Scientific view of fasting

About 2 billion Muslims in different countries including Bangladesh across the globe are observing fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, in this month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. Ramadan is one of the most...

Banking sector in freefall

Bangladesh is on the brink of a full-scale banking crisis, exacerbated by economic stagnation and political upheaval following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina regime. At the heart of this crisis lies a banking sector plagued by skyrocketing non-performing loans...

Govt withdraws fixed freight rates for Pangaon ICT route

The government has withdrawn fixed freight rates on the Chittagong-Pangaon- Chittagong route, aiming to enhance container transportation by waterways and avoid carrying cargoes through congested highways and railways.The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) issued a notification in this regard last week.According...

Some 172 incomplete projects declared 'completed'

Government agencies declared 172 incomplete projects as 'completed' in the last fiscal year, in sheer waste of public money, as per official findings made in the changed situation. Roads and Highways Department, for an example, failed to spend a single...

Overspeeding continues despite raising speed limit to 80 kmph

Overspeeding on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) is yet to come under control despite cases filed over speed limit violations. In a recent move the speed limit has been raised to 80 kilometres per hour on the city's first expressway.The...

BEXIMCO Sukuk investors worry over cash injected in Shariah-compliant bonds

The shutdown of textile units of BEXIMCO has worried Sukuk investors as it injected about 30 per cent of the proceeds of Shariah-compliant bonds in the textile division. BEXIMCO, a flagship listed company of Beximco Group, is the first private...

Shilpakala DG’s resignation

The resignation of Syed Jamil Ahmed, Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, has opened up a Pandora's box. An acclaimed theatre personality and academic, Syed Jamil was the right choice for leading the country's highest organisation nurturing its art and...

Battle against market manipulators

Egg, milk, chicken, beef, mutton and vegetables including potato, aubergine are most in demand especially in the holy month of Ramadan. But as is the usual practice with the traders of the essential commodities in Bangladesh, they invariably raise the...

Abolish zero-rated duties, avoid midway fiscal changes

An exhaustive package of dos framed by an expert panel asks the government to abolish zero-rated duty and all concessionary rates and the practice of making midterm changes in duties to maximize state revenue.The 552-page report of the 12-member taskforce...

Young marketers unite in a global showdown

North South University's Marketing and International Business Club (MIBC) successfully wrapped up Turkish Airlines Presents MarXcellence 2025, powered by AMA Coffee and driven by Garibook recently. Team NSU MIBC organised the event with much care for society broadly; this event...

Enhancing transparency in public procurement

A sound public procurement system that prevents corruption through enhanced transparency and accountability, if ever implemented substantively and meaningfully, can bring multifarious benefits. It can remedy the problem of corruption in the public procurement process. It can maximise value for...

On obligatory charities in Ramadan

As the holy month of Ramadan starts on Sunday in Bangladesh, there will be a surge in charity as part of the observance of the month by the Muslims. Besides the various forms of voluntary charities to support underprivileged people,...

Irrespective of dawn or dusk, celebrating life at its best matters

Dawn and dusk are times apparently opposite to each other. Dawn breaks forth before sunrise and dusk sets in before evening. Both are transitory periods that act as the meeting points of two different phases of the 24-hour circle of...

Payra terminal cost rises to Tk 54.28b

Construction cost of the Payra Sea-Port terminal and associated facilities has increased significantly due to delay in project implementation, currency depreciation, and pandemic-induced disruptions.The total project cost is now expected to rise by approximately Tk14.46 billion, officials confirmed.During the Covid-19...

On-time supply of imported essentials to market mandatory

A set of recommendations by the home ministry asks for making it mandatory for traders to supply imported essential commodities to the market on time from their stocks to thwart market volatility.Officials say conducting regular monitoring of corporate businesses, hoarders...

