MNA Business Desk: The performance of Bangladesh economy in 2019 with reference to global, macro and micro levels presents a mixed picture. Globally, the country did not suffer any major setback during the year, but some headwind stemmed from slowed-down export and import due to shrinking global economic growth. The country recoded an estimated 8.15 per cent GDP growth in FY19 – considered by Asian Development Bank (ADB) to be the fastest-growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region, according to an editorial of the quarterly news bulletin of International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh’s (ICCB) released on Wednesday. Such growth was possible ...

MNA International Desk: The Russian parliament approved a constitutional reform to allow the country’s President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036. The parliament gave the approval in the third and final reading Wednesday, a move that will allow Putin to remain in office for another 12 years after his current term ends in 2024, reports AP. The Kremlin-controlled lower house, the State Duma, endorsed a set of amendments to the constitution and a provision resetting the term count for Putin after the revised constitution goes into force. It passed by a 383-0 vote with 43 abstentions. A nationwide ...

MNA National Desk: The government has decided to observe ‘one-minute blackout’ programme on the night of March 25, marking the ‘Genocide Day’. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal came up with the information after a meeting at the secretariat on Wednesday in presence of top officials of the law enforcement agencies on observing the ‘Genocide Day’ and the Independence Day. The ‘blackout’ programme will be observed for one minute from 9pm on March 25, he said. Additional security measures will also be taken on the occasion, said the minister. However, key performance indicators areas and vehicles will remain out of the ...

MNA International Desk: Airlines around the world sank deeper into crisis on Tuesday as the worsening coronavirus epidemic and Italy’s lockdown hammered passenger numbers, forced the cancellation of thousands of flights and led to the delaying of plane orders. Some carriers face calamity, with Korean Air Lines warning the virus outbreak could threaten its survival after it scrapped more than 80% of its international capacity, grounding 100 of its 145 passenger aircraft. “The situation can get worse at any time and we cannot even predict how long it will last,” Woo Kee-hong, the president of South Korea’s biggest airline, said ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Country’s state-run disease monitoring wing Institute of Epidemiology, Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR) has requested elderly people, along with foreign returnees, to maintain self-quarantine as it the most viable way to remain safe from coronavirus disease, COVID-19. IEDCR Director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora came up with the statement at a press briefing at the auditorium of the institute in city’s Mohakhali area. IEDCR’s Principal Scientific Officer Dr ASM Alamgir was present at the briefing. Dr Flora said no new coronavirus case found in the country after confirming the initial three, and they (the affected persons) too are ...

MNA National Desk: The High Court (HC) has declared that ‘Joy Bangla’ will be the national slogan of the country. Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader’s bench made the announcement on Tuesday after a hearing and gave three specific directives to the authorities concerned about the use of ‘Joy Bangla’ slogan. The HC said ‘Joy Bangla’ will be the national slogan of Bangladesh, reports UNB. The High Court asked the authorities concerned to take necessary steps so that all constitutional post-holders, state officials and staff use ‘Joy Bangla’ after their speeches on national days and other ‘appropriate’ ...

MNA Business Desk: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the country’s first deep-sea project to be built in Matarbari of Cox’s Bazar by 2026. The approval was given during the ECNEC meeting at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area on Tuesday with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The government took the decision with an aim to fulfill the demand of international trade as well as facilitating speedy port services with the neighbouring countries, reports BSS. The Chattogram Port Authority and the Roads and Highways Division will ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Bangladesh has transformed into a role model of development during the last decade. Several infrastructural developments as well as improvement in human indices have led to this successful journey. This development has significantly reflected in economic progress also. We are performing well on different economic parameters as shown in different reports. Without economic growth, it is impossible for a country to move forward. Economic development is bound to be pursued on both short-term and long-term basis where sustainability becomes the most critical factor. Many countries of the world have experienced sharp economic incline on several occasions, but ...

MNA International Desk: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to visit Bangladesh for the celebration of the birth centenary of the Father the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, sources have said. Two Indian news outlets, Hindustan Times and India Today gave the information in their reports published on Monday. The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka on March 17. Bangladesh had announced on Sunday that it was scaling down and postponing several events related to the celebration following the detection of three coronavirus infections in the country. “The planned ...

