Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Volume 2, Issue 9, Tuesday August 24, 2004

 

 

 

 

 

Baking Tips

Nasreen Sattar , Head of International Sales, Standard Chartered Bank


Q. What is LIBOR and why do many financial institutions use it as a standard?
A. LIBOR stands for 'London Inter Bank Offered Rate'. It relates to interest rate in the London Money Market at which funds are offered by the banks on loan for a specified period in the inter bank market to a first class bank. The offers are subject to availability within the dealing limits and maybe specific for a certain amount. LIBOR is the base rate of interest in London market from which the bank fixes its own rate of interest to charge on their lending. LIBOR is considered a true reflection of the cost of funds to the banks, which thus use it as a base rate of interest.

Q. I am a foreigner working in Bangladesh. I have a convertible account with you, is there any restriction on taking out foreign currency from my account? How much can I bring back when I come back from an overseas trip?
A. As per Central bank regulation you can transfer any amount you want by means of wire transfer or in the form of a foreign currency draft. However, for taking out travellers' cheques or cash foreign currency you can only do so at the time of an overseas travel by producing your passport, confirmed ticket/visa to the bank. Please note there is no restriction on the amount of travellers' cheques you can take out but for cash foreign currency you can take out USD 1500/ or equivalent per ticket and passport. You can bring back USD5000/ undeclared - over and above that has to be declared to the customs at the time of arrival.

Q. A firm having A & B as partners have a bank account and that either par|ner can operate the account. A communication is received by the bank that Partner "A" has died. Will the bank honour cheques which were signed by A before his death but presented after his demise?
A. On the death of a partner, the banker must stop paying from the partnership account specially to determine the liability of the deceased partner. The banker should not make payment of the cheques, which were earlier signed but presented after his demise.


Dental wise
DR. Mahfujul Haq Khan BDS, DDS, FSDCE (USA), PhD (Japan), Post Doc. (Japan) Specialised: Crown and Bridge work, and Periodontal plastic surgery (USA) Senior Medical Officer, Department of Dentistry, BIRDEM Hospital

Q: I had a root canal done 6 days ago on molar. I still have the dull ache. It's a very mild pain, doesn't even keep me up at night, or so far hasn't gotten worse. I was hoping it would go away after the root canal. I'm now discouraged. It is off and on several times throughout the day. Why? I'm beginning to think it didn't even help. Any ideas?
Ali Zaker Molla, Rajshahi

A: Dear Ali Zaker Molla
It is always safer to proceed from a diagnosis to a treatment, rather than to use a |reatment to confirm a diagnosis.
There arm three possibilities pain after root canal treatment:

I. The diagnosis was correct, the root canal was performed properly, and you're experiencing normal postoperative pain which will disappear with time. This is common.

II. The diagnosis was correct, but for some reason the root canal did not eliminate the problem.

III. The diagnosis was incorrect, the root canal treatment was inappropriate, and the original problem remains untreated.

Only time will tell which of the three possibilities applies; let's hope it's #I. If the symptoms persis|, a return trip to the Dentist is indicated and he/she may advise for further X-ray to check the possible source of pain. By the way, do not forget to make a crown (Cap) on your root canal treated teeth.

Q: Dear Dr. Mahfuj,
Is it good for making a porcelain cap on my posterior teeth? My friend had porcelain cap which she did 4 years back, but a part of porcelain has already been fractured. What do you think about porcelain cap for my case? My dentist strongly suggested me for making a cap as early as possible after root canal treatment. Are there any facilities in BIRDEM hospital for making cap by you?
Akhtara Khatun

A: Dear Ms Akhtara Khatun,
No it is not good enough to make full porcelain crown for your posterior teeth. I personally preferred for making pozcelain facing metal crown, means the visible part will be porcelain and biting part should be metal. But if the patient really want full tooth colour (porcelain cap) crown, then we strongly recommend not biting any hard things. I think your friend had history of biting on hard food that is the main cause for porcelain fracture. But "Longevity of a crown" is solely depend on quality of material, standard of a laboratory, skills of a laboratory technician and finally, accurate preparation of that particular tooth and taking perfect impression (measurement) by your dentist!

By the way, I am very sorry to inform you that, at present we don't have any facilities for making cap in BIRDEM hospital. If you really interested ask your dentist.

Visit Dr. Khan’s website “www.aikodental.com” for more information on oral and dental health.


Tips

Ironing

Cotton dresses are undoubtedly comfortable to wear, but they must be properly ironed before we put them on. Those creases and crimps can only be removed if we know the tricks of ironing them correctly.

Learn to iron by sitting down in such a way so that the iron cannot come in touch with your feet. But if you pzefer to stand up while ironing, take off your shoes and stand on a pillow to prevent tiredness of your feet.

If you have a steam iron at home, you can use melted ice from the fridge as the purified water for your iron.

If you don't have a steam iron, keep a damp sponge within your reach and use it to moisten any dry crease on your clothe. As you moisten the fabric, it becomes easy to iron out creases.

If the bottom of your iron becomes sticky and stained, unplug it and use a piece of cloth dipped in vinegar to clean the area.

