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Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday as investors eyed US political risks and cues about the direction of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve chair.  Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 per cent to 20,073.67 and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2 per cent to 2,392.56. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 0.8 per cent to 26,089.42. China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 3,196.56. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.8 per cent to 5,685.40. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mixed. US stocks finished with little changes on Tuesday. The S&P 500 index fell 0.1 per cent to 2,425.53. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.55 points to 21,409.07.  The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent to 6,193.30. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 4.58 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,413.05. Benchmark US crude added 75 cents to $45.79 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.  On Tuesday, the contract rose 64 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to settle at $45.04 a barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 73 cents to $48.25 per barrel in London. On Tuesday, it rose 64 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to finish at $47.52 a barrel. The dollar fell to 113.33 yen from 113.95 yen while the euro strengthened to $1.1478 from $1.1467, according to AP.....

Published at: 2017-07-12 00:00:05

A man allegedly stabbed his wife and four-month-old granddaughter in Nathpara area at Putibala union of Lohagara upazila of Chittagong district on Tuesday night. The deceased were identified as Pushpa Bala, 65, and his granddaughter Sangita Shil, reports UNB. Mohammad Shahjahan, officer-in-charge of Lohagara Police Station, said that Pethan Shil stabbed his wife, granddaughter and daughter-in-law Moni Bala Shil around 9:30 pm over family feud, leaving duo dead on the spot and Moni Bala critically injured. The injured was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. On information, police recovered the bodies and arrested Pethan Shil.....

Published at: 2017-07-12 00:00:05

President Donald Trump's eldest son eagerly agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic White House rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father, according to emails released on Tuesday. The emails, released by Donald Trump Jr, are the most concrete evidence yet that Trump campaign officials welcomed Russian help to win the election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump's presidency and spurred investigations by the Justice Department and Congress. The messages show that the younger Trump was open to the prospect of "very high level and sensitive information" from a Russian attorney that a go-between described as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr Trump" ahead of a meeting on June 9, 2016. "If it's what you say I love it," Trump Jr responded. He released the messages on Twitter after the New York Times said it planned to write about them and sought comment from him. In an interview with Fox News, Trump Jr said that Trump's campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, now a top White House adviser, also attended the meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who denies having Kremlin ties. He said Veselnitskaya did not provide any damaging information about Clinton at the meeting and instead sought to discuss Russian sanctions.  "In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently," he said. "For me, this was opposition research." Nevertheless, the correspondence between him and Rob Goldstone, a publicist who arranged the meeting, could provide fodder for US investigators probing whether Trump's campaign colluded with the Kremlin. "The crown prosecutor of Russia ... offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father," Goldstone wrote Trump Jr on June 3. Russia does not have a "crown prosecutor" - the equivalent title is prosecutor general. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow sought to help Trump win the election, in part by releasing private emails from Democratic Party officials. "The conversation will now turn to whether President Trump was personally involved or not. But the question of the campaign’s involvement appears settled now," Cornell Law School professor Jens David Ohlin said in an interview. "The answer is yes." Moscow has denied any interference, and Trump says his campaign did not collude with Russia. Trump Jr said he did not tell his father about the meeting. He said he may have since had contact with other Russians. "I've probably met with other people from Russia, but certainly not in the context of actual formalised meetings or anything," he said on Fox News. FINANCIAL MARKETS JOLTED The news jarred financial markets as investors worried it presented a fresh distraction from the administration’s economic agenda. Stocks and the dollar fell, while US Treasury securities gained ground. Stocks later retraced most of their losses after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged to keep lawmakers in Washington longer than scheduled to push through a bill to overhaul healthcare. Along with his younger brother Eric, Trump Jr oversees the Trump Organisation, his father's real-estate and business empire, and does not have a formal role in the White House. "My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency," Trump said in a statement. The White House referred questions to lawyers for Trump and his son. The emails do not appear to provide evidence of illegal activity, but legal experts say Trump Jr could run into trouble if investigators find he aided a criminal action, such as hacking into Democratic computer networks, or violated campaign-finance laws by accepting gifts from foreign entities. He is likely to face scrutiny from both congressional committees investigating the matter. The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to call on him to testify and to provide documents, according to a Senate source, while the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee wants to interview him and everybody else involved in the meeting, said the panel's top Democrat, Representative Adam Schiff. "The American people need to know that our president is acting on their behalf and not acting because he has a fear that the Russians could disclose things that would harm him or his family," Schiff told reporters. On Fox News, Trump Jr said he was "more than happy to cooperate with everyone." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican, asked the Trump administration how Veselnitskaya was able to enter the United States even though her authorisation had expired. CNN reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is heading a criminal investigation at the Justice Department, also planned to look into the meeting. Vice President Mike Pence, who has said the campaign had no contacts with Russia, said through a spokesman he was not aware of the meeting, held before he became Trump's running mate later that summer. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is at times harshly critical of Trump, told reporters: "This is very problematic. We cannot allow foreign governments to reach out to anybody's campaign and say: 'We'd like to help you.'"   ....

