Taka depreciation sparks off row over payment terms

Deprecation of local currency taka against the US dollar has created a row over the mode of payment as mobile-phone operators are now reluctant to pay in terms of the greenback for a new slot of telecommunication spectrum.Bangladesh Telecommunication and...

Final touch underway for inauguration

Preparations to inaugurate the long-awaited Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) have gained momentum, with authorities focused on ensuring seamless operation of toll plazas and smooth traffic flow to facilitate toll collection.The first half of the 19.73-kilometre elevated expressway - the first...

National Tubes' undistributed bonus shares raised more questions than answered

The state-run listed company National Tubes on Sunday transferred 42 per cent of its outstanding shares to the account of Capital Market Stabilisation Fund (CMSF).These shares had been issued in stock dividends and remained undistributed since 2007.The sheer amount of...

The unemployed deserve better

There is full flow of rhetoric in policymakers' speeches when it comes to reaping demographic dividends, particularly when about one-fourth of the population is in the 15-30 age group. But in practice, the youths are the ones who are made...

Rohingya a forgotten community

The Human Rights Watch, the New York-based international non-profit NGO that conducts research and advocacy on human rights published a report recently under the headline, "Future Bleak for Rohingya in Bangladesh, MyanmarNo Justice, Freedom Since 2017 Atrocities." The headline of...

Tax burden to add up, if return deadline missed

Taxes will be imposed on the entire income of a taxpayer without any exclusion, if the return is submitted after the Tax Day, the deadline for return filing.A provision in this connection has been incorporated in the new tax law...

Farm exports ebbing for local, external roadblocks

Over a 27-percent decline in export of agricultural goods in the last fiscal nudged the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) into action and detected 15 hurdles needing a remedy for the sector to perform better through a rebound. An interministerial meeting...

Familytex: A company meant to rip off retail investors

Among the listed companies of the textile sector on the website of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), one will come across Familytex (BD).Except for the company's name and some sporadic financial figures uploaded until 2020, no other information and corporate...

Tariff policy: The balancing act

The government has finally prepared a national tariff policy to boost trade competitiveness and enhance consumer welfare. Titled 'National Tariff Policy 2023', it is the first-ever tariff policy of the country, which is expected to remove the anomalies in the...

Retaining duty benefits until new trade deals focused

Dhaka is seeking continuity of the existing duty benefits on exports until new trade pacts are signed with China, India and Japan ahead of Bangladesh's LDC graduation. Efforts have already got underway to strike free-trade agreements (FTAs) with these important...

Message others can take from Indian moon mission

On Wednesday, August 23 last, India made history by soft-landing its lander Vikram on the moon, its south pole to be precise. When only three countries --- former Soviet Union, the USA and China --- have to their credit the...

High-powered body formed to boost export of RMG inputs

The government has formed a high-powered panel to identify the bottlenecks of the RMG accessories and packaging sector and suggest remedial measures to help increase the export earnings from the sector, sources said.The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has assigned the...

Market constricts scope of meeting 10pc free float target

Walton Hi-Tech Industries offered only 0.97 per cent shares to the public in the process of listing in September 2020. Later on, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) amended the public issue rules, making it mandatory to offload 10...

10 brokers to give clients direct access to trading platform

Ten brokerage firms formed a consortium to install their own order management system (OMS) in January to expedite transactions. They will receive technical support from a Dubai-based IT firm namely SK Advisory FZ LLC. The consortium, Xpert Fintech Ltd signed...

Uniting for Rohingya human rights and sovereignty

On the anniversary of the Rohingya genocide today (August 25), a collective call for justice and recognition of the sovereign rights of the Rohingya people resonates across the globe. This tragic chapter, initiated by the quasi civilian government of Myanmar...

Frauds playing with public health must be made to pay

The scam over supply of bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI), a group of biological agents used for controlling larvae of certain dipterans, has poured cold water on the enthusiasm Mayor Atiqul Islam of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) exuded at...

Consumer rights directorate urges action against top five egg cos

The country's leading poultry corporations persistently fuel volatility in the egg jacking up prices, as indicated by a recent report from the commerce ministry.The report, prepared by the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection (DNCRP), reveals that prominent poultry companies...

Petroleum price hike pays govt high revenues, stokes inflation

Petroleum-price hike pays govt high revenues as value-added tax (VAT) collection from the marketing of petroleum products grew nearly 94 per cent last financial year, which economists believe has backlashes. Five petroleum-marketing companies under the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC)...

Digital banking: Is it a wedge between mobile and traditional banking?

Many listed companies have decided to invest in fully-fledged digital banking operations considering the huge opportunity of generating profits in the era of digital transformation. Banks see it as a way of expanding their virtual services to remotest corners of...

A student’s journey to top US university from NCTB curriculum

"I believe my inspiring background, and my passion for academics - mainly biology and nature - helped me stand out through the admission process," says the Northwestern University Full Ride Scholarship Recipient - as the only South Asian - Naimul...

America's presidential politics ... today and yesterday

Politics in the United States has been getting curiouser and curiouser since 2016, when Hillary Clinton, fully prepared to replace Barack Obama in the White House, unexpectedly lost to Donald Trump. And then Trump, in his inaugural address in January...

Physics, economics, and econophysics: what's the nexus?

Recently I asked a few friends in both America and Bangladesh about their familiarity with the term “econophysics”. I was not disappointed with their answers even though the term in the limelight of both disciplines since the mid-1990s is yet...

NBR initiates public hearings to bridge gap with taxpayers

Tax officials will now hold public hearings in their respective tax zones across the country to bridge the gap with taxpayers and address their problems.Senior Secretary of the Internal Resources Division (IRD) and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu...

ISPs to keep records of users for one year

The telecom regulator has asked all the internet service providers (ISPs) to keep records of use history, system failure, SNMP traffic data and bandwidth utilisation of their individual users as live daily log for at least six months.The ISPs have...

BD to prepare nat'l transit policy

The government is set to prepare a national comprehensive transit policy, giving priority to protecting the country's interests and securing potential gains from regional connectivity, sources said.An inter-ministerial meeting on trade transit and connectivity is scheduled to be held at...

New Covid variant shows up

The ever-evolving Covid-19 virus is learnt to have begotten yet another of its variants called BA.2.86. What makes it different from other existing strains is that it has gone through a large number of (some 36) mutations. And the most...

Govt set to restore tax benefit for bank depositors, exporters

The government is set to reinstate tax benefit for certain corporate bank depositors, exempted from mandatory submission of tax returns, and also for exporters to allow them to enjoy source tax at reduced rates, officials said.Source tax on cash incentives...

Dhaka seeks 6.2m tonnes of import quota from Delhi

Dhaka has submitted a list to New Delhi seeking an annual import quota of around 6.2 million tonnes for seven essential commodities: rice, wheat, onion, sugar, lentils, garlic and ginger, according to sources. The breakdown includes 2.6 million tonnes of...

BTRC again seeks BB's help to get back Tk 254m FDR from Padma Bank

The telecom regulator has once again sought Bangladesh Bank's (BB) intervention to help realise Tk 254 million it deposited with Padma Bank, officials said.Since 2017, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had invested around Tk 380 million as term deposits in...

DSE to tap into potential of green RMG cos for capital market expansion

The Dhaka bourse has made a move to bring green ready-made garment factories into the capital market either through an initial public offering (IPO) or through issuance of bonds. It is set to sign an agreement with the Bangladesh Garment...