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Banking
Tips
Nasreen Sattar Head of International Sales, Standard
Chartered Bank
Q.
What is a Promissory Note?
A. Promissory Note is a negotiable instrument. It is an unconditional
promise from one person that is the maker of the instrument to pay a
certain sum of money to another person on demand at sight or at a determinable
fix time in future.
Q. What is the difference between a Gross Profit and a Net Profit?
A. Gross Profit is the total profit achieved by a concern before deduction
of any taxes and expenses. Net Pronit is the Gross Profit after meeting
all expenses listed in the debit side of profit and loss account.
Q.
I live overseas, but maintain an account with your bank in Bangladesh.
Can I use my email to send you instructions to make fund transfers from
my account to other accounts.
A. We do not accept email instructions for any kind of fund transfers.
This is bmcause this is not a 'secured channel'. Instructions have to
be original with your signature, which will bm verified by the bank
before any transaction is effected.
Q.
Please advise me as to what is the foreign currency travel allowance
for a Bangladeshi national travelling overseas? Has there been any change
from 2004 ? What is the entitlement for a child?
A. No, there has been no change from 2004.
The travel allowance for a Bangladeshi national is as follows :
a) For SAARC countries the allowance is USD1000/ or equivalent per annum
b) For countries other than SAARC countries the allowance is USD 3000/
or equivalent per annum.
Please note you are entitled to take USD1500 (or equivalent) in cash
and the balance in Travellers Cheques. Necessary documents such as passport
with relevant visa, ticket etc. have to be submitted at the time of
endorsement. A child (12 years or below) having his own passport is
entitled to 50% of the allowance.
Agony
Medic
Dr.
Lutful Aziz, FCPS, PHD, Consultant "analgesia", Pain
relief centre
How
is the back put together?
Doctors often refer to the backbone as the spine, spinal column, or
vertebral column. The backbone isn't one long bone, but actually 24
separate bones called vertebrae. These 24 vertebrae are stacked one
on top of another like building blocks to form the backbone. The points
where two vertebrae or bones fit together are called joints. They make
it possible for the spine to move and turn in many different directions.
The disc{ are rubbery pads located between each ~ertebra . These discs
are made of cartilage, which is a soft, elastic material (your ear and
tix of your nose is made of cartilage too). Discs act as cushions, or
shock absorbers, much like the shock absorbers in your car. Their main
job is to protect the joints from wearing out. Most joints contain a
slippery substance insidm called synovial fluid that keeps them moving
smoothly.
The spinal cord
is vmry important because it transmi|s electrical signals between the
brain and the nerves in your lmgs, arms, back, and other parts of your
body. The spinal cord runs through a hole in each vertebra of the upper
and middle parts of your backbone, much like a piece of string through
a beaded necklace. The space it runs through is called the spinal canal.
At times, a message might signal pain or discomfort. The pain signal
is an important one, because pain tells you that some part of your body
needs attention. A serious injury to the neck or upper back runs the
risk of damaging the spinal cord, causing paralysis of the parts of
the body below the injury. It should be noted that the spinal cord is
not present in the lower part of your backbonm. Here the spinal canal
contains a sack of nerves, the cauda equina.
Your
backbone, with all its parts, cannot hold itself upright. It needs strong
muscles, tendons, and ligaments for support. Muscles help you move or
hold your position. Tendons fasten muscles to bones. And ligaments stretch
from one bone to another to hold bones together.
Can
arthritis cause back pain?
Yes. There are several main types of arthritis. One is osteoarthritis,
also known as degenerative disease. In people with osteoarthritis, the
cartilage (soft, elastic material) that cushions the spinal joints and
other join|s in the body wears out. Lowmr back pain can become more
intense when osteoarthritis affects the hips or the knees. Osteoarthritis
also can directly affect the spine, causing muscles, tendons, or ligaments
to become strained, which can lead to back and/or neck pain.
Another type of
arthritis causing back pain is Ankylosing Spondylitis. This form of
arthritis causes the joints in the spine to become stiff and swollen.
In time, stiff joints can fuse (grow together). The most common symptoms
are piin and stiffness in the buttocks and lower back (particularly
in the morning) that continue for more than three months.
Polymyalgia Rheumatica
(PMR) is rheumatic disorder causes muscle pain, aching and stiffness
in the neck and shoulders, lower back, thighs and hips. It can last
a few months or many years. Most people experience severe stiffness
in the morning.
Fortunately, Rheumatoid
Arthritis can affect the neck but almost never the joints in the lower
back.
I
moved a heavy object, but didn't hurt much until the next day. What
is going on?
This is a very common scenario for people with acute back pain. Many
back injuries are caused by an unexpected twist or sudden motion. This
usually results in muscle strain. With either an injury or accident,
severe muscle spasms usually last 48 to 72 hours. They generally are
followed by days or weeks of less-severe pain. It usually takes two
to four weeks to heal completely from a mild back injury. It could take
from six to 12 weeks if there are strained ligaments or if the strain
is more severe.
Can
osteoporosis cause back pain?
Yes, indirectly. The back bones become brittle due to loss of calcium.
This is like an old piece of wood that becomes brittle after termite
at|ack. Because there is a great dmal of weight on each back bone, those
bones can break more easily. This is most common in thin older women
who don't get much sun, drink much milk, and never took estrogen supplements.
