Working towards a closely knit region

Boosting trade and connectivity between Bangladesh and India, especially the people-to-people contact, was at the centre of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last visit to Dhaka. During the visit, both countries were keen to enhance connectivity not just between the...

LDCs\' SDGs: Why NTMs matter

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, also known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially entered into force on January 1, 2016. Designed with 17 broader goals and 169 related targets, it is the collective commitment of the world leaders for...

One Belt and One Road, BCIM and regional connectivity

Chinese President XI Jinping's brain child massive 'One Belt and One Road' (OBOR) initiative which seeks to connect China with Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America to eventually touch about 65 countries with about 70 percent of the world's population....

Protecting journalists: A crying need

His name was MVN Shankar. He was a journalist and used to work for Andhra Prabha, a Telegu newspaper in Andhra Pradesh, India. He was beaten to death by men with iron rods in his own state. The assailants were...

The \'Fat Man Syndrome\'

In medical science, a term called 'Fat Man Syndrome' is used to indicate a particular physical condition of human being when a person eats excessive amount of food but it is not reflected in person's physique as s/he looks apparently...

Demographic dividend: An opportunity to accelerate growth

While listening to a speaker mention demographic dividend I was reminded of my school days more than half a century ago. We were then taught that a major challenge to economic development [of East Pakistan] was its high population growth....

NPL overhang tops agenda

The central bank sits with top executives of nine new private commercial banks today (Monday) to review their overall performance -- with the issue of bad loans topping the agenda. Officials said the Bangladesh Bank (BB) could raise a host...

Muhith moves to remove jute exporters\' woes

Finance Minister AMA Muhith moves to remove problems facing country's raw-jute exporters who fell in deep financial crises for recurrent losses due allegedly to the government's wrong policies, officials said. The minister has asked the secretary of the Bank and...

VAT causes split in businesses

Businesspeople stand divided over the value-added tax (VAT) dispute with small traders sticking to demands. A section of small businesses raised four-point demands, including continuation of the package VAT with its rate cut. Other members of the Federation of Bangladesh...

NBR may freeze SBC\'s bank account for VAT non-payment

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to take stern action against Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) if it fails to pay its outstanding VAT (Value Added Tax) to the tax authority within a month, officials said. The tax authority...

In Remembrance

Today is the first death anniversary of my youngest paternal uncle (chotto kaka) who breathed his last on  November 21, 2015. He is survived by his two sons, two daughters, grandchildren and a host of friends and relatives. With his...

Bottom-up solutions for sustainable development

Innovation through grassroots initiatives is an essential mechanism for organisations to develop bottom-up solution to sustainable development. Solutions should respond to the local needs and represent values and interests of the communities. In contrast to usual scenarios, grassroots innovation seeks...

Humane and innovative microcredit assistance

The origin of micro-credit or micro-finance is in Bangladesh. Micro-credit, contrary to conventional banking practice, does away  with the need for collateral to develop a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. The Grameen Bank (GB) translated...

Universities run without VCs

Complaints against private universities in this country are often raucous on this or that account. Now the public notice issued the other day by the University Gants Commission (UGC) on the illegality of certificates issued by anyone other than the...

The wait continues to be too long

How is the present power supply situation in the country? Of course, it is far better now than any time in the recent past. The improvement, however, has been gradual and quite expensive. The improvement has also been made in...

Banks spread branches fast in rural areas

The branch network of scheduled banks has expanded fast in the rural and unbanked areas of the country, playing a significant role in rural development and economic growth, bankers said. It also helped deepen the financial inclusion by bringing the...

NBR holds tax week from Nov 24 to Nov 30

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will observe a tax week from November 24 to November 30 with the objective of providing services to individual income taxpayers for submitting their tax returns within the deadline. The NBR expects some 1.5...

China invests money into South, Central America, hoping to boost trade

Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing visit to Latin America, which started last Thursday, has once again drawn the world's attention to closer economic ties between China and countries in the region. In recent years, Chinese firms have invested billions of...

Dealing with Puerto Rico\'s debt

Jubilee USA along with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities and the US National Latino Evangelical Coalition, supported the passage of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). We did this in partnership with several...

Overseas employment sector deserves more attention

In 1971, contribution of agriculture, industry and service sectors to Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) was 51.03 per cent, 7.68 per cent and 41.28 per cent respectively. Similarly, it was 31.55 per cent, 20.63 per cent, and 47.81 per cent...

Now that it is Donald Trump, what\'s next?

American President-elect Donald Trump has literally trumped the global mainstream media by getting elected. Political leaders of all hues the world over were also crestfallen. Meanwhile, the same mainstream world media is awash with speculations about what the 'unpredictable' president-elect...

Chinese technology improves Ecuador\'s emergency-reaction capability

Thanks to an emergency warning and monitoring system developed by Chinese companies, Ecuador has significantly improved its capability in dealing with public security risks as well as its reaction speed towards disasters. The ECU911, designed and built by China National...

SoEs\' share divestment hits deadlock

Most state-owned enterprises (SoEs) could not make any appreciable progress in divesting on the stock market despite a government directive for time-bound action, officials said.     They recall that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had set a deadline some six years back...

Ocean survey ship gets going today

The first ocean fisheries research and survey ship of the country will be commissioned today (Saturday) to assess marine resources in the Bay of Bengal, officials said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the commissioning of the ship through a...

Stocks stay positive for 3rd consecutive week

Stocks stayed positive for three consecutive weeks that ended on Thursday with rising turnover value as investors were mostly focused on buying spree driven by earnings declarations. Analysts said the market finished higher primarily driven by corporate earnings declarations coupled...

Banding together in anti-tobacco battle

While reflecting upon the game changing successes in the field of tobacco control on the sidelines of the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK, Dr Tara Singh Bam, Regional Adviser for Tobacco Control at the International...

Into the era of Trumpism

Last week Donald J Trump, the 70-year-old real estate magnet and former TV reality show personality, won the US presidential election against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton after securing more than 270 electoral votes necessary for a victory. However, his election...

Home delivery of medicine

Home delivery service is getting its ground gradually. In this capital, the traditional home delivery is milk by 'goalas' (men who depend on milching cows for their livelihoods). Fishmongers are the next to take order for occasional delivery of fish...

Admission in public universities

Admission to public universities appears to be a tough battle faced by students. The admission process is becoming increasingly difficult. On one hand, the cost of admission forms, that is, pre-admission cost has been soaring over the years and the...

Need for skill development

In this world, survival and day-to-day income become impossible for a huge number of educated people. In developing country like Bangladesh only education and pass marks sometimes cannot bring daily bread to many families.  Skill is a vital driving force...