Capital flight through foreign trips

The phenomenon that luxuries bought and brought from foreign countries has recently become a craze for the Bangladesh people, is nothing new. It was always there. To display gaudy style is always a psychological impulse and a propensity.However, it has...

Mind the learning gap

Despite frequent calls for action to provide universal primary education and eliminate gender disparities, few developing countries have made much progress toward these goals. For example, although South Asia made substantial progress toward achieving gender parity during the era of...

BB moves to cut dollar's spread at customer level

The central bank has started a process to reduce the spread between selling and buying rates of the US dollar at the customer level to the benefit of exporters and remitters, officials said.As part of the move, 10 leading commercial...

Customs see import cost, retail price mismatch

The customs have found a gross mismatch between the assessed import value and the ruling market prices of onion.The average price of a kilogram of onion currently stands at Tk 30 as per the customs-assessed value, but the item was...

The fall of the Berlin Wall and social democracy

It was already clear 30 years ago that the fall of the Berlin Wall would change everything. But precisely what that change will mean for world politics in the twenty-first century still remains to be seen.By 1989, the Soviet Union,...

For the love of birds

If rapacious, brutal and even sadistic instincts are witnessing unrelenting prolificacy in this country, small groups are starting to make a bold statement that violence and the anti-life are not all. It is because of this, someone in this heartless...

Inevitability of farm mechanisation

The transformation of the country's agricultural sector, in terms of its mechanisation, has been slow but steady. There is no denying that the mechanisation of Bangladesh agriculture is yet to achieve the level seen in most developed and a number...

Onion maintains its top flight

Onion prices were hovering on Saturday around the high level they reached, denting the consumers' hopes for a turnaround.The local variety of onion was selling at Tk 250-260 a kg and the imported varieties (Egypt and China) at Tk 230-...

Earnings of many textile cos down

The EPS (earnings per share) of majority number of listed textile companies declined while some eight others incurred loss in the last fiscal year (FY) compared to previous FY.On the other hand, some 10 companies were downgraded to `Z' category...

Will artificial intelligence help resolve the food crisis?

When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a global appeal for "zero hunger" on World Food Day last month, he provided some grim statistics rich in irony: more than 820 million people do not have enough to eat, he said, while...

Onion battle takes to air routes

Some large importers of the country have been engaged in the battle against the runaway onion price as the fight has taken to the air route.For the first time in the country, the importers are procuring the spice item by...

Seasonal use of arable land

Bangladesh celebrates its self-sufficiency in food grain production. This owes to a noticeable transformation in the seasonal land utilisation pattern. The aus season – spanning from March to August – seemingly lost its historic importance as a provider of food...

BB steps up forex support to banks

The central bank has scaled up its foreign currency support to the commercial banks to help settle their import payment obligations, particularly for oil, officials said.The Bangladesh Bank, or BB, sold US$73 million to the banks during the last three...

Weak earning disclosures affect stock prices

Stocks backed to the red again in the outgoing week that ended on Thursday as risk-averse investors dumped their holdings amid 'poor' earning disclosures.Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 61.55 points or...

Cleaner production in environmental compliance

In the recent years, environmental worries have revolved us in maintaining environmental compliance issues in many organizations as required by the global environmental regulatory authorities. Environmental Compliance designates following to environmental laws, regulations, standards, or any other requirements as per...

Is Thorium an alternative to Uranium as fuel?

The weak radioactive metal Thorium (Th) in nature was discovered in 1828 by the Swedish chemist Jens Berzelius. The new element was named after Thor, the god of thunder in Scandinavian countries. Thorium is present in a small amount in...

The Sunderbans turns out to be saviour

Bangladesh's indebtedness to the Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove, cannot be measured in terms of commercial values -which are quite huge -alone. That it stands guard against ferocious natural calamities like cyclonic storms, tidal bores, some of which could be...

Containing noisy, rowdy night parities

Winter is approaching fast and so the season of celebration. Wedding party is the biggest family and social festival to take place during the winter in this country. Other social parties to celebrate a number of occasions also pace up...

Economics and well-being of retiring in Bangladesh

Retirement decision falls in the study of behavioural economics, which like behavioural finance, combines "insights about psychology, economics and people's judgment and decision-making to generate a more accurate understanding of human behaviour". Consequently, retirement decision is often deemed as more...

Govt adopts new strategy to curb money laundering

The government has adopted a new strategy to combat trade-based money laundering and illicit financial outflow from the country with the incorporation of a few stringent provisions into it, officials said.It has been included in the 'National Strategy for Preventing...

BB asks state banks to ramp up recovery

The central bank has asked four state-owned commercial banks, or SoCBs, to gear up the recovery drive, keeping in mind top 20 defaulters.The instruction was given at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters in the capital on Thursday...

BSFIC sends SOS for Tk 12.70b fund

The Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) has sent a distress signal to the government, seeking immediate sanction of Tk 12.70 billion to save the state-owned sugar mills.The corporation sought the fund as subsidy to cover for losses incurred...

Gender issue in development work

Gender issue is considered a critical element in achieving decent work for all women and men, in order to effect social and institutional changes that lead to sustainable development with equity and growth. It is a way of looking at...

The numbers shrouded in mystery

The number of foreign workers, legal or otherwise, in Bangladesh has been more of a mystery than anything else. None of the relevant government agencies does know their actual number notwithstanding the fact that some policymakers have on occasions expressed...

Modernising railway for safe and smooth journey

Tuesday's train accident -- worst of its kind in a decade in this country -- at Mandobag in Kasba under Brahmanbaria has raised more questions about the railway service than can be answered. The popularly held belief that train journeys...

LDC trade trails far behind SDGs' target

Almost one-fourth of the time span for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has already elapsed. The United Nations (UN) adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, popularly known as SDGs, in September 2015. Pledging that 'no one will be left...

Train accidents kill 111 in six yrs

Some 12 train accidents took place on the loops of railway tracks in the country in last six years, but none of them caused death except Wednesday's crash. The latest accident which killed at least 16 people occurred on the...

Disrupting climate change through innovation

Because it poses an existential threat to humanity, climate change represents the bad kind of disruption. But it can - and must - be fought with the good kind of disruption: innovation. Since the Industrial Revolution, disruptive innovation has generated...

Enhancing quality of education

Bangladesh has made some visible progress in its education sector. Whereas, many developing countries are finding it difficult to address gender gap in education, Bangladesh has already achieved gender parity at primary and secondary levels.According to official figures, girls account...

Explosion in diabetes prevalence feared

Introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organisation in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threats from diabetes, World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The day engages millions...