Published at: 2017-07-12 00:00:05

The long-awaited guideline for roll-out of the 4th generation cellular mobile phone services in the country is set to trigger further debate within the telecom industry over the issue of technology neutrality fee.   The draft guideline, which was posted on the website of the Post and Telecommunication Division last week, is now being reviewed by telecom operators and other major stakeholders. Talking to the FE, a number of insiders, however, opined that the guideline failed to provide 'enough clarity' regarding the much-debated issue of technology neutrality, they said. The 4G guideline, in its latest draft, has stated that in addition to annual license fee and 5.5 per cent of gross revenue, the licensees will "have to pay the conversion fee for technology neutrality of spectrum already assigned in favour of Cellular Mobile Phone Operator". This conversion fee will be decided by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) later on, the guideline added. This is, however, is in sharp contrast to the earlier demands of the mobile operators who have for long opposed imposition of any fee on technology neutrality in spectrum use.   According to industry data, 4G has so far been introduced in 112 countries around the world out of which, only 7 or 8 countries have imposed such technology neutrality fee. "Among the South Asian countries, only Sri Lanka and Nepal charged very nominal tech neutrality fee while introducing 4G and that is because their initial spectrum acquisition cost was significantly low", said an industry insider, speaking on condition of anonymity.   "In Bangladesh, on the other hand, the government already imposed high spectrum fee during 2G renewal as well as 3G auctioning. At that time, the telecom regulator said that spectrum fee includes tech neutrality fee", he added.  "Consequently, they have removed all references of tech neutrality fee from the 2G and 3G guidelines. But, now they are talking about fees again", he added.     "Asking for an additional fee for providing technology neutrality is irrational and unjustified. These two things--technology neutrality and fee--cannot go together", said Abu Sayeed Khan, who is the former General Secretary of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh. "Technology neutrality means that the operators will have the liberty of choosing any spectrum frequency for any service. Imposing a fee deviates the whole concept from its real essence and purpose", said Khan, who is now a Senior Policy Fellow of the regional ICT think-tank LIRNEasia.     Earlier last month, regional executives of the country's top telecom operators placed a joint letter to the State Minister for Posts and Telecom Tarana Halim urging her not to impose any additional tech neutrality fee for spectrum usage. Mobile operators currently use the 2100 band for 3G services and 900 and 1800 bands for 2G services. But after getting technology neutrality, they can use the latter two bands for 4G services, which will be more cost-effective. Industry insiders were also critical about the speed requirements of 4G that was outlined in the draft guideline, pointing out that it has set the peak speed requirements for 4G service at 100 megabits per second for high mobility communication and 1 gigabit per second for low mobility communication. "Attaining such speed is not possible for anyone with the spectrum the operators have right now", said an official of a top telecom operator, who prefers not to be named. "Even In India, it is only 18 MBPS", he added.   With regard to spectrum allocation, insiders also called for creating a level-playing field before the introduction of 4G in the country. Mobile operators in Bangladesh have long blamed inadequate spectrum allocation for the often erratic voice and data service in the country.   According to BTRC figures, each operator in Bangladesh uses on an average 28.4 Megahertz of spectrum while it is usually 70 to 110 MHz for operators in developed countries. Even in Malaysia, operators are using 56 MHz, while it is 41 MHz in Vietnam. On the contrary, operators in Bangladesh are serving more customers than the operators in developed countries. The country has a total of 330 MHz of spectrum in six different bands, but the regulator has allocated only 182 MHz. Of the amount, the operators received only 117 MHz.      mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-11 00:00:09

International Finance Corporation (IFC) signs a financing agreement with Excelerate Energy Bangladesh Limited today (Tuesday) to facilitate construction of the country's first LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal at Moheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal. The IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, is set to finance the US-based company for developing the project in the form of debt- equity partnership -- 70 per cent debt and 30 per cent equity, said a senior Petrobangla official. The terminal to be developed at an estimated cost of US$179.4 million will have a floating, storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU). The IFC is set to lend up to $34.1 million for its own account and mobilise up to an additional amount of $91.4 million in parallel loans while the remaining cost would come from equity participation of the IFC and Excelerate. In addition to Excelerate, IFC will own a minority equity share in the project company. The LNG terminal will be located five-kilometre offshore Moheshkhali Island in southeastern Bangladesh, approximately 91-km south of the Chittagong Port. Bangladesh inked final deals with the Excelerate Energy on July 18 last year for construction of the terminal. Excelerate will develop the FSRU on build-own-operate and transfer (BOOT) basis. Excelerate would charge US$0.49 per Mcf (1,000 cubic feet) as its LNG terminal service. Petrobangla would have to count an additional $0.10 per Mcf to cover other related costs, including fuel, tag boat operation, port facility etc. Petrobangla will have to pay around US$159,186 per day as fixed component fees, $45,814 per day as operating component fees and $32,000 per day to the terminal operator under the approved deals. Re-gasified LNG from the terminal would be sold on a take-or-pay basis to Petrobangla, which would have back-to-back gas sales agreements with power plant owners or operators and other consumers at the user end. The FSRU will have berthing and mooring facilities for LNG tankers with a capacity of 138,000 cubic meters. It would have the capacity to supply around 500,000 Mcf per day of natural gas to Bangladesh's national gas grid. The capacity could be increased to around 700,000 Mcf per day. The tenure of the construction contract would be for 15 years. Excelerate would have to complete construction of the FSRU within 18 months under the deal. Petrobangla has estimated that the government would have to spend around $1.57 billion annually to import 182.5 Bcf per year of LNG from abroad at an estimated cost of $8 per Mcf. With the construction of the LNG terminal the country would be able to feed the mounting natural gas requirement to consumers especially of industries and power plants with the imported LNG.     Azizjst@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-07-11 00:00:09