Foreign - Bangladesh Business News

WB supports to Bangladesh for achieving upper-middle income status

BBN Desk — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 18:56:05 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The World Bank (WB) has reaffirmed its continued support to Bangladesh to achieve the country’s vision of reaching an upper-middle income status through ensuring green growth.

The Washington-based development partner reaffirmed this as the WB’s Chief Executive Officer Kristalina Georgieva concluded a two-day visit to Bangladesh.

As a co-chair of the Third Executive Meeting of the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) that took place in Dhaka on July 10, Georgieva commended Bangladesh for its leading role in adaptation and disaster preparedness, despite being among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

“The world can learn from Bangladesh’s adaptation and strong disaster-coping mechanisms. Their approach is working when we compare recent and past natural disasters: Cyclone Bhola in 1970 killed half a million people while last May Cyclone Fani, of similar strength caused less than 10,” said Georgieva.

“But climate change will make the threat of natural disasters more frequent and intense. The World Bank remains committed to help Bangladesh improve resilience and ensure climate-smart growth.”

For Bangladesh, dealing with climate change is a development priority. With active community participation, the country has improved defensive measures, including early warning systems, cyclone shelters that double up as schools, evacuation plans, coastal embankments, reforestation schemes and increased awareness and communication.

The WB has supported these measures, which have reduced deaths in major storms.

On Wednesday, she met with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and commended Bangladesh’s remarkable progress in economic development and poverty reduction. They discussed the country’s development priorities, and how the bank can support them.

On Thursday, Georgieva visited a learning center, known as Ananda School that brings poor out-of-school children back to primary education.

The WB is supporting the government project that enrolled about 690,000 poor and out-of-school children, half of whom are girls, in Ananda Schools, which in Bengali means ‘school of joy’.

To cover the poorest slum children, the project has been expanded to 11 city corporations. In Cox’s Bazar area, the program is providing learning opportunities to Rohingya children and helping the dropped-out youth from the host community.

“I am most impressed with the resilience of the people of Bangladesh and their determination for a better future for their children,” Georgieva noted.

“The country also showed extreme generosity by providing shelter to about a million Rohingya population. The World Bank stands by Bangladesh in its journey to an upper-middle income status.”

The WB was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence.

Since then, the World Bank has committed over $30 billion, mostly in grants and interest-free credits to Bangladesh, supported by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s arm for the poorest countries. Bangladesh currently has the largest IDA program totaling $12.6 billion.

BBN/SSR/AD

Signals from ‘black box’ of MH370, says Australia

BBN Desk — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 09:31:23 +0000

Beijing, China (BBN)-Australian leader Tony Abbott says authorities are confident that signals heard in the Indian Ocean are coming from the "black box" flight recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Speaking in China, he said teams had "very much narrowed" the search area, reports BBC.
An Australian vessel has on four occasions picked up signals consistent with flight recorders, officials say.
But a fifth signal picked up by a plane on Thursday is now thought unlikely to be linked to flight MH370.
The Malaysian plane vanished on 8 March, with 239 people on board.
It was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it lost contact with air traffic controllers.
Based on satellite data, officials believe it crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, far from its intended flight path.
NARROWED SEARCH
An Australian vessel, the Ocean Shield, has been using a US Navy towed pinger locator to listen out. Signals were detected twice over the weekend and twice on Tuesday.
Speaking in China during an official visit, Abbott said search teams needed as much information as possible from the acoustic signals before the black-box batteries ran out.
"It's [the search area] been very much narrowed down because we've now had a series of detections, some for quite a long period of time,'' Abbott said.
"Nevertheless, we're getting to the stage where the signal from what we are very confident is the black box is starting to fade."
On Thursday an Australian aircraft picked up an audio signal in the same area as the four previous detections.
But the Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre had analysed the data and confirmed that the signal was "unlikely to be related to the aircraft black boxes", said Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who heads the agency overseeing the search.
THE SEARCH FOR FLIGHT MH370
He said that there had been "no major breakthrough in the search for MH370".
ACM Houston has cautioned that search work using the towed pinger locator will continue until officials are sure that the black-box batteries - which last about a month - have run out.
At that point the Bluefin 21 submersible drone will be sent down to search for wreckage on the sea floor, but this could be a laborious and pain-staking task made more difficult by the presence of silt.
On Friday, up to 15 aircraft and 13 ships were involved in the search, which was targeting a reduced area of 46,713 square kilometres.
As the Ocean Shield continues to listen for acoustic signals, ships and aircraft are combing another area for possible debris from the plane, based on analysis of ocean drift.
"Yesterday there were no sightings reported by search aircraft or objects recovered by ships," the co-ordinating agency said in a statement on Friday morning.
Investigators still do not know why MH370 strayed so far off course, after disappearing over the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam.
The backgrounds of both passengers and crew have been scrutinised as officials consider hijacking, sabotage, pilot action or mechanical failure as possible causes.
MH370 - FACTS AT A GLANCE
8 March: Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
Plane's transponder, which communicates with ground radar, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
24 March: Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors

