US-Bangla, the largest private airline in Bangladesh, is going to start flights from February 1, 2021 to Dubai. US-Bangla will operate seven flights in a week from Dhaka to Dubai.

Initially seven flights will be operated for Dubai from Dhaka. Every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday the flight will start for Dubai from Dhaka at 06.30pm and will reach there at 10.00pm. The flight will start for Dhaka from Dubai at 11:30pm on every scheduled day and will reach Dhaka at 06.00am on next day. Every Tuesday the flight will start for Dubai from Dhaka at 05.30pm and will reach there at 09.00pm. The flight will start for Dhaka from Dubai at 10:30pm on every scheduled day and will reach Dhaka at 05.00am on next day. Every Wednesday the flight will start for Dubai from Dhaka at 03.55pm and will reach there at 07.25pm. The flight will start for Dhaka from Dubai at 08:55pm on every scheduled day and will reach Dhaka at 03.25am on next day. Every Saturday the flight will start for Dubai from Dhaka at 05.00pm and will reach there at 08.30pm. The flight will start for Dhaka from Dubai at 09:55pm on every scheduled day and will reach Dhaka at 04.25am on next day.  All mentioned timings are local.

Also read: US-Bangla adds two new ATR 72-600s to its fleet

For Economy Class the minimum one-way fare BDT 54,999 and return fare BDT 73,000 has been fixed in Dhaka-Dubai route. Also the minimum one-way fare AED 1,670 and return fare AED 2,753 has been fixed in Dubai-Dhaka route. For Business Class the one-way fare BDT 79,200 and return fare BDT 153,526 has been fixed in Dhaka-Dubai route. Also one-way fare AED 2,620 and return fare AED 4,453 has been fixed in Dubai-Dhaka route. The fares include all taxes and surcharges.

Also read: US-Bangla starts operating flights to Chennai, Kolkata

US-Bangla Airlines plans to operate flights to various destinations in the Middle East to serve new destinations, especially to expatriate Bangladeshis. It has been decided to operate flights to Abu Dhabi in addition to Dubai soon. Apart from tourists, there are more than one million expatriate Bangladeshis in different cities of UAE including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

US-Bangla Airlines currently operates flights to Muscat, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Kolkata, Chennai and Guangzhou. US-Bangla also plans to operate flights to Male and Colombo, shortly.

Also read: US-Bangla resuming Dhaka-Singapore flight Oct 3

Besides, US-Bangla operates flights to all domestic routes of Bangladesh especially from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar, Chattogram, Sylhet, Saidpur, Jashore, Rajshahi and Barishal.

US-Bangla Airlines has a total of thirteen aircrafts in its fleet, including 4 Boeing 737-800, 6 brand new ATR 72-600. There are plans to add four more new aircraft to the fleet soon.

China eked out 2.3% economic growth in 2020, likely becoming the only major economy to expand as shops and factories reopened relatively early from a shutdown to fight the coronavirus while the United States, Japan and Europe struggled with disease flare-ups.

Growth in the three months ending in December rose to 6.5% over a year earlier, up from the previous quarter’s 4.9% and stronger than many forecasters expected, official data showed Monday.

Also Read: Yearender-Economic Watch: Chinese economy heads into 2021 amid high expectations

In early 2020, activity contracted by 6.8% in the first quarter as the ruling Communist Party took the then-unprecedented step of shutting down most of its economy to fight the virus. The following quarter, China became the first major country to grow again with a 3.2% expansion after the party declared victory over the virus in March and allowed factories, shops and offices to reopen.

Exports were boosted by demand for Chinese-made masks and other medical goods.

The growing momentum “reflected improving private consumption expenditure as well as buoyant net exports,” said Rajiv Biswas of IHS Markit in a report. He said China is likely to be the only major economy to grow in 2020 while developed countries and most major emerging markets were in recession.

The economy “recovered steadily” and “living standards were ensured forcefully,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. It said the ruling party’s development goals were “accomplished better than expectation” but gave no details.