MNA National Desk: In the wake of detection of the first coronavirus cases in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged the people of the country not to panic and avoid any mass gathering. Sheikh Hasina made the call while talking about coronavirus at the weekly Cabinet meeting held at her office with the PM in the chair, reports UNB. “The Prime Minister requested you (people) not to get panicked…Since it’s a contagious virus, her directive is to avoid any huge mass gathering as much as possible,” said Health Services Division Secretary Md Ashadul Islam at a press briefing ...

MNA Business Desk: The outbreak and spread of Coronavirus (Covid19) will negatively affect the global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the current and next years. The rate of decline may be minimum 5.0 per cent to maximum 15.0 per cent in 2020, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The UN body unveiled its special issue on its Investment Trends Monitor on Monday in Geneva focusing the impact of coronavirus outbreak on global FDI. “With scenarios of the spread of the epidemic ranging from short-term stabilisation to continuation throughout the year, the downward pressure ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The Biman Bangladesh Airlines has reduced its international flight frequency to more than 50 per cent due to passenger’s scarcity as well as ban on flight operation in some destinations for global outbreak of novel coronavirus. “We have decided to reduce our total weekly flight (to and from) to 68 from 142 in our 10 international destinations due to mainly passenger’s scarcity amid the outbreak of coronavirus,” Biman’s managing director and CEO Mokabbir Hossain told newsmen on Monday in the capital. The national flag carrier operates international flights to Kuala Lumpur, Kathmandu, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangkok, Singapore, ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged the people of the country not to be worried regarding coronavirus as Bangladesh has enough capability to face this disease. “Inshallah, we have enough capability (to tackle coronavirus) and we’ll do that. There’s nothing to be worried,” she said while inaugurating the function of the International Women’s Day at Osmani Memorial Auditorium. She said the government is monitoring the situation round the clock and will take immediate appropriate steps if any problem arises in any place. “All have to remain neat and clean and follow the instructions of the Health ...

MNA Business Desk: While launching the New Incoterms 2020 Rules at a city hotel in Dhaka on Sunday, commerce minister Tipu Munshi said Bangladesh’s trade is expanding year-on-year, so practice of the Incoterms 2020 will be essential. Bangladesh has been following all international trade tools for its export and imports, Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) rules are one of them. The rules are internationally accepted standards which define the responsibilities of sellers and buyers for the delivery of goods under sales contracts, he said. On the economy, the minister said Bangladesh made remarkable achievement in FY 2019. In the last fiscal, ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has confirmed three coronavirus cases for the first time in Bangladesh. IEDCR Director Professor Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora gave the information at a press briefing on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com. “Two men and a woman, aged between 20 and 35 years, have tested positive for the virus and they have been kept in quarantine,” the IEDCR director said. “Their condition is stable now,” she added. Among the three infected people, two returned from Italy recently, according to the government’s disease control agency. Samples from four people who came in ...

MNA International Desk: Two more people succumbed to the novel coronavirus in Washington state, officials said on Saturday (local time), bringing the nationwide toll to 19, while the number of confirmed cases in New York rose to 89 and a cruise ship with infected passengers remained stranded outside San Francisco. More than half of all US states have reported cases of the coronavirus, which originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19. As the outbreak takes root, daily life has become increasingly disrupted, with concerts and conferences cancelled and universities telling students to stay home ...

MNA Feature Desk: The International Women’s Day is being celebrated in the country, as elsewhere across the globe, on Sunday highlighting women’s rights and equality. The theme for International Women’s Day 2020 is “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. The International Women’s Day is observed every year on March 8 to celebrate the women’s movement and struggle for equality. Different organisations have chalked out various programmes on the occasion in the capital as elsewhere across the country. On the eve of the day, President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages, greeting all women across ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Twenty-one people aboard a cruise ship that was barred from docking in San Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus, US officials said on Friday, adding to the more than 100,000 cases of the fast-spreading illness across the world. Vice president Mike Pence, recently appointed as the US government’s point man on the outbreak, said the cruise ship Grand Princess will be brought to an unspecified non-commercial port where all 2,400 some passengers and 1,100 crew members will now be tested. “Those that need to be quarantined, will be quarantined. Those that require additional medical attention will receive ...

