30-12-2020

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30 , 2020 8Islamic Finance and Investment Ltd (IFIL), country's first Shariah Based Non-Bank Financial Institution(NBFI), has won the 'Best Quality Management Body Bangladesh 2020' awarded by world renownedMagazine 'Business Tabloid-UK'. Rezakul Haider, Chairman of the Board of Directors of IFIL and ManagingDirector & CEO A. Z. M. Saleh are seen with the Trophy and Certificate of the award. Photo: CourtesyBCB Ltd. has inaugurated its 69th Branch"Dewan Bazar Branch" at ChattagramBangladesh Commerce Bank(BCB)Ltd. has inaugurated its 69thBranch as "Dewan Bazar Branch" atChattagram on 29th December 2020,Thuesday in virtual platform with allthe latest banking facilities. Theinauguration program was presided byOmar Farooque Hon'ble ManagingDirector & CEO of the Bank. TheChairman of the Board of Directors ofthe Bank Dr. Engr. Rashid AhmedChowdhury as Chief Guest was present& inaugurates the program. AdditionalManaging Director of the Bank ZafarAlam delivered his speech as a specialguest. Deputy Managing Director KaziMd. Rezaul Karim also delivered theirPadma riverbank turns attractive touristspot after RCC's beautification workRAJSHAHI : Padmariverbank adjacent to theShaheb Bazar area of thedivisional town has turnedinto an attractive tourist andrecreational spot as theRajshahi City Corporation(RCC) recently implementeda beautification projectthere.Under the projectamusement spots, openstage, gallery, park, bridge,walkway and other needbasedinfrastructures wereconstructed at a cost ofaround Tk 42.2 million,reports BSS.City Mayor AHMKhairuzzaman Liton duringa visit to the site on Sundayexpressed his firm resolve torestore the scenic beauty ofthe river bank and enhancethe cleanliness drive in thearea to facilitate largenumbers of people to enjoytheir visit in a comfortableatmosphere.He inspected constructionworks of two over-bridgesadjacent to the respectivesluice gates on the riverbanks which are being builtat a cost of around Taka 94lakh.Mayor Liton said the newinfrastructure and facilitiesare encouraging an increasedspeech on the occasion. Among othersSenior Executives of the Head Office,Manager of this Branch and manyprominent people of the area andrespected customers were also presenton the occasion, a press release said.Dr. Engr. Rashid Ahmed Chowdhuryexpressed his hope that the DewanBazar Branch will be able to win thehearts of the customers by providinggood service. He hoped that this newbranch with the most modern facilitieswould play an appropriate role infurthering the economy of the region.He also described Dewan Bazar as agrowing business area and said that thenumber of people to passtheir leisure with familiesand friends enjoying thebeauty of the Padma.Borokuthi river bank andLalon Shah River Resortwere also decorated with anew look to attract morevisitors and facilitate thecultural organisations toarrange various programmesto attract the visitors.Some renovation works aregoing on and those works areexpected to be completedwithin the next couple ofmonths.Meanwhile, theBangladesh WaterDevelopment Board(BWDB) has alsoimplemented a riverbankprotection project adjacent tothe city under whichprotection works on 2,650metre areas from Bulanpurto Harupur.Superintending EngineerMukhlesur Rahman saidriver protection works fromHarupur to Sonaikandi werecompleted to protect morethan 5.0 km area fromerosion.Bangabandhu Hi-techPark is also beingconstructed near theprotected area; he saidadding that the entire areahas become an amusementpark upon successfulcompletion of the 5.0kmbank protection work.Apart from this, Rajshahicity has got a new look amida massive plantation of fruitand forest trees anddecorative plants and treesand other beautificationworks drawing the attentionof the commoners,particularly the visitors.Some 32,446 trees wereplanted besides creatingscores of green zonesthrough councillors, officersand employees of the citycorporation. Tree plantationactivities on vacant places,road dividers and footpathsare being conducted in thecurrent year. 6,000 flowerand other ornamental anddecorative tree saplings werealready planted till Augustlast, he added.Now, road dividers andislands on around 24-kilometer roads in the citywere greened. Varieties ofdecorative and beautificationtrees were planted on thedividers, islands andfootpaths of the city's