04-03-2022

FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2022
8
Dhaka North and Dhaka South Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited organized Business
Development Conference on March 2, 2022 at Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh in the
capital. Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the Bank addressed the conference
virtually as Chief Guest. Md. Omar Faruk Khan, Additional Managing Director addressed as
special gueast. Md. Mostafizur Rahman Siddiquee & Md. Altaf Hossain, Deputy Managing Directors,
Mohammed Shabbir & Md. Maksudur Rahman, Senior Executive Vice Presidents, A S M Rezaul
Karim & Md. Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, Executive Vice President also addressed the program.
Muhammad Saeed Ullah, Head of Dhaka North Zone presided over the function while Mir Rahmat
Ullah, Head of Dhaka South Zone addressed the welcome speech. Head of branches, departmental &
sub-branch in-charges under the two zones attended the conference.
Photo : Courtesy
Padma Bank Ltd signs MoU with
Canadian University
Padma Bank Limited has
signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for
academic-Industry
Collaborations with the
Canadian University of
Bangladesh, on Tuesday at
the Canadian University of
Bangladesh's office. The
agreement was signed &
exchanged by M Ahsan Ullah
Khan, SEVP and Head of
Corporate Affairs & HRD
and Professor S M
Arifuzzaman, Head,
Turkey inflation
woes pit tenants
against landlords
ISTANBUL : Kicked out in the
middle of a harsh Turkish
winter, 30-year-old Erdem
Yilmaz calculated that he
spent two and a half months'
salary to urgently relocate to a
new home in Istanbul, reports
UNB.
The father of a two-year-old
is not the only Turk in this
situation after last year's
currency crisis.
Disputes between
homeowners and tenants
have risen sharply in recent
months in Turkey after
annual inflation reached
nearly 50 percent in January,
the highest since April 2002
and may well reach a new
peak on Thursday when new
monthly data will be
published.
In the same period, rents
have exploded by 85 percent
in Istanbul and by 69 percent
at the national level, according
to analysis by Bahcesehir
University.
But salaries have not risen
at the same pace, with most
increasing by between 30 and
50 percent on average in
January.
"We shouldn't have had to
leave," lamented Yilmaz, who
works as a receptionist, upset
at his former landlord who
claimed he wanted the
property back for his son.
"He harassed us. My family
had no peace," he added.
Yilmaz is even angrier
because he said the landlord's
son did not move into the
apartment.
"I saw an advert (for the
flat) on the internet a week
after we left," he said, showing
a photo of the advert.
Department of Business
Administration of Canadian
University of Bangladesh on
behalf of their respective
institutions, a press release
said.
Among others, Padma
Bank's acting CEO and
Managing Director Faisal
Ahsan Chowdhury, SEVP &
Chief Operating Officer
Zabed Amin, CUB Professor
Dr. HM Jahirul Haque,
Senior Advisor to the Board
of Trustees, Professor A. S.
Searching of young artistic minds
Berger to organize Berger Artista
children's art competition
With a view to motivate the young artists of
the country, the leading paint solution
brand, Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited
(BPBL), has recently started the 'Berger
Artista Children's Art Competition' of this
year 2022. Submissions will have to be made
online on the Berger Official Facebook Page.
Participating children can also enjoy an
online school camp, conducted by famous
artists of the country.
The competition will have two rounds,
where the children will be divided into two
groups. Group A will consist of children aged
between 5-10 years, whereas Group B will
have children aged between 11-15 years.
Children of both groups will have to submit
their art for the first round on the topic
"Bangladesh," within the time of March 15,
2022. With 25 winners from both groups, a
total of 50 winners in the first round will be
announced on March 19, 2022.
Submissions for the second round will
NEW YORK : US crude prices finished
Wednesday at the highest level since 2011 after
major oil exporters declined to increase output
more quickly despite the impact of Russia's
invasion of Ukraine.
Futures for West Texas Intermediate crude
for delivery in April jumped 7.0 percent to
$110.60 a barrel as Saudi Arabia, Russia and
other top oil exporters said they would stick to
their plan to boost production by just 400,000
barrels a day in April, the same pace as in
recent months. And Brent futures for May
delivery jumped 7.6 percent to $112.93 a barrel,
the highest since 2014.
M. Sirajul Haque, Treasurer,
Dr. Md. Shahrukh Adnan
Khan, Professor and Head of
Electrical and Electronic
Engineering department,
Director of Center for
Research & Innovation
(CRI) and IQAC, Walid Bin
Kader, Head of General
Education and Student
Service Wing of Canadian
University of Bangladesh
and other high officials of the
both organizations were
present during the signing
ceremony.
