09-07-2021

FriDAY, JulY 9, 2021
8
Minister's products can be availed
through online purchase
Human life has come to a standstill in the
global pandemic. People have become
housebound. In such a situation, the only
way to be safe is to be aware of the hygiene
rules. Therefore, the Minister Group is
giving special benefits in online
purchasing of various products including
electronics products like LED TVs,
refrigerators, and ACs. This offer can be
availed by ordering at home through cash
on delivery and online payment with easy
installments. It also comes with
Asian markets down over
Fed signal, China tech
crackdown
HONG KONG:Asian markets were broadly
down Thursday after the Fed signalled a
possible inflation-induced policy change,
while concerns lingered over China's
crackdown on tech giants reports BSS.
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that
while rising prices were expected as the US
economy recovered from the pandemic, the
inflation jump was higher than expected.
Officials said the US central bank needs to
be ready to pull back on its massive support
programme if this persists, according to
minutes from a June policy meeting.
But it gave no indication that a reversal
was imminent-a stance consistent with
commentary from Fed chair Jay Powell that
did not jolt the market.
US markets appeared ready to set aside
inflation fears-at least for the time beingwith
Wall Street finishing modestly higher
as both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged to
records. "It took some time, but the Fed has
finally acknowledged rising inflationary
forces," Louis Navellier, Chairman of
Navellier & Associates, said in a note to
investors on Wednesday.
"That's no small adjustment, but the
market has currently bought into the
'transitory inflation' narrative-until the key
June inflation data rolls in next week."
The strong overnight lead from Wall
Street provided some boost in Asia but
Tokyo was down Thursday morning with
possible gloom on the horizon as the
Japanese government debated further
Covid-19 lockdowns to fight a surge in
infections.
guaranteed gifts and discounts on cash
payments, including toiletries. Besides,
this will also help the consumers to avoid
public gatherings, a press release said.
Minister's Smart and LED TVs are
available at home in installments of only
TK 2,000 with the guaranteed gift.
Moreover, there is a great offer on the
fridge which is a 12-year guarantee on the
compressor. The fridge is available in
monthly installments of only TK 3,000.
And as soon as the customer buys the
Seoul was higher, as was Sydney where
investors did not seem affected by news that
the lockdown in Australia's biggest city
could be extended.
Wellington and Singapore were also
down.
Hong Kong stocks opened lower,
extending losses into a seventh day, on
continued concerns about China's
crackdown on the country's tech giants.
Beijing's shock decision to remove ridehailing
app Didi from online platforms on
national security grounds sparked fears of a
wider regulatory move against firms once
seen as untouchable.
Authorities this week suggested they could
revise rules for Chinese companies listed
overseas-a move that would clip the wings of
major firms such as Alibaba, Tencent and
Bytedance and potentially limit their ability
to attract foreign capital.
Investors were more upbeat in mainland
China, where markets opened up on
indications from Beijing that it would
increase support to business, in part by
expanding the liquidity available to banks.
The triumphant recovery from the
pandemic in the world's second-largest
economy had shown signs of slowing in
recent weeks, with key factory data edging
down in June and factory gate inflation
soaring.
China's State Council said Wednesday
following a meeting that it was prepared to
"use monetary policy tools... to enhance
financial support to the real economy,
particularly to smaller businesses."
fridge, he/she gets Minister's rice cooker
and toiletries products for free. There are
also special discounts on online bookings
of Minister AC. Minister Inverter AC's are
made by the Japanese brand Panasonic
Compressor with a 12-year guarantee and
they can be purchased from the Minister's
online shop with a monthly installment of
only TK 5,000. Moreover, human care
and toiletries products are also available
online as well as in the supermarkets of
the country.
Nagad launch self PIN reset option
The annoying hassle of
forgetting and resetting PIN
number of the customers
finally come to an end as the
dynamic mobile financial
service Nagad has launched
self PIN reset option, a press
release said.