mainroads.branch is committed to provide allkinds of banking services to thecustomers of the area through bankingrules. To ensure the highest quality ofservice to the customers, he instructedall the officers of the branch includingthe branch manager. ManagingDirector and CEO of the Bank OmarFarooque said that the services of BCBLwill be spread out in all areas of thecountry as well as he emphasized oncustomer service and informed allpresent in the meeting about variousactivities of the Bank in all areas ofbusiness sector.Finally, the great mercyof the great Allah Ta'ala is sought forthe activities and progress of the bank.Vietnam's industrialproduction up 3.36pct in 2020HANOI : Vietnam'snational index of industrialproduction rose 3.36 percentyear on year in 2020,according to the country'sGeneral Statistics Office onTuesday, reports BSS.The processing andmanufacturing sector, themain driver of the surge, wentup 5.82 percent, contributing1.25 percentage points to theoverall growth.The electricity productionand distribution sector grew3.92 percent, contributing0.19 percentage points, andwater supply and wastemanagement grew 5.51percent, contributing 0.04percentage points.Regarding key products,between January andDecember,phonecomponents witnessed thelargest year-on-year outputexpansion at 22 percent,followed by television sets (up20.7 percent), and rolled steel(up 16.4 percent).Industrial products withsignificant output reductionsincluded refined sugar (down22.9 percent), beer (down13.9 percent), liquefiedpetroleum gas (down 13percent) and crude oil (down12.6 percent).Jobless Americans may have to waitfor desperately needed helpWASHINGTON: The United Statesgovernment has agreed to anothermassive stimulus package to keep itslisting economy afloat as thecoronavirus pandemic rages on, buthelp for the unemployed people most inneed may not come right away, reportsBSS.Congress's decision to wait until thelast minute to pass the $900 billionmeasure, followed by President DonaldTrump's days-long hesitation to sign thebill into law, means two programssupporting millions of unemployedAmericans briefly expired, and expertswarn states may take weeks to restartpayments."Everything about unemploymentinsurance and having 53 differentsystems is difficult, and it does meanssome states may drop the ball," saidMichele Evermore, senior policy analystat the National Employment LawProject.The new stimulus measure follows upon the CARES Act passed in March, amassive bill that expanded benefits tofreelance workers and allowedunemployed people to receive aid for anextended period of time.But those programs expired onDecember 26, a victim of both themonths Congress took to reach itsagreement last week and the president'srefusal to sign it before finallycapitulating on Sunday.The hold-up may have costunemployed people a week of benefits,and could lead to a gap stretching aslong as three weeks in which the joblesswon't get paid, experts say - the lastthing Americans who have been out ofwork for months need."I've been running with zero incomefor the past couple of weeks. Anytimethat you don't have income hurts," saidCarson Noel, an Arizona resident whohasn't been able to work in the liveevents industry since the pandemicstruck and used up all of his benefits inOctober.The world's largest economy groundto a sudden halt in March when statesordered businesses shut to stop thetransmission of Covid-19 - efforts thatdid grievous economic damage anddidn't prevent the country's outbreakfrom becoming the largest on the planet.Costing $2.2 trillion, the CARES Acthas been credited with keeping the USfrom an even worse downturn, in partby supporting consumption through theexpanded unemployment programs.The new package "providingcoronavirus emergency response andrelief" is part of a larger spending billand gives jobless people an extra $300in weekly payments.Americans will also get stimuluschecks totaling as much as $600 perperson, though Trump has called forthem to be raised to $2,000.It also extends until March 14programs created under the CARES Actfor the long-term unemployed and gigworkers like 51-year-old Noel, who wasevicted from his apartment after usingup all of his benefits in October.Now living with a family member, herelies on his dwindling savings to get by,and though the restoration of theunemployment payments is a relief, he'drather be working."I