Most axle load control machines inoperative

The authorities are yet to make axle load control machines functional. As a result, important roads and highways across the country are being damaged heavily due to plying of overloaded vehicles. The Roads and Highways Department formulated an axle load...

Taxing OMS obstructs food rationing to the poor

Food ministry finds taxing dealers' commission as an obstacle to smooth open market sale (OMS) operation meant for distribution of some essentials at subsidised prices among the poor. The ministry has written to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for...

US-Bangladesh ties in a newer height

US Secretary of State John Kerry was on a nine-hour visit to Dhaka on August 29 to tell Bangladesh that his country wants to share the country's fight against militancy. Both the countries agreed to increase cooperation between their intelligence...

Employment status and well-being of rural households

In rural Bangladesh, a great challenge is to tackle the low pay, poor-quality jobs that are unrecognized and unprotected by law, widespread underemployment, the absence of rights at work, inadequate social protection, and the lack of representative voice. There remains...

Mongla port to waive 50pc store rent of stranded cars

The Mongla Port Authority (MPA) has agreed to give 50 per cent waiver on storage rent charge to vehicles remaining stranded for years because of dispute over customs duty, officials said. Until late August, some 1,696 reconditioned vehicles remained undelivered...

Stocks finish lower for two weeks

Stocks finished slightly lower for the second week in a row that ended Thursday as investors opted for profit-booking on some large-cap stocks ahead of Holy Eid-ul-Azha festival. Analysts said the large-cap stocks were under selling pressure, especially during the...

Tk 1.95b project to boost fruit output

The government has taken up a Tk 1.95-billion project to help boost the production of local varieties of fruits to meet their growing demand, officials said. The main aim of the project is to narrow the gap between supply and...

Sales of refrigerators go up sharply in city markets

Sales of refrigerators have marked a significant rise in different city markets ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Azha, business insiders have said. According to them, the demand for various kinds of refrigerators especially deep and no frost ones has increased two...

Let the planet be safe for children at least

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have long used children in war. One 14-year-old bomber on a bicycle hit the Kabul NATO base in 2012 killing six people. Two years later in 2014 a teenager blew himself up at the French cultural...

The perils of food animal drug abuse

The use of antibiotics in food animals for growth promotion and disease prevention may cause antibiotic resistance in humans and animals, resulting in treatment failure when needed. These problems are also increasing due to the misuse of antibiotics as growth...

The discourse on education in developing countries

A report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) says, "One in four young people in developing countries is unable to read a sentence, which means poor quality education has left a "legacy of illiteracy" more widespread...

When cell phone becomes cause of death

Yet another tragic death from sheer callousness! Is it suicide by default? Incidents of young men and women getting knocked down by trains when they walk on railway tracks as they talk over cell phones oblivious to the danger are...

The impact of capital shortage in banks

Banks' capital shortage has far-reaching impact on our growing financial industry and the country's economy as a whole. Even this will cause severe negative effects in our domestic market and international arena as well. Capital shortage will weaken banks' resilience...

An opportunity for Egypt and the IMF

The Egyptian authorities and International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff have struck a deal. If the IMF Board agrees this month, Egypt will receive a $12 billion loan to support the implementation of economic reforms. The primary objective of the three-year...

Bangladesh poor in innovation

Innovation is increasingly becoming global. The developed or rich countries are much ahead of the developing or poor countries as they make huge investment on education, research, science and technology. Nevertheless, the developing countries have also made some progress. Headed...

Four SoCBs to give Tk 5.65b loans to buy rawhides

Four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) are set to provide around Tk 5.65 billion as loans among tanners to help them purchase rawhides of sacrificial animals during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. Officials of the SoCBs said they will provide such seasonal loans...

PKSF moves to promote income, job generation for rural extreme poor

The Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) has moved to undertake a project aiming to promote income and employment generation opportunities for the extreme poor people in rural Bangladesh, officials said. The Department for International Development (DFID) will provide 75 million GBP...

Waging war on corruption in education Sector

Education is a basic human right and a driver of personal, social and economic development. It is seen as the key to a better future, providing the essential tools that people need to sustain their livelihoods and live with dignity...

Girls\' vulnerability and social inaction

Surya Akhter Risa's budding life has been cut short by her stalker, an employee of a tailoring shop. A student of class VIII, she was too innocent and immature to respond to the advances made by her unwelcome suitor. This...

Spectre of \'Brexit\' stalks America - exiting the global stage?

Great Britain's chances of exiting the European Union were split (about 50:50) on the eve of the country's vote; but once the results started trickling in, not only were the "Remain" bloc routed, but many voters, especially those who did...

John Kerry\'s Dhaka visit

Reports and analyses in the media about the just concluded 9-hour-long visit of the US Secretary of State John Kerry to Dhaka have been written and made largely without proper understanding of why John Kerry came on his trip to...

Passports dept defaults on VAT

The revenue board has asked the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) to pay Tk 5.85 billion in unpaid VAT and penalty for defaulting on tax payment. Officials said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently placed the demand for...

Banks under pressure: NPL is the spoiler

Eight banks in the country have reported capital shortage as of quarter that ended in March of this year, according to media reports. Besides, surplus capital of 48 other banks has sharply declined as total surplus capital accumulated by all...

Labour supply in rural areas

It is very difficult to identify the 'flow' of labour force from statistics on occupational status.  This write-up looks into utilisation of labour as a 'flow'. We have tried to address the following questions: To what extent does a worker...

Postal Bank comes as saviour of postal dept

The postal department has applied for government permission to operate specialised banking mainly to the unbanked rural people, as post-boxes now look to be a thing of the past. Officials said under the nomenclature 'Postal Bank' the outmoded mailing department...

EEF: Infected and in death throes

A well-intended programme, the Equity Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF), of the government is now under threat of being wound up. The default culture that has been troubling the country's banking sector for long is also the main villain here. After 16...

Teesta erosion takes devastating turn in Rangpur

RANGPUR, Aug 30: With the recession of flood water, erosion by the mighty river Teesta has taken a devastating turn rendering at least 200 families homeless at different areas of Kawnia Upazila under the district during last 15 days. Besides,...

Progresses and prospects of palm oil in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the word palm oil is synergic with Malaysia. Regardless of the import sources of palm oil, people of Bangladesh think it is from Malaysia. Such perception has developed among the Bangladeshis mainly because of Malaysia's pioneering role in...

Bretton Woods and after

The Bretton Woods System was a lineal descendent of the gold-exchange standard as envisaged in Genoa. Under Bretton Woods the key currency, now the dollar, was convertible into gold (albeit, now exclusively for official foreign holders), other currencies were convertible...

Odds facing the banking industry

At the moment, there is plenty of idle money in the banks. The growth of deposits is also adding to the problem of plenty. Banks are getting virtually no return from the same. Interests will have to be paid against...