The central bank shared the data of the net international reserves (NIR) of Bangladesh for the first time. The NIR now stands at $16.77 billion, Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque told reporters on Wednesday (Jul. 3). The net reserves represent readily-available cash derived from gross reserves. It is calculated by excluding short-term liabilities from the gross reserves in line with the International Monetary Fund's BPM6 formula.

The central bank usually calculates the foreign exchange reserves using two methods. One is as per the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), the method used by the IMF, while the other is produced using the central bank's own, outdated, calculation method. As per the BPM6 method, the gross reserves stood at $21.83 billion on June 30, up from $19.4 billion on June 26, the spokesperson said. As per the central bank's preferred method, gross reserves stood at $26.88 billion on June 30.

Over 700,000 people in 13 upazilas of Sylhet district grappled with a third wave of flooding in the space of five weeks, and this one even before many of them have even recovered fully from the second wave. Heavy rains and onrush of water from upstream inundated several upazilas, though Sylhet city, parts of which were completely submerged during the second wave that hit on Eid ul Azha, seemed to avoid the worst this time. In the latest flooding, 97 unions across 13 upazilas have been submerged.

All upazilas in Sylhet have been impacted by the floods, which are attributed to hill torrents and excessive rainfall. The Surma and Kushiyara rivers, among others, are flowing above danger levels at multiple points. The water levels of the Sari, Sarigowain, and Lova rivers have slightly decreased, but these are lesser rivers with lesser impact. Sylhet's deputy commissioner stated that the possibility of a third wave had been anticipated, prompting upazila executive officers to prepare in advance.

Dhaka University was ranked 560th among the world's best universities and 146th among universities in Asia for 2024-25 by US News and World Report, a US-based media company publishing news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. Four other Bangladeshi universities were also featured in the US News rankings. The rankings evaluated 2,271 universities spread across 104 countries on academic research and reputation.

Next up on the list from Bangladesh is Rajshahi University, which was ranked a respectable 1,076th globally, making it 342nd in Asia. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) might be slightly disappointed at its own global ranking of 1396, given the way graduates have pored through the US News Rankings for years now, looking for the perfect American college to fulfil their dreams of higher education upon graduation from BUET, which came in 488th in Asia. Jahangirnagar University at 1,414th globally (500th in Asia) and Bangladesh Agricultural University at 1,775th (689th in Asia) round off the Bangladeshi presence in the list.

The telecom regulator has issued a show-cause notice to Grameenphone for "not using the allocated spectrum", affecting the quality of service used by more than 43 percent of the country's mobile phone subscribers. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for telecom and ICT, shared this while speaking to reporters after an event at the ICT Division. He said that there was a meeting between officials of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile phone operators on June 30, where the preliminary report of BTRC's test drive was presented.

Following on from that, the telco regulator issued a show-cause notice to Grameenphone. "If they give a proper explanation, they will be forgiven this time. If not, the BTRC can fine them Tk 1 crore to Tk 300 crore," the long-term state minister in this sector said. Spectrum enables wireless communication by providing radio frequencies for data transmission and is crucial to enhancing network capacity, reducing congestion and improving service quality.