don't want to sit at home," he said.Unemployment aid in the US isadministered by individual states andterritories, and many systems areoverwhelmed and reliant on badlyoutdated technology that few believecan easily reactivate a benefit programthat had just been deactivated."The fact that they have to rolleverybody off and they have to rolleverybody back on, it's not going to gosmoothly in any circumstances," saidAndrew Stettner of progressive thinktank The Century Foundation, whichestimated 12 million people weredepending on these programs thatwould have lapsed had the new stimulusbill not been passed.Prime Bank launches real-timeremittance service; RemitPrimePrime Bank has recentlylaunched a state-of-the-artreal-time remittance service-RemitPrime- for itssubsidiaries in Singapore andthe United Kingdom (UK).This is the first real-time,online platform launched by aBangladeshi Bank abroad, apress release said.Through RemitPrime, theexpatriate Bangladeshis cantransfer remittance in realtimeto any account of PrimeBank and to any bKash walletacross the country. For allother banks, remittance willbe transferred instantly as perthe BEFTN* transactioncycle. Along with theremittance, the new servicealso ensures payment of 2%incentive instantly*.RemitPrime also providesreal-time information on thetransaction to its users.The expatriates fromBangladesh, India, and thePhilippines, residing inSingapore, can now sendmoney to their respectivehome countries throughRemitPrime services bydownloading Prime Bank'sInterment Banking mobileapp 'Prime Bank App' from'Apple's App Store' and'Google's Play Store' or bylogginginwww.remitprime.com. PrimeBank has plans to extend itsonline remittance paymentservices to major remittancecorridors like US, EU, GulfCountries, Japan, Korea,Malaysia and so on.Prime Bank's ActingManaging Director and CEOFaisal Rahman said, "Ourcustomers maintainingaccount with Prime Bank willenjoy real-time fund transferagainst their remittance fromabroad. We also can maketransfer to bKash Accounts inreal-time with RemitPrime.With this new service, ourcustomers are enjoying theconvenience of receivingremittance at their doorstepsround-the-clock. We believethese services will inspireexpatriate Bangladeshis tosend more money throughlegal channel and boost upthe flow of remittance into thecountry. The remitters fromother major corridors likeKSA, Malaysia, and othercountries will also receivesimilar facilities soon."Highlighting thecapabilities of theRemitPrime mobileapplications, Shams AbdullahMuhaimin, Prime Bank'sHead of Transaction Banking,said: "RemitPrime platform isbuilt on a machine learningtechnology which hasautomated majority ofmanual activities. The systemcan process thousands oftransactions in minutes withreal-time fund transfer tobeneficiary accounts 24X7.The mobile app version of theapplication is first of its kindlaunched by a local bank intooverseas. The system can nowbe offered as a white-labelsolution to different overseasremittance service providersworking in Bangladeshcorridor."Prime Bank has tworemittance subsidiaries, oneis in Singapore - PrimeExchange Co. Pte Ltd- whichhas 3 branches located atDesker Road, Jurong Eastand at Joo Koon. Another isin the UK named PBLExchange (UK) Ltd havingthree branches in London,Birmingham and Oldhamand 35 agent locations welldistributed throughout theUK. This new service hasalready gained hugepopularity among theexpatriates in Singapore whoare relying on the onlineservice to send money to theirnear and dear ones inBangladesh quickly,especially at this time ofCOVID-19.Social Islami Bank Ltd (SIBL) inaugurated 58, 59 60, 61 and 62nd Subbranches respectively inMarichcha Bazar, Jumchari Bazar of Cox's Bazar, B Ed. College Road and Saltgola of ChattogramCity Corporation and Churamon Kati of Jashore recently. Managing Director & CEO Quazi OsmanAli inaugurated the subbranches as chief guest from SIBL Head Office through virtual platform. AbuNaser Chowdhury, Md. Sirajul Hoque and Md. Shamsul Hoque, Deputy Managing Directors, Md.Moniruzzaman, Head of Marketing & Brand Communication, Sayed Mohammed Sohel, RegionalHead (C.C), Chattogram, Md. Shakil Anwar, Vice President of BC & GBD, Manager of Cox's Bazar,Chawkbazar, Sheikh Mujib Road and Jashore Branch and local dignitaries also attended the program.Photo: Courtesy

