Star Business Repot In a bid to ease pressure on inflation, Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday fixed the target of private sector credit growth at 18.5 percent, bringing it down by 6.44 percentage points. The BB took the decision at a time when different countries have taken steps to increase credit flow amid global financial crisis. ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
Dhaka, Ctg bourses see losing day
Staff Correspondent Dhaka stocks finished lower on Wednesday as investors, downcast by the recent dullness at the market, scurried to sell off their holdings, market operators said. The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange lost 13.62 points, or 0.50 per cent, to close at 2712.66, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 4.20 points, or ... Read more
Beautiful women ‘more likely to be unfaithful’: Study
Agencies London It may not be always true, but a new study says that some pretty women are more likely to have extra-marital affairs because of a sex hormone which is linked to attractiveness and flirtatiousness. Researchers have carried out the study and found that women who have high levels of oestrogen not only look ... Read more
Naomi reveals secret of curvaceous body
ANI Naomi Watts has returned to her former curves after delivering her second baby in less than a month and the secret behind it is breast-feeding. The Mulholland Drive actress, who welcomed her second son, Samuel, with partner Liev Schreiber on January 13, had been recently snapped looking her former slim self. Speaking of their ... Read more
Nadal and Jankovic top seeds for Australian Open
REUTERS MELBOURNE: Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia have been confirmed as the top seeds for this year’s Australian Open, which begins on Monday. Roger Federer was listed as second seed in the men’s draw ahead of defending champion Novak Djokovic and Briton Andy Murray for the year’s first Grand Slam. Former champion ... Read more
Delhi to China
By Abdulla Mahmood The New Year in Bollywood has kicked off with an action-packed comic rollercoaster ride. Chandni Chowk To China (CC2C) has been awaited for many reasons – it stars box office darling Akshay Kumar and the happening Deepika Padukone for the first-time; it is the first big-budget Bollywood kung fu comedy; it marks ... Read more
Ways to bring happiness in life
Undoubtedly we all run after happiness all throughout our life, instead of creating it for ourselves. The daily busy schedules of our life that includes 9-5 jobs, tight office deadlines, household chores, children’s responsibilities etc all together left us with very less time with ourselves. If same things are happening in your life too, then ... Read more
Mystery of the British penguins that are marching towards oblivion
From The Times Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter An endangered species of penguin is mysteriously disappearing from a remote British island in the South Atlantic at a rate of 100 birds every day. About two million northern rockhopper penguins have vanished from Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island, part of the British overseas territory of St ... Read more
Teen ’sexting’ craze leading to child porn arrests in US
From Times Online Murad Ahmed, Technology Reporter In a new trend spreading across America, teens are sending nude or semi-nude pictures to one another on their mobile phones in a practice called “sexting”. But what started out as risqué fun among adolescents has spread fast, and is starting to lead to serious consequences. Recently,
Fertiliser prices halved
Markdown to give Boro major boost; govt subsidy for non-urea fertilisers will now stand at Tk 2,700cr Staff Correspondent The government yesterday slashed the prices of non-urea fertilisers to almost half per kilogram to help farmers during the country’s biggest crop season, Boro. From now, farmers will be able to buy 1kg TSP (triple super ... Read more
News analysis: Siemens bribery: The whole story
Hasanuzzaman Khan A source close to the US embassy in Dhaka said they have ascertained only 3 million dollar deposited in a Singapore Bank in the account of Arafat Rahman Koko which was described as Siemens’ kickback. When asked about the 200 million dollar in kickback reportedly deposited in Koko’s name in a Singapore bank, ... Read more
Govt to sue Siemens over Koko graft
Md Hasan The government has decided to take legal actions against Siemens Bangladesh Ltd, following the international scandal of bribery and money laundering involving Germany based industrial giant Siemens, and Arafat Rahman Koko, younger son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia. The actions might include blacklisting of Siemens Bangaladesh Ltd, barring it from doing business ... Read more
Govt moves for speedy disposal of Mujib murder case
Staff Correspondent The government will take steps immediately to appoint two new judges to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for speedy disposal of the appeals in the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder case, said law minister Shafique Ahmed on Wednesday. ‘The Awami League government initiated the trial process in 1996. But no other government ... Read more
Dhaka condemns attacks on Gaza
Staff Correspondent Bangladesh on Wednesday strongly condemned the continued Israeli attacks on Gaza of Palestine as it entered into the 3rd week, and called for immediate halt of the attacks, which caused casualty to hundreds of Palestinians, mostly the women and children. The government of Bangladesh also urged the Israeli authorities to comply with the ... Read more
Osama bin Laden calls for jihad over Gaza
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Dubai Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden called for jihad (holy struggle) over the Israeli offensive in Gaza in a new audio tape that appeared on Islamist web sites on Wednesday. The Saudi-born militant said the global financial crisis had exposed the waning US influence in world affairs and would in turn weaken its ... Read more
Four-party MPs to take oath today
Staff Reporter BNP-led four-party alliance MPs is going to take oath today at 4:00 pm at the Jatiya Sangshad Bhaban. The outgoing speaker Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar would officiate the oath taking ceremony. All preparations have been completed for conducting the oath, Speaker office sources said. Talking to the New Nation senior leaders of BNP, ... Read more
NBR asks CAAB to clip Best Air wings
Tk 2cr travel tax remains unpaid Unb, Dhaka The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) to cancel permission for all Best Air flights as the private airlines has failed to pay travel taxes amounting to Tk 2 crore. In a letter sent to the CAAB on January ... Read more
Illegal blood bank busted in city: 2 held
Staff Correspondent Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two people yesterday from Barobagh area of Mirpur in the city on charge of preserving and selling blood illegally to different city clinics and hospitals. The arrestees are Mijanur Rahman Milon, owner of a blood bank and his brother-in-law and partner of his illegal business, Mohammad Sujan. Acting ... Read more
Opportunity for skilled BD workers in UK
Staff Correspondent Bangladeshi origin British businessmen on Wednesday sought cooperation from government to set up a curry school in Dhaka to produce skilled manpower for curry industry to fulfill the growing demand of BD workers in Britain. “In Britain, there are 12 thousands restaurants which are mainly operated by the Bangla-deshi migrants. As many as ... Read more
Global meltdown hits overseas job
Bangladeshi workers in Singapore feel the crunch Porimol Palma Bangladeshi expatriates have started experiencing job cuts in Singapore due to slowdown in businesses, especially in the shipping and construction sectors, following the global financial meltdown. “We’ve received information from the Bangladesh mission in Singapore that a good number of our workers are jobless because of ... Read more