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US stocks recovered from five-week lows on Wednesday following a downturn on concerns over potential delays to President Donald Trump's pro-growth policies. European shares ended lower and safe-haven gold, US Treasuries, and the yen rallied on those worries. The benchmark US S&P 500 stock index notched its first gain in five sessions after briefly hitting its lowest since Feb. 15.  The slight gains in the S&P 500 came after the index closed down 1.2 per cent on Tuesday in its worst daily performance since Oct. 11.  CBOE's VIX index briefly topped 13 for the first time since mid-January on Wednesday. US and European shares were little affected by a deadly attack in London near the British parliament. MSCI's all-country world equity index .MIWD00000PUS was last down 1.04 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 447.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 6.71 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 20,661.3. The S&P 500 ended up 4.43 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 2,348.45.  The Nasdaq Composite gained 27.82 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 5,821.64. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.37 per cent, at 1,475.46, according to Reuters.....

Published at: 2017-03-23 00:00:04

A Lakhsmipur mobile court on Wednesday fined 26 fishermen for catching Hilsa fry in the Meghna river defying the ongoing ban. A joint team of the Fisheries Department and members of Bangladesh Coast Guard conducted separate drives in the river at Battir Khal in Kamalnagar upazila and Char Ramani Mohan in Sadar upazila from 4:00pm to 10:00pm on Wednesday and detained the 26 fishermen, said sources at the Fisheries Department. They also seized 30,000 metres of current net and 10 trawlers, reports UNB. Later, the arrestees were produced before a mobile court, led by executive magistrate and assistant commissioner (Land) Ruhul Amin, which fined them Tk 5,000 each. The seized fishing nets were destroyed in Maju Chowdhury Hat area.....

