Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Volume 2, Issue 33, Tuesday February 22, 2005

 

 

 

 

 

Banking Tips

Nasreen Sattar Head of International Sales, Standard Chartered Bank

Q. I have an account with your Bank. Recently I lost my cheque book and asked my Bank Manager to issue me a new one. I was told that I need to close my account and open a new one and then a cheque book will be issued to me. Please let me know why I cannot keep my old account and why a cheque book cannot be issued against that account?
A. The reason why the Bank Manager asked you to close your existing account and open a new one is because of a security issue. You see someone may get access to your lost cheque book The procedure to close your account and open a new one is very simple and your fund from the old account will be transferred to your new account and a new cheque book issued to you. In future please keep your cheque book in a secure place.

Q. For SLR & CRR is there any security applicable against this? If not how does the bank maintain it and how much?
A. For CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) there is no security applicable. It has to be maintained in cash balances with Bangladesh Bank. For SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio), Treasury Bills and other Government approved securities qualify. Also foreign currency balances with the Bangladesh Bank qualify for SLR. Banks usually try to maintain SLR through Treasury Bills.

Q. What is the meaning of 'spread' in banking terms ?
A. 'Spread' in banking terms means the difference between cost of funds and lending rate. The more the 'spread' the more the profit for a bank.

Q. A firm having A & B as partners have a bank account and that either partner 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.

Q. I have moved my house and would like to advise the bank to send all my correspondence including my statement to my new address. Can I do this over telephone?
A. Any change of address has to be advised to the bank by means of a letter signed by the account holder/ authorised signatory. Banks normally do not take this kind of instruction over telephone.


Beauty Talk

Sadia Moyeen Beautican, La Belle

Dear Sadia,
I am a 14 years old girl. I used to have thick hair and I still do. The problem is that these days I am facing a lot of hair loss for which I think I am going to lose the beauty of my hair. I use Sunsilk shampoo twice a week and I don't really use anything eg: mehdi, oil, gel etc to enhance the beauty. However, due to several reasons my hair remains slightly wet for almost 24 hours, is this the cause of my hair loss? I am really worried about my hair and I will gladly appreciate it if you could help me out with this problem. Dilrooba

Dear Dilrooba
Your hair needs conditioning, so that there is movement in your thick hair. Use a blow dryer on medium heat to dry your hair running your fingers through your hair. Don't allow your hair to remain wet for so long, its obviously weighing it down. Oil your hair on a weekly basis and condition regularly.

Dear Sadia,
I am gradually getting dark. Can you suggest something except fair polish? Something I can do at home and I am also very chubby. Can you suggest how I can get slimmer. Thank you. "S"

Dear S,
(a) Use sun block everyday.
(b) Make a pack with 1tsp uptan, 1tsp yoghurt, twist of lemon, apply once a day.
Eat healthy, exercise regularly look into yoga, it has been beneficial for many ladies. It deals with mental physical strength all round in one.

Hi, I am 18 year old. Past few weeks i had a lot of pimples, mainly on my forehead. The pimples had left some ugly marks. These marks usually fade away but they take a lot of time. Many had suggested using cucumber. Does it really work? I have lost my faith in such herbal treatments. But am willing to give it another shot. Could you please suggest an easy home made solution to get rid of these marks. And i would be really thankful if you could suggest the name of an effective medicine and its cost. My hair looks great when I blow-dry it. But people say it might be harmful to blow dry it regularly. Is it really true? Does it cause hair loss if done in a regular basis? Thank you WORRIED

Dear worried
Do you have dandruff in your hair? Sometimes the flakes fall on the forehead and irritate the skin making it break out.
Yes, cucumber juice is very helpful, mix it with neem paste and a dash of calamine lotion to rid yourself of pimples. Blow drying once a week will not harm your hair condition regularly.

Dear Sadia,
Hope you are well. I am in trouble and I badly need your help. I'm 15 and I've been smoking and drinking and had been very depressed from the age of 14. I've stopped all of that mow. Before I had long silky straight hair but it has become very dry and it's falling in an alarming rate. Please tell me how I can stop hair fall and regain my silky hair. My skin has become really dry too, what can I do. Can you recommend any moisturising face pack or mask and a good shampoo that will suit me? How can I get rid of dark circles. Please don't ignore my mail. Forgot my name.

Hello there
Stress is terrible for your skin and hair and mix that with smoking and drinking and you have the perfect recap for disaster. There's what you should use for you hair skin, ** presuming that you will seek help for your depression as well.

Skin ½ tsp cold cream (Ponds), ½ tsp Johnson's baby lotion, and 3-4 drop of olive oil

Mix in tour plam and apply every night.
Hair ½ mashed banana, ½ tbs conditioner, ½ lemon juice, and 1 capsule Vit E
Apply twice a week, keep on for half an hour. Shampoo off Condition.

