Nobel gold medals, diplomas end up on auction block

No need to make peace in the Middle East, resolve one of science's great mysteries or pen a masterpiece: the easiest way to get yourself a Nobel prize may be to buy one. In the 114 years since the Nobel...

For many families in Portugal, economic crisis has not ended

She used to be a hairdresser with a mortgage on a spacious apartment in Porto, Portugal's second-largest city and the birthplace of port wine. Now Ana Paula, 48, and her husband Belmiro Silva are out of work, and they are...

SDGs need sustainable delivery mechanisms

Though not uttered pointedly, what the world leaders declared from New York is a manifesto for resettling the human race in a global village with a shared destiny. The dreamland would be devoid of poverty and hunger, inequality and environmental...

Nairobi calling: WTO to deliver

The year, 2015, is quite a busy year for the global leaders. They, along with their respective teams, have already spent huge time and energy for attending and contributing to a series of important international conferences. The summits or conferences...

Five held in Rangpur over Konio murder

Police on Saturday arrested five persons from different areas of Rangpur city and Kawnia upazila over the murder of a Japanese national at Alutari in Kawnia upazila. Masked assailants gunned down Hoshi Konio, 66, at Alutari village, five kilometres off...

Review of charge for pvt oil importers gets going

The government has initiated the process of rationalising the service charge for private importers on their import of furnace oil following the fall in prices of petroleum products in the global markets, officials have said. An eight-member committee has been...

City’s bus operating system needs major reforms: Study

A study has recommended bringing about major reforms of the existing bus operating system in the city for getting benefit from investment of billions of taka in the mass transit system. Traffic experts say minimum investment of Tk 500 billion...

India slightly relaxes jute import conditions

India has slightly softened conditions recently imposed on import of jute and jute goods from Bangladesh as the latter has repeatedly expressed its concern over the issue, officials have said. A new notice has exempted jute importers from collecting no...

NBR decides to recheck top taxpayers\\\' financials

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has intensified audit activities for a recheck of the financial statements submitted by top taxpayers, both corporate and individual, against the backdrop of its target failure.     Officials said the select taxpayers have been divided...

Stocks end flat with choppy trading

Stocks closed flat last week that ended Thursday with thin participation of investors. They were cautious ahead of third-quarterly earnings declaration. Analysts said the market participation remained poor as the investors are yet to shake off holiday mood, the first...

Oral language assessment in Bangladeshi secondary schools

Assessment plays a very significant role in the development of students' English language. In Bangladesh, there is a big gap between the curriculum guidelines and that of assessment practices in the schools. This is why most students fail to achieve...

Banning exam system for admission in medical colleges

It is a shame for the doctors of Bangladesh that Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) force arrested seven members, out of them three are government doctors and rest of them teachers in Rangpur, over medical admission test question paper leak. "Total...

In praise of Eid hangover

There is nothing wrong with Eid hangover. After all, people passing hectic and stressful life full of anxieties in the cities or towns want to avoid the same routine as long as they can. They know there is no respite...

Internet: Enabler of sustainable development

Internet is an amazing technological innovation that has revolutionised the entire range of economic, social and personal interactions. Internet merges notable features of traditional media like broadcasting and telecommunications. Internet has removed the barriers to information access and communication in...

Why are people reluctant about paying income taxes?

Out of 160 million people of the country, only 1.1 million pay income tax. This is shameful and unbelievable, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith at a seminar held in Dhaka recently. It is true that Bangladesh has one of the...

Reclaiming lands from the Bay

Bangladesh has drawn up a plan to reclaim land from the Bay of Bengal. The government wants to relocate and even rehabilitate thousands of people who have lost their homes due to extreme weather, erosion and a rise in sea...

Grey area of fish production

The Bangalees live on fish and rice -was once the tagline. That was the time when fish were in abundant supply. Even the poorest could manage fish for their meals with little effort from water bodies all around. However, with...

Govt to brief donors on six thematic areas

The government is set to brief the country's development partners on six thematic areas centering Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision-2021 at a meeting of the Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF), slated for November 15-16, officials said.    The thematic areas are...

Banks’ Aug interest rate spread falls

Overall interest rate spread in the country's banking sector fell slightly further in August as the commercial banks are slashing their lending rates to attract clients, particularly corporate ones, bankers said. The weighted average spread between lending and deposit rates...

Oral language assessment in Bangladesh

Assessment plays a very significant role in the development of students' English language. In Bangladesh, there is a big gap between the curriculum guidelines and that of assessment practices in the schools. This is why most students fail to achieve...

Revamping the tourism sector

Tourism is going to herald a new era of enhanced economic activities throughout the world.  The world will witness movement of more than one billion tourists at the end of this year, 2015. By the year 2030, it will touch...

The BIG-B and One Belt One Road Initiative

The initiatives of BIG-B (The Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt) led by Japan and the BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) economic corridor officially classified as closely related to the 'One Belt and One Road' ( OBOR) initiative of China are slowly emerging...

A great game across prosaic Bay of Bengal

The Brahmatputra-Gangetic delta is not the Central Asia of the 19th Century, when rivalry between Great Britain and Tsarist Russia prompted Halford John Mackinder's Heartland thesis: that whichever country controlled East Europe controlled the Eurasian "heartland", the "world islands" of...

Stocks edge up with low turnover

Stocks returned to the green zone on Thursday with falling turnover as the investors followed cautious stance. The market opened higher, but mid-session witnessed downturn. However, late hour buying helped to close marginally higher. DSEX, the prime index of the...

DSE, CSE open higher

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed upward trend in early hour of trading on Thursday with marginal volatility, the last trading day of the week. After first 30 minutes of the day’s trading, DSEX,...

Japanese experts suggest building another metro rail

Japanese consultants have recommended that the government should start the process of building another line of the metro rail on the east-west communications corridor in the capital, officials said. The city has no direct east-west transport link and it is...

BB buys $560m from banks last month

The central bank purchased more than US$560 million from banks in September to help keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable before and after the Eid-ul-Azha festival, officials said. "We've bought more US currency from the banks directly in...

Knowledge to be shared in festive mood

The ensuing 5th Capital Market Fair, to be arranged by Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) will help broaden the financial literacy among the investors. "CSE realises the significance of financial literacy.The fair is part of our enduring efforts to create awareness...

Revival of Maritime Silk Road on the cards

China was well-connected with its immediate neighbours as well as Europe, Middle East and Africa through the Silk Road for centuries. There were two components of the Silk Road- Overland Silk Road (OSR) and Maritime Silk Road (MSR). The former...

Second episode of CreADive is going national

CreADive, an inter-university business communication and advertisement making competition organised by Bangladesh University of Professional's Communications Club (BUPCC), is expanding across Bangladesh for its second incarnation. The mega event is being supported by Sena Kalyan Sangstha and Trust Bank Limited....