Published at: 2017-03-23 00:00:03

Sri Lanka is unlikely to enter into a free-trade area (FTA) agreement with Bangladesh as Colombo is busy negotiating a similar deal with China and Korea, officials said. The island nation informed Dhaka on several occasions recently about this preoccupation, they added. The process of signing FTA deal between the two countries remained in its preliminary stages. However, the heads of government of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka this month at a meeting in Indonesia agreed to move forward with the process fast for striking the trade deal. Officials in Dhaka said the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is worth a mere US$75 million. Thus, both sides show reluctance in striking the deal since it may not help raise the two-way trade by a larger volume. Trade officials said Sri Lanka has bilateral FTA with some big economies like India and Pakistan. The Indo-Lanka FTA was signed on 28th December 1998 and entered into force on 1st March 2000 while the Pakistan-Lanka FTA came into force on 12th June 2005. The two free-trade deals have helped Sri Lanka raise its export to some extent. Officials said China has a large investment in Sri Lanka. China also helped the island nation to build its deep-sea port in Hambantota. Now both the countries are interested to ink the deal soon to reap the benefit. Sri Lanka considers China a potential export destination as its export to the world's second-largest economy is growing at a faster rate. Trade officials said Dhaka and Colombo's FTA signing is yet to get any shape up till now. "Bangladesh prepared a template on FTA issue but was yet to exchange it," said one senior trade official. He said the process remained stalled since Sri Lanka did not show much interest.    In fiscal year 2015-16 Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had a total trade worth $76 million. Of the volume, Bangladeshi exports accounted for $30.45 million against imports from Sri Lanka worth $45 million. Another official said bilateral trade between the two countries is very meagre. Thus, both the countries are not enthusiastic about going for FTA. He said Bangladesh is yet to sign any FTA deal with any country. But it has plans to sign FTA deal with Turkey, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Myanmar. The official said Bangladesh wants to move forward towards future deals taking into consideration its graduation to lower-middle-income country. "So, we are taking necessary preparations so that such bilateral FTAs can help when we lose zero-tariff facilities after graduating to next stage," he said. Bangladesh mainly exports woven garments, knitwear, home textiles, agro-products, frozen foods, leather and leather goods, footwear, raw jute, jute goods, and bicycle to Sri Lanka. The major imports from the country include live animals, animal products, vegetable products, animal or vegetable fats and oils, prepared foodstuffs, mineral products, and plastics and rubber articles thereof. Secretary-in-charge of the ministry of commerce Subhasish Bose could not be reached for a comment despite several attempts.      syful-islam@outlook.com ....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil) is set to negotiate a deal for exporting regasified LNG to the power plants in Khulna-Jessore region of Bangladesh. The New Delhi-based company was racing with other Indian energy giants to tap the growing demand for new energy sources in Bangladesh. The state-owned company of India and Petrobangla of Bangladesh reached an agreement at the second secretary level energy dialogue, held in the capital early this week, to work on signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard. "Both sides agreed to work on a MoU to supply R-LNG from India to possible demand centers in the Khulna-Jessore region," a high official of the energy and mineral resources division told the FE. "At the same time, the possibility of grid interconnectivity from those power plants to other parts of Bangladesh as well as northeastern states of India were also discussed," he added. "If finalised, the MoU might be signed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to India next month." The IndianOil proposed to initially supply R-LNG from Dattapulia of West Bengal by constructing necessary pipeline from the under-construction LNG terminal at Dhamra port in Odisha. From the border area, on the other hand, the Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) of Bangladesh would construct pipeline for connecting with the existing gas transmission pipeline at Jessore. However, IndianOil informed the secretary level meeting that they would supply gas at a border point near Khulna under any changed circumstances. The newly proposed route will reduce the length of the pipeline by half, according to sources.   The IndianOil also expressed their intention to sign a non-binding MoU with Petrobangla and handed over a draft in this regard, said the official.  In addition, the Indian side also expressed the interest at the meeting to sign a formal agreement about construction of a land based LNG terminal at Kutubdia during the PM's visit, sources said. In December last, Petrobangla signed an initial agreement with Petronet to set up the LNG re-gasification terminal at Kutubdia and a pipeline at an estimated cost of US$ 950 million. The government of Bangladesh has already approved allocation of land for the project while Petrobangla taking measures for land acquisition. In addition, required permission has already been received for carrying out relevant studies like geotechnical survey and meta-oceanic studies. The Indian side said they would soon provide a draft non-binding term sheet with reference to the MoU that was signed earlier. "The Indian side has also requested for quick decision from Bangladesh on the draft term sheet so that the same can be signed during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India," the official said. "We need to examine the draft while the issues of legal vetting and cabinet committee approval might take some time," he added.     mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Tuesday a 15-member final squad for the Emerging Teams Asia Cup-2017 beginning on March 27 in the port city of Chittagong and the tourist hub of Cox's Bazar, reports UNB. National top order batsman Mominul Haque was named captain while national all-rounder Nasir Hossain made his deputy for the eight-nation cricket meet. Earlier, Bangladesh were placed in Group B with Pakistan, Hong Kong and Nepal while Group A consists of India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Malaysia. The Group A matches will be held at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong while Group B matches will be held in two venues of Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox's Bazar. The Tigers will start their campaign taking on Hong Kong on March 27 at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox's Bazar. In the remaining group matches, they will play Nepal on March 28 and face Pakistan on March 30 at the same venue. Two top teams from each of the groups will play in the semifinals on April 2 and the final is billed for April 3, all in Chittagong. Bangladesh squad: Mominul Haque (Captain), Nasir Hossain (Vice-captain), Mohammed Saif Hassan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mohammad Mithun, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Shaif Uddin, Abul Hasan Raju, Abu Hayder Rony, Azmir Ahmed, Rahatul Ferdous Javed, Afif Hossain, Salman Hossain and Nasum Ahmed. Standby cricketers: Zakir Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Tanvir Hayder Khan, Yeasin Arafat. Manager: Kazi Habibul Bashar Head Coach: Mizanur Rahman.....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:06