Foreign co's inept container management irks users

Foreign port-operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) earns the ire of port users for alleged "inefficiency and mismanagement" in operation of the Patenga container terminal of the Chittagong seaport.Recently, Chittagong Customs Agents Association submitted a memo to the chairman of...

Janata Bank seeks govt steps to recover its Tk 18.38b dues from BSFIC, sugar mills

The state-owned Janata Bank has sought the government's necessary steps for recovering its Tk 18.38 billion worth of outstanding loans from the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) and some other sugar mills. Managing Director of Janata Bank Md....

Faulty tender, inefficiency plague rail projects

Despite the increase in demand for trains, the supply side continues to be slow with no sign of improvement due to the wrong selection of funding agencies, faulty tender process, and inefficiency in project preparation by railway officials.Bangladesh Railway (BR)...

The crisis of Bangladesh's maritime education

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." — Nelson Mandela There are moments in a nation's life when institutions-once founded with lofty aims-begin to lose their way. Bangladesh is at one such moment...

Lullaby is for babies, but what can help insomniacs?

Bansh baganer mathar upor chand uthechhe oi/ Mago amar sholok bola Kajla Didi koi? In this poignant poem, Jotindramohon Bagchi presents the sweet and sad emotion experienced by a little restive soul that cannot go to sleep because she is...

Single-co bus route for modern mass transport looks shelved

Agonies of umpteen commuters seem destined to prolong as introducing single-company-based bus route for operating modern mass transport service looks finally shelved with an ancillary project ditched.Officials have said the Planning Commission recently rejected extension of the related technical project...

Policy decisions to shape BD's trillion-dollar ambition

Bangladesh stands at a crossroads in its digital journey. The decisions it makes now -- regarding spectrum pricing, taxation, and telecoms regulation -- will determine whether it achieves its ambition of becoming a trillion-dollar economy by 2040, or continues to...

CPA hands over Pangaon ICD to BIWTA

CHATTOGRAM, Sept 11: Aiming to shift cargo from overburdened highways to cost-effective river routes, the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has signed two agreements to revive Dhaka's Pangaon Inland Container Depot (ICD) and enhance the country's inland waterway cargo handling capacity....

Facilitating financing MSMEs under SME Finance Policy

The Small and Medium Enterprises (MSEs) account for the majority of businesses all across the world. According to the World Bank (WB), this sector represents 90 per cent businesses with 50 per cent of employment worldwide. Bangladesh is no exception...

Israel is the worst rogue state ever

There have been many rogue states in the world but by any reckoning Israel is the worst of them. A commonplace definition of a rogue state is a country that wilfully violates international law and conventions and inflicts harm on...

Spl allowances for key professionals likely

Providing special allowances for some key professionals with intensive technical knowledge is under consideration of the National Pay Commission as the government plans stemming a tide of brain drain from Bangladesh.Doctors, engineers, researchers and scientists are among the must-haves whose...

CMSF set to manage dividends, streamline tax waiver process

The securities regulator has decided to engage the Capital Market Stabilisation Fund (CMSF) in distributing cash dividends to investors on behalf of listed companies, to ease the tax collection process and help investors secure tax waivers on dividend income.The CMSF,...

Policy gaps leave urban poor high and dry

Speakers at the recent National Conference on Social Security rightly underscored the urgency of expanding social safety net coverage in urban areas. Numerous studies over the years have shown that while rural poverty is on the decline, urban poverty is...

Stock market imperatives: unlocking wealth through reform

America is both a rich and wealthy country. Its richness lies in abundant natural resources-but its true strength emerges in transforming those resources into lasting wealth through robust institutions, innovation, and productivity. Wall Street is more than a speculative arena;...

Lower project costs with softer loans: Japan urged

Bangladesh's interim government has formally requested Japan to review its funded projects in different sectors, including metro rails, for lowering the costs with easier-terms of loans.A high-level delegation led by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed visited Japan last week and...

Land zoning system in the works

The government has initiated a move to introduce land zoning system aiming to ensure proper utilisation of land in the country.As part of the move, an ordinance will be passed soon, according to the Ministry of Land (MoL). "We (the...

Merger of five Islami banks could drag Dhaka bourse down by 59 points

The benchmark equity index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) is likely to fall by about 59 points, according to EBL Securities, as the merger of five ailing Islami banks may lead to their de-listing.These banks - First Security Islami...

AI bands are changing the soundtrack of tomorrow

A new rock band, The Velvet Sundown, started their journey two months ago. The band’s songs quickly rose to the top charts of multiple streaming platforms, including YouTube and Spotify. At first, listeners thought that this might be a new...

A conscience unbowed -- balancing power, pen, and principle

The 2025 demise of Badruddin Umar is not simply the loss of an individual, but the muting of a conscience. For over half a century, Umar was a relentless critic of power — state, capital, and ideology. As a thinker,...

Many high-end cars hidden out of tax return

Nearly half of Bangladesh's luxury-car owners hide out their vehicle ownerships from tax returns, allegedly evading state revenue in one of many tricks of tax-dodging. Among the non-disclosures, nearly 40 per cent of the luxury cars owned by large taxpayers...

ICB, Sadharan Bima subscriptions restore govt's majority stake in NTC

The government has regained control of National Tea Company (NTC) with a majority stake after purchasing placement shares at the eleventh hour of the latest subscription period.The shares, which had been on offer since 2023 but remained unsubscribed until the...

Being on top for the wrong reason

There is nothing like being on top, if it is not for the wrong reason. But Bangladesh has indeed made it to the top as home to the worst loan defaulters in Asia.A recent report of the international multilateral lending...

Screen addiction and love for reading books

Is it fatal attraction or addiction or both? Screens of various shapes and sizes are taking control of most people -- not just the young generations but even adults and senior citizens of society. People who are professionally highly busy...

Ensuring data quality to meet 2030 SDG deadline

Bangladesh is trailing behind its South Asian neighbours in achieving UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).According to the UN's Sustainable Development Report 2025, Bangladesh ranked 114th among 167 nations globally and scored 63.9 out of 100 on the score card of...

Interim govt finally cancels approval for 34 solar power plants

Approvals for 34 solar-power plants are finally rescinded following the repeal of a special-provision act by an ordinance promulgated by the post-uprising government, generating frustrations in the entrepreneurs. Officials said Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) cancelled the approvals on "clear...

The story of a female station master

Tanzina Shahnaj has loved two things since her childhood - the rhythm of trains and the tranquillity of solitude. She fondly remembers riding trains to her hometown of Brahmanbaria during Eid or after annual exams, watching birds flying in the...

Teaching morality: the missing foundation

Over the last three decades, Bangladesh’s education sector has witnessed significant improvements, including higher literacy rates, nearly universal enrolment, and the increasing use of digital tools in classrooms. Yet one question continues to haunt our advancement and progress: Are we...

The nonplussed surprise of human life

There pulsates yet another nonplussed surprise in our blood. This is exactly how Jibananda found the human life in its many wonderous manifestations. Does it correspond to Rabindranath's cosmic communication when he declares: the sky is full of sun and...

The vultures over Gaza are from hell

Vultures, as creatures of nature, have their norms. Even when they are hungry they do not pounce upon the dying. They wait till the body of its next meal becomes still after the last breath has been exhaled. It is...

Geneva to Dhaka: ensuring digital integrity

We are living in an age where the transformation of life from physical world to digital is transitioning through various means such as artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, large language model so on and so forth, in a way which is...