Haque Specialized Group's News

US Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said there was significant uncertainty about US fiscal policy under the Trump administration, but the Fed would be strict in meeting targets of creating full employment and getting inflation to 2 per cent. Speaking at the Warwick Economics Summit on Saturday, Fischer also said he thought Dodd-Frank financial regulation would not be repealed as a whole, and he hoped capital requirements for banks would not be significantly reduced. "There is quite significant uncertainty about what's actually going to happen, I don't think anyone quite knows. It's a process which involves both the administration and the Congress in deciding fiscal policy," Fischer said, in response to a question. "At the moment we're going strictly according to what we see as our responsibility according to the law, which is maintaining full employment and getting inflation to 2 per cent." He also said he thought Dodd-Frank banking regulation legislation would not be repealed, though there may be some adjustments. "I don't think Dodd-Frank as a whole is going to be repealed, but there may be some adjustments to it," he said. "Significantly reducing capital requirements would reduce the safety of the system. I certainly hope it's not going to happen." Dodd-Frank financial regulation was passed in 2010 after the financial crisis of 2008-09, and included legislation requiring banks to maintain higher levels of capital. Fischer also mentioned adjustments to Dodd-Frank could include being less demanding of community banks. The comments came the day after the Federal Reserve Board's top bank regulator, Daniel Tarullo, said he would resign, giving a boost to President Donald Trump's plans to ease reforms put in place after the 2008-09 financial crisis. Trump last week ordered reviews of major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, drawing fire from Democrats and sending banking stocks higher on expectations that looser banking regulation is coming.   ....

Published at: 2017-02-12 00:00:07

Members of Detective Branch (DB) arrested 10 people for allegedly impersonating its members from Dhaka city's Sabujbagh area on Saturday night. Tipped off, a team of DB police conducted a drive in the area and arrested the 10 people who used to impersonate DB men, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), reports UNB. The law enforcers also recovered four vehicles, firearms, walkie-talkie sets, handcuffs and DB jackets from their possessions.  Details of the drive will be disclosed at a press briefing later, the DC added.    ....

Published at: 2017-02-12 00:00:07

Rice prices have marked a sharp rise in the district due to a fall in import and the 'monopoly' of a syndicate of some rice mill owners. Visiting retail markets in the city, the UNB correspondent found coarse rice was selling in between Tk 34-35 per kilogram, up from Tk 26-27 barely weeks back. Besides, the prices of Miniket rice rose to Tk 48-49 from 40-41 while that BR-28 increased to Tk 38-39 from Tk 32-33. Balam rice was selling at Tk 40, up by Tk 5 from Tk 35 two weeks back. The traders said the prices of Nazirshail have increased to Tk 50 from the previous rate of Tk 45. According to some buyers and traders, the crisis has been created as mill owners were hoarding paddy as it has been the peak season. Besides, wholesalers could not import rice from India, Myanmar and Thailand over the last one year as the government imposed a 28 percent import duty and one percent landing charge on rice import to protect the interest of local farmers. President of Khulna Rice Traders' Association Manir Ahmed said the monopolistic attitude of rice mill owners is also a reason behind the price spiral apart from the increased import duty. M Irul Islam, manager of Nahar Auto Rice Mill in the city, said they could not procure adequate rice this time due to an increase in the paddy price at local markets. "So, we couldn't supply rice to the retail markets," he added.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-12 00:00:07

Yale University will change the name of its Calhoun College after protesters said the Ivy League school should drop the honor it gave to an alumnus who was a prominent advocate of US slavery, the university said on Saturday. The college is named for John C. Calhoun, a South Carolina native who served as US vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He graduated from Yale College in 1804, reports Reuters. Yale said it will rename Calhoun College for Grace Murray Hopper, an alumnus who received a PhD in mathematics and mathematical physics in 1934. It described Hopper, who died in 1992, as a trailblazing computer scientist and a brilliant mathematician who also served as a rear admiral in the US Navy. "The decision to change a college’s name is not one we take lightly," Yale President Peter Salovey said in a statement about the residential college's name that has existed for 86 years. "Calhoun’s legacy as a white supremacist and a national leader who passionately promoted slavery as a ‘positive good’ fundamentally conflicts with Yale’s mission and values," he added. The Ivy League school in New Haven, Connecticut, is among several universities that have recently faced calls to dissociate themselves from symbols associated with racism. The decision was made after a meeting with the university's board of trustees, the university president said. In addition to serving as vice president, Calhoun was also a secretary of state, secretary of war and a US senator. He used his power "to advocate ardently for slavery and white supremacy," Yale said in a statement. Salovey said Yale will keep symbols of Calhoun elsewhere on campus in order not to erase the past from the more than 300-year-old university. In April 2016, Yale said it reached a decision to keep the name Calhoun College, saying it would encourage the campus to confront the history of slavery.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-12 00:00:07

Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB) organised an Orientation Programme for the students of 39th batch of Chartered Secretary Course at the ICSB Campus, 115 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka Saturday. Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, President of Institute formally inaugurated the event. Welcoming the newly enrolled students of Chartered Secretary Course, Mohammad Sanaullah FCS, appreciated them for their decision to enroll themselves in ICSB. In his speech, he mentioned that Chartered Secretary profession is now a challenging and rewarding profession in corporate management and there is a wide range of professional scope both at home and abroad. He further added that for being a successful Chartered Secretary, the students have to be more knowledgeable with wider outlook, as the upcoming decade is going to be the decade of knowledge and information. He also made a presentation highlighting the key features of the CS Profession as well as the Institute. Safiar Rahman FCS, Chairman, Education Committee, delivered the address of welcome. He also congratulated the students for choosing the profession of Chartered Secretary.    Mr. AKM Mushfiqur Rahman FCS & Mr. Salim Ahmed FCS, the Council Members of the Institute also spoke on the occasion. Mr. Nazmul Karim FCS, the Treasurer of ICSB offered vote of thanks, said a statement. -rmc//....

Published at: 2017-02-12 00:00:07