Speakers at a discussion in Dhaka yesterday urged the government to take immediate steps for bringing down the prices of essentials including rice, flour,…

Company will allow users to block tweets based on keywords, phrases Twitter, facing pressure for not doing enough to curb abusive behaviour on its platform,…

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has increased the ceiling of local currency that a traveler can carry with him without providing any prior declaration to the central bank, reports BSS. BB in a circular yesterday announced that from now on any incoming or outbound traveler can carry taka 10,000 with him, which…

The government has appointed two new commissioners on a three-year term for separate divisions of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). The new commissioners are Md Rezaul Kader, former director general of BTRC, and Md Aminul Hasan, former managing director of Teletalk. Government…

When was the last time you had a meal with someone without spending time texting someone else? McDonald’s has introduced mobile phone lockers, in a bid to get customers to put their phones away, and start talking to each other again, reports Mashable. One of its outlets in Singapore, at Marine…

AFP, HONG KONG: Asian markets extended gains yesterday after a positive lead from Wall Street while the dollar struggled following more weak US inflation…

The chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority has warned of a "pronounced" build up of debt among young people, reports BBC. In an…

AFP, BEIJING: China’s factory price inflation rose again in September, official data showed yesterday, indicating the improving domestic demand while the central bank chief said he expects strong growth in the second half despite fears of slowdown. The producer price index (PPI), an important…

AFP, WASHINGTON: The European Central Bank expects a pickup in inflation even though wages have remained weak during the current economic recovery, its vice president, Vitor Constancio, said Sunday. Constancio was joined in Washington by other central bank leaders, who likewise said they expected inflation…

Stocks performed mixed yesterday with major indices finishing flat on higher activities of some large cap securities despite declining the daily transactions, reports BSS. The rising major sectors were insurance, fuel and power. A total of 125 securities of the large-cap group moved up due to lower…

AFP, DUBAI: Faced with dire economic straits due to low oil prices, Saudi Arabia is gearing up for deeper production cuts ahead of its massive Aramco share offering. Analysts say the cuts aim to rebalance the market after the OPEC kingpin lost hundreds of billions of dollars in oil income, posting huge…

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular yesterday announced completion of a deal to combine their operations in Ghana, reports PTI. The deal, executed through their respective subsidiaries, will create Ghana’s second largest mobile operator with nearly 10 million subscribers…

XINHUA, SEOUL: South Korea’s exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products hit a new record high in September thanks to strong demand for semiconductors, a government report showed yesterday. The ICT exports reached 19.26 billion US dollars in September, topping the previous…

AFP, BEIJING: A potential ban in China on software to avoid the country’s censors could make it “impossible” to communicate privately online, the German ambassador warned yesterday. German envoy Michael Clauss said the possible prohibition of virtual private networks (VPNs) and the…

XINHUA, HANOI: New statistics show average hotel rate in Vietnam’s Hanoi capital city went up significantly to 108 US dollars per night in the third quarter of this year, up 26 per cent over the same period last year. The latest report from real estate consultancy firm Savills showed a five-star…

XINHUA, HARBIN: Heihe Port on the China-Russia border registered strong growth in fruit and vegetable exports to Russia in the first three quarters of this year, data from the port showed yesterday. As of September, a total of 57,500 tonnes of fruits and vegetables were exported from China to Russia…