WEdNESdAY, dECEMBER 30, 20209Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane led India to a dominant eight-wicket win over Australia inthe second Test Tuesday.Photo: APNeymar in new controversyover New Year party rumorsSpoRtS DeSk:Brazil's star footballerNeymar is at the center of anew controversy after severalBrazilian media reported thathe's organizing a huge NewYear's eve party despite thecoronavirus pandemic, aclaim his lawyers denied,reports BSS.Acelmo Goes, a columnistfor the o Globo newspaper,wrote that the paris Saint-Germain forward is hosting500 people for a week-longparty at his luxury beachsidemansion near Rio de Janeirothat started on Saturday andwill last until New Year's Day.Neymar, who is no strangerto controversies over hisparties, allegedly eveninstalled soundproofingequipment to try to avoidbothering his neighbors.Leo Dias, a columnist forthe Metropoles website who isrenowned for his scoops oncelebrities, even named theartists due to perform atNeymar's party, such asLudmilla and Wesley Safadao.Guests' mobile phones areallegedly due to be confiscatedon the door to prevent anyevidence finding its way ontosocial media.Brazil has suffered thesecond-largest number ofCovid-19 related deaths in theworld with more than191,000, while 7.4 millionpeople have contracted thevirus.A specialist events agency,Agencia Fabrica, released astatement confirming it hadbeen contracted for a NewYear's event in the CostaVerde region where Neymar'svilla is located "that will hostaround 150 people… whilerespecting all the health rulesdetermined by the publicbodies."But Neymar's lawyersdenied a party had beenplanned or that the AgenciaFabrica event was related tothe football star."No! this is a Fabrica event.It is not related to Neymar,"they told AFp.Neymar's villa is inMangaratiba, a small town inan area of luxury seasideresorts in Rio de Janeiro state.the local town hall haspleaded with its 41,000inhabitants not to hold end ofyear parties and has erectedbarriers to prevent peoplecongregating."We don't have anyinformation about this party,"the town hall said in astatement sent to AFp.Neymar, who hasn't playedsince December 13 when heinjured his ankle againstLyon, hasn't commented onthe party and in recent dayshas posted pictures of hisfamily on social mediawithout commentaries.His Mangaratiba mansionis located on a 10,000 squaremeter(107,600 square feet)plot of land that includes aheliport, sports pitches, spa,sauna, massage parlor,gymnasium and dining areas.It's where he previouslyspent his time recoveringfrom injuries and also wherehe headed from March toJune when the coronaviruswas raging in France leadingto the suspension ofprofessional football.Resilient India thump Australiain second test to silence criticsSpoRtS DeSk:Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane ledIndia to a dominant eight-wicket winover Australia in the second testtuesday, levelling the series 1-1 andcapping an extraordinary turnaroundafter their record collapse in theopening game, reports BSS.Rahane, deputising during Viratkohli's paternity leave, hit an unbeaten27 in Melbourne - after a century in thefirst innings - as India reached themeagre target of 70 for the loss of twowickets.It capped a remarkable comeback foran Indian side desperate to makeamends after losing in Adelaide byeight wickets, when they posted theirlowest ever score of 36 and were widelycriticised at home.And they bounced back withoutsuperstar and batting maintstay kohli,who has returned home for the birth ofhis first child."Really proud of all the players," saidRahane."I want to give credit to the debutants(Mohammed) Siraj and (Shubman)Gill, the character they showed after theAdelaide loss was great to see.Character was important for us."kohli, watching at home in India,tweeted his congratulations."What a win this is, absolutelyamazing effort by the whole team," hesaid. "Couldn't be happier for the boysand specially Jinks (Rahane) who ledthe team to victory amazingly."Under the mild-mannered Rahane,India battled hard to dismiss Australiafor 195 in the first innings and thenposted 326 in reply.Australia resumed their secondinnings on day four on 133 for six witha two-run lead, and their hopes restingon 21-year-old rookie all-rounderCameron Green.He made 45 as they battled to 200before tail-ender Josh Hazlewood wasthe last man to fall before lunch.Siraj took 3-37 with Jasprit Bumrah,Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwingrabbing