The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a delayed loan tranche for Ecuador, releasing nearly $500 million under a three-year aid program, reports AFP. The IMF board gave the go-ahead for a $4.2 billion loan in March to help support the oil-rich nation’s economic reforms, but massive protests lead by indigenous groups erupted in October when President Lenin Moreno scrapped ...

NASA’s Mars 2020 rover has successfully passed its first driving test, according to a release of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday. A preliminary assessment of the rover’s activities on Tuesday showed that it checked all the necessary boxes as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at JPL. The next time ...

Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot agreed Wednesday to merge into a single company that will become the world’s fourth-largest automaker, a giant that could bring consumers a wider variety of cleaner vehicles at a faster pace, including more powered by electricity. The boards of the two companies signed the deal to achieve what neither was good at alone: conquering the challenges ...

Britain’s competition watchdog said Tuesday it launched a formal inquiry into Google’s takeover of cloud data analytics company Looker Data Sciences, as it intensifies scrutiny of technology deals. The Competition and Markets Authority said it had notified the two companies on Monday that it was opening an initial inquiry and would decide on Feb. 13 whether to escalate it to ...

Representational Image.Photo:Collected Japanese firm TOA Corporation has finally won the contract for developing land and other related works for the construction of an exclusive economic zone for Japanese investors in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj. Two Japanese firms — TOA Corporation and Tokyu Construction — vied for the job of one of the country’s largest economic zones taking part in the ...

NASA’s Juno mission spotted a new cyclone the size of Texas during a close flyby of Jupiter in November. The gas giant is already home to several giant cyclones, and this newly discovered storm will offer even more insight into Jupiter’s atmosphere. Juno’s cameras spied giant cyclones gathered at Jupiter’s poles soon after its arrival in July 2016 — nine ...

Boeing will temporarily halt production of its troubled 737 Max airliner in January, the manufacturer said, reports BBC. Production of the jet had continued despite the model being grounded for nine months after two deadly crashes.More than 300 people died when two 737 Max aircraft crashed in Indonesia in October 2018 and Ethiopia in March 2019 after reported problems with ...

Photo: Courtesy Private airline NOVOAIR on Sunday announced adding another aircraft to its fleet, saying it plans to increase the number of flights on domestic and international routes. With the 68-seater ATR 72-500 aircraft, the company now has seven planes in its fleet. The new aircraft landed at Dhaka airport at 2:30pm. Feroz Alam, Deputy Managing Director, directors and high ...

United Commercial Bank Limited has recently signed an agreement with Bangladesh Police, Sylhet Range on e-trafficking prosecution and fine payment system. DIG of Sylhet Range Md. KamrulAhsan BPM (Bar), Additional DIG of Sylhet Range  Joydeb Kumar Bhadra BPM; Sydul H Khandaker, Program Director of Digital Financial Services, UCB and  Hasan Mohammad Zahid, FAVP, MFS of UCB along with other officials ...

North Korea said Saturday it successfully performed another “crucial test” at its long-range rocket launch site that would further strengthen its “reliable strategic nuclear deterrent.” The announcement comes as North Korea continues to pressure the Trump administration over an end-of-year deadline set by leader Kim Jong Un to salvage faltering nuclear negotiations. North Korea’s Academy of Defense Science did not ...