Also Read: 17th China-ASEAN Expo opens in south China

2020 was China’s weakest growth in decades and below 1990's 3.9% following the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement, which led to China's international isolation.

Despite growth for the year, "it is too early to conclude that this is a full recovery,” Iris Pang of ING said in a report. “External demand has not yet fully recovered. This is a big hurdle.”

Exporters and high-tech manufacturers face uncertainty about how President-elect Joseph Biden will handle conflicts with Beijing over trade, technology and security. His predecessor, Donald Trump, hurt exporters by hiking tariffs on Chinese goods and manufacturers including telecom equipment giant Huawei and imposing curbs on access to U.S. components and technology.

Also Read: ASEAN leaders agree on pandemic-coping measures, multilateral cooperation

“We expect the newly elected U.S. government will continue most of the current policies on China, at least for the first quarter,” Pang said.

The International Monetary Fund and private sector forecasters expect economic growth to rise further this year to above 8%.

Exports rose 3.6% last year despite the tariff war with Washington. Exporters took market share from foreign competitors that still faced anti-virus restrictions.

Retail spending contracted by 3.9% over 2019 but gained 4.6% in December over a year earlier as demand revived. Consumer spending recovered to above the previous year’s levels in the quarter ending in September.

Also Read: ASEAN, China, other partners set world’s biggest trade pact

Online sales of consumer goods rose 14.8% as millions of families who were ordered to stay home shifted to buying groceries and clothing online.

Factory output rose 2.8% over 2019. Activity accelerated toward the end of the year. Production rose 7.3 in December.

China has re-imposed travel controls in some areas after a spate of cases this month but most of the country is unaffected.

Authorities have called on the public to avoid travel and large gatherings during next month's Lunar New Year holiday, when millions of people usually visit their hometowns. That might dent spending on travel, gifts and restaurants.

Also Read: China gears up for world’s largest online shopping festival

Other activity might increase, however, if farms, factories and traders keep operating instead of closing for up to two weeks for the holiday, Chaoping Zhu of JP Morgan Asset Management said in a report.

“Unusually high growth rates in this quarter are likely to be seen,” said Zhu.

Khulna zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) held view exchange meeting with its clients at Tiger Garden International Hotel in Khulna on 14 January.

Also read:IBBL inaugurates premier pavilion at DITF

Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the Bank addressed the meeting as the chief guest while Md Mahbub ul Alam, former Managing Director and CEO of the Bank was present as the guest of honor.

Aslo read:IBBL holds workshop in city

Muhammad Qaisar Ali & Md Omar Faruk Khan, Additional Managing Directors and Md Anowar Hossain, Managing Director of Dubai Bangladesh Cement Mills Ltd addressed the meeting as the special guests.

Also read:IBBL inaugurates seven new branches 

Abu Reza Md Yeahia, JQM Habibullah, FCS and Md Mosharraf Hossain, Deputy Managing Directors, Md Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan and Miftah Uddin, Executive Vice Presidents of the Bank were also present there among others.

Also read: IBBL Dhaka zone holds online conference

Md Abdus Salam, Head of Khulna zone presided over the programme.

Also read:IBBL inaugurates agent banking outlet at Dudhghata Bazar

Daraz Bangladesh, an online shopping platform, is launching its signature campaign ‘DarazMall Festival’ again for the 3rd time.

The unique shopping-fest will be active from January 17—23 on the Daraz’s mobile application and website.  

Dabur, Esquire Electronics, Focallure, Nestle, Puma, and Ribana are the Campaign Co-Sponsors for the DarazMall Festival, said a press release.

Motorola, Wild Stone, Germnil, and Dettol Bodywash are also facilitating Daraz as the Brand Partners. Payment Partners for the festival are City Bank and South East Bank. 

Also read:Realme Narzo 20 goes on First Sale at Daraz

Vouchers; Flash Sales; Deals under BDT 499, BDT 999 and BDT 1999; Review and Win; Celebrity Live Giveaways; Brand Free Shipping are the key attractions of the DarazMall Fest.

