Yet another bank gets central bank approval

Bangladesh Bank on Sunday gave its seal of approval to the Bengal Commercial Bank Ltd, asking the lender to boost paid-up capital to Tk 5.0 billion within two years.The board of directors of the central bank took the decision at...

Five decades of Bangladesh-Japan economic relations

Today (Monday) is the 48th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan. Since independence in 1971, Bangladesh has consistently maintained good relations with Japan and the people of Bangladesh have a strong affinity towards Japan. Dhaka-Tokyo relations have...

Encroachment of foot overbridge

That footpaths in Dhaka are encroached upon despite occasional eviction drive is nothing new. Nor was it uncommon in recent past to occupy spaces on both sides of foot overbridges at busy points. However, hawkers were evicted from some of...

WTO faces no existential crisis

Contrary to a popular belief, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is not facing any existential crisis. This was proven by the deliberations at the World Economic Forum's 50th annual conference at Davos last week. Nearly 38 countries were present of...

WB could pull out funds, partially

The World Bank is unlikely to release the remaining 40 per cent of the NBR's struggling online VAT project.Of the $60 million pledged fund, the multilateral lending agency has so far provided $36 million for the project.Officials have expressed the...

Sonali, Janata, Agrani likely to go public

The government is pressing ahead with its plan to offload shares of three state-owned commercial banks on the stock exchanges, officials said.The authorities have started primary work on divesting the shares of Sonali, Janata and Agarani banks, aiming to give...

Combating knife crime with tougher sentences

Violent knife crime is making the headlines in the United Kingdom. It seems in recent times that not a day passes without there being some reference in the media to someone being attacked and injured with a knife, and ever...

World's young activists are on the war path

The world's young activists, numbering over 3.8 billion, are on the war path. The rising new socialist movements-which included "Black Lives Matter," "Occupy Wall Street" "Un-Occupy Palestine" and "the #Me Too Movement" triggering women's marches- were aimed at battling racism,...

Escaping the global complexity trap

Modern civilisation has set a trap for itself, as ever more complex technologies are deployed at an accelerating rate. Every second, billions of devices, protocols, ideas, traditions, and people interact around the world. The resulting increase in complexity poses a...

Ships wait at Ctg outer anchorage, other ports

CHATTOGRAM, Feb 07: Coronavirus is affecting the maritime trade in Bangladesh as well as elsewhere in the world. The ships sailing from China are waiting at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port as well as at other ports in the...

Beef up vigilance to check price spike

The government has asked its market monitoring agencies to strengthen vigilance so that businesses cannot hike commodity prices in the name of short supply, triggered by coronavirus epidemic.The ministry of commerce on Friday convened an emergency meeting and gave instructions...

Plan to make biz education mandatory

The government has taken a move to make the business education mandatory in the curriculum of secondary to tertiary levels, aiming to help create an enlightened class of entrepreneurs and manpower, officials said.To this end, a maiden meeting was held...

Stocks in the tank amid low confidence

Stocks kept losing for the two straight weeks that ended on Thursday after the government passed a bill to bring surplus money of state and autonomous agencies to the national exchequer.Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange...

Move taken to ensure smooth services at land offices

The ministry of land has taken an initiative to monitor activities at the land offices at the grassroots level in order to ensure hassle-free and smooth services to the service seekers, officials said. In a circular issued by the ministry...

The fast disappearing fishing carnival

This is the season of fishing carnival. In large parts of plain lands in this country, mass fishing gets going right from Poush and Magh on the Bangla calendar. Once the carnival continued up to Chaitra and Baishakh depending on...

Brazil needs a fresh start: The curse of inequality

"I pray that my family will one day attend fewer funerals and more graduations." These words, spoken by Douglas, a Brazilian from São Gonçalo, resounded in my ears like a gunshot. Douglas's father died in a hail of bullets before...

Making the public libraries vibrant

Visiting a library was by far the most common cultural activity among the Americans in the past year. A survey conducted by Gallup in December last unveiled the fact. It also showed that Americans went to libraries more often than...

Rural credit market and Bangabandhu's dream

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, had the dream to build a 'Sonar Bangla' of a type free from socio-economic and political exploitations. A priori reasoning would suggest that agricultural sector would constitute the linchpin of that...

Cloud services: Prospects and challenges

Over the past few years, technology has advanced tremendously and cloud computing is one of the most significant innovations of information technology (IT) industry, encompassing blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing that provides potential opportunities for government and private...

Why undermine public examinations!

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examinations saw an inauspicious beginning this time. On Monday, the ailments that had long bedevilled public examinations made their round once again in several examination halls all across the country. Question paper leak, faulty or...

Focus on harnessing blue economy’s potential

The proposed marine fisheries act has focused on the blue economy with incorporating a number of issues including mariculture. Its new provision will also empower the government to check illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing vessels, both local and foreign,...

It's all about fund transfer

The bill passed in the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) Wednesday last to bring surplus funds belonging to 61 state and autonomous agencies to state coffers, possibly, carries the longest title ever given to any piece of legislation. The 'Deposition of...

Focusing on FDI for increased external financing

Bangladesh has already set an ambitious goal to turn itself into a developed country by 2041 and a series of plans has been devised to reach the goal. Finalisation of the Eighth Five-Year Plan (8FYP), under the umbrella of the...

EPS of most power cos up in Oct-Dec

Earnings per share (EPS) of most of the listed companies under 'fuel & power' sector showed better performance in October-December, 2019 quarter compared to the same quarter of the previous year.Out of the 19 companies listed in the sector, EPS...

Kolkata-Ctg trial run unlikely soon

Trial runs of vessels between Kolkata and Chattogram ports, meant to tranship cargoes to Indian seven-sister states, are unlikely to be launched soon, officials have said.India has yet to seek permission for this, they added."We have not received any request...

Role of libraries in SDG implementation

Bangladesh observed national library day on Wednesday (February 05). As the library remains unrestricted for all to provide any relevant services, including reading, access to information and research, it is termed a 'University for Public'. Library is basically a living...

The battle for French pension reform

A year after a proposed fuel tax triggered the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protests, France faces another crisis, this time over pension reform. Mass demonstrations have now gone on for more than 50 days, not letting up even for Christmas...

Should all loans come under 6-9pc ceiling?

The government of Bangladesh has taken policy decision to put a cap on lending and deposit rates effective from April 01, 2020. Accordingly, the lending rate offered by scheduled banks should not exceed 9.0 per cent and the deposit rate...

Financialisation increases inequality

Financialisation has worsened inequality through various channels, including macroeconomic policies. For example, quantitative easing (QE) and low, if not negative interest rates have fuelled credit and asset price bubbles, while fiscal spending cuts have adversely affected those depending on government...

Brexit: Historic but also undramatic

On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) left the European Union (EU). We lost a member of our family. It was a sad moment for us, for European citizens - and, indeed, for many British citizens. Nevertheless, we have...