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Role of mental health in GDP growth

Kazi Mohammad Aymanullah and Nusrat Jahan Urmi | 2024-02-12 00:00:00

Bangladesh, a steadily growing economy since achieving independence in 1971, boasts positive developments in all sectors of its economy. Headlining as the model of growth in many places, is it efficiently utilising its actual potential or are these just tall...

Society has failed its young generations

Neil Ray | 2024-02-12 00:00:00

The power of music is irresistible. A discerning music lover can immerse himself or herself in the finest form of song or instrumental music. Band music that usually is known for rendition of different genres of music such as pop,...

Dealing with fallouts from Myanmar civil war

Syed Fattahul Alim | 2024-02-12 00:00:00

The fear that the fallouts from the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military junta and the People's Defence Forces (PDFs), an umbrella organisation of the resistance movements by different ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) of Myanmar might spill over into Bangladesh,...

3 more LNG terminals to be set up

Nazimuddin Shyamol | 2024-02-11 00:00:00

CHATTOGRAM, Feb 10: The government has a plan to establish three additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals alongside the existing two for re-gasifying imported gas. Two of these will be situated in Moheshkhali and Matarbari in Cox's Bazar, while the...

Bankers propose cuts in corporate tax rates

Doulot Akter Mala | 2024-02-11 00:00:00

The country's banking sector has proposed that the government bring down corporate tax rates in the upcoming fiscal budget in a bid to help them expand business and mobilise more funds.Bankers have sought uniform tax rates for all publicly-listed companies...

How fresh graduates can make most of internship to land first job

Md Shafiul Alam | 2024-02-11 00:00:00

The growing competition in the job sector has made it tough enough for fresh graduates to get an entry-level job. Moreover, most prospective employers think that they may need to invest a significant amount of resources to train a new...

Growing social media abuse and Zuckerberg's apology

Atiqul Kabir Tuhin | 2024-02-11 00:00:00

In a recent appearance before the US Congress, Mark Zuckerberg - CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - apologised to parents of children who were victims of cyber bullying and sexual exploitation on his social...

Decline in trade poses challenge to growth

Asjadul Kibria | 2024-02-11 00:00:00

Global trade faced another setback last year, which is reflected in the decline in trade after two years, mainly due to a fall in trade in goods, although trade in services showed a better performance. Global trade has experienced negative...

Celebration of books and the missing link

Nilratan Halder | 2024-02-10 00:00:00

The book fair that began in commemoration of the language martyrs has now made its extensive foray into the Suhrawardy Udyan from the Bangla Academu premise. At a time when few nations boast their book reading habit has not diminished,...

When immediacy gets the better of nation's future

Nilratan Halder | 2024-02-09 12:00:00

An apathy towards and even hostility to children's outdoor activities seems to be ingrained in the social attitude of urban people. Even few people complain against a dire shortage of open space in the capital Dhaka with a population density...

The WTO MC13: what stakes for Bangladesh?

Mohammad A Razzaque, Mostafa Abid Khan, Md. Deen Islam, and Md. Hossain Uzzaman | 2024-02-09 00:00:00

The World Trade Organization (WTO)’s highest decision-making body, the Ministerial Conference, meets biennially with all members present. Decisions on multilateral trade agreements are made here. The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) is scheduled for 26-29 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, the...

Merchant banks insist on pushing back time to fix negative equity

MOHAMMAD MUFAZZAL AND FARHAN FARDAUS | 2024-02-08 00:00:00

Merchant banks have been dealing with the hopeless case of negative equity since the 2010 market collapse and consider keeping the matter unsettled for at least another two years. The Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) says the lenders of margin...

Is population growth yesterday's problem?

Atiqul Kabir Tuhin | 2024-02-08 00:00:00

The over-population issue has been one of the most demanding and pressing concerns for a resource-constrained and geographically small Bangladesh since its birth in 1971. Since independence, successive governments have prioritised family planning programmes and achieved notable success. According to...

e-GP: a major breakthrough in procurement reforms

Shafiul Alam | 2024-02-08 00:00:00

Built on the Digital Bangladesh vision, the implementation of electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) has marked a remarkable success. The e-GP system started its journey in Bangladesh with the Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurating e-GP portal on June 2, 2011.Since 2012, the...

GP to share smaller profit pie with investors, after high spending on dispute resolutions

BABUL BARMAN | 2024-02-07 00:00:00

Despite a 10 per cent profit increase year-on-year to Tk 33.06 billion in 2023, Grameenphone's dividend payout ratio for the year will be the lowest in four years.One factor that stands out as the primary reason is a spending of...