BBN/ANS/AD/11Apr14-3:30 pm (BST)

Airtel launches new pre-paid package in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:31:13 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Bharti Airtel has recently launched a new pre-paid package -- Shobai -- for its customers in Bangladesh, the mobile operator said.

With the package, six million plus Airtel users in Bangladesh can create friends and family (FnF) circle of customers from any operator.

The package also comes with a regular FnF tariff of 65 paisa a minute, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

“As the leading youth brand of the country, Airtel believes in the power of communities," said Chris Tobit, managing director of Airtel Bangladesh.

“Shobai” is a first-of-its-kind prepaid package in Bangladesh which will allow our Airtel customers to choose "friends n family" with all numbers of one selected operator of his/her choice."

To avail the services of Shobai, Airtel prepaid customers have to register by typing “S” and send an SMS to 7353.

BBN/SSR/AD-21Apr12-11:40 pm (BST)

Robi launches new product to connect with Bangladeshi youth

BBN Desk — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:54:11 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Robi Axiata Limited, a leading mobile phone operator, has launched SMS-based social networking platform and voice altering facility as part of a new initiative to connect with the Bangladeshi youth.

The mobile company has introduced Circle where youth can be mobilized through SMS-based social networking platform and Magic Voice that helps change the tone of the callers' voice.

Robi will soon launch attractive contests to recognize outstanding works by the youth, a company announcement said.

“Youth are the key driving forces behind our country's progress. Proud histories have been created by the youth of the country. Every time they have led by example. Robi salutes the spirit of Bangladeshi youth the nation builders,” it added.

“Robi believes when youth come together, they can do great things. Robi wants to showcase the voices of the next generation,” said Michael Kuehner, managing director and CEO of the company.

Pradeep Shrivastava, chief market officer, said: “This unique youth platform is a pursuit towards exploring the potentials of youth and creating a strong platform to pursue their goals.”

BBN/SSR/AD-01Mar12-8:55 am (BST)

Micromax introduces Q22 handset in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 04:25:49 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Micromax Informatics Limited has launched its latest QWERTY handset -- Micromax Q22 -- for the customers in Bangladesh.

This lightweight handset has been designed for people who love to chat on the internet and SMS every other minute. With its 5 cm screen, every single spot is crystal clear for the user's eyes.

Equipped with dual SIM feature, users can always stay connected even if one network goes down. The entertainment package of the phone includes stereo FM with telescopic antenna and audio and video players.

BBN/SSR/AD-13Nov11-10:26 am (BST)

Airtel launches SMS-based access to Wikipedia in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:34:51 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company has announced the launch of the first ever SMS-based access to Wikipedia content for customers in Bangladesh.

With this, 5 million plus Airtel mobile customers will be the first in the country to leverage this unique service and easily search anything on Wikipedia via SMS --- without the need of subscribing to mobile internet or GPRS services, the company said.