In this digital era of life,
people have several PIN
number for different
services, and it is very
common that people often
forget or mixed up their PIN
numbers. Usually, for
financial services, the
process for restoring or
changing the PIN number is
time consuming.
Earlier, Nagad users had
to contact the help desk via
phone to reset their PIN but
now it is just a few clicks on
the phone. Nagad, the
Mobile Financial Service
arm of Bangladesh Postal
Department, has now
introduced self PIN reset
system to smoothen up the
process and reduce the
hassle of users.
For PIN reset, the user
has to dial *167#. This will
lead to a menu where they
have to press 8 in the
keypad to select the PIN
changing option. In the next
stage the user will find two
other options, 1 for
forgetting PIN and 2 for
resetting PIN. When
pressed 1 the user has to
input his/her national
identity (NID) number and
a confirmation text will be
sent from Nagad. Then the
user will have to input the
birth date.
In the next step, user will
be asked transaction related
questions like if any
transaction were made in
last 90 days, types of
transection and the amount
of last transection. By
completing this step, the
user will be allowed to reset
the PIN number.
Under its recent
campaign, 'Deshi Nagad-e,
Beshi Labh' the MFS
operator has brought a
number of exiting and
innovative solutions to
Canadian bank
robber jailed in
Singapore,
escapes caning
SINGAPORE:A Canadian
man who staged a rare bank
robbery in Singapore has
been sentenced to five years
in jail, but will escape a
caning due to an agreement
that allowed his extradition,
reports BSS.
David James Roach, who
robbed a Standard
Chartered Bank branch in
2016, was extradited to
Singapore last year from
Britain after the city-state
offered assurances he would
not be flogged.
The 31-year-old pleaded
guilty to one charge of bank
robbery and another charge
of money laundering for
taking the stolen money out
of the country.
A court on Wednesday
handed down the jail term
and six strokes of the cane-a
mandatory punishment in
the city-state for robbery.
But Singapore's interior
ministry and attorneygeneral's
chambers said they
were working "through the
necessary procedures to
fulfil the assurance given to
the UK government" that
Roach will be spared caning.
Roach strolled into the
bank and took Sg$30,000
($22,000) after presenting a
threatening note, a rare
robbery in a country with
one of the world's lowest
crime rates.
make the customer
experience better and
smoother. The newly
introduced self PIN reset
service is also a part of
Nagad's continues process
of innovation. In setting the
PIN, the customer has to
make sure that the PIN
numbers are four different
numbers. Moreover, if the
same number is
consecutive, the pin will not
be set.
Nagad Managing Director
Tanvir A Mishuk said, "For
the past few days we have
been working closely on the
PIN resetting issue.
Eventually the service
became available to the
people. Now users will be
more self-sufficient even
resetting their Nagad
account's PIN. If customers
are aware and do not share
their PIN with anyone, no
untoward incidents will
occur as there is no scope to
access Nagad account
without having PIN."
It is to be mentioned that
Nagad never asks for the
PIN number from its users
in any circumstances. So if
the users receive any such
call or request, they should
not entertain.
Tokyo shares
open lower as
virus fears linger
TOKYO: Tokyo shares opened
lower Thursday with investors
wary of possible gloom ahead
as Japan's government
debates imposing further
anti-infection measures,
although strong Wall Street
shares provided some support
reports BSS.
The benchmark Nikkei 225
index fell 0.08 percent, or
23.96 points, to 28,342.99 in
early trade, while the broader
Topix index slipped 0.02
percent, or 0.45 points, to
1,937.23.
Tokyo shares are likely to go
through a period of anxiety
with an impending anti-virus
state of emergency for Tokyo
clouding the outlook, Okasan
Online Securities said in a
note.
"The Tokyo market is
expected to face heavy
resistance," Okasan said.
Still, bargain hunters are
willing to pick up good offers,
providing general support for
the overall market.
