Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ বিনিয়োগ সংস্থা) is a statutory corporation of Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, established on 1 October 1976 under No. 40 of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh Ordinance, 1976. It is mainly an investment bank operating in Bangladesh, established to accelerate the pace of industrialization and to develop a sound securities market in Bangladesh. ICB is one of the largest investors in share market of Bangladesh. Investing in share market, providing loans and advances, acting as manager/trustee/custodian of mutual funds are some of main activities of ICB. It's the most successful state-owned corporation of Bangladesh in terms of profitability. Classification of shareholders, as on 30 June 2013, shows that Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh holds 27% of the shares of ICB and it is enlisted in Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.
This study examines the performance of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) from January 2015 to December 2024 and empirically analyzes the implications for key macroeconomic variables, including interest rates, inflation, and exchange rates. The analysis uses monthly data from Bangladesh Bank and employs timeseries econometric methods, including unit root tests, Johansen cointegration tests, vector error correction models (VECMs), and Granger causality tests. The results show that all variables are integrated of order one and indicate a single long-run cointegrating relationship. Interest rates have a substantial negative long-term impact on the DSE index, consistent with theoretical predictions that higher borrowing and opportunity costs depress equity prices. Conversely, inflation and exchange rates do not exhibit statistically significant long-term effects; however, short-term dynamics indicate that inflation positively influences the index, perhaps due to speculative market behavior. Granger causality tests establish bidirectional causality between interest rates and the DSE index, while inflation is found to affect exchange rates. These results underscore the DSE’s inefficiency, in which macroeconomic shocks may exert delayed or exacerbated impacts on pricing. The research offers practical insights for investors, policymakers, and regulators, including the importance of monetary policy coordination and enhanced market efficiency in Bangladesh.
The pharmaceutical drug industry faces considerable challenges in supply chain management, particularly in regard to tracking and tracing medications. Counterfeit drugs pose a significant global threat, and existing supply chain management practices often prove insufficient to prevent adulteration. Blockchain technology offers a potential solution to these issues by establishing a decentralized and distributed ecosystem where stakeholders can foster a trustworthy relationship. To address these limitations, we propose a blockchain-based system for tracking drugs in the supply chain, incorporating a reputation mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability among entities. To mitigate the interoperability challenges between blockchain networks, we implement inter-blockchain communication using the burn-to-claim protocol. Hyperledger Fabric is used as the primary blockchain because it ensures confidentiality between multiple organizations, and Quorum is the other blockchain. Our solution prioritizes trust, traceability, transparency, and accountability to deliver safe, authentic medication to consumers.
In wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical transmission system, crosstalk due to cross-phase modulation (XPM) is one of the most significant nonlinear effect. On the other hand in a first order group velocity dispersion (GVD) compensated system, second order GVD also restricts bit rate. This paper presents an analytical treatment of XPM effect in presence of second order GVD in WDM fiber-optic transmission system. It is found that in long haul high bit rate system, second order GVD plays a critical role in limiting performance in a WDM system. Results show that XPM crosstalk penalty in presence of second order GVD is 43 dB more for dispersion shifted fiber than standard single mode fiber at 10 GHz modulation frequency and 0.8 nm channel spacing.
