Banks in Bangladesh reopened with a new office timing today after the Eid-ul-Azha holidays. From today, banks will remain open from 10:00am to 6:00pm and the transaction hour will end at 4:00pm. However, transaction has yet to get momentum as clients and bankers are still in festive mood, said bankers. A senior official of state-run Sonali Bank’s principal branch told that businessmen and other customers, who have urgent needs, are the ones coming to the branches today....
NN Online Report: Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday warned that no one will be spared if they are involved in corruption, no matter how powerful they are. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared ‘zero tolerance’ against corruption, and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has full freedom,” he said while addressing a press conference on contemporary issues at the AL President’s office in the city’s Dhanmondi, reports BSS. Quader said it is no...