"Tokyo is expected to come
under another state of
emergency, posing further
uncertainty for the general
economic outlook," Okasan
said.
The country's leading ICT
company "Synesis IT" is
providing technical assistance
to BTRC in the process of
registering all types of mobile
handsets besides banning
illegal and counterfeit
handsets. In the meantime, all
the active handsets of the
customers in the network have
been automatically registered
with National Equipment
Identity Registrar (NEIR). It
may be mentioned here that,
the
"Bangladesh
Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission" has
reportedly taken up the NEIR
project to prevent the import
of illegal mobile handsets,
reduce the level of theft,
increase national security and
revenue by preventing mobilebased
crime, a press release
said.
The experimental activities
of the National Equipment
Identity Registrar (NEIR)
have started from July 1. The
new mobile phones that will
be added to the network, the
validity of the handset will be
verified through NEIR while
keeping the network active. If
the handset is valid, it will be
registered automatically.
In November 2020, the
Bringing back tradition:
the coalmen reviving a
Cuban swamp
SAN AGUSTÍN: In a remote
swamp in central Cuba, men
hew wood and build large
pyres that smolder for days as
they keep vigil, reports BSS.
They are the coalmen of
Cienaga de Zapata, reviving
an old tradition of making
charcoal-not in industrial
furnaces, but open-air fires.
"It's a little hard, but I like
it," said 59-year-old Daniel
Diaz, his face and clothes
blackened by soot.
He is one of a few dozen
men taking part in a
government-sponsored jobcreation
program to bring
back traditional charcoalmaking
to an area where it
used to be a way of life.
Diaz lives with his family in
a wooden house next to a river
in the Cienaga de Zapata
national park in the
Caribbean's largest wetland.
He is one of few in the project
to have worked in coal
production before-with a
local company Synesis IT
signed an agreement with
BTRC to implement the NEIR
project. According to the
agreement, they have
introduced the National
Equipment Identity Register
(NEIR) system within the
stipulated time.
Meanwhile, there is a huge
LONDON : Ethnic minorities, the selfemployed
and low-income families in Britain
suffered greater deprivation levels during the
coronavirus pandemic despite "surprisingly
positive" living standards figures, a report
published on Thursday found reports BSS.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank's
annual report on living standards,
poverty and inequality identified these groups
as the hardest-hit, even as unprecedented state
support mitigated the worst effects of the crisis.
The research follows other studies showing
that Britain's ethnic minorities were more
likely to suffer worse health and economic
outcomes during the pandemic and less likely
to accept vaccines.
"How fast and to what extent these groups
recover as the economy reopens will be a key
determinant of the pandemic's legacy," said
report co-author Tom Wernham.
Some 15 percent of Britons from minority
ethnic backgrounds were behind their
household bills at the start of 2021, compared
with 12 percent before the pandemic.
The proportion of adults of Pakistani and
Bangladeshi origin living in households where
all adults were unemployed or furloughed
remained 10 percentage points higher at the
beginning of 2021 than pre-pandemic levels, as
many of these households relied on one income
earner.
Household worklessness for black adults
rose 2.4 percentage points, higher than the
national average of 1.9, the report added.
The share of self-employed workers who lost
career of 33 years behind him.
His house is just a few
meters from the charcoal
fires. Behind him stands a tall
wood pyramid, soon to be
covered in straw and soil for
the combustion process which
takes five or six days to
produce charcoal.
Diaz will keep an eye on the
process "day and night" to
ensure the thick smoke does
not become fire.
As he labors, his nine-yearold
daughter plays in the river
nearby.
Charcoal is made,
traditionally and in modern
times, by heating wood in a
low-oxygen environment.
With some 80,000 tons
sent abroad every year,
mainly to Europe, charcoal is
one of sanctions-stricken
Cuba's largest exports, though
almost all of it is now
produced on industrial scale.