Keep cash incentives until 2026 to cushion exports

DOULOT AKTER MALA AND MONIRA MUNNI | 2024-02-07 00:00:00

Rollback of export incentives prompts businesses to rush to the finance minister with an appeal for retaining the cash stimulus until Bangladesh's graduation to middle-income status in 2026.Apex trade chambers fear some 200 export-oriented spinning mills that spin out fabrics...

Allure of corporate bonds peters out for high-paying govt securities

MOHAMMAD MUFAZZAL | 2024-02-06 00:00:00

Private enterprises are facing a tricky situation in collecting funds through bonds; they want to keep the return rate low, avoiding high bank borrowing costs, but are having to compete with rates of government securities. After the latest policy rate...

Role of libraries in building 'Smart Bangladesh'

Ashik Mosaddik and Dilara Begum | 2024-02-06 00:00:00

Access to quality education and knowledge is a fundamental factor in shaping the future of any nation. In Bangladesh, the slogan "Read books in the library, build smart Bangladesh" for this year National Library Day-2024 (observed on Monday) emphasises the...

Have we lost Tangail saree?

Syed Fattahul Alim | 2024-02-06 00:00:00

Who owns Tangail saree? As the name of the saree indicates, it should naturally belong to Tangail, a district of Bangladesh, where it is produced. But no, in the market-driven and defined world of today, the right to ownership of...

Is hundi a bad thing?

M A Taslim | 2024-02-05 12:00:00

Ever since the people of the country started migrating to other countries in search of employment and better livelihood, they remitted money to their families at home. These remittances soon became an important prop to our balance of payments (BoP)...

Higher sales fail to cheer up drug makers in H1 FY24

BABUL BARMAN | 2024-02-05 00:00:00

Revenue jumped in the first half of FY24, compared to FY23, but it was accompanied by higher cost of sales in the turbulent macroeconomic scenario, depriving drug makers of the pleasure of attaining the expected profit growth. Higher raw material...

Smart Bangladesh needs smart rural library

Md Nasiruddin Mitul | 2024-02-05 00:00:00

Bangladesh is celebrating ‘The National Library Day’ today (February 5, 2024). This year the slogan for National Library Day is Granthegare Boi Pori, Smart Bangladesh Gori (Let’s Read Book in Library to Build Smart Bangladesh’. The Department of Public Libraries...

Why other species must be saved

Neil Ray | 2024-02-05 00:00:00

Lions and tigers are carnivores but man is more, he is omnivore. The range of his omnivorousness at times transcends the limit of sanity. When it does, he can be a killer of the worst kind. In fact, he is...

Dealing with government debts

Syed Fattahul Alim | 2024-02-05 00:00:00

To be in debt is nothing wrong with a business or even an entire economy, because that is how capitalist economy runs. If a bank has no borrower to lend money, it will fail, because interests accruing on the loans...

Summit, Fiber@Home at work to transit bandwidth to India

ISMAIL HOSSAIN | 2024-02-04 00:00:00

Bangladesh's two international terrestrial cable (ITC) licensees - the Summit Communications and the Fiber@Home Global Limited - are working to transit bandwidth to northeastern states of India very soon.The Bharti Airtel and the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) will...

Dollar rate hike eats up Tk 13.65b Biman profit

Munima Sultana | 2024-02-04 00:00:00

The hike in the dollar exchange rate has swallowed Tk 13.65 billion in profits of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines in the last fiscal year (FY 2022-23).The national flag carrier has lost the profit for paying dues to international airlines in...

Rekindling the spirit of Ekushey

Atiqul Kabir Tuhin | 2024-02-04 00:00:00

The month-long Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2024 - the landmark event of the Ekushey observances - was ceremoniously inaugurated on the Bangla Academy premises by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last Thursday. Book fairs are held in many countries with little...

Detecting the round-tripping of FDI in Bangladesh

Asjadul Kibria | 2024-02-04 00:00:00

As capital flight from Bangladesh has long been a reality, so has also been talk of bringing back or recovering the siphoned-off money, especially in the last couple of years. The feasibility of recovery is, however, remains a moot question...

Negative equity, down 18pc since 2020, still weighs heavily on market

Mohammad Mufazzal | 2024-02-04 00:00:00

The outstanding negative equity against margin loans taken for investments in the country's capital market fell more than 18 per cent to Tk 66.3 billion between December 2020 and September 2023.Though market stakeholders say such a high volume of prevalent...

Why businesses need procurement specialist

Md Munirul Islam | 2024-02-03 00:00:00

Procurement practices have been existing for thousands of years. This practice dates back to as early as 3000 BC. In Egypt, during pyramid design, papyrus was used to record the amount of labour and materials needed for construction. Ancient Romans...