• Modifying human eggs to remove filial disease

    American scientists are attempting to modify the DNA of human egg cells using a new gene-editing technique that could eliminate inherited diseases from subsequent generations of affected families

  • 'Best evidence' for Ganymede ocean

    There is further, compelling evidence that Ganymede - the largest moon in the Solar System - has an ocean of water beneath its icy crust.

  • ‘First human’ found in Ethiopia

    Scientists unearth the jawbone of what they claim is one of the very first humans.

  • Digital Subtraction Angiography Machine.

    Second Life: A Miracle of advanced Medical Science

    It was on the second night that Shahana's husband thought he was signing the death warrant of his wife when he was asked to sign a form granting permission to try a drug, a last resort to bring her back.

  • Let the world know successes of Bangladesh: CACCI

    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.

  • One-touch help app by Brac, Maya

    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.

  • Alibaba's Ma says IPO of Ant Financial unlikely in 2015

    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.

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    Garment buyers demand solution to political crisis

    Representatives of 65 international retailers, who source garments from Bangladeshi factories, yesterday demanded an immediate solution to the current political crisis, saying the ongoing blockade is interrupting their supply chain.

  • Shop owners take to streets as blockade bites

    More than 1,000 shop owners and their employees yesterday took to the streets in Dhaka to demand an end to the political violence, which has severely hurt their businesses and the livelihood of their families. “Many have become broke, while many are on their way to becoming insolvent. We have already incurred huge losses. We can't bear it any longer,” Shah Alam Khandaker, secretary general of Bangladesh Shop Owners Association (BSOA), said. Different markets and shopping malls-based associations from the capital assembled in front of the National Press Club in the capital and formed a human chain for an hour under the banner of BSOA. Shop owners are missing out on Tk 300 crore on average a day in lost profit, said Shah Alam Khandaker, secretary general of Bangladesh Shop Owners Association, while speaking during the demonstration.

  • Proposal for gas price hike faces opposition

    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.