A committee of the energy regulator has opposed the proposal of transmission charge hike of Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) as the state-run company is already realising more than it requires in meeting expenditures. Considering the demand for revenue in the current fiscal year, Tk 0.13 is enough for the transmission of a cubic metre of natural gas, said a technical assessment committee of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission or BERC. A report by the committee concluded that the current tariff of Tk 0.32 is already exceeding the company's revenue requirement by Tk 0.19 per unit. The BERC panel presented the report at a public hearing yesterday on GTCL's proposal to increase transmission charges to Tk 0.47 per cubic metre for 2014-15, Tk 0.73 for 2015-16 and Tk 0.75 for 2016-17.

Bangladesh should tell the world about its extraordinary achievements on development and economic fronts as the country's successes are mostly unknown to most countries, a foreign business leader said yesterday. “Bangladesh will have to tell the story of its achievements to the world," said Jemal Inaishvili, president of Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI). "It is a success story. The country has achieved a lot since its independence, especially in the last 10 to 15 years. Everyone should see it because it is completely different from what I was expecting," he said at a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the latter's office in the secretariat. Inaishvili is heading a business delegation from CACCI on a four-day visit to Bangladesh on the invitation of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Maya Apa, an android-based mobile app that allows users to post anonymous questions on health, legal and psychosocial issues to experts, will be available on Google Playstore starting today. The platform is available in both English and Bangla, where a team of doctors, lawyers and psychosocial counsellors will respond in the language preferred by the asker within 48 hours of the query. Brac and Maya.com.bd jointly launched the app as a first ever help service app for women in Bangladesh. It is designed, developed, and implemented by female engineers, doctors, and entrepreneurs, Brac said in a statement yesterday.

Jack Ma, chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, said on Monday he hoped the company's financial affiliate would list in Asia at some point, but that no decision on the timing or location had been made. The comments follow a Bloomberg report last week quoting unidentified sources as saying Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group, known as Ant Financial, was planning an initial public offering (IPO) next year and the company had an estimated value of about $50 billion. "Ant Financial is still a baby today with great potential. It's just too early to talk about who it's going to get married to," Ma said. Asked if a listing would happen this year, he responded: "I don't think so." Set up in 2014, Ant Financial has been growing rapidly, largely through targeting smaller businesses and hundreds of millions of consumers who are often under served by China's larger banks. Ant runs the Alipay online payment platform, the linked Yu'e Bao money market fund and other services.

The National Board of Revenue is going to relax the rules for importing cars that will be used for taxicabs. The tax authority aims to reduce the lower threshold of engine capacity to 1,485cc (cylinder capacity) from 1,500cc for cars that will be used as taxicabs. However, the duty privilege and upper threshold for importing cars for cabs will remain the same, said a senior official of NBR, seeking anonymity.

The ceramics industry, which has seen investments of about Tk 5,000 crore in the past decade, is now sitting on huge stockpiles for the nonstop blockade. “Our warehouses are packed to the rafters,” said Shirajul Islam Mollah, managing director of China-Bangla Ceramic Industries. Monno Ceramic Industries, a pioneer in the sector, has halted its production line for a lack of raw materials. “We are also holding back our expansion plans for the political uncertainty,” said Moynul Islam, vice-chairman of Monno Ceramic. All 54 companies in the sector are more or less in the same boat: they have halted production for want of raw materials.

Stocks fell yesterday mainly due to panic sales as the ongoing political instability has dented investor confidence, with the main gauge of the market hitting a three-month low. DSEX, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, closed at 4,654.95 points, after falling 69.09 points or 1.46 percent. DSEX had stood at 4,675.91 points on November 9, 2014. Turnover, the most important indicator of the market, was Tk 184.69 crore yesterday, the lowest in one month, falling 10.6 percent from Tk 206.57 crore the previous day. The political stalemate that has been going on for the past 27 days has taken a toll on investor confidence, said Mohammed Rahmat Pasha, managing director of BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage.

Thai entrepreneurs are in dialogues with some Bangladeshi businessmen to invest in the country and exploit its immense business potential, senior Thai government officials said yesterday. As part of the efforts, they held a discussion with the leaders of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in Dhaka. “Bangladesh has numerous promising sectors for investment thanks to its cost competitiveness, strategic location and the incentive packages offered by the government,” said Chokedee Kaewsang, deputy secretary general of Thailand Board of Investment. Thailand has been maintaining good relations with Bangladesh over the years, he said, adding that more collaboration between the private companies of the two countries will obviously boost bilateral trade.

Oil giant Shell revised down Friday its 2014 net profit, after uncovering an error in the value of its downstream operations one day after posting annual results. Shell announced in a new statement that annual net profits fell nine percent to $14.874 billion (13.17 billion euros) last year compared with 2013, hit by collapsing global oil prices. The Anglo-Dutch oil group on Thursday had stated its 2014 net earnings as $15.052 billion.

For many, Finland and Nokia were synonymous. And when in 2012 and 2013, Nokia shed 24,500 employees and sold Nokia House (and its mobile phone division to Microsoft), they called it the "Elopcalypse" after then-chief executive Stephen Elop. But the sinking of Nokia has led to an explosion of start-ups, as a skilled workforce jumps ship and begin businesses. And the coolest pitching in the world now takes place in a cut-out ice hole in the northern city of Oulu in February, where you can speak about your company for as long as you like - so long as you remain standing in freezing water.

The government may tread on the central bank's path if its large loan restructuring policy fails to improve the default loan situation.

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