06-06-2022

Recently United Commercial Bank Ltd has started a 10 days Banking Foundation Course at Learning &
Development Center, Head Office. The program was inaugurated by N. Mustafa Tarek, Deputy
Managing Director. Masud Rayhan, Head of Learning & Development Center along with other L&D
Officials of UCB were also present during the inauguration".
Photo : Courtesy
Nagad Holds Distributors Meet-2022
The Postal Department's
mobile financial service
Nagad organized 'Nagad
Tycoons Meet' or
'Distributors Meet 2022'.
Distributors, regional
managers, and market
directors of Nagad from
across the country
participated in the event
under the slogan 'The Winner
of Change'.
The 'Tycoons Meet 2022'
was held at the capital's fivestar
hotel Le Meridien
recently. 164 distributors,
regional managers and
market directors from
throughout the country
attended the one-day event.
The occasion was also
attended by Tanvir A.
Mishuk, Founder and
Managing Director of Nagad,
Rahel Ahmed, Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of
Nagad, Executive Directors,
and many other department
heads and higher officials of
the organization.
The 'Nagad Tycoons Meet
2022 event started in the
morning and continued till
night. In addition to
conducting several
workshops, distributors,
regional managers and
market directors from various
regions were recognized for
their accomplishments based
on goals or performances
during the day-long event.
Distributors from around the
nation were thrilled to receive
the crest and exclusive
rewards from Nagad in
recognition of their
outstanding performance.
In addition, the popular
mobile financial service
Nagad has arranged a cultural
program to enhance the
appeal of 'Nagad Tycoons
Meet 2022'. The audience
was captivated by the standup
comedy of popular actor Saju
Khadem, the dance
performance of Bengali film
actress Nusrat Faria and
finally popular songs
performed by legendary
singer Kumar Biswajit.
Addressing the distributor,
Regional Managers and
Market Directors, Tanvir A
Mishuk, Founder and
Managing Director of Nagad
stated, "Since its inception,
Nagad has been the world's
fastest-growing MFS, with
over 6 crore valued customers
with nearly BDT 1,000
average daily transactions.
This has only been made
possible due to your
collaboration
and
partnership. "When I wanted
to introduce Nagad, many
people advised against it" he
stated. The negative facts
concerning monopolistic
domination and the MFS
industry were the primary
factors. However, you were
the first one to believe in me
at that time. Thank you very
much. I would not be here
today if it weren't for you."
"We were far behind in
terms of financial inclusion in
the country," stated Rahel
Ahmed, CEO of Nagad.
Appropriate digital
innovation was required to
pull the ordinary people of the
country into this financial
inclusion. At that time, like a
meteor, Nagad came into play
as a change-maker. The
service has extended
throughout Bangladesh and
you are the driving force
behind this. Furthermore, by
utilizing e-KYC and Nagad D-
KYC, many people have been
brought under financial
inclusion through you."
National Housing Finance and Investments
Ltd declared 15.00pc Cash Dividend
Mercedes recalls
one million older
cars: German
authority
BERLIN : German carmaker
Mercedes-Benz is recalling
nearly one million older
vehicles worldwide due to a
potential problem with the
braking system, the federal
transport authority (KBA)
said.
The KBA said in a statement
dated June 1 and reported late
Saturday in German media
that the recall affected cars
built between 2004 and 2015,
of the SUV series ML and GL
and the R-Class luxury
minivan.
"Corrosion on the brake
booster can in the worst case
lead to the connection
between the brake pedal and
the braking system being
interrupted," the KBA said.
"As a consequence, the
service brake can stop
functioning."
The KBA said that
worldwide 993,407 vehicles
were being recalled, including
around 70,000 in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz confirmed
the recall later in a statement
sent to AFP, saying the move
was based on "analysis of
isolated reports for certain
vehicles".
"In rare cases of very severe
corrosion, it might be possible
for a particularly strong or
hard braking manoeuvre to
cause mechanical damage to
the brake booster, whereby
the connection between brake
pedal and brake system would
fail," Mercedes said.
"In such a very rare case, it
would not be possible to
decelerate the vehicle via the
service brake. Thus, the risk of
a crash or injury would be
increased."
The company said it would
"start with the recall
immediately" and contact the
owners of the "potentially
affected vehicles".
MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2022
Baby formula plant
linked to US shortage
resumes production
WASHINGTON : Production resumed Saturday at an Abbott
Nutrition baby formula plant in the US whose closure helped
fuel a crippling nationwide shortage.
The facility in Sturges, Michigan has met initial government
sanitary requirements for reopening, the company said in a
statement.
The plant, a major producer of formula, shut down and issued
a product recall in February after the death of two babies raised
concerns over contamination.
Subsequent shortages were particularly worrying to parents
of infants with allergies or with certain metabolic conditions.
They desperately scoured stores and online sources for the
specialized formulas.
Their concerns became so acute that President Joe Biden met
virtually this week with infant-food executives and insisted his
administration was doing everything it could to help.
The crisis, coming at a time when soaring inflation and
supply-chain delays have fanned a growing sense of unease
among many ordinary Americans, has been seized on by Biden
critics to question the competence of his administration.
Abbott, which controls about 40 percent of the US baby food
market, said Saturday that it was restarting production of its
hypoallergenic EleCare formula and that the product should be
back on store shelves around June 20.
"We're also working hard to fulfill the steps necessary to
restart production of Similac and other formulas," Abbott said.
"We will ramp production as quickly as we can while meeting
all requirements."
The formula shortages, initially caused by supply chain
blockages and a lack of workers due to the pandemic, were
exacerbated when Abbott closed its Sturges plant.
The plant was shut down amid complaints the plant lacked
adequate protections against contamination from bacteriacomplaints
echoed after a six-week inspection by US Food and
Drug Administration agents.
"Frankly, the inspection results were shocking," FDA chief
Robert Califf told members of a House subcommittee last
month.
There was standing water in key equipment that presented
"the potential for bacterial contamination," plus leaks in the
roof and a lack of basic hygiene facilities, he said.
But Abbott officials, while apologizing for the formula
shortage, have said there is no conclusive evidence linking the
formula to infant illnesses or deaths.
For Biden, the issue had blown up into a political maelstrom.
He told reporters Wednesday that he was only informed
about the looming problem in early April and that he had pulled
all the levers of government to resolve shortages ever since.
"I don't think anyone anticipated the impact of the shutdown
of one facility," Biden said at a virtual meeting with the
executives from five companies helping to take up the slack
caused by Abbott's problems.
"Once we learned the extent of it and how broad it was, it
kicked everything into gear," Biden said.
8
Managing inventories
a pandemic headache
for US businesses
NEW YORK : More than two
years into the Covid-19
pandemic, American
businesses are still struggling
to manage their inventories in
a feast-or-famine cycle caused
by fickle consumer demand.
"We have way too much
inventory right now," said
Ginny Pasqualone, chief
executive of Sparkledots, a
children's clothing
manufacturer.
"It's important that we have
a large selection of
merchandise that our clients
can choose from," she said,
but store traffic has been hit
by inflation concerns, with
some customers "very scared
that they're not going to
survive another recession."
For now, Sparkledots is
holding more goods in
inventory, but that ties up
company capital and limits its
ability to add to its 18-worker
staff.
"It sucks our growth for the
future," Pasqualone said.
Such is the dilemma
affecting businesses of all
sizes.
Large store chains like
Walmart, Target and Macy's
have acknowledged in recent
weeks that they misread
consumer patterns, leaving
them with excess supplies of
appliances, casual clothing
and bicycles.
Bicycles were a hot
commodity early in the
pandemic, prompting
surprisingly large orders, said
Wayne Sosin, owner of
Worksman Cycles, a New
York manufacturer best
known for its tricycles.
"Retailers bought whatever
they could as if bike sales
would continue to have
unprecedented demand,"
Sosin said. "It was so obvious
to me that (this) would not
last."
Still, Sosin said demand
remains strong in some parts
of the business, placing stress
on supplies of some key
bicycle parts.
The 23rd Annual General Meeting
(AGM) of National Housing Finance
and Investments Limited was held on
Thursday, 2nd June, 2022 at 12.00
noon through virtual platform. The
shareholders approved 15.00% Cash
Dividend for the year 2021. I may be
noted that National Housing also
declared 15% cash dividend in the
year 2020, a press release said.