No end in sight to BR's lingering manpower crisis

The long-standing manpower shortage that Bangladesh Railway (BR) is suffering from is unlikely to be resolved soon due to procedural complexities and a lack of visionary steps. The recruitments of around 40,000 employees were approved more than three years ago....

How to keep your workers happy in Ramadan

Ramadan is a month of restraint, self-purification, and worship for Muslims. However, it also presents a significant challenge for industrial establishments in ensuring the well-being of workers and maintaining a healthy work environment. Fasting for long hours affects workers' physical...

Prices of essentials rise in Ctg ahead of Ramadan

CHATTOGRAM, Feb 28: The prices of essential commodities have marked a rise in the port city ahead of Ramadan.As retailers are hiking prices, the market monitoring teams are being active just ahead of Ramadan.But, consumers alleged that the prices of...

Making SSNPs beneficial to the poor

In an environment marked by high incidence of corruption, largely initiated and promoted by the immediate past corrupt regime, the Social Safety Net Programmes (SSNPs) introduced to the benefits of the poor could not remain immune to the all-pervading pilferage...

DPP gets nod next month, says CPA

CHATTOGRAM, Feb 27: The development project proposal (DPP) of the Bay Terminal, a game changer that can potentially revitalise economy, is expected to get the green light by mid-March.Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) chairman Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman has said this...

BB aims to raise Tk 30b to finance rural dev project

The auction for the fifth Sukuk bonds will be held at the central bank on March 12, aiming to raise Tk 30 billion for financing smooth implementation of a rural development project.The decision was taken at a Shariah Advisory Committee...

Proposal sent back, seeking foreign aid suggested

The Planning Commission has sent back the Rural Employment and Road Maintenance Programme-4 proposal, a Tk 20.99 billion initiative to provide financial assistance for women by engaging them in rural road repairs in all unions across the country.Instead of implementing...

Economy passing thru critical juncture: ICAB president

The country's economy is passing through a critical juncture, struggling with both long-standing structural problems and emerging issues, Maria Howlader FCA, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), has said. "Though exports and remittances have shown improvements...

Equal opportunity in education can address social disparity

The country's educational institutions from primary to college level are set to go for a long vacation on the occasion of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, the Independence Day, summer vacation and observance of a few other religious events. All government and private...

Reshaping Private University Act 2010 for a brighter future of higher studies

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world," Nelson Mandela once said, underlining the redemptive power of education in reshaping societies and advancing human progress. In Bangladesh, the growing demand for higher education, coupled...

Shedding lights on parliamentary debates in Bangladesh

Journalist Amin Al Rasheed, an expert in Bangladeshi politics and parliamentary systems, presents his research-based book, titled Bangladesher Sangsadiyo Bitorko: Jatiyotabad, BAKSAL, Rastrodhormo o Onnanno (Parliamentary Debates of Bangladesh: Nationalism, BAKSAL, State Religion, and Others), at the Amar Ekushey Book...

Revisiting the tumultuous 1960s

For the generation which came of age in the 1960s, the times were interesting, indeed riveting. It is a thought which has been re-emphasised by the American historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her work, ‘An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal...

Beximco seeks Tk 4.0b lifeline

The debt-ridden Beximco Group has sought government assistance to sustain operations through cash credit (CC) of Tk 1.0 billion per month, rather than shutting down the factories under its textile division by settling the Tk 5.5-6.0 billion outstanding employee payments....

Banks see NPLs make quantum leap to Tk3.45t

Classified loans in Bangladesh's banking sector keep rising fast with the cumulative volume having made a quantum leap by over Tk 2.0 trillion year on year till last December, official statics show.With such leaps in the volume of non-performing loans...

Dhaka-Ctg highway to be upgraded to 10 lanes

CHATTOGRAM, Feb 26: The Dhaka-Chattogram four-lane highway will be upgraded to a 10-lane road for smooth traffic.Meanwhile, the government has revised a plan to upgrade the highway to a 10-lane one at a cost of Tk 732 billion.Earlier, they had...