Commenting on this exclusive and innovative service, Chris Tobit, CEO and Managing Director, Airtel Bangladesh Limited said: “Information is the most powerful tool in today's world. With the launch of a first-of-its-kind SMS based access to Wikipedia for customers in Bangladesh - we are delighted to bring easy and 24x7 access to information at the fingertips of 5.0 million plus Airtel mobile customers in the country. We will continue to deliver service innovations that will help us move closer to our commitment of providing life enriching experience for Airtel mobile customers".

BBN/SSR/AD-26Oct11-10:35 am (BST)

Robi launches 'Uddokta', 'Easy Load' in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 19:25:04 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Telecom operator Robi Axiata Limited has introduced "Uddokta" & "Easy Load" bundle offer for its customers in Bangladesh.

The offer is believed to be beneficial to miniature business individuals who look for levelheaded purchases on business tolls within his limited wallet.

This offer is based on the business philosophy of extra savings, discount and bonus/bundle offer which will lead a win-win business solution to Robi "Uddokta" & "Easy Load" partners.

Robi believes this will open a new window to develop a reasonable saving proposition for its business partners with the option to gain more profit.

This offer will give bundle talk time with the best value for money. Uddokta & Easy load customers can now purchase this offer by dialing *8444*30# at a cost of BDT 150 which will give 300 minutes of talk time at a rate of 50 paisa per minute.

They can also get 750 minutes of talk time at 40 paisa per minute rate which will cost them BDT 300. They can activate it by dialing *8444*75#. This offer is valid for 5 days from the day of purchase. During this offer time the customers can purchase as many times as they want.

To check the validity & bundle minute customers has to dial *222*3#.

BBN/SSR/AD-02Oct11-1:57 am (BST)

Nokia Siemens Networks launches Liquid Net in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:37:39 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has launched Liquid Net, a new way to deliver broadband that allows an operator to set up its network to self-adapt to meet capacity and coverage requirements based on demand.

NSN said the new approach also aims to significantly improve the quality of broadband services worldwide. "With Liquid Net, operators can unleash the full potential of their existing business assets and create new revenue sources," the NSN said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Capacity in today's conventional networks is typically frozen in separate places; at individual base station sites, in parts of the core network that manage voice and data services, or in the optical and IP transport networks,” said Marc Rouanne, head of Network Systems at NSN.

"For example, as much as 50 percent of a conventional core network's capacity can be dormant. Instead, Liquid Net unleashes frozen network capacity into a reservoir of resources that can flow to fulfill unpredictable demand, wherever and whenever people use broadband."

Liquid Net channels traffic in the transport network along the path of least resistance and lowest cost between operator sites, it added.

BBN/SSR/AD-21Sept11-10:38 am (BST)

Indian Micromax lunches new handset in Bangladesh market

BBN Desk — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 04:59:08 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Indian mobile phone handset company Micromax on Friday introduced its handset 'Van Gogh X450' at a press conference in the capital Dhaka.

The price of the mobile phone handset is fixed at BDT 5499, which will be available at all leading outlets of the country, the company representatives said.

The new model has unique design feature, a matt finish with a glossy front and a 2.6-inch mirror-like TFT screen. Besides, it has a 65K colour display and a 2.0 MP camera with multi-format audio and video player and a 3.5mm universal jack to ensure music connection.

The handset allows accessing the internet through Opera Mini web browser and has instant messaging services like Facebook, Yahoo, msn etc. The phone's memory is expandable up to 8 GB which makes it a high-performance communication device.

BBN/SSR/AD-27Aug11-11:00 am (BST)

Huawei launches business solutions in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:56:29 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, a telecommunications infrastructure service provider, has launched business solutions, aiming to improve the ICT services in Bangladesh.

Huawei launched the business solutions at the Huawei Enterprise Customer Event at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.

With the launching of the business solutions, organisations, including educational, transport, energy, and power and manufacturing institutions, will receive better and faster telecommunications services from the company, a press statement said.

Huawei that began its operation in Bangladesh in 1998 has become one of the country’s leading ICT solution providers, as a major supplier to all the telecom operators in Bangladesh, including GP, Banglalink, Robi, CityCell, Airtell, Teletalk and BTCL.

BBN/SSR/AD-17Aug11-9:02 pm (BST)