two each.Rahane and Gill (35) then saw Indiahome, but not before some nervousmoments.Mitchell Starc got a nick from the outof-formMayank Agarwal (5), whichtim paine caught, then pat Cumminssnared Cheteshwar pujara for three,edged to Green at gully.It left India on 19 for two before theyregained their composure to seal thewin."Very disappointed, played poorcricket, sloppy cricket," said Australiacaptain paine."Let's not take anything away fromIndia, they forced us to make mistakes.they bowled beautifully, we haven'tadapted as well as we would've liked."Disappointed as a batting group, buttwo tests to go."Australia collapsed to 99 for six in therun chase on Monday before Green andCummins knuckled down to weather18 overs and steer them to stumps.Green showed glimpses of his magic,cutting Ashwin and driving Bumrahbeautifully for fours, while alsoexhibiting patience.Chelsea failed to ease the mounting pressure on manager Frank Lampard as Aston Villa came frombehind to earn a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Monday.Photo: APChelsea fail to lift pressure on Lampard, Covidspike causes Man City postponementSpoRtS DeSk:Chelsea failed to ease the mountingpressure on manager Frank Lampard asAston Villa came from behind to earn a1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Monday,as a coronavirus outbreak at ManchesterCity caused their clash at everton to bepostponed, reports BSS.Lampard's men have now won justone of their last five league games to fallsix points behind leaders Liverpool insixth and having played a game morethan the champions.Chelsea also trail Villa on goaldifference, despite Dean Smith's menhaving two games in hand, and thevisitors were well worthy of a point."Now it's a tough moment and youhave to fight through it," said Lampard."Nobody let me down tonight, everyoneworked, we just didn't quite get the rubof the green." Lampard was able to makesix changes from the side beaten atArsenal 48 hours ago. olivier Giroudwas one of those drafted into the sideand the French international proved hisworth with a precise near post headerfrom Ben Chilwell's cross to open thescoring with his ninth of the season.By contrast, Smith made just oneenforced change from the team thatplayed for 45 minutes with 10 men inSaturday's 3-0 win over Crystal palace.But Villa showed no signs of fatigue inthe second-half and levelled whenAnwar el Ghazi turned home his fifthgoal in as many games from MattyCash's cross five minutes into thesecond-half. "I'm still yet to see a playercarried off the pitch with exhaustion,"said Smith. "I'm a big believer in youwant to play every game and if they aredoing well keep playing them." - Covidoutbreak at Man City -For just the second time since the2019/20 premier League match seasonresumed in June, a match waspostponed due to coronavirus infectionsafter a spike at City.the Manchester giants announced onChristmas Day there had been positivetests at the club for players kyle Walkerand Gabriel Jesus and two staffmembers.Brazil's star footballer Neymar is at the center of a new controversy after several Brazilianmedia reported that he's organizing a huge New Year's Eve party despite the coronavirus pandemic.Photo: APReal resumeAtletico chaseas Messi absentfor BarcaSpoRtS DeSk:Real Madrid will attempt tosign off the year with a sixthwin on the bounce as ZinedineZidane's in-form sidecontinue their pursuit of LaLiga leaders and city rivalsAtletico Madrid onWednesday, reports BSS.Defending champions Realare level on 32 points withAtletico but have played twogames more than DiegoSimeone's men ahead of theirtrip to elche.karim Benzema has beenthe driving force behind Real'sexcellent December run,claiming key goals in winsover Athletic Bilbao, eibarand Granada after securingthe club a spot in theChampions League knockoutphase.eden Hazard is also in lineto feature after recoveringfrom his latest injury setback.the Belgian was an unusedsubstitute in last week'svictory over Granada and hasmade just three league startsthis campaign.Real coach Zinedine Zidanehopes the short festive breakafforded to his players overChristmas will not interruptthe momentum built over adomestic five-game winningstreak."We're going to keepworking hard. We have anawful lot of games, we shouldbe pleased with what we'redoing," said Zidane."We're going to lose gamesagain, but we're