Japan has increased its consumption tax for the first time in five years, bringing the long-delayed policy into effect despite concerns it may knock the economy. On Tuesday, the country raised its sales tax rate from 8% to 10%. The new rate applies to nearly all goods and services, though most food will be exempt, reports BBC.Past sales tax rises ...

Dhaka, Sept 30 : From now on, passengers can pay the fare directly through their bKash accounts while purchasing tickets of Novoair in any of the outlets located countrywide.  Novoair, a local private airline, and Mobile Financial Service Provider bKash have signed an agreement for opening merchant wallet facilities. Mofizur Rahman, Managing Director of Novoair and Mizanur Rashid, Chief Commercial ...

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission concluded its recent visit to Jordan to assess recent economic developments in the country, said a statement by the IMF on Saturday. The new mission Chief for Jordan Chris Jarvis was introduced during the visit, it said, reports Xinhua. A mission to complete the third review of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) will take ...

Scientists are expressing surprise after discovering a solar system 30 light-years away from Earth that defies current understanding about planet formation, with a large Jupiter-like planet orbiting a diminutive star known as a red dwarf. Stars generally are much bigger than even the largest planets that orbit them. But in this case, the star and the planet are not much ...

Hong Kong stocks fell in opening trade Friday following declines on Wall Street as the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump weighed on sentiment. The Hang Seng Index was down 0.75 percent, or 195.99 points, at 25,845.94, reports AFP.The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was flat, slipping 0.40 points to open at 2,929.49 and the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks ...

Photo: Courtesy London, Sep 27 : Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson have announced the engagement of their elder daughter, Princess Beatrice. They said Thursday that Beatrice is engaged to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, a real estate entrepreneur. The 31-year-old princess is a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II. Buckingham Palace says the couple became engaged in Italy earlier this ...

The Chandrayaan 2 lander had a “hard landing” when it lost contact with the ground station during a historic attempt to soft land on the lunar surface, NASA said today, adding that a team of scientists at the US space agency has not been able to locate it, reports NDTV. “The Chandrayaan-2 lander, Vikram, attempted a landing September 7 (September ...

Photo: Courtesy Dhaka, Sept 26 : A new aircraft was added to the fleet of US-Bangla Airlines on Thursday, raising their number to 10. The airline operates a fleet of twin-engine turboprop airplanes. Their latest addition is a brand new ATR 72-600, which landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport  at 3:20 this afternoon. Chief advisor of the airlines Captain Ahmed ...

The Houston building where Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong and his colleagues were quarantined after their 1969 moon mission has fallen into disrepair and will be demolished, NASA said. The Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center hasn’t been used for two years and will likely be torn down next year, the Houston Chronicle reported Tuesday. The building, completed in ...

The US and Japan have agreed an initial trade deal that will eliminate or lower tariffs on certain products traded between them. Duties on some agricultural goods will be removed or lowered, while digital products will also benefit.US President Donald Trump said the world’s first and third largest economies achieved a “tremendous” deal, reports BBC. The trade agreement did not ...