Behula Lakshindar’s Bride Chamber in Bogura still enchants visitors

BOGURA, Sept 08: Behula Lakshindar's Bride Chamber or Gokul Medh at the village Gokul, 11 kilometres off Bogura town, still appears to be an archeological site of great importance to the visitors, with the mysterious hallmarks it has borne ever...

Robert Mugabe leaves a mixed legacy

Former Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe, who died last week, aged 95, leaves a mixed and divisive legacy. Mugabe - the oldest African leader when he was removed from power in November 2017 - died of an undisclosed illness in a...

Investors, why looking at board meetings?

Firms do not last without performing, especially during times of market volatility, uncertainty and in rapidly changing business environments. For investors this becomes a key thinking point, since to succeed in this business every penny needs careful and calculated investing.But...

Highway toll collection

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed the authorities concerned to introduce a system of highway toll collection. Under the system long haul vehicles will have to pay taxes for use of a national highway. Vehicles owners, drivers, passengers and the...

Shining artificially in a dull market

The saying that every cloud has a silver lining does not seem to be true for the Bangladesh stock market. For nearly nine years since the collapse of the market in 2010, the market has never been truly buoyant. Some...

Combating illiteracy: Achieving sustainable development

Literacy is a fundamental right of all. It contributes to one's empowerment and development as well as socio-economic advancement of a nation. Since 1967, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has been observing International Literacy Day (ILD)...

Taxmen, auditors cross swords over authority

The tax collector and the auditing watchdog are at loggerheads over the authority to audit taxpayers' documents filed in revenue offices.Tax officials said the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of Bangladesh is empowered to audit government documents,...

Govt to decide fate of two foreign fishing vessels today

The government sits today (Sunday) to take a decision on two foreign fishing vessels that illegally entered into the country's maritime territory, officials said."We are holding a meeting of government departments concerned tomorrow (Sunday)," joint secretary (Blue-Economy) of the ministry...

Productivity of local species of fishes to be enhanced

The government is set to take a project involving Tk 500 million for the development of Kaptai Lake, officials said.As part of the move, the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) started the process of the project to increase the productivity...

UN summit meetings: Multilateralism at a crossroads

The United Nations will be hosting six high-level plenary meetings - unprecedented even by its own standards - on the occasion of the 74th session of the General Assembly in late September.The meetings are being viewed primarily as an attempt...

MF-CIB to check micro loan applications, charge fees

From now on, loan applications of the country's micro borrowers will be examined by the Microfinance Credit Information Bureau (MF-CIB), according to the entity's draft guideline. The MF-CIB may also charge fees for the service from the country's non-government organisations...

Exports to India set to hit bumps after onsite inspection criterion

Neighbouring India wants to inspect Bangladeshi factories before it imports goods under a regional free trade deal in what local exporters see it as a non-tariff barrier.With Bangladesh's exports to India exceeding US$1.0 billion, New Delhi has attempted to impose...

Panic sell-offs drag index lower

With a series of negative factors at play, worried investors continued to dump shares to ward off further losses, pushing the benchmark equities index lower for the second consecutive week that ended on Thursday. Week on week, DSEX, the prime...

Move underway to introduce lower denominated bonds for NRBs

The government has recently taken a move to introduce lower denominated bonds for Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to help diversify fixed income tools. People familiar with the matter at the Ministry of Finance told the FE on Thursday that the existing...

Rohingya and public health problems

Rohingya refugees are from Myanmar and now living at two officially registered refugee camps in Bangladesh. For decades, the Rohingya have experienced ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar. The majority have escaped to Bangladesh. According to the UN refugee agency...

Two seas and an ocean pay tribute to Kanyakumari

On arrival at Kanyakumari we took full rest for the day. After the hectic journey, this was overdue. Our plan is to spend a few days here. So, we could afford the luxury of visiting sights at leisure. Next morning...

Decline and change in book reading habit

Is the habit of reading books gradually declining in the country? The answer is simply 'yes'. It also needs an elaboration which means identifying the reasons behind decline in the habit. This requires detailed analysis with comprehensive data or statistics....

Vision 2041: Institution matters

Strong political leadership of the incumbent prime minister together with relative socio-political calm has helped Bangladesh achieve a decade-long average economic growth rate of 7.0 per cent. The country has meantime not only crossed the Lower Middle-Income (LMI) threshold in...

They call it multistakeholderism: Where does that leave the UN?

Global governance is slipping away from the United Nations. Whether it is in managing the Internet, where the UN's governing structure offers only an advisory role for governments; or climate change, where the most exciting actions are now corporate-led partnerships...

Govt starts working on agro processing industry dev policy

The government has started to prepare an agro processing industry development policy considering the existing exports potential of the sector, officials said. With this end in view, the Ministry of Industries (MoI) has started to work for preparing a draft...

Schools remain inundated for months every year

SYLHET, Sept 05: Students of at least 150 schools in Sunamganj suffer extremely every monsoon for the inundation problem.It happened this year too affecting the academic activities and causing much harm to the institutions as well. Many school buildings remained...

Addressing inequalities and ensuring social justice

Inequality is one of the key challenges of our time. Numerous studies conclude that in 2015 almost half of all household wealth was owned by 1 per cent of the global population (Crédit Suisse, 2015) and that the sixty-two richest...

It's all about high cost and durability

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday approved a couple of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) projects that aims at prolonging the life of the country's major national highways. One project...

Many perils of migration

On August 26 last, 109 women who went to Saudi Arabia as domestic help returned home. Actually they were compelled to return. In the past eight months about 800 such domestic workers have come back from Saudi Arabia alone. Last...

Central banking's bankrupt narrative

Former US Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers and Anna Stansbury recently cast doubt on the future of central banking, suggesting that the prevailing monetary-policy framework is in dire need of a rethink. I agree, and have been calling...

Chittagong port to be made most modern: Khalid

CHATTOGRAM, Sept 04: Chittagong Port is the lifeline of the economy of Bangladesh, said State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury. He said the government is further developing the country's prime sea port with the aim to make one of...

IMF pushes for enforcement of regulations

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has emphasised strict enforcement of regulations to ensure stability of the financial sector in Bangladesh.It also recommended that the policymakers take effective measures to further improve the financial system if the country wants to reach...

Youths learn from stock market simulation challenge

The grand finale of Optimity 2019, an investment and portfolio management content, took place in North South University on August 29.Organised by North South University Finance Club, this month-long competition brought out impressive performances from undergraduate students countrywide-- helping them...

Sharing private data for public good

After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, the direct-mail marketing company Valassis shared its database with emergency agencies and volunteers to help improve aid delivery. In Santiago, Chile, analysts from Universidad del Desarrollo, ISI Foundation, UNICEF, and the GovLab...

Strengthening integrity in public administration

The executive branch of the state is mainly run by a public administration apparatus comprising civil officers and employees, who implement the policies and programmes of the government. In effect, it plans, organises, directs, coordinates and controls administrative activities and...