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...

India's Seven Sisters: Making a win-win connectivity deal

Seven north-eastern states of India -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur?, Meghalaya?, Mizoram?, Nagaland? and Tripura -- share an international border of 5,182 kilometres with neighbouring countries. Thus, India has 1,395 kilometres of border with Tibet, China, in the north, 1,640...

Women have low share in quality, gainful jobs

One of the most striking labour market trends in Bangladesh has been the transformative rise of women in workforce. Over the last 20 years, the participation of woman in the labour force has increased from 24 percent to 36 percent...

BB to focus on mobilising low-cost funds

The central bank is likely to ask two state-owned specialised banks to take effective measures for mobilising low-cost funds alongside high-cost ones to generate operational profits.The two banks-Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) -- are expected...

Number of foreign taxpayers static

The number of foreign taxpayers has remained the same during the last three years, despite the government's efforts to trace the illegal aliens.The National Board of Revenue, or NBR, has devised fiscal policies, conducted physical inspection and formed taskforces in...

Overcoming the challenge of quality culture

Quality refers to a set of characteristics of a product or service that defines its ability to consistently meet or exceed customer expectation at an affordable cost -- for the benefit both of the customer and the organisation.As per International...

ASEAN partnership getting bigger

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stole the limelight at the 35th Summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Both of them emphasised that ASEAN members should speak with "one voice"...

Socialist agenda in British and US election campaigns

For the first time, socialist programmes have figured prominently in election campaigns of America and Britain almost simultaneously, in recent weeks. The snap election called by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will take place on 12 December, giving candidates barely...

Fine-tuning the exchange rate

THE big picture: Bangladesh has maintained a phenomenal economic growth leading to a quantum jump of its GDP from $102.50 billion in 2009 to an estimated $317.47 billion in 2019 coinciding with the tenure of the present government. It translates...

Has employment growth through labour-intensive industrialisation become history?

Despite steady economic growth for about two decades and an acceleration in growth in recent years, the economy of Bangladesh still exhibits characteristics of dual economies, viz., the existence of a traditional segment where there is surplus labour and of...

Promise and potential perils of 4th Industrial Revolution

The world stands on the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, different from thre previous three. It talks about exponential changes due to adoption of cyber-physical systems, and Internet of things and systems. This revolution is expected to impact all...

Role of disruptive technology in preventing violent extremism

For many Bangladeshis, the spectre of terrorism appeared to be a remote phenomenon until it hit close to home, with the Holey Artisan Bakery (HAB) Attack of July 2016. It was the first instance of a large-scale, highly coordinated and...

Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and randomised controlled trials

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for 2019 went to three development economists - Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer - for their contribution to spreading use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to understand poverty in developing countries. In...

Geo-economics and economic security

The concept of national security was mostly developed in the US after the World War II. Its initial focus on military might now encompasses a broad range of issues such as economic security, energy security, environment security and non-traditional security...

The Chinese Miracle

Seventy years ago, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was facing difficulty in even feeding its huge population following her emergence in 1949 under the Communist Party leadership led by Mao Zedong. Her main products at that time were minerals,...

Reducing gender gap in financial inclusion

Anowara Begum, 35, is an employee of the local government in her rural community. She occasionally uses Mobile Financial Services (MFS) to send money to her relatives. However, she relies on her teenage son for MFS transactions. Although Anowara understands...

On choosing the right PhD programme

Over the course of our professional academic careers, we have had the opportunity to evaluate two streams of academicians and researchers with PhDs. One stream obtained their PhD under a "course-based" system, while the other stream is based on a...

Dismantling barriers to investment

The recent improvement of Bangladesh's doing business ranking in the World Bank (WB) index is, certainly, positive news for the country's investors. Bangladesh has progressed eight notches up. It would give a green signal to the potential investors. The country's...

Can Bangladesh be complacent?

Bangladesh has received considerable praise from the international community for its commendable success in accelerating growth of gross domestic product (GDP). However, development is a multi-dimensional concept. It encompasses, in addition to GDP growth, equitable income distribution, poverty alleviation, human...

The new anti-capitalism

We are currently living through the most dramatic technological and economic transformation in the history of mankind. We are also witnessing declining support for capitalism around the world. Are these two trends connected, and if so, how?It is tempting to...

NBR amends electronic seal and lock rules

National Board of Revenue (NBR) has amended the 'electronic seal and lock rules' to widen its coverage for transportation of export-import goods at all customs houses.With the amendments, the rules will be applicable for all containers, cargoes, covered vans, trucks,...

China's top co to help develop BD's financial market base

Kingdom Technology, a leading financial technology provider in China, showed keen interest to develop Bangladesh's financial market infrastructures in collaboration with local firms. "We like to enter Bangladesh very soon for providing technological support for financial sectors like capital market...

Cry for coordination to sensitise public

Some agencies are making people aware of the Road Transport Act (RTA) now in force, but two city corporations and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) are still in inertia.For a lack of coordination, sources said, Rajuk and the city authorities look...

Addiction to video game

China is the first country to have slapped a ban on online video game in order to check children's and youngsters' rising addiction to this particular type of entertainment. More than 14 per cent of the 33 million children under...

Hike in cost of production

The listed local cement manufacturing companies performed mixed for the fiscal year 2019 as the 'profit margin' of the industry declined.The manufacturers said the profit margin dropped mainly because of the hike in cost of production.Of five local cement companies,...

The first book illustrating life and works of Muhammad (s.)

Sirat Rasul Allah (s) The first detailed biography of the Great ProphetAuthor: Muhammad Ibn IshaqTranslation: Alfred Guillaume(From Arabic to English) Translation: Shahid Akhand(From English to Bengali) Cover: Masuk HelalPublisher: Prothoma, Dhaka (2017) Page: 732 Price: Tk 1500 Thousands of biographies...

Rampant tax evasion in ports

The anti-graft watchdog has advocated cent per cent physical verification of containerised goods amid rampant tax evasion in top seaports, officials said.But multiple consignees said such one-to-one inspection would impact goods movement to and from Bangladesh as doing the job...