In Cuba, the traditional
"carboneros" of Cienaga de
demand of around three crore
mobile handsets in
Bangladesh every year of
which 25 to 30 percent of
smartphones are imported
illegally. Due to this, the
government loses revenue of 1
thousand to 1 thousand 200
crore. Moreover, the NEIR
system will reduce the level of
Zapata are famous: it is with
them that Fidel Castro spent
his first Christmas after the
revolution of 1959.
Photographs from the time
show the revolutionary leader
surrounded by coalmen and
their families in the region
otherwise known for its
crocodiles.
Over the years, however, the
traditional way of making
charcoal has been largely
abandoned.
Now the government is
seeking to bring it back.
"They had a shortage of
experienced people. So they
came looking for me," said
Orlando Prado, 73, retired
until he was brought onto the
project when it started last
year.
In a large hangar on the
river bank, ancient machines
are being restored to produce
the wooden tools used to
collect and transport the
charcoal produced.
Synesis IT is Assisting BTRC
for mobile phone registration
US raises concerns
about Mexico
energy reforms
MEXICO CITY:The United
States voiced concerns
Wednesday about Mexican
President Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador's planned
reforms boosting the state's
role in the energy sector,
during talks on a revamped
North American trade deal
reports BSS.
"With respect to the
energy policies that we see
being discussed and
envisioned by the Lopez
Obrador administration, we
are watching very closely,"
US Trade Representative
Katherine Tai told reporters
in Mexico City.
"We are raising our
concerns. We are here to
engage and we will be
exploring avenues for
addressing our concerns,"
she said after talks with
Mexican Economy Secretary
Tatiana Clouthier and
Canadian Trade Minister
Mary Ng.
Tai sidestepped a question
about whether Mexico was
in breach of the year-old
United States-Mexico-
Canada Agreement
(USMCA) following its
recent decision to select
state-run Pemex to operate a
major offshore oil field.
mobile phone theft as well as
various types of mobile phonebased
crimes.
Rupayan Chowdhury,
Group CEO, Synesis IT said,
"We have been able to launch
NEIR within the stipulated
time and it has been
implemented by our own
technology and local skilled
engineers, which we consider
to be a symbol of Bangladesh's
capability in information
technology. We believe that
NEIR will play an important
role in the economy and
national security of the
country.
Aminul Bari Shuvro,
General Manager and Head of
Information Technology and
Infrastructure, Synesis IT,
said, "With the sincere
cooperation of BTRC, we have
been able to successfully
launch the pilot activities of
NEIR on time. This project is a
symbol of Bangladesh's
capability. This capability
proves that, we have kept pace
with the world. I believe that,
the radiant youth and
patriotism that I see among
our young technologists will
lead the way to a truly Digital
Bangladesh.
UK pandemic hammered
minorities, self-employed
all work in the first lockdown in March 2020
and fell behind household bills is now 15
percent, up from two percent before the
pandemic.
Despite the government's flagship furlough
scheme, which has paid millions of workers'
wages since March 2020, 36 percent of selfemployed
workers-many of whom work in the
hard-hit events, arts and culture sectors-were
ineligible for the government's self-employed
income support scheme.
Researchers also found that more families
suffering from in-work poverty fell behind on
bills during Britain's first nationwide lockdown
from last March, with the share jumping from
nine to 21 percent.
The figure receded to 10 percent in the first
quarter of 2021, but 13 percent of such families
expect their financial situation to deteriorate in
the near future.
One of the report's authors, Tom Waters,
said the furlough scheme's success largely
explained Britain's "surprisingly positive"
deprivation and labour market statistics.
But he added that people's ability to return to
their old jobs or find new ones would be the key
factor for living standards as support was
withdrawn.
The government's furlough scheme initially
paid 80 percent of employees' wages to prevent
mass job losses but is to be phased out by the
end of September.
An increase of £20 ($28, 23 euros) per week
to its main social security payment, Universal
Credit, is also due to end at that time.