Brand lovers of the country can utilize this special opportunity to grab their desired top-brand products in their original quality at a much lower price range with the exciting offers and prizes, it said.

Attractive and useful products from various categories such as computers, mobile phones and home appliances as well as fashion, health & beauty and daily accessories will be available at the festival. 

Also read:PRAN UP, Daraz to launch recharge offer

It is to be mentioned that DarazMall is the premium channel of Daraz from where customers get to purchase world-famous brand products with complete authenticity assured. Daraz holds a collection of 100% genuine accessories and maintains a 14-Days Return Policy for the customers’ convenience. 

Also read:Daraz: 15 pc instant cashback on bKash payment

To provide an easy shopping facility, Daraz is also offering various types of bank discounts and cash back facility with their payment partners. City Bank customers can avail 10% discount up to BDT 500 per user for a single transaction in the DarazMall Fest. 10% Cashback up to BDT 500 applies for each Prepaid and Credit Card user of SouthEast Bank for a single transaction. 

Also read:World's Biggest Sale Daraz 11.11 begins only for 24 Hours

Daraz Mall Team Lead  Monica Kabir said, “Customers often face difficulty validating the authenticity of the products due to lack of credibility of the sellers. But in our e-commerce landscape, Alibaba’s long-established commitment and Daraz’s credibility gives the brand lovers in Bangladesh a chance to grab their desired items from DarazMall without worrying if they are handed over a defective product or a replica. DarazMall Festival has been immensely successful for us in the past, and we are confident regarding the ongoing one as well.” 

Also read:Daraz Bangladesh joins Robi network

About Daraz

Daraz is the leading online marketplace in South Asia, empowering tens of thousands of sellers to connect with millions of customers. Daraz provides immediate and easy access to 10 million products in more than 100+ categories and delivers more than 2 million packages every month to all corners of its countries.Daraz is a mall, a marketplace and a community for its customers. It is also a university for entrepreneurs, and every month it educates more than 5,000 new sellers on e-commerce operations. To overcome the logistics challenge in its markets, Daraz has built its own logistics company specifically designed for e-commerce operations - Daraz Express (known as DEX) - to raise the standards for the industry. Daraz is also helping existing and new logistics providers digitize.In 2018, Daraz was acquired by Alibaba Group, and is proud to carry its part of the mission to 'make it easy to do business anywhere in the era of the digital economy'. As part of the Alibaba ecosystem, Daraz is leveraging Alibaba’s global leadership and experience in technology, online commerce, mobile payments and logistics to drive growth in its markets. 

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Saturday stressed the need for exploring new markets for Bangladesh’s RMG sector to overcome the crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Bangladesh has to look for new markets including in the neighbouring countries for its diversified products including RMG that will help the country to recover the crisis. The garment sector overcame the effects of the first wave of the COVID-19 to some extent but we’ve started to feel the impact following the 2nd wave,” the minister at a virtual dialogue.   

Also Read: Nearly half of RMG workforce malnourished: GAIN

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the dialogue on “Recovery of the Apparels Sectors from the COVID-19 Crisis: Is a Value Chain based Solution Possible?” in partnership with Southern Voice and Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) was the study partner.

Also Read: Govt provides Tk 1.82 cr for deceased RMG workers’ families

Tipu Munshi said the government is ready to assist further the RGM sector to offset the losses. “We have to see the interest of all people including manufacturers, workers and buyer.”  

​​​​​​​Also Read: Jordan's RMG sector to recruit over 12,000 workers from Bangladesh: FM

Harry Verweij, Dutch Ambassador to Bangladesh said their government urged companies not to cancel order of Bangladesh’s RMG products.

“Many companies also followed the government’s directives and purchased Bangladesh’s products amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Our government also took many positive initiatives as well,” he said.

​​​​​​​Also Read: RMG workers block road demanding payment of dues in Gazipur

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow of CPD, moderated the session while its Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem read out the keynote presentation.

​​​​​​​Also Read:  RMG factory wage digitisation trends turn back: survey