Under the MoU of
Academic-Industry
Collaborations, all the
corporate employees of
Padma Bank Limited will get
unconditional 50% of
Tuition fee waiver facility to
pursue their MBA and
EMBA programs at
Canadian University of
Bangladesh. And the family
members of all corporate
employees of Padma Bank
Limited will get
unconditional 50% tuition
waiver on the admission and
tuition fee waiver facilities
for all the programs to
continue their education at
Canadian University of
Bangladesh. On the other
hand, the students of
Canadian University of
Bangladesh will be privileged
to enjoy the services &
facilities from Padma Bank
Limited. Students will be
privileged to get the
opportunity of internship
facilities along with
Industrial visit at Padma
Bank so that the students
can be facilitated of practical
learning of banking services
during their student life.
continue from March 19-24, 2022, and the
topic for both the groups will be "Amar Rongin
Bhubon." The winner announcement will be
held on March 26, 2022.
The First-round winners will participate in
an Art Camp exhibition, which will be
conducted by a prominent artist of the
country and certificate will be given to the
winners. The Second-round winners from
both groups will be rewarded with gift
hampers, certificates, and crests.
Regarding the competition, Md. Mohsin
Habib Chowdhury, Senior General Manager
(Sales & Marketing), Berger Paints
Bangladesh Limited, said, "Art competitions
play a significant role in bringing out the
hidden artist within many children. This
experience often remains in our minds as a
cherished childhood memory. With this art
competition, we want to motivate the
children of today to explore their creative
self-amidst the tiring pandemic times."
US oil prices close at $110.60/barrel,
highest since 2011
The rise comes amid worries that the
ongoing war in Ukraine and international
sanctions on Russia will sideline key crude
supply in an already-tight market.
But the OPEC+ group concluded that the
market was "well-balanced" and "current
volatility is not caused by changes in market
fundamentals but by current geopolitical
developments," according to a press release.
The meeting Wednesday, held via video
conference, come a day after International
Energy Agency (IEA) members agreed to
release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic
reserves to try to stabilize global markets.
IMF urges Sri
Lanka to raise
taxes, devalue
currency
COLOMBO : The
International Monetary
Fund warned crisis-hit Sri
Lanka on Thursday that its
foreign debt was
"unsustainable", and called
for devaluation and higher
taxes to revive the almost
bankrupt economy.
The pandemic pushed the
South Asian island's tourism
sector-a key foreignexchange
earner-off a cliff,
and the government in
March 2020 imposed a
broad import ban to try to
shore up foreign currency.
But more than two years
on, Sri Lanka is grappling
with food and fuel shortages,
which this week saw its
public transport crippled as
buses ran out of diesel and
the state imposed blackouts.
Following its annual
review of the cash-strapped
country, the IMF said its
fast-dwindling foreign
reserves were inadequate to
service the country's current
foreign debt of $51 billion.
Official data shows Sri
Lanka needs nearly $7
billion to service its foreign
debt this year, but the
country's external reserves at
the end of January were only
$2.07 billion-just enough to
finance one month's
imports.
Equities rise as Powell
soothes rate fears, oil
close to $120
HONG KONG : Stocks rose Thursday after
Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell said
the bank would hike interest rates
gradually to fight inflation, though oil
marched towards $120 as the Ukraine
conflict continues to roil energy markets,
reports BSS.
With the Russian invasion of its
neighbour hammering all assets across the
board as uncertainty reigns supreme,
traders were given a much-needed shaft of
light on Wednesday when the Fed boss
eased concerns over its plans for
tightening policy.
Powell told lawmakers he was in favour
of a moderate pace of rate increases, with a
25-basis-point lift this month, as he tries to
nurture the economic recovery while
keeping a lid on prices, which are rising at
their fastest pace in 40 years.
He warned that the "near-term effects on
the US economy of the invasion of
Ukraine, the ongoing war, the sanctions,
and of events to come, remain highly
uncertain".
The comments soothed concerns that
officials could announce an aggressive 50-
basis-point lift. The issue of Fed tightening
has cast a pall over markets for months,
bringing a near two-year rally to an abrupt
end, and that has now been compounded
by the Ukraine crisis.
Powell did, however, say the bank would
remain "nimble" to events and would act
more aggressively if needed down the line.
