NCC Bank Limited signed an agreement with Airtel Bangladesh Limited to provide mobile banking services to Airtel subscribers, informed in a press release.
Airtel customers will be able to enjoy the service by following a simple registration process. Under this agreement, Airtel customers can avail cash-in, cash-out, money transfer, mobile top-up, school fee payment, bill payment and other services under the service brand “NCCB SureCash”. Progoti Systems Limited is the software solution partner of NCCB for this service.
Md. Omar Faruque Bhuiyan, Executive Vice President and Head of Cards & Mobile Banking of NCC Bank and Ms. Rubaba Dowla, Chief Service Officer and Head of mCommerce of Airtel Bangladesh signed the agreement on behalf of both organizations. Among others A.Z.M. Saleh, Sr. Executive Vice President of NCC Bank and Dr. Shahadat Khan, CEO of Progoti Systems were also present in the ceremony.

The World Bank has called on Bangladesh to raise domestic natural gas prices after five years without an increase, according to a report by Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider. “The administered price of domestically produced natural gas is fixed at a level considerably below that of the international market,” the bank said in its latest Bangladesh Development Update. “Not only does this represent an opportunity cost for the government in lost revenues, but the lack of an appropriate price signal leads to inefficiencies in allocation and use and limited incentives for further exploration,” the bank added. Domestic natural gas prices in Bangladesh currently range from Tk 72.92/Mcf (93 cents/Mcf) to Tk 268.09/Mcf across residential, industrial, commercial and power generation sectors. The country purchases natural gas from international oil companies operating in the country in the much higher range of $2-4.50/Mcf.
Bangladesh has not raised domestic natural gas prices since August 1, 2009, when tariffs for all types of consumers excluding CNG were raised 11 per cent. State-owned Petrobangla in 2012 sought to raise domestic natural gas prices by up to 103 per cent to meet rising exploration and gas purchasing costs, but was asked to re-submit its proposal to energy regulator Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission via its marketing and distribution subsidiaries with 
more documentation to justify the request, which it has yet to do.
The five-year plateau in prices may have discouraged investment in oil and gas exploration and been a factor in why the country had a poor response from international oil companies to its latest shallow water bidding round in 2012, a senior energy ministry official told Platts Friday.
The country signed only three production sharing contracts for shallow water blocks with two joint ventures after receiving one bid for each of the three blocks, which were among nine on offer.
Blocks SS-04 and SS-09 were awarded to a joint venture between India’s ONGC Videsh Limited and Oil India Limited, and SS-11 to a joint venture between Australia’s Santos and Singapore’s KrisEnergy.
US-based ConocoPhillips refused to ink a fourth PSC for block SS-07 seven months after signing an initial PSC for the block, saying after further evaluation it was no longer competitive in the company’s portfolio.
Bangladesh also received single bids for all three deepwater blocks re-offered in a 2013 bidding round, from ConocoPhillips and Norwegian energy firm Statoil, which are currently under evaluation.
Bangladesh’s natural gas production currently hovers around 2.3 Bcf/d, short of demand for 2.7-3 Bcf/d. It does not import gas.
Gas shortages have prompted Petrobangla to ration new connections to industries, fertiliser factories and power plants, hindering economic growth since 
June 2009.

The central bank of Germany came up with the suggestion as Bangladesh Bank had earlier sought their recommendations 

The Deutsche Bundesbank has advised the central bank of Bangladesh to further scrutinise the proposed law against fake note circulation before enacting it.

The central bank of Germany came up with the suggestion as Bangladesh Bank had earlier sought their recommendations.

Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the finance ministry recently received the recommendations through Bangladesh Bank, said an official.

The Bundesbank said there has been no separate law against fake note circulation in the countries of this subcontinent such as India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka and Nepal.

“Bangladesh Bank should have second thought before enacting such an act against circulation of fake notes, keeping the provision of special punishment and mobile courts,” said the bank.

Earlier, Bangladesh Bank had decided to enact an act against fake note circulation before the beginning of holy month of Ramadan with a provision of keeping mobile courts to stop the circulation of fake notes in the market.

However, there has been a strong law against circulation of fake notes in other developed countries like USA, Canada and Australia, said a Bangladesh Bank source.

According to the proposed law, a person, who would be found guilty in involving with the fake note business, will be awarded 10 years of imprisonment.

Meanwhile, a total of 5000 such cases have been remained pending in the courts. At least 21 fake notes syndicates become active in the market ahead of the Eid festivals.

The fake notes syndicates became active when Tk1000 new notes were release from Bangladesh Bank. Usually, the syndicates turn Tk100 notes into Tk500 fake notes using unfair means, sources said.

The executive director of BB Dasgupta Asim Kumar noted that the central bank of Germany mainly opposed a certain provision of the proposed law against the fake note circulation and we are now examining the matter.

Nine wings of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) under the ministry of home are now keeping strong vigilance on the syndicates of the fake notes makers. 

 First Security Islami Bank Limited declared 10 percent cash dividend for its shareholders for the year 2013.

The announcement came at the company’s 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at a hotel in Chittagong on Friday, said a press release.

The AGM was presided over by Mohammed Saiful Alam, Chairman, Board of Directors of First Security Islami Bank Limited.

Among others, Alhaj Mohammed Abdul Maleque, Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, AAM Zakaria, Managing Director, SM Nazrul Islam, Company Secretary and shareholders of the bank were present on the occasion.

The AGM approved 10 percent cash dividend for the year 2013 for the general shareholders, except sponsors and directors. 

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank Ltd India’s posted a 15 per cent rise in quarterly net profit, beating estimates, helped by rising demand for loans from retail customers and higher fee income.

ICICI’s net profit in March rose to 26.52 billion rupees ($434.36 million) from 23.04 billion rupees a year earlier, the bank said on Friday.Indian banks have recently shifted their focus from corporate lending to consumer debt in a bid to avoid an increase in bad loans by companies struggling in a economy growing at its slowest pace in a decade.

ICICI said its loan book grew an annual 17 per cent to 3.4 trillion rupees as of end of March. Retail loans grew faster at 23 percent. ICICI’s net interest income, the difference between interest earned and paid, also rose 14.6 percent to 43.57 billion rupees in the quarter. Net interest margin for the quarter was 3.35 percent.