Stop sugar smuggling from India: Refiners

Local refiners have sought immediate action to put an end to sugar smuggling from India in a bid to help the domestic industry survive such odds and adversities.They apprehend that the domestic sugar industry will definitely be in dire straits...

Bangabandhu’s encounter with Castro

The meeting between Prime Minister Mujib and President Castro was arranged near the end of NAM summit. On the day of the summit, news reached Algiers at noon that food-riot and looting had started in Chile following disruptions in food...

The statesman in Bangabandhu

It is rather hard to point to a time when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman graduated from a politician into a statesman. And yet there all those moments in Bangladesh's history when we can definitively point to phases which threw light...

PM launches Pension Scheme Thursday

The much-awaited Universal Pension Scheme gets going Thursday to bring Bangladesh's growing elderly population under a sustainable social-security system, with state exchequer paying half of poor's premium.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the scheme virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban....

Tax return submission up by over a million

A total of 1,237,357 new taxpayers were added by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in the last fiscal year due to the fiscal measures incorporated in the Finance Bill-2022.From June 1, 2022, the revenue board made the submission of...

Brokers' apathy still keeps T-bonds inaccessible for retail investors

General investors are yet to get access to primary auctions of T-bonds though the securities regulator laid down the process for stock brokers to participate in them on behalf of their clients. The guidelines were issued about one and a...

Devising new ways to fight Aedes mosquito

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed Bangladesh's dengue risk at the national level as 'High'. But even before WHO's issuing the high risk alert, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Bangladesh is experiencing the worst episode of...

Flood devastates 50km roads in Ctg city

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 13: Port city Chattogram is currently grappling with the aftermath of heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding, as primary estimate shows at least 50 kilometres of roads have been damaged in the metropolis. The deluge has left the roads...

VAT collection surges 35.5pc in Dhaka's commercial hubs

The collection of value-added tax (VAT) from retail and wholesale businesses grew by 35.5 per cent in the commercial areas of the capital, largely for the installation of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) and intensified enforcement.The Dhaka South Zone, which includes...

General insurance cos show mixed results for H1 but the sector overall registers lower profit

Persistent macroeconomic challenges, strong dollar, and runaway inflation continued to hit hard the businesses of general insurance companies, dragging down profits of most of them in the first half of this year compared to the previous year. Twenty five of...

Passenger train under attack by robbers

Train robberies are not quite uncommon in the world. Movies such as the Newton Boys (1998) based on the worst train robbery in American history at Rondout, Illinois, as early as 1924 have made viewers across the world familiar with...

Wobbly market of poultry products

Volatility is a commonly used term to describe markets everywhere when the prices of the goods and services that they represent start to rise unpredictably. But the volatility in Bangladesh's essential commodities market is perhaps a unique example in the...

Abdul Monem Ltd gets two months to end work

Work on the widening of Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur highway faces an unexpected delay allegedly for a reputed local contractor, which was earlier alerted several times by the project office.Last week, the chief engineer of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) called the firm...

ICB Capital looks to overcome problems in listing of 13 state-run cos

ICB Capital Management is likely to organise a workshop this month to gauge possible solutions to problems that hinder the listing of state-owned companies on the bourses. The issue manager is currently prioritising 13 companies, including national flag bearer Biman...

Bond market still small and dull

The bond market worldwide has been growing, though not at a similar or steady pace and only in some economies. The United States (US) alone covered 39 per cent of the world bond market, followed by China having a 16...

Undercover barter trade at sea finds bonanza

Undercover barter trade at sea finds a bonanza as some unscrupulous foreign-ship crew in cahoots with private watchmen exchange goods and report piracies to information centre, according to finding by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA). Officials have said the CPA...

Overcoming challenges and pursuing growth

Bangladesh's inspiring growth and development journey has been supported by the World Bank, as the nation aspires to achieve upper middle-income status by 2031. Since 1972, the World Bank has committed over $35 billion to support Bangladesh's development efforts, making...

Respecting the Geographical Indication

With the recognition of 'kanchagolla' as a GI (Geographical Indication) product, Bangladesh has got its 17th such agricultural produce and traditional products of local origin. If 'rasogolla' heads the list of sweetmeats, kanchagolla does not lie far behind in appeal...

Ctg emerging from deluge to dry

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 10: The weather in Chattogram has returned to normal after eight consecutive days of non-stop rainfall and flooding that disrupted daily life across the region.The incessant downpour, which began on the early morning of August 2 in greater...

Six-point combat against trade-based money laundering planned

A six-point combat is ahead to curb trade-based money laundering amid reports on flight of huge funds from Bangladesh, especially through suspected over-and under-invoicing and misdeclaration. Sources have said customs intelligence has crafted the action plan of late and recommended...

Kamalapur MmTH sees progress

The planned multimodal transport hub (MmTH) on Kamalapur rail station premises has made progress by finally appointing an Indian joint venture company as the transaction advisor (TA) to conduct an extensive study for the mega public-private partnership (PPP) project.The Public...

Big power rivalries and small nations

China has extended an invitation to Bangladesh for joining the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation. Bangladesh is reportedly studying the geopolitical implications of becoming a member of the forum. The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) hosted an...

Why positive half-yearly earnings reports not reflected on the market?

Large-cap stocks, such as Grameenphone, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, and Robi Axiata, have failed to draw investors though they posted remarkable profit growths for the first half of this year.Almost all the top 10 large-cap stocks, including some renowned local...

The blighted star we inhabit

There is not much to be happy about the world we inhabit in these times. There are no good reasons to be optimistic about the future, for on that future hang heavy and increasingly thickening clouds of gloom. It is...

CCCI gets new leaders

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 08: The newly elected directors of Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) unanimously elected Omar Hajjaj as president, Tarafdar Md Ruhul Amin as senior vice-president and Raisa Mahbub as vice-president of the chamber for the term 2023-25....

Over 5.0m tonnes of rice lost annually due to ‘polishing’

Unscientific milling system has been causing wastage of 5.17 million tonnes of rice every year, while the country has to import 1.0-1.5 million tonnes of the staple yearly for maintaining a balance in the domestic market. The Department of Agricultural...

Multinational tech giants to face VAT scrutiny

To scrutinise any mismatch between the paid and actually payable value-added tax (VAT), the revenue authority is considering launching audits of the financial statements filed by global technology giants along with their VAT returns. Currently, 12 non-resident companies, including Google,...

Waterlogging in Chattogram improves partially

CHATTOGRAM Aug 07: The waterlogging is some parts of the port city improved this afternoon following cessation of rain. Low-lying areas are, however, still under ankle-to-waist deep water.The authorities closed all educational institutions in Chattogram on Tuesday after a college...

Metrorail service likely to open on Oct 20

The Dhaka metro-rail company is getting ready to open the long-awaited Agargaon-Motijheel part on October 20 amid challenges of an essential test run of trains by then.According to officials, a summary paper on the 8.11-kilometre route of the mass rapid...

SPM project cost, time escalations again

Once again the single-point mooring (SPM) project, which will enable Bangladesh to pipe imported oil from deep sea direct into refinery, is up for time and cost escalations, officials said.Physical progress of the project, funded by China, is now reported...