going to try towin as many as possible.From time to time it'sinevitable."Atletico have respondedwell to the 2-0 defeat by Realearlier this month thatsnapped their 26-matchunbeaten league run.Masked and muted olympicswill still dominate crowded2021 in sportsSpoRtS DeSk:the rescheduled tokyo olympics will be thecentrepiece of a crammed sporting year in 2021as sports administrators who had theircalendars wiped away by the coronaviruspandemic try to fill the gaps even as a secondwave hits, reports BSS.While the Games will still be called the 2020olympics, they have been changed by Covid-19.tokyo organisers and the Japanesegovernment are struggling with increased costsand, despite the growing possibility ofvaccination, whether to allow foreign visitorsand what safeguards and restrictions will applyto spectators and participants.In early December, organisers said thedelayed Games will cost at least an extra $2.4billion as the unprecedented peacetimepostponement and a raft of pandemic healthmeasures inflate a budget that was already over$13 billion.enthusiasm appears to have waned in Japan.A poll in July showed that just one in fourpeople wanted to see the Games held in 2021 -and a majority backed either further delay orcancellation."Whether it's seen as too much or that wehave done well to contain the costs, I think itdepends on how you look at it," said tokyo2020 Ceo toshiro Muto.organisers have reduced the number of freetickets, scaled down the opening ceremony andmade savings on mascots, banners and meals,but so far have cut just $280 million."It will be simple rather than festive, but Ihope it will be something moving thatencourages people through the power of sport,"he said.the organisers are determined to go aheadnext year, even if the pandemic has notreceded.they want to welcome foreign spectators andplan to waive quarantine requirements.they plan to require fans to wear masks, torefrain from cheering and keep their ticketstubs for contact tracing.Athletes will be asked to arrive late and leaveearly, minimise their time in the olympicvillage, refrain from speaking loudly, avoidphysical contact and wear masks when notcompeting or training. they will be screened onarrival and undergo tests every four to fivedays."I think the Games will go off," WorldAthletics president Sebastian Coe said thismonth. "What nobody is clearly across at themoment, is… whether we are going to have astadium populated by good, noisy, passionatefans."the challenge for the organisers isconsiderable, since the Games bring together11,000 athletes from 206 countries,accompanied by at least 5,000 officials andcoaches, 20,000 media representatives and60,000 volunteers.Meanwhile, other sports, desperate to makeup for lost time are, for the most part,manoeuvering to minimise overlaps betweentheir revamped schedules and the olympicbehemoth.the National Basketball Association, whichonly finished its coronavirus-hit 2019-20season on october 12, agreed with its playersunion to start the new season on December 22,cut the regular season by 10 games and end iton May 16.this was partly to allow players to compete intokyo, although since the playoffs arescheduled to continue until July 22, the daybefore the Games start, some of the biggeststars could still miss tokyo.one event that has not, so far, publiclyrethought its plans is the other marqueecasualty from the summer's sporting wipeout:the european football championships.Still called euro 2020, they are scheduled tostick to the planned 12-city format but somemember nations have reportedly been urgingUeFA to put all the matches in one country.the significance of the olympics goes beyondsports.Following on from the diplomatic gestures atthe pyeongchang Winter Games in 2018, thereis talk of inviting North korean leader kimJong Un to the tokyo Games and holding asummit with South korea, China, the UnitedStates and host Japan.Another dominant theme in 2020,opposition to racism, threatens to causefriction in tokyo.In early December, Coe pointedly gave theWorld Athletics president's award to tommieSmith, peter Norman and John Carlos, thethree 400m runners who raised a fist in a blackpower salute on a medal podium protest at the1968 Mexico City Games."Sadly, their cause and what they so bravelystood for has not been consigned to the historybooks," said Coe.

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