A newly ironed outfit will develop creases if you pack it foz several hours. So it's better |o iron a cotton outfit before you wear it. But since it doesn't always become possible, make horizontal folds in the dresses before stowing them in wardrobe. But if you fold outfits lengthways, remember that the creases will not straighten fast when you unpack or hang them.

To prevent your iron from sticking into silk or other smooth fabric, sprinkle talcum powder on a cloth and rub on the base of your iron once in a while.

If you are in a hurry and don't have time to iron your dress, hang it in the bathroom as you take a hot shower. The steam would smooth out the creases from your outfit.

And lastly, keep hot iron out of the reach of small children and always unplug it as soon as you are done with ironing.

By Wara Karim


BY THE WAY

Feet matter too

Feet are the most abused part of the body. They carry more weight than they should. Many serious problems could be avoided if we gave our feet the attention and care they deserve. Here are some easy tips that might do the trick. Always keep your feet well moisturised. Purchase shoes that are well padded and have comfortable heels. Rubber and plastic are not porous. They can cause perspiration and in turn infection. Leather makes for the best sole. Use appropriate shoes for right occasion. When walking or jogging never use slippers. Heels give women a more graceful stride than flats but they could also lead to stress between the sole and the heel. Be a wise woman and keep a balance between the two.

 

UNDER A DIFFERENT SKY

Bengali baby blues

I love kids, when they are someone else's problem of course. The ones you see at gatherings only for a few hours, the token nephew and nieces or young cousins who you can hand over to designated parents as soon as they start crying or wet their diapers or try to switch the television channel on you to cartoon network or nickelodeon over and over again. I love shopping for them, I love spoiling them, and I love saying good byes to them, especially when they curl their tiny hands and wave, one of the first gestures taught by their parents, the first accomplishment in their part and a good enough excuse for me to bid ado.

Being a child to Bangladeshi parents in America is quite a unique experience. The nine months long pregnancy of a Bangladeshi woman here is full of baby showers, both Bengali and American style, Bengali baby showers with new saris and stuffing the face with sweets and the American ones with gift cmrtificates to Target. The to-be-mother's Mother or Mother-in-law makes an appearance on the third trimester from Bangladesh with homemade blankets and pure Mus|ard oil, the working pregnant mother takes off and stays home anticipating the boy or girl (everyone tends to know the baby's sex now a days from ahead of time, waiting to find out till birth doesn't make sense anymore especially when customized decoration according to the baby's gender is on the stake). When he or she arrives, the world is already fully equipped to greet them with all comfort, with a name that has already been chosen, a name that sounds Bengali or Arabic but is easily pronounceable by Americans, a name that will not be able to be made fun of later in school or work, a name that sounds sharp and today's, a name that doesn't sound like the baby is related to one of the hiding |errorists, it's quite a task, staying original, stylish, trouble and embarrassment free, the American born Bangladeshi babies with complete new identities and inventive names to live up to.

They start growing up, the mothers who called their mothers "Amma" or at most "Ammu" become "Mommies" and the fathers "Daddies." So many to-be parents mention how "Ma" and "Baba" sound so much more genuine and sweet than "Mom" and "Dad," yet the same parents melt with pleasure when their kids call them with the more western tezms. There must be some feeling of joy or accomplishment to see your kid is already ahead of you in the game of modernization, closer to the westerners than you were as a child, and the child is taking you with him in the road of rejuvenation, transforming you to Mommy or Daddy instead of the stale old "Ammu" and "Abbu."

Then there comes the days of pacifiers and organic food. The different brands of pacifiers with different shapes and textures, the ones designed not to ruin the shape of the baby's lips. And then there are the babies with allergies to non-organic food or the ones who are lactose intolerant and only can take soy milk… High maintenance one can say, but these are stomachs and mouths of right now's, they are sensitive, picky and only want the best, not like us, who grew up in the third world not even knowing terms like organic or lactose intolerant. We grew up thinking milk does the body good, unaware of possible complications there too!!!

And of course if there is one thing all American born Bangladeshi babies have in common, it's their devotions toward{ McDonald's chicken Mcnuggets. It's a spell, they must munch on it, they cry in the sight of rice, they will through up meat and fish but will never say no to chicken nuggets. It's puzzling to see the parents who are so terzibly {trict about feeding their kids organic garbage go for pieces of third grade chicken fried in the greasies| of oil. And it surely is a wonder how a mere child can distinguish between the western and eastern munchies. Picking their side way before they learn to form sentences…

When I was born I was barely 5 lbs, I heard my Father was afraid to hold me, I was that little, I grew up on jau bhat (mashed rice) and fresh milk, they left me covered in mustard oil out in the sun to soak in the goodness of light…
my American born nieces and nephews, 8 to 10 lbs at birth drink only baby formula and never are exposed to very bright lights. They are double the size I was at birth and their indulgences are also doubled. I just hope they and all who are like them, the American born Bangladeshi babies have the ability to give back double as much as we have to this land and Bangladesh, with their doubly healthier and fairer hands and minds.

 

By Iffat Nawaz


 
 

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