Meanwhile, St. Louis Fed chief James
Bullard said he was for a "rapid withdrawal
of policy accommodation", as Chicago
president Charles Evans added that policy
was currently "wrong-footed" and should
be tightened.
Still, Powell's comments were able to
"appease risk-markets by ruling out a 50
basis-points hike in March, while
simultaneously promising inflation
vigilance at following meetings", said
Citigroup strategists William O'Donnell
and Edward Acton.
Wall Street ended sharply higher with all
three main indexes more than one percent
up.
And Asia followed suit with Tokyo, Hong
Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei and Singapore
leading healthy gains, though Shanghai
and Mumbai edged slightly lower.
London and Paris rose at the open but
Paris dipped.
The gains were also helped by news that
Ukraine and Russian officials will hold
second round talks to end the war.
But analysts warned of further volatility
for some time as fighting continues to rage
in Ukraine.
Widespread sanctions across the world
against Russia threaten to put its economy
on its knees, while Moody's and Fitch have
slashed its rating to junk.
Meanwhile, the country's equities are to
be removed from closely followed indexes
by MSCI and FTSE Russell, further
isolating Moscow from the global
economy.
Mercantile Bank Training Institute organized a training on 'Foreign Exchange Transactions & Reporting'
recently. A total number of 40 officials from International Division & CTPC of Head Office and AD branches of
the bank from Dhaka region participated in the training. Shamim Ahmed, Deputy Managing Director & CAML-
CO of the bank inaugurated the training program. In his address, he advised participating officers to be more
diligent on foreign exchange transactions and its reporting to central bank. S.M. Mahbubul Alam, Vice
President & Head of International Division of the bank was also present at the program. Javed Tariq, Principal
of MBTI moderated the online program.
Photo : Courtesy
Walton Mobile SDG photography
contest winners get Tk 1.75 lakh
The top three winners of the
'Walton Mobile SDG
Photography Contest' have
been awarded Tk 1.75 lakh.
The photography contest
powered by Better Bangladesh
Tomorrow, a promoter of the
United Nations' Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs),
was organized by the mobile
department of Walton Digi-
Tech Industries Limited.
On Wednesday authorities
awarded the winners at a
function held at the Walton
corporate office in Dhaka.
Chief Business Officer (CBO)
of Walton Mobile SM Rezwan
Alam handed over the prize
money and certificates to
winners. The top three
winners received Tk. 100,000;
50,000 and 25,000
respectively
The three winners are
Atiqur Rahman from
Chattogram, Reeshan Ahmed
from Khulna and Jahid Apu
from Narayanganj while the
titles of their award-winning
photos are Bonossrir Binash
(Destruction of forest), Let the
Earth Breath and Firebolt
respectively.
Walton Mobile's Chief Sales
Officer Mohammad Hanif,
Head of Business Intelligence
Reza Hasan, Creative and
Communications In-charge
Habibur Rahman Tuhin,
Brand Development In-charge
Mahbub-ul-Hasan (Milton)
and Marketing Co-Ordinator
Washik Jahan Ishan were
presents at that time.
Over 4,000 contestants
participated in the contest and
of them 60 photos were
selected initially while three of
them finally emerged as
winners. Renowned
photographer Prito Reza was
the chief judge of the
competition while Walton's
Chief Marketing Officer
(CMO) Firoj Alam supervised
the event. SM Rezwan Alam
said: The event was organized
with the context of achieving
SDGs in Bangladesh. Making
people aware of SDGs and to
develop photographic
creativity among them are the
main purposes of this event.
We would continue this type of
creative activity in future as we
got huge response.
Expressing his reaction over
the contest, top winner Atiqur
Rahman said: We have
witnessed so many excellent
photos in this photography
contest from many talented
photographers across the
country. I am very happy that
my photo has got the first
prize. I thank Walton Mobile
authorities for organizing such
a diverse competition selecting
SDGs as its theme.
Mentionable, Bangladeshi
electronics and tech giant
Walton is committed to ensure
a conducive and suitable
environment for the next
generations. Managing
Director and CEO of Walton
Hi-Tech Industries PLC
Goalm Murshed has taken
various measures in this
regard. Under his leadership,
Walton is working towards
achieving the SDGs through
'Better Bangladesh Tomorrow'
initiative. Walton Mobile's
SDG Photography contest was
organized as a part of that
initiative.
The winners of 'Walton Mobile SDG Photography Contest' with the high
officials of Walton.
Photo : Courtesy