Law proposes cutting tax rebate by a third for investments in securities

The highest annual tax rebate on investments in listed securities of the capital market will be reduced by one-third, or 33 per cent, to Tk 1 million if the draft income tax act 2023 is approved by parliament. In that...

Dealing with internet overuse

How overuse of the internet is affecting the young generation is often the stuff of various researches and studies. The Sunday (11 June) issue of this paper on its Metro/News page published a report that deals with such a study,...

Facing climate change, El Nino

Are the severe dry, hot spells that this part of the world including China, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh and India recently experienced the fallout from the dreaded climate change? Or was it just a sudden change in the weather pattern? Though...

RNPP authority wants govt guarantee, not insurance to cover civil damage liability

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) authority wants to cover the civil liability for nuclear damage through furnishing a government guarantee instead of buying insurance policy until the plant begins power generation.The authority considers it necessary to cover the possible...

Is super-specialised hospital destined to be a super flop!

Up until now the much vaunted super-specialised hospital, the first of its kind in the country, has proved to be a super flop. But it could be a different story and make a difference in the country's medical service. Belying...

Work likely to start this year as RHD awaits DPP approval

CHATTOGRAM, June 10: Construction work of the 136km-long Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Expressway is likely to begin in the current year, official sources said. The government will take decision soon regarding initiating work of the project to be implemented under Public Private...

Investment of undisclosed funds in land, real estate to be allowed sans quizzing

The Income Tax Bill-2023, which was placed in the parliament on June 8, has provided for legalising undisclosed income by investing in land as well as residential and commercial building structures.The investors will have to pay taxes at specific rates...

Why market to bleed more due to floor price now than during Covid

The stock market took 15 months to stride past the bar on price movement after its introduction for the first time in March 2020, benefiting from stimulus measures and idle cash with scanty investment opportunities during the pandemic. Flooded with...

Some are fired, others volunteer to retire

The sudden resignation by Golam Rabbani Choton from the elevated post of head coach of the Bangladesh National Women's Football team has stirred quite a ripple in the sport arena of this country. Men's football here has long been in...

2nd ERL unit work to start soon

CHATTOGRAM, June 09: The construction work to set up the second unit of the Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) is likely to be started very soon as the government has already allocated the fund for the project.ERL Managing Director Engineer Md...

Tobacco taxation calls for revision

Tobacco is a man-made menace the world is confronting for decades. Bangladesh is very much within the risk arena of this menace. The country is listed among the world's top 10 tobacco consuming countries. According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey...

Looking for a defence against heat waves

The current heat waves now sweeping all across the country are not like those of the month of April and May. In the middle of April temperature soared as high as the year's record so far at 43 degree Celsius...

Darkness at noon

The title of Arther Koestler's eponymous novel was a political metaphor. But for millions of Bangladeshis who cannot afford generators to supply electricity, it has become an everyday reality for past several weeks, perhaps months. The shortage of power has...

PM rejects elevated expressway revenue sharing plea by Dhaka mayors

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has rejected the pleas of two Dhaka city corporations to share revenue earnings from the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) project, which is being implemented under a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative.The prime minister also dismissed the mayors'...

Investment ceiling likely at Tk 0.5m for rebates on govt securities

Investors in government securities may experience a reduction in their investment rebate on tax filings starting from July 1, 2023.According to the new Income Tax Bill-2023, which was placed in Parliament on Thursday, the government is going to establish a...

Option open to extend bus corridor

With the bus rapid transit (BRT) project linking Gazipur with the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport nearing completion, the authorities concerned are now considering the option of extending the dedicated bus corridor allowing more mixed modes of traffic on it. BRT...

June 1967, Putin's war and US-China belligerence

Good wars are always few and far between. Most wars are horror stories, leaving societies and nations involved in them in a huge mess. There are wars of national liberation, wars which are directed at pushing oppressors out of occupied...

5,000 reserve forest trees chopped in Ctg

CHATTOGRAM, June 07: The Chattogram district administration allegedly felled more than 5,000 trees of a reserve forest in Salimpur coastal area on World Environment Day on June 05.The trees were chopped down in order to build a road through the...

Foreign funds returning to stocks, buoyed by earnings, better liquidity

Latest data points to an increased interest of foreign investors in putting money in stocks rather than selling off their holdings. In April, share purchase by foreign investors amounted to Tk 1.31 billion while sales were worth Tk 507 million,...

EPZ firms awarded extended bond licence facility

The government has announced an extension of fiscal benefits for companies operating within the country's Export Processing Zones (EPZ) as part of its ongoing efforts to streamline business processes and reduce operational costs.Effective immediately, the customs authority, which falls under...

New tech can boost BD fish output up

Experts and stakeholders at a regional conference on Tuesday said that modern aquaculture technology can help Bangladesh and neighbouring countries boost fish production by 5.0 to 10 times.At "Aquacon" in Colombo, they pointed out that lack of technology transfer and...

Pursuing economic diplomacy in Canada and the Caribbean

One of the significant achievements of Bangladesh over the last 15 years is our global recognition as a development miracle and economic powerhouse of Asia under the visionary and dynamic leadership of the Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. While Bangladesh...

Islamic banking in Bangladesh and the way forward

Bangladesh, the newly independent nation, inherited a fragile banking structure. Just after independence, Bangladesh government nationalised the entire domestic banking system with six nationalised banks namely Sonali Bank, Agrani Bank, Janata Bank, Rupali Bank, Pubali Bank and Uttara Bank under...

Ctg grapples with river pollution, hill cutting

CHATTOGRAM, June 05: The natural environment of Chattogram is under hazardous threats due to the river pollution, uncontrolled hill and tree cutting, poor drainage and sewerage system, and discharging of clinical, industrial and household wastage everywhere. Sources said that the...

2.5pc surcharge next weapon to make issuers pay dues to Stabilisation Fund

The securities regulator has asked both the stock exchanges to impose 2.5 per cent monthly surcharge on dividends or other dues that have remained unpaid for more than three years. The deadline is the last day of this month. Surcharge...

Achilles heel of country's exports

Amid reports of declining foreign exchange reserve and runaway inflation, there is not much for the general public to be optimistic about. Not even in the just proposed national budget, the biggest ever in the country's budgetary history, did the...

Budget 2023-2024: half full or half empty?

The much awaited budget for 2023- 2024 has been announced. Never before a budget has been anticipated with such intensity by both knowledgeable observers and lay persons. This is because the economy is going through a period of unprecedented stress...

Attaining sustainability through active citizen participation

While 'World Environment Day 2023' is being observed across the globe, Bangladesh is facing unprecedented heatwaves with sweltering heat scorching the country. Small and low-land coastal countries like Bangladesh are the worst victims of climate change perpetuated by environmental pollution....

Putting health and education at centre stage

Health care and education should be guaranteed for all citizens in a modern state. That the state should meet these two basic human needs is recognised in the constitution and no government of the nation in its over half a...

Tea Day observed with pledge of booming industry

CHATTOGRAM, June 04: The National Tea Day was observed on Sunday with the slogan- "Cha Dibosh-er Songkolpo, Somriddho Cha Shilpo (A prosperous tea industry is the pledge of Tea Day)".June 4 is marked as the National Tea Day to commemorate...