The Meeting was presided over by
Mahbubur Rahman, Chairman of the
Company. In the AGM Syed M. Altaf
Hussain, Vice-Chairman, Abdul-
Muyeed Chowdhury, Chairman
Audit Committee, all other Directors,
Promoters, and a large number of
Shareholders along with
Mohammad Shamsul Islam,
Managing Director and Md. Sarwar
Kamal FCS, Company Secretary were
present. The shareholders
appreciated and thanked to the Board
of Directors and management for the
continuous success of the Company.
National Housing is one of the
largest Financial Institution in the
country incorporated by 3 Banks, 7
Insurance Companies and &
country's renowned corporate body
engaged mainly with Home Loan.
Total shareholders' equity of the
company is Tk. 2,182.23 million as on
December 31, 2021. The Net profit
after Tax of the company is Tk.
261.28 million, EPS Tk. 2.23 and Net
Asset Value per Share (NAV) Tk.
18.65.
Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd. has opened 'Hajj Booth' to provide services of Hajj pilgrims at Ashkona Hajj
Camp, on 5 Jun, 2022. Managing Director and CEO of the Bank Farman R. Chowdhury inaugurated the
booth as Chief Guest. Presided by Deputy Managing Director Md. Shafiqur Rahman Deputy Managing
Directors SM Jaffar, Abdullah Al Mamun, Senior Vice President Md. Mujibul Kader, Engr. Mohammad
Habib Ullah, SM Abu Jaffar, Senior Vice President Jalal Ahmed and Nazmul Huda were also present on the
occasion. After the inauguration Managing Director and CEO Farman R Chowdhury handed over gift items
to the pilgrims. The Bank will provide the pilgrims free passport endorsement, foreign currency exchange,
information and various other services from the newly opened booth.
Photo : Courtesy
Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) arranged Employees Get Together at Brac Learning Center in
Sreemangal with the employees of branches and sub-branches of Sylhet region recently. Dr. Md. Mahbub
Ul Alam, Chairman of the Bank, was present as chief guest while Zafar Alam, Managing Director and CEO
of the Bank, presided over the ceremony. Abu Reza Md. Yeahia, Additional Managing Director, was present
as special guest in the program. Abu RushdIftekharulHaque, Head of Trade Finance Division, and Md.
Moniruzzaman, Head of Marketing & Brand Communication of the Bank, were also present on the occasion.
Photo : Courtesy
RFL launches new generation cooker hood
Rangpur Metal Industries
Limited, a concern of
country's leading business
conglomerate RFL, has
brought new cooker hood
using latest technology to the
market. Rangpur Metal
Industries Ltd Director Md.
Moniruzzaman has unveiled
the product at an event held
at RFL Group's head office in
Badda recently, a press
release said.
Addressing the occasion,
Md. Moniruzzaman said,
"People's live have changed a
lot. That's why, we have
brought a new featured
cooker hood to the market to
make people's lives easier and
more comfortable. This
cooker hood has various
features including automatic
motion sensor, touch control
switch, auto heat clean
technology, tempered glass
panel, stainless steel filter and
750m3/h enriched air
suction, which ensures the
highest quality."
He added that the
automatic motion sensor can
be used without touching the
hand. In addition, a 2-watt
LED light has been added to
the hood to work safely in low
light and a powerful 150-watt
motor with two speeds has
been used, capable of blowing
180 cubic meters of air per
hour. As a result, lowering the
temperature will bring relief
to the kitchen.
Shariful Islam, Head of
Marketing, Rangpur Metal
Industries Limited, said, "Hot
steam escapes from the
kitchen for using the kitchen
hood. This is why cooking
becomes comfortable."
At present, RFL has a total
of 8 different types of cooker
hoods of different sizes. The
price ranges of cooker hoods
are between Tk7,060 and Tk
31,765. Buyers will be able to
purchase the product from
RFL's Best Buy and Easy
Build. There is also a free
home delivery and free
installation facilities within a
maximum of three days when
ordering from the popular e-
commerce
site
www.othoba.com.
Md.
Nazmul
Haque,Assistant General
Manager (Operations) of
Rangpur Metal Industries
Limited, Finance Controller
Md. Zahir Uddin, Deputy
Manager (Accounts)
BinodKumer Sarker and Sub-
Assistant Brand Manager Md.
Ashrafuzzaman and other
senior officials of the
companywere present.