Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The Bangladesh Business News – BBN –has prepared the morning news highlights compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh paying homage to language martyrs
The nation started paying respects to the martyrs of the historic Language Movement who sacrificed their lives for mother tongue, Bangla in 1952. People from all sections of lives came out to streets for Central Shaheed Minar with the clock striking 00.01am on Saturday marking ‘Amar Ekushey’, the Language Martyrs Day and also International Mother Language Day. President Abdul Hamid led the nation to paying the respects to those who had sacrificed their lives for establishing Bangla as the state language of erstwhile Pakistan in 1952 as he placed a wreath at the altar of the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka with the clock striking one minute-past zero hour followed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
US slams attacks on innocents
US Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the targeting of civilians by political parties and stressed the need for opposition parties to cease such attacks immediately. “There can be no tolerance for tactics that target innocent citizens or inhibit political expression in a democratic Bangladesh,” he said in a meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in Washington DC.
Budget awaits a sizeable cut
The size of the revised budget for the current fiscal year (2014-15) might finally stand at Tk 2.4 trillion (Tk 240,000 crore), down by nearly Tk 100 billion (10,000 crore) from the original one, people familiar with the development told the FE. This is a big cut compared to those carried out in the previous fiscal years. But in view of the slow growth in revenue mobilisation and slow implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) this cut is quite justified, experts have said.
LC cancellations rise by 25pc in H1
Cancellations of the import-related letter of credit increased by 24.94 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year because of disagreement between importers and exporters and dull business situation in the country amid political uncertainty and unrest in the period, Bangladesh Bank officials said. The BB data released recently showed that LC cancellations rose by 24.94 per cent in July-December of the FY 2014-15 compared with that of 16.90 per cent growth in the corresponding period of the FY 2013-14.
Weekly Review: Bangladesh’s stocks return to red
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red that ended on Thursday after previous week’s sharp gain as worried investors went for selling spree amid ongoing political volatility. The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of those, three sessions saw downturn while two sessions saw marginal gain.
Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, came down below the 4,800-mark and ended the week at 4,788.23 points, losing 53.49 points or 1.10 percent.
Farm credit disbursement falls by 4.0 in seven months
Disbursement of agriculture loan fell by nearly 4.0 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 compared to the same period of last year. The disbursement farm credit came down to BDT 84.88 billion during the July-January period of the FY 15 from BDT 88.20 billion in corresponding period of the FY 14, according to the central bank statistics.
Teesta turns into stream
Bangladesh received one of the lowest flow of water at Teesta yesterday as the nation hopes for a breakthrough in the Teesta water sharing issue with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the city. The water flow at the Teesta Barrage was only 165 cusec (cubic feet per second) yesterday afternoon, which was 355 cusec in the morning. “Probably it is the lowest level of the Teesta water I have seen in my life,” said an official of Bangladesh Water Development Board who measures the water level.
India urged to remove non-tariff barriers
Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on Friday urged for removing non-tariff barriers to help enter Bangladeshi goods to India easily. He also requested India to ease visa-granting procedure to facilitate people to people connectivity alongside businesses. Mr Amu made the appeals when a delegation of India-Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI), led by its president Mohammad Ali, met him at his residence.
BBN/SSR/AD-21Feb15-9:50 am (BST)
