Setting sight on GI reg for Roshmalai

‘Roshmalai’ is the first thing that pops up in the mind of every Bangladeshi sweets lover upon hearing the name of Comilla. This is one of the most popular sweets items known for its mouth-watering taste across the country. This...

Gone are the days of fairytale

Gone are the days of fairytale with the wind of technology transformation. Today, children experience fairytale firsthand. Incredible things happen or appear on the screen of smart phone or computer monitor. And this is with the slightest touch of the...

Stocks rebound as pre-Eid sale pressure down

Stocks posted a marginal gain last week that ended Thursday, after a single-week break, as investors took position on sector-specific large-cap stocks.Dealers said the market closed positive amid increased turnover as optimistic investors showed their buying appetite on sector-wise stocks...

Tk 9.0b health surcharge from tobacco cos remains utilised

Health development surcharge worth Tk 9.0 billion remained unutilised during the last three fiscal years due to lack of a specific guideline to spend the amount.The Value Added Tax (VAT) wing under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected the...

Axing and including Mominul was not cricket

The Australian cricket team has finally arrived to play a Two-Test series in Bangladesh. The visit was postponed earlier because the Australians felt the security situation in the country was questionable despite protests to the contrary by the Bangladesh Cricket...

Reducing non-performing loans

Mounting non-performing loans (NPL) harm not only the banking sector but also the national economy as a whole. The authorities fail to recover the loan money from businessmen, many of whom are wilful defaulters. Banks too cannot convert savings into...

Fading glory of fisheries

Despite making firm strides, the fishery sector is still an underperforming sector, not only because it is performing below potential, but more so because the current production pattern has robbed us of the century-old taste and flavour of local varieties....

WB offers job-focused credit

The World Bank has held out a development policy credit (DPC) to help create more, better and inclusive jobs in Bangladesh as employment generation slows, officials said. After discussion with Finance Minister AMA Muhith the multilateral lending agency forwarded a...

Concerns grow as Padma main bridge design not yet final

The main challenge currently facing the Padma bridge project is building the main bridge without adequate and proper studies, experts said.In the absence of detailed geotechnical, hydraulic and other related studies, they said, the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project office has...

Biman to borrow $516.34m to make ‘delivery payment’

Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BBA) will borrow US$ 516.34 million to make final payment against the delivery of four passenger aircraft as part of its move to rebuild its fleet, officials said.The national flag carrier has already made pre-delivery payment (PDP)...

Civilians increasingly bearing burden of armed conflicts in Arab region

The war in Syria has now entered its 6th year and is becoming the world's worst man-made disaster.The humanitarian calamity in Syria has affected millions of lives; more than half of Syria's pre-war population has been forced to flee, including...

The development issue of the 21st century

During the second half of the 20th century, the developing world has seen noteworthy economic development. One of the key contributors to international development has been urbanisation. Urbanisation can be defined as the process, by which towns and cities transform...

Govt set to cut interest rate by 1.5pc

The government is set to reduce the rate of interest from existing 7.5 per cent to 6.0 per cent on the loans disbursed under the capital market refinancing scheme, officials said. It has taken the move to ensure full utilisation...

Dhaka, Delhi to hold trial run soon to launch express courier service

Bangladesh and India will soon hold a dual trial run to introduce express courier service by road to facilitate carrying important documents and product samples of export-oriented industry, officials said.Presently, these documents and samples are being carried by air. As...

Costs of arsenic contamination

At this time, there is no shortage of water per se in southern Bangladesh. But pure drinking water is acutely short in supply. A few positive reactions in response to this writer's recent article published in this column on water...

Uber grabs popularity faster, but yet to satisfy many users

The riders and driver-partners of Uber, an international on-demand ride-sharing company, marked a two-fold increase in Bangladesh in over eight months period due to making available their services to the passengers in Dhaka and elsewhere.Launched in Dhaka on November 22...

'Last chance' for merchant banks, brokerage cos

Merchant banks and brokerage firms have been offered 'last chance' to come out of the problem of negative equity calculated in margin accounts within timeframe extended till December, 2018. The officials of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Sunday...

In time of a depressing Autumn

Saturday morning made the first impression of what is known as the Autumn in its unalloyed brightness. After unremitting rains for days and weeks together, the pleasant change in weather was quite uplifting too. It was more so for people...

Diversifying export basket, destinations

The country's exports recorded a lacklustre growth, only 1.35 per cent, the lowest in one and a half decades, in the last fiscal year (2016-17). The main reason for poor performance was the nominal growth in the export of the...

Building a future that includes everyone

It is our belief that work is the foundation for people and societies to grow. With a decent income, work can pave the way for broader social and economic advancement, strengthening individuals, their families and communities.Yet technology, demography, climate change...

Banks run Tk 61.92 billion provisioning shortfall in H1

Overall shortfall in provision against both classified and unclassified loans in the country's banking system swelled over 13 per cent or by Tk 7.22 billion in the first half (H1) of this calendar year.By official count the provisioning shortfalls rose...

The Sub-continent 70 years after Partition

Gopal Kirshna Gokhale had stated that "Jinnah had true stuff in him and that freedom from all sectarian prejudice which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim prejudice." Sarojini Naidu thought the same about him and even Jawaharlal Nehru...

The lost lesson of the Financial Crisis

Ten years ago this month, the French bank BNP Paribas decided to limit investors' access to the money they had deposited in three funds. It was the first loud signal of the financial stress that would, a year later, send...

World support gives momentum to free Western Sahara movement

When Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco in 1975, it had been under Spanish control for nearly a century. But Spain's grip on the territory had weakened in the dying days of Francisco Franco's dictatorship. And rather than allowing a...

Pricing hides and skins this year

The government is expected to fix prices of hides and skins soon like last year. The Ministry of Commerce will hold a meeting with the stakeholders. But it remains to be seen as to whether fair prices of hides and...

Achieving universal healthcare goal

The adage 'health is wealth' or Amartya Sen's seminal remark 'good health is an end in itself' possibly points to human development as a key to economic growth. The relation between health and standard of living or long life is...

Monetary policy for July-December, 2017

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) recently rolled out its monetary policy for July-December, 2017 period and which set policies that support the government's efforts to rein in inflation and foster economic growth. But the policy statement as well as the deliberations...

Knowledge transfer: A must imperative

There were two types of classmates we had to interact with in our school days. One type was very liberal in distributing their knowledge among their classmates. They enjoyed helping lagging classmates with their homework and often helped an eager...

Falling interest rates leave no bearing on apartment sales

The reduced rates of interest on housing loans have hardly made any impact on sales of flats as around 10,000 apartments still remain unsold, according to realtors. Many members of the apex body Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh...

Mongla port authority to follow UNESCO advice

The Mongla Port Authority (MPA) will dredge the outer bar of the channel of the Pashur river to facilitate movement of vessels with higher draft.The dredging will take place as per the recommendation of the UNESCO that asked the MPA...