Is esports a career worthwhile in Bangladesh?

Imagine taking away a drug from an addict or a cane of beer from an alcoholic; reactions that will follow is understandable. However, there is a new type of addiction nowadays that can replicate the same reaction, which is gaming....

Celebration of women leadership

Six prominent domestic and global women leaders, who have set an example in their respective fields, joined the globinar as panelists-- Barrister Tania Amir, senior advocate of the Supreme Court, Bangladesh and a senior partner at Amir & Amir Law...

Pursuing art as a profession

The first hiccup of an artist's life comes from their own family. Any form of artistry is often meant to stay as nothing more than an extracurricular activity in resumes. And attempting to place art as a career option unleashes...

Making oceans count

What would disappear from your life if the oceans did not exist? Of course, the oceans will not just evaporate one day but considering the question can be illuminating. Ensuring the oceans can continue to provide benefits for future generations...

The economic context of coastal salt farmers of Cox's Bazar

As the salt production season approaches its halfway this year, the clouds of frustration, sorrow, and fear of the coastal salt farmers of Cox's Bazar begin to be evident. Cox's Bazar district is the largest crude salt producing area in...

Lessons from the Solar Home Programme

Access to clean and fresh energy is essential for according people the opportunity to lead a healthy and dignified life. With over 800 million people worldwide still lacking access to electricity, deploying innovative means to reach electricity to remote rural...

Earth Day 2021: Restore Our Earth

Every year on April 22, Earth Day, the world's most prominent environmental movement, is observed in an effort to make people aware of the Earth's natural environment. Founded by former US Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day was first observed in...

DNS to be lone seller to institutional investors

The government is considering selling savings instruments to institutional buyers only by savings directorate offices instead of banks and post offices with intent to check intrusion of illicit funds.As part of automation to curb misuse of the facility, a senior...

Cigarette, mobile, pharma sectors pay higher VAT

Three sectors - cigarette, pharmaceuticals and mobile phone - made an impressive contribution to the government's revenue collection efforts during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year despite the disruptions being caused by the Covid pandemic to the...

A Covid-19 recovery contribution

The economic costs of the pandemic have fallen most heavily on those least able to bear them. Governments have taken steps to support people and firms through wage subsidies, unemployment benefits, and other fiscal measures. But more investment in health...

Managing young people's anxiety during Covid--19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a great challenge for the school-going children. According to the United Nations report, more than 91 per cent of students worldwide have been impacted by temporary school closures. By May 2021, near about 1.6 billion...

Let supply line be maintained

History's greatest teaching is that no one learns from it. The authorities have botched up things on many fronts once again. If the inadequacy, chaos, confusion and helplessness are most glaring in the area of medical facilities for treatment of...

New LPG price does satisfy none

The energy regulator---Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC)---on April 12 last, for the first time, fixed the retail prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for the domestic market. What also has been unique about the BERC decision is that LPG would...

Five killed as police, power plant workers clash in Ctg

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 17: Five workers of a coal-fired power plant of S Alam Group were killed and 16 others, including five policemen, injured in a clash between the police, workers and villagers at Gondamara in Banshkhali on Saturday morning. The...

BSEC sees no complications

The officials of the securities regulator see no complications in issuing IPO (initial public offering) shares among the employees of two companies which recently have received the regulatory approval to go public.Talking to the FE, a senior official of the...

Birthday of a shining beacon

Today is the 78th birthday of a man known for his honesty and versatility; a man of profound promptitude and punch. He is considered as one of the icons in our socio-economic arena. The birthday bouquet goes to Dr. Mohammad...

New budget to be pandemic-centric

The national budget for fiscal year 2021-22 will focus on measures to face Covid-19 challenges, save lives and livelihoods of people and recover economy.Officials said the budget would be pandemic-centric as the second wave of coronavirus is relentless in its...

No headway in widening 50.58km highway as tenure nears end

The tenure of the first road-sector project under the Indian Line of Credit (LoC) will end within next two months without any headway in widening the 50.58-kilometre highway from Ashuganj river port to Akhaura land port.Sources said both the project...

Work plan underway to retain GSP

The government has initiated devising a work plan to sustain the country's generalised system of preferences or GSP facility in EU markets after its graduation from least developed country status, officials said.As part of the move, the foreign ministry had...

An environment for cohabitation of man and animals

The ongoing lockdown has prompted an exodus of lower-income people from cities, the capital city in particular, on the presumption that it might be extended like the general holiday last time was done. Yet the absolute silence that reigned supreme...

Stocks snap four-week losing streak despite lockdown

Stocks rebounded in the outgoing week, snapping a four weeks losing streak, as bargain hunters took benefit of the low prices of shares despite 'strict' lockdown and reduced trading hours.However, presence of investors on the trading floor was very thin....

Mozambique's is a continental tragedy

Africa remains the Dark Continent. A century and a half ago, the epithet signified ignorance, primarily of the continent's physical geography but of everything else too, except the coastline. Colonial invaders wanted to know two things only: which local leaders...

Tribute to a renowned authority in Islamic Economics

Professor Dr Muhammad Abdul Mannan, a renowned authority in Islamic economics, banking and finance, passed away on March 31, 2021 due to cardiac complications while undergoing treatment at a Dhaka hospital. He was 83 years old. With his demise, the...

Tehran-Washington relation mired by provocation, intimidation and distrust

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action popularly known as Iran Nuclear Deal formulated in 2015 following protracted negotiation with Iran by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany marked a turning point in the bilateral relation...

Bangladesh's diplomacy, as it ought to be

In this fiftieth year of the declaration of Bangladesh's independence, there is a paramount need for a reconfiguring of the nation's foreign policy. With the country poised to graduate to the status of a middle-income nation, with all the economic...

NBR issues decrees to stop taxmen’s misdeeds

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has detected irregularities in customs assessment by a section of revenue officers (ROs) and assistant revenue officers (AROs) using Asycuda World system.The NBR Customs Wing has expressed its deep concern over the issue, as...

Vaccine and economic recovery

The World Bank (WB) in its latest Bangladesh Development Update (BDU) listed three factors on which, it said, would depend the recovery or collapse of the country's economy. The pace of vaccination against the deadly Covid-19 is one of those...

Cruellest month or mind!

When TS Eliot wrote, 'April is the cruellest month, breeding/ Lilacs out of the dead land', did he ever have a premonition of the dreadful April 2021 when the entire world would stay beleaguered. Poets are prophetic in more than...

Countermeasures against the upsurge of Covid-19 crisis

The pandemic situation in the country is breaking its record every day. The newly found South African variant, though not necessarily virulent as evident in other countries, is more infectious. However, the evidence on Bangladesh is not available regarding its...

Covid pandemic and economic crisis: Why does the impact on labour markets vary?

Although the adverse effects of economic crises get transmitted to labour markets quickly, the results vary from country to country. While such variations have their roots in the systems and structures, public policy also plays an important role. Hence, from...