A vertebral fracture often is seen as a "compression fracture".
Falls, lifting heavy objects or moving the wrong way can result in a
compression fracture.
Can
fibromyalgia (Muscle Disorder) cause back pain?
Yes, but fibromyalgia can be difficult to distinguish form other types
of back pain. People with fibromyalgia feel pain and stiffness in muscles
and tendons, especially in the neck and upper back. The pain can last
for weeks, months or years. The symptoms may disappear by them-selves.
This condition often is related to sleep problems, poor conditioning
or an old injury. Fibromyalgia can be difficult to treat
What
makes back pain worse?
Stress, poor posture, lack of exercise and being overweight all can
contribute to the problem.
Why
does stress make it worse?
Simply put, stress causes pain and pain causes stress. Internal stress
can be manifested in external ways, such as causing Some may feel tired,
sleep poorly, overeat or feel irritable. Some clench their jaw. Others
tighten their neck and shoulders. Still others get a headache or an
upset stomach when they are tense.
Many people tighten
their back muscles when they are worried or tense. This can make existing
back problems worse. Take a minute now to think about what happens in
your own body when you worry or get tense. Do you think stress is affecting
your back? If so, there are many things you can do to help yourself.
By
The Way Of
delicious 'n frothy milk-shakes
Don't
you just love that extra froth on your ice-cream shake? Simply add a
few ice-cubes to the mix in the blender for a deliciously frothy home-made
shake. Make healthy breakfast shakes by adding some slices of your favourite
fruits, mixed with a little honey, and your skin will be glowing with
health in no time.
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UNDER
A DIFFERENT SKY
Fever
in a dorm room
I woke up with
a fever today. Or rather the fever woke me up. The telephone was off
the hook and after desperately beeping for hours it had finally gone
dead. I lifted my head and looked straight at the pictures of my parents
looking semi-irritated and semi-concerned on my bedside table. My
parents' photograph, always waiting there with a surprise. It's been
a long time since I saw the original _expression on that picture.
Lately it's been the mirror of satisfaction or rather dissatisfaction.
Their faces change with my actions from approval to disapproval, annoyance,
anger…
the still faces show all that and more. I discover new folds in their
faces every time I look, a hidden smile or a scolding left eye. Everyday,
it's a new thing. Like right now I noticed the slight cringe on my
Father's right eyebrow, a worry…I am sick.
I stand up, and
immediately I feel light headed, so I sit back down. I don't own a
thermometer and my extra-strength Tylenol have expired as of last
month. I need to make it to the drug store or to the health center.
I can call a friend to help, but I am never good at that--letting
someone take care of me who is just a friend, it just feels strange.
I know, I am weird.
So I stand up
again and try to stretch out my body, look at myself in the mirror
and decide to jump into the shower. With my shower robe and shower
accessories I leave my favorite corner of the whole dorm, my own single
dorm room, which by major luck I have gotten last year. It's hard
to bag those being a sophomore. I am lucky to have one, no roommates,
no trying to get along, fighting, credit card thefts and late night
cab rides together. I am free to live the way I want without staring
at someone else's face full of facials or make up or just plain old
break-outs, or hearing one sided passionate conversations on the telephone
wee hours of the night. Or listen to Reggae and rap like it's going
out of style. None of that, I am liberated from bunk beds and forced
bonding.
Under a warm shower
I think of the classes I missed today, the chatter of students outside
travel inside to steal a few ounces of privacy between me the plastic
shower curtain and the forceful water. I don't feel good. I want to
whine and cry and complain. I want some gelo bhat with singh macher
jhol and some concerned close faces to surround me, the faces I knew
since birth, but here I am left free with a fever in just another
public shower in the girl's dormitory…the taste of independence…a
bit bitter today.
I dress warmly,
and put make-up on. My puffy eyes look dreamy. My face covered in
mystic sadness, a perfect picture, I want to step out to see how many
eyes will set their stare on my face at this moment. A few maybe…but
then what? A date…a few…
or none. Just those meaningful meaningless stares which give me confidence…tell
me the untold. I wanted that now, a warm stare, a warm bowl of soup
and warm hands to hold me…except I didn't want it from a 20 year old
stranger/ I wanted it from Mother's overworked hands my Father's anxious
eye lids. I miss them…more than I will ever express.
I had gone out
last night, wearing a cute outfit which covered me yet left out enough
to bring me a fever. I had spoken to Ma right before he came to pick
me up.
"Dress warm."
"Are you doing your homework?"
"When are your midterms?"
"Make sure your GPA is higher than last semester's."
I got frustrated
as usual. Repetition of the same questions and advice over and over
again, that's what they are good at/ I am grown up now, full 19 years
of age, living alone far, far away from them. Why do they need to
guide me now? I hung up on her. I had fun last night.
I am not sure
when the fever came; I am not sure who I was trying to call last night
and failed to reach before I had gone to sleep. I look at my puffy
dry face for an answer now, I ask myself how I feel, wordless whispers,
a mix of home sickness and freedom blurs out, I lie down and seek
strength, trying to grow up and out of being the me I have been, wanting
to be a me this fever will leave me with.
By
Iffat Nawaz
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