MNA National Desk: Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday led the nation in paying homage to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, commemorating his historic March 7 speech, which was touted as an indirect declaration of the country’s independence in 1971. She paid tributes to the father of the nation by placing a wreath at his portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city this morning. After laying the wreath, she stood in solemn silence for sometime as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of the independence. Flanked by central leaders of ...

MNA Business Desk: There is nothing to be worried about preferential treatment of Bangladesh in the European Union even after the country’s graduation from LDC (least developed country) status in 2024, a German diplomat said in Dhaka on Wednesday. “The EU has offered to extend preferential market access for an additional three years from the graduation, meaning Bangladesh will enjoy the special treatment in EU market until 2027,” he said. “There will be ample opportunity for Bangladesh and EU to sit together and find a way for the transition,” Deputy Ambassador of German Embassy in Dhaka Burkhard Ducoffere said. He ...

MNA International Desk: Kuwait suspended all flights to and from Bangladesh and other six countries for a week with an immediate effect from March 06 (Friday). The six other countries from where the expatriates will not be allowed to go to Kuwait are India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Philippines, Egypt and Syria. Issuing a circular on Friday, Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) said the expatriates with valid residency permits or previous entry visas as well as those from other airports who stayed in the above-mentioned countries for the past two weeks are prohibited from entering. But the citizens ...

MNA Feature Desk: The nation is observing the historic March 7 today commemorating the landmark speech of Bangabandhu which was touted as indirect declaration of the country’s independence in 1971. This year the observance of the day is more significant as the nation is getting ready to celebrate the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 17. The landmark fiery speech of Bangabandhu inspired the Bangalees to prepare for the War of Liberation. The war began 18 days later, when the Pakistan Army launched “Operation Searchlight” against unarmed Bangalee civilians, intellectuals, students, politicians, and ...

MNA Lifestyle Desk: Vacations relieve stress and relax our mind. But our busy schedule hardly allows us to go for long vacations. However, we can still plan day trips on the weekend. Many of us avoid visiting tourist resorts due to their exorbitant prices. Don’t worry! Still there are some inexpensive tourist places near Dhaka. In this article, we are going to introduce you with 5 affordable tourist spots for quick day trips on weekends from Dhaka. Moinot Ghat – Mini Cox’s Bazaar Moinot Ghat located on the bank of Padma River is popular as “Mini Cox’s Bazar’’. This place ...

MNA Sports Desk: Liton Das struck a highest individual score by a Bangladeshi batsman while Tamim Iqbal brought up his second successive century as Bangladesh crushed Zimbabwe by 123 runs in Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s final match as captain at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday. By winning the rain-hit third and final ODI of the series, Bangladesh also completed a fourth straight and overall fifth whitewash on Zimbabwe, BSS reports. Liton, who smashed 16 fours and eight sixes for his 143 ball-176, his third ODI century and second in the series, grabbed the record from his opening partner Tamim, ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she wanted to know the result of the researches in which the government is investing the public funds. “Doing only research is not enough, (I) want to know the outcome, and make it sure that those (results) are beneficial to the country,” she said. The Prime Minister said this while distributing cheques among post-graduate students and researchers under Bangabandhu Fellowship, National Science and Technology (NST) Fellowship and donation for research. Ministry of Science and Technology arranged the ceremony at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital on Thursday. Sheikh Hasina said the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: A separate hospital will be built in the country to control coronavirus outbreak if the number of patients rises at any place, informed the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. “Isolation unit has been opened at the sadar hospitals in all districts for proving treatment to coronavrus patients. But, if the number of case rises anywhere, a separate hospital will be built there,” said IEDCR director Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora at a press briefing on Thursday. Informing that the situation in China is improving, she said the disease is spreading to other countries outside China. “Of ...

MNA International Desk: Italy closed all schools and universities and took other emergency measures on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Europe’s worst-hit country as the death toll and number of cases jumped. The total number of dead in Italy rose to 107 after 28 people died of the highly contagious virus over the past 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said. Education Minister Lucia Azzolina said schools and universities all over the country would be closed from Thursday until at least March 15. Only those in the northern regions most heavily affected by the ...