The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) urged the government to ensure adequate gas and power supplies to industries for accelerating the country’s industrialisation process, reports UNB. “The government has already taken a number of positive initiatives to…

AFP, BRUSSELS:  The EU ordered France’s electricity giant EDF to repay the French state 1.37 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in back taxes yesterday, in a case dating from 1997. “The European Commission has decided that Electricite de France (EDF), the main electricity provider in France,…

The country received $936.12 million in remittance in the first 17 days of the current month of July. Bangladesh Bank statistics show the four state-owned commercial banks Agrani, Janata, Rupali and Sonali—received $271.96 million from the expatriate Bangladeshis while four state-owned specialised…

AFP, SINGAPORE: Oil prices resumed their decline in Asia yesterday following a US report showing that stockpiles surged last week, with analysts warning of further weakness ahead. Ahead of an official report, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said stockpiles had increased by 2.3 million…

AFP, TOKYO: The dollar’s rally against the yen stumbled yesterday ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week that investors will be watching for clues about the timing of a US interest rate hike. In Tokyo trading, the dollar turned down to 123.72 yen from 123.86 yen in New York and 124.43 yen…

The trade value, which remained around Tk 500-crore mark in the past seven weeks, crossed Tk 700 crore to hit two-month high yesterday, with a phenomenal 45.16 per cent rise over the previous session’s transaction value, reports BSS. The trade volume also surged accordingly by 30.78 per cent to…

AFP, WASHINGTON: Microsoft announced a net loss of $3.19 billion in the past quarter Tuesday, blaming a hefty writedown on the smartphone business it acquired from Nokia. The US tech giant earlier this month announced a $7.5 billion charge to write down the value of the smartphone operations acquired…

AFP, SINGAPORE: Singapore police yesterday confirmed they had frozen two bank accounts as part of an investigation into possible money-laundering offences related to troubled Malaysian state investment firm 1MDB. The company is under investigation by Malaysian authorities following reports of irregularities…

Chinese tech giant Huawei yesterday said its global smartphone sales jumped by 39 per cent in the first half of the year. It comes after the world’s fourth-biggest smartphone maker posted a 30 per cent growth in overall revenue on Monday. Huawei said it shipped 48.2 million devices globally in…

AFP, SYDNEY: Mining giant BHP Billiton’s spinoff South32 yesterday flagged pre-tax impairments of US$1.9 billion on manganese and coal assets in Australia and South Africa as commodity prices struggle. South32 -- which debuted on the Australian Securities Exchange in mid-May—demerged from…

AFP, TOKYO:  Toshiba has sold its stake in Finnish engineering giant Kone for almost $1.0 billion to bolster its balance sheet, the firm said yesterday, after its president and a string of other executives quit over an accounting scandal. The vast Japanese conglomerate said its elevator unit sold…

AFP, SAN FRANCISCO: Apple’s latest quarterly profit leapt as people around the world snapped up big-screen iPhones but its shares slipped as analysts had expected even more. The US tech giants reported Tuesday that its profit jumped 38 per cent to $10.7 billion on surging iPhone sales, compared…

AFP, HUNCHUN: At China’s very farthest limits, a town sandwiched between North Korea and Russia stands at the heart of Beijing’s plan to revitalise its bleak, frigid northeastern rustbelt. Beijing has a vision of turning the nondescript outpost of Hunchun into a regional Asian trading hub,…

AFP, DUBAI: Leading oil producer the United Arab Emirates will scrap subsidies on petrol and diesel from August to cut spending as low crude prices hit revenues, the energy ministry said yesterday. Pump prices for the two fuels will now be set on the basis of world prices and adjusted each month, the…

AFP, LECTOURE: It took an American in southwest France to revive an ancient blue dye that once brought riches to the region and was so prized it was lauded in Chaucer’s poetry and used for uniforms in Napoleon’s army. “We brought this ‘Pastel’ back into fashion,”…

AFP, SYDNEY: Further interest rates cuts remain “on the table”, Australia’s central bank chief said yesterday, as new official data showed that Australian consumer prices rose 0.7 per cent in the three months to June, keeping annual inflation subdued. Reserve Bank of Australia governor…