Author: Asian Bangla

Asianbangla, Dhaka : Rice imports nosedived in the past two months and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicted total import would dip to 6 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 due to higher production in boro season and reinstatement of import tariff. The private and public sectors imported 38.92 lakh tonnes of rice in July-June of 2017-18, the highest in the last three decades, according to food ministry data. Since July of the current fiscal year, 38,060 tonnes of rice grains were imported. The US agency linked the slumping rice import to the imposition of a 28 percent import duty in July…

Asianbangla Dhaka : In a latest development in politics, a new platform has been floated under the joint leadership of Prof AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury and Dr Kamal Hossain to take part in the next general elections. The two senior political leaders of the country came up with the declaration after a two-hour meeting at the house of Dr Kamal, president of Gonoforum, last night. “We — former president and Juktofront Chairman AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury and constitution architect Dr Kamal Hossain — have agreed to work unitedly at the present moment of crisis of the nation,” B Chowdhury said after the…

Asianbangla Desk : All sides in Yemen’s bloody conflict may have committed war crimes, UN investigators said yesterday, highlighting deadly air strikes, rampant sexual violence, and the recruitment of young children as soldiers. Afp, Geneva In their first report, a team of UN-mandated investigators said they had “reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law.” Many of these violations may amount to “war crimes”, the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to…

Asianbangla Dhaka : Mobile call volume dropped by 15 percent since the introduction of the minimum uniform call rate, as users attempted to minimise costs, industry insiders said yesterday. However, earnings of mobile phone operators rose by five percent since the new rate of Tk 0.45 a minute came into force two weeks ago, they added. The rate, which came into effect on August 14, affected many customers, as all the regular packages of the top mobile operators are now charging more than Tk 1.20 per minute. Additionally, operators have also introduced a number of offers that are close to…

Asianbangla Dhaka : In Bangladesh, industrialists and businesspeople become shareholders and directors of banks, and borrow money from each other’s banks. And not only that, up to four members of a family can now be in the board of directors of a bank, up from two previously, after the relevant rules were amended last year following Finance Minister AMA Muhith’s recommendation. But the picture is completely different in neighbouring India. No industrialist or businessperson there can become a director of any bank as this creates a conflict of interest between the custodians and the borrowers of the institution. India’s Banking…

Asianbangla Dhaka : The expatriates’ welfare ministry will issue show cause notices to 10 recruiting agencies whose alleged monopoly in labour recruitment in Malaysia has led to the suspension of SPPA, an online system for recruitment of foreign workers, from September 1. Suspension of SPPA means Malaysia will not approve any new demand for labour from the employers until a new system is introduced. However, those who have already got visas will be allowed to enter the country. Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam yesterday said, “We will issue show cause notices. We are collecting data now.” He…

Asianbangla Dhaka : Just about four months before the national polls, the Election Commission is planning to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in around 100 out of the 300 constituencies. EC Secretary Helaluddin Ahmed made the disclosure yesterday amid strong opposition from different political parties, including the BNP, regarding the use of EVMs. “If everything goes well, including legal reforms and the opinions of political parties, the Commission will be able to use electronic voting machines in one-third of the constituencies in the parliamentary polls,” he said, adding that the polls would be held in the last week of December.…

Asianbangla Desk : Myanmar rejected today the findings of a UN probe alleging genocide by its military against the Rohingya, in a strident government response to a damning report on the crisis. Myanmar has come under immense pressure this week over last year’s military crackdown that pushed more than 700,000 of the Muslim minority into Bangladesh. Monday’s report by a UN fact-finding mission said there was evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity “perpetrated on a massive scale”. In a session of the UN Security Council late Tuesday several countries — including the United States — called for Myanmar’s military…

Asianbangla Desk : Google has revised an erroneous description on its website of how its “Location History” setting works, clarifying that it continues to track users even if they’ve disabled the setting. The change came three days after an Associated Press investigation revealed that several Google apps and websites store user location even if users have turned off Location History. Google has not changed its location-tracking practice in that regard. But its help page for the Location History setting now states: “This setting does not affect other location services on your device.” It also acknowledges that “some location data may…

Asianbangla Desk : Rescue workers use helicopters and boats to evacuate hundreds of people stranded on their home rooftops following unprecedented flooding in the southern Indian state of Kerala where more than 160 people have died. With torrential rains stopping on Friday, thousands of rescuers worked quickly to shift the marooned people to 1,200 state-run camps where more than 150,000 people already have taken shelter. Heavy rains over the past eight days triggered flooding, landslides and home and road bridge collapses, severely disrupting air and train services in Kerala state, a popular tourist destination with beautiful beaches. State officials have…