Volume 4 Number 209 Fri. December 26, 2003       Advertise with The Daily Star -- Advertising on the Website    Advertising in the Printed E dition-- Home  News Today's Index Front Page Business Political Sports Point-counterpoint Metropolitan National International Culture General Views Editorial Letters to Editor Write to Editor Sections Environment World Others About Us Contact Advertisement Supplements Archives Business   Ship-breakers set for a slump Price of old ships goes up 50pc in two months The ship-breaking industry has been threatened with the decline in import of old scrap ships for the last two months due to price hike in the international market. Huge crowd flocks to housing exposition Prospective buyers and enthusiastic people flocked to the Rehab Housing Fair 2003 yesterday, the second day of the four-day exhibition, at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.   Discounts, gifts add spices to Rehab fair Land developers, building material suppliers and financial institutions have come up with discount, gifts and special offers at the Rehab Housing Fair 2003 that began at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Wednesday.   Saarc trade fair from tomorrow in Dhaka A five-day Saarc trade fair begins in Dhaka tomorrow aiming at expanding intra-regional trade among the seven Saarc countries.   Saarc meeting on free trade ends with reasonable progress Commerce officials of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) concluded a two-day meeting Wednesday with "reasonable progress" made on a draft free trade agreement, state media reported.   Pricewaterhouse Coopers gets PM nod to run Agrani Bank Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Wednesday approved the appointment of Pricewaterhouse Coopers of Hong Kong as consulting firm to run Agrani Bank management.   Businesses seek bank clearing house facility at Benapole Clearing and forwarding agents and other business people here laid stress on opening of a 'bank clearing house facility' at local Sonali Bank to facilitate easy transfer of money from other banks on business   US grapples with mad cow shockwave The United States battled a mad cow crisis, as it probed the first suspected US case of the disease, which triggered bans on American beef exports and hammered cattle prices and fast food industry shares.   UN approves over $3b budget for 2004-05 The General Assembly has approved a two-year UN budget topping $3 billion, but inflation and currency market volatility are expected to eat up all the increased funding, UN officials said Wednesday.   China lawmakers set to okay new banking laws Amendments to outdated banking laws that would facilitate further reform of China's creaking but reforming financial sector are ready to be approved by senior lawmakers, the Xinhua news agency said.   Malaysia tourist arrivals see 7pc rise in Nov Tourist arrivals in Malaysia have recovered, with preliminary numbers showing 1.13 million visitors in November, up seven percent year-on-year, a report said Thursday.   Deflation eats away Japan net asset value for 5 years in row Deflation is eroding the value of assets held by Japanese, pushing the net national wealth into a fifth consecutive yearly decline in 2002, the government's latest data showed Thursday.   As slump ends, global Ad giants face new squeeze Purveyors of glossy advertising and slick marketing are emerging from a long famine to find that even if their clients want to ramp up spending again, they are tightening controls on how they pay their   Anlima Yarn Dyeing okays 5pc dividend Anlima Yarn Dyeing Ltd has approved a 5 per cent dividend for the shareholders for the year 2002-03.   AMCL-Pran declares 24pc dividend Agricultural Marketing Company Limited (AMCL)-Pran has declared a 24 per cent dividend for its shareholders for 2002-03.   New chairman of MIDAS Professor Hafiz GA Siddiqi, vice-chancellor of North South University, has been elected chairman of Micro Industries Development Assistance and Services (MIDAS).   UPS Asia Pacific regional official visits Dhaka Manager-Service Contractors, South Asia Pacific Region of United Parcel Service (UPS) Naeem Butt visited Dhaka recently to hold a strategic meeting with Air Alliance Limited (AAL), service partner ofUPS   JOBS training course ends A 7-day training course on 'entrepreneurship development and business management' for the potential entrepreneurs of Mirpur Benarashi Palli has ended.     Advertisement