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A man was killed and nine people were injured in a road accident at Sitarampur on Magura-Jessore road in Sadar upazila on Tuesday. Police said the accident took place in the evening when two human-haulers collided around 6:00pm, leaving Debubratra, 30, a resident of Poragachhi village in Shalikha upazila, dead on the spot and nine passengers of the two vehicles injured. The injured were sent to Sadar Hospital; according to UNB.....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05

Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday as investors worried that President Donald Trump will struggle to deliver promised tax cuts that propelled the market to record highs in recent months, with nervousness deepening ahead of a key healthcare vote. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 1.0 per cent in their worst one-day performances since before Trump's election victory in November. The S&P financial index .SPSY sank 2.87 per cent, its biggest daily fall since June. That added to losses in the sector since the Federal Reserve last week raised interest rates by 25 basis points and signalled it would remain on a gradual pace of hikes, a less aggressive stance than some investors expected. Banks benefit from higher interest rates and their stocks are sensitive to changes in expectations of how quickly the Fed will adjust rates. Bank of America (BAC.N) slumped 5.77 per cent, the biggest drag on the S&P 500, while a 3.72-per cent drop in Goldman Sachs (GS.N) pulled the Dow lower. "There was a feeling the Fed was going to possibly be more hawkish last week. That didn't happen," said Mark Kepner, managing director at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. "That takes a little out of the higher rates that the banks want." Republican party leaders aim to move controversial healthcare legislation to the House floor for debate as early as Thursday. But they can only afford to lose about 20 votes from Republican ranks, or risk the bill failing, since minority Democrats are united against it. With valuations stretched, investors see the Trump administration's struggles to push through the healthcare overhaul as a sign he may also face setbacks delivering promised corporate tax cuts. Expectations of those tax cuts are a major reason for the 10-per cent surge in the S&P 500 since Trump's election. "The market is starting to get a little fed up with the lack of progress in healthcare because everything else is being put on the back burner," said RJ Grant, head of trading at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York. The Russell 2000 index of smallcap stocks fell 2.71 per cent, its worst day since September. The financial sector has been the best performing of the 11 major S&P sectors since Trump's election, surging 18 per cent on his proposals to cut bank regulations and reduce taxes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI dropped 1.14 per cent to end at 20,668.01 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.24 per cent to 2,344.02. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 1.83 per cent to 5,793.83. The CBOE Volatility index .VIX, Wall Street's "fear gauge", jumped 10 per cent. Under Trump, Wall Street has become unaccustomed to steep selloffs. The last time the S&P 500 lost 1.0 per cent or more in a day was 110 trading sessions ago on October 11. Over the past two years, the S&P 500 has suffered losses of 1-per cent or more about once every 11 sessions, according to Thomson Reuters data. But investors have grown worried about elevated valuations. The S&P 500 is trading at about 18 times forward earnings estimates against the long-term average of 15, according to Thomson Reuters data. Shares of FedEx Corp (FDX.N) dropped 3 per cent in extended trade after the delivery company's quarterly report disappointed investors. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 3.92-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 5.25-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 79 new lows. About 8.3 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, compared with the 7.1 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.  ....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05

Norway topped this year’s list as the latest World Happiness Report has been published. The Scandinavian country was named the “happiest” country in the world in the report prepared by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Bangladesh raked 110th in the report. The report is based on factors such as GDP per capita, life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and public trust, among others. Denmark, last year’s No. 1, finished 2nd in this year’s list followed by Iceland, Switzerland and Finland. The Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Sweden rounded out the Top 10. The US is in 14th place while the UK 19th, Singapore 26th, Japan 51st, South Korea 56th and Hong Kong 71st. At the bottom of the list of 155 countries is Central African Republic followed by Burundi, Tanzania, Syria, Rwanda and Togo. – source UNB  ....

Published at: 2017-03-21 00:00:05

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the home economics education has been playing a direct role in achieving 10 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced by the United Nations. In a message on the eve of the World Home Economics Day, the PM said she is happy to know that Home Economics Association of Bangladesh is going to observe the day on Tuesday for the first time with the theme of "Home Economics education: ensuring education-health and sustainable life cycle is time-befitting".  "The International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) observes 21st March every year as the World Home Economics Day," she said on Monday, adding that observance of the day in Bangladesh would flourish the home economics education here. "I hope, the Home Economics education will act as one of the main driving forces for building "Sonar Bangla" as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," the Prime Minister added.  She wished the success of all programmes of the day. – source BSS  ....

Published at: 2017-03-21 00:00:05

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has permitted Sonali Bank to launch the online money-transfer services with PayPal in the country. “The much-awaited PayPal services will soon be introduced in Bangladesh now after the clearance,” Sonali Bank General Manager and Chief Information Officer Mofazzal Hossain hopes. Mofazzal Hossain said that Sonali Bank’s managing director received the permission letter on Monday to introduce PayPal services in Bangladesh. Sonali earlier struck a deal with the global online money transfer giant on the matter, according to the general manager of the state-owned bank. "We have succeeded after long discussions. We sent a proposal to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to the PayPal last year. We started to act when they replied positively. Now, the entire process is finished as the Bangladesh Bank has given the clearance," he said. He also said the Sonali Bank MD held a meeting with PayPal officials last week. "Now we hope we will soon be able to launch the services," he added. PayPal is an e-commerce firm, which provides electronic alternatives to traditional paper methods like cheques and money orders. The service is very popular among online shoppers and outsourcing experts. – source bdnews24.com  ....

Published at: 2017-03-21 00:00:05