Dear Sadia,
I'm a 23-year-old guy. In recent times I've started to lose a bit of hair. I'm really worried about this, as I feel that if this trend continues women will be reluctant to date me! Please suggest some ways in which I can slow down my hair loss, if not end it altogether. Finally, would it be possible to meet you at La Belle or some place else regarding my hair loss? Serendipity

Dear Serendipity
I afraid it is not possible for me to meet you. If you follow the advice below you won't need to.
Keep your hair as short as possible, Oil your hair weekly and apply the following pack after that.
2 tbsp Amla paste (fresh fruit), ½ tbp lemon juice, and 1 tbsp yoghurt
Keep on for half an hour, wash off using a mild shampoo Johnson, Timotei, whatever.

Dear Sadia,
I've facial hair all over my face and I've been bleaching my face for quite sometimes. I've been told that bleaching has an adverse effect on skin in the long run. So, I've finally decided to stop using bleach. I don't want to wax off the hair or use any hair removing cream as the hair in my chin and below has only grown back to be more course and dark. I'm thinking if "Fair Polish" will be an option. As you call it a brightening agent, does it work as a bleach? While I'm at it, do you know any place in Dhaka, where they offer laser or electrolysis treatment? Please help! Parsa Choudhury

Dear Parsa,
Over bleaching can dry and irritate the skin. Bleaching twice a mouth is acceptable. Yes fair polish is a safer option. Yes electrolysis is done in Dhaka you can see the doctor named below.

Dear Sadia,
I am 24 years of age and having a terrible problem with my lips. My lips are extremely dry and chapped in all seasons. No matter how frequently I use lip bum, Vaseline or glycerine after a while my lips become chapped and dry again. And the most terrible problem is that I can't wear lipstick, as it looks awful in my dry and chapped lips. Even if I use glossy lipstick it doesn't work. After some time it gets dry and looks bad. Please help me with a remedy. Thanks. Disturbed

Hello reader
Apply a mixture of petroleum jelly and olme oil on your lips. Put a cotton swob dipped in not water on your lips repeat a couple of times until lips are soft. Rub geulty using a soft towel or old T-shirt. Do this whenever required.


By The Way

Water's delicious!

No one likes to follow the mandatory 'drink eight glasses of water-a-day regime', so many just skip their essential intake of liquids. But to stay healthy it is wise to follow what your body requires. They say water has no taste. To add a little taste, just slice some cucumbers and add to a jug of water and drink from it throughout the day. The cucumbers give a nice fresh flavour to your drinking water.

 

 

 

UNDER A DIFFERENT SKY

V it

It came and went… all of America with chocolate roses in hand and floating e-cards in mind, simultaneously ridiculed and celebrated Valentines Day.

For the past few years it has been cooler to celebrate "I hate Valentines day" than to actually celebrate it for love and lovers…America's imaginary revolution against the very commercial valentines day, marking V day as just another way to take money away from consumers… think again America, most of your holidays are commercial why is it only during V day that you flip out? Hmmmm says a lot of about America's love life doesn't it?

At the florists where a hoard of men stood impatient and annoyed, complaining how pricy even a dozen of roses are these days, and why does someone need to mark February 14th to be the day that one gets to express their love and devotion to their significant other. You hear the whole angry phrase going around with nods of agreement from the surrounding, "I should be able to express my love to him/her any day with gifts and flowers, why does it have to be only once a year in a specific day." Yah…right…
if that was the case then no florists would ever go out of business and America would be going bankrupt importing the daisies, lilies and gardenias…

This valentines days DC was showered with cold rain, the weather man on February 13th advised people to stay home for Valentines days and get cozy in rather than out. Many took the advice as it was songs to their ears… so their Valentines day dinners were decorated with take outs and trinkets, and after the early dinner and forceful mushiness wore off, most of America sat down at 9 pm to watch the new episode of 24 ("groundbreaking thriller" with Kiefer sutherland) and called it a night after a whole hour of blood, guns and terrorists. Now that's romantic.

And those who went out, breezed through light traffic and arrived at their dinning choices, to find tables of 2s half empty and half full. Pieces of conversation from here and there, "did you hear about the woman in California who threw her 2 hour old baby out of the car window, she will probably even get away with it pulling some psychological bullshit, it's easier to kill babies here than adults," "tell me three things you love about me, good cook and good house keeper doesn't count" "God look at these giant shrimps, honey let me finish my food first we will talk at home," and it goes on… the new couples slightly closer with dreamy eyes, having 3 hour long dinners and the been-there-done-that's chomping away on food without a worry of how they might look with cheese and broccoli stuck between their teeth… And for dessert there was "Bad education" with Gael Garcia and "Bride and prejudice" with Ashwariya Rai, what could be more fulfilling than watching transvestites blackmailing pedophiles or Ashwariya Rai bringing out all her nakami with 20 extra lbs falling in love with one Caucasian after another. It's refreshing though…

Gurinder Chadha making her interracial dating stand adamant and Pedro Almodovar creating classics to show the sad truths in the sour present.

So that's how it went. Over priced dinners, under rated spouses, over indulged stomachs and popcorn and coke. The rain had eventually stopped, the muddy streets didn't obviously do justice to expensive dresses, and the sky never brought out its stars…

So we got home criticizing movies, complimenting chefs…sat down on the sofa, and guess what we did next? Watched the recorded episode of 24 of course, thanks to digital TVs, we called it a night watching dooms day to end one of ours…

By Iffat Nawaz


 
 

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