Export of jute stick charcoal fetches Tk 140m from China

Jute 'activated charcoal', a new export item made out of jute sticks, has the potential to help the country attain its export target of US$ 60 billion by 2021 if the sector gets necessary policy supports from the government, according...

Essentials of the Qur\'an for Muslims

Essentials of the Qur'an for Muslims, authored by Barrister Salauddin Ahmed, is yet another seminal publication in the broad spectrum of Islam. In the present book, the author has covered the very essentials of the Qur'an which a Muslim needs...

How Bengalee reformers shaped the educational thoughts of society

'Education' is a social phenomenon as well as an indispensable component of social structure. Since ancient times, education has been considered the main engine for reconstruction of society. As a result, social thinkers and reformers have been emphasising the relation...

Wings of Fire unfolds story of an epic journey

The first anniversary of death of Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, known as the missile man of India, was on Wenesday, July 27, 2015. A career scientist, APJ Abdul Kalam became the 11th president of India. He studied physics and...

Monetary policy and central banks: The growth scenario

Almost dramatically central banks have escalated their role in economic growth and employment generation (poverty reduction) outweighing their pre-occupation with maintaining price stability. Their minor role of promoting growth has now assumed overarching importance. This policy stance became overt in...

Land tariff panel for EZs sees recast

The committee on land-tariff fixation for the economic zones (EZs) will be reconstituted for determining tariffs for the investors at revised rates, where deemed fit. As per instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the fourth governing body meeting of...

Banks can roll in higher forex

The central bank has raised substantially the net open position (NOP) limit for commercial banks to hold higher amounts of foreign exchange. Officials said the measure is meant for keeping the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable. The NOP has...

GDP growth gathers pace, says Citi update

Citi NA has stressed the need for enhancing the quality of workforce and addressing the skill gap to help align the supply side factors with prudent fiscal measures. "To achieve sustainable growth and investment, it is imperative to reap the...

Current trends in global capital markets

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), which represents more than 200 market infrastructure providers including exchanges and CCPs, recently published its H1 2016 Market Highlights.  According to it, cash equity markets experienced a decline of 24.0 per cent in terms...

Civil War in Syria: Exploring US-Russian coordination

In mid-July, US Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir I. Putin and proposed an extensive military cooperation agreement that would, for the first time, coordinate American and Russian air attacks on Islamic State...

Exploring and expanding business in emerging markets

For the last couple of years, Bangladesh is trying to increase its export destinations beyond traditional West Europe and North America. These two regions attract the country's 80 per cent exports while emerging markets have got attention for the last...

The death of OPEC

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is dead. Saudi Arabia killed it. Now, OPEC is just a toothless zombie, attracting attention, but without having any impact on the living. Few have noticed OPEC's demise for a simple reason:...

Bangladesh\'s poultry sector: Are the chickens coming home to roost?

Earlier this year, the local poultry farmers staged a protest in front of a central market in Gaibandha district in northern Bangladesh. They, along with feed traders and dealers, formed a human chain demanding reduction of accessory prices in the...

The costly act of writing-off

The volume of both non-performing and written-off loans has been rising unabatedly in the country's banking sector with the state-owned banks leading the way. There exists a direct relationship between the rise in the volume of non-performing loans (NPLs) and...

BB eyes recovery of entire heist money

The central bank of Bangladesh is expecting to recover the entire amount of US$ 81 million stolen from its account, as the Philippines' central bank is probing the involvement of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in the transactions process. Bangladesh...

JICA chief to talk security on BD visit

President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Dr Shinichi Kitaoka is coming to Dhaka in the first week of next month to assess security measures taken for the Japanese development personnel in Bangladesh. The JICA president's visit is very important...

Muhith sits next week to fix export subsidy rates

The government is set to revise the rates of cash incentive/subsidy on export for several export-oriented sectors, including readymade garment (RMG), for the current fiscal year (FY), officials said. In this regard, Finance Minister A M A Muhith is going...

G20\'s deference irks Japan

China dodged criticism of its economic management at a G20 meeting it hosted on the weekend, even winning plaudits for yuan transparency, much to the frustration of Japanese officials who are calling for more reforms from Beijing. It was a...

Israeli expulsion law \'violates all rules of democracy\'

Israel's parliament, the Knesset, awarded itself a draconian new power last week: A three-quarters majority of its members can now expel an elected politician if they do not like his or her views. According to Adalah, a law centre representing...

Saving scarce water

Nepal C. Dey, Sujit K. Balab and Seiji Hayakawa carried out an excellent economic exercise on wastage of water and the ways to wane it. Published in the Water Policy 8 (2006), the paper produces food for thoughts for those...

Sustaining upward trend of export growth

One of the encouraging features of Bangladesh economy has been a steady growth in its export earnings over the years. In the just concluded 2015-16 financial year, Bangladesh earned US$34.25 billion from exports which is equivalent to about Tk.2739.34 billion...

BD to partner Eurasian Economic Union

Bangladesh is set to tie up with a new economic bloc, led by Russia, aiming to explore untapped export potential in markets of its member-countries, officials said. "We have, in principle, decided to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on...

Cumulative written-off bank loans now Tk 414.37b

Written-off loans continued to rise until March, 2016 as the banks cleaned their balance sheets by reducing default loans, officials said. "The rising trend of written-off loans indicates lack of due diligence while sanctioning credits," a senior official of the...

Rajuk starts eviction drive in residential areas

The authorities of Dhaka city developer snapped on Monday utility services to unauthorised commercial establishments in Uttara to kick-start evection drives in the capital's residential areas amid security concerns. Officials of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), Titas and power departments...

Move to open AHC office in Guwahati

A move has been taken up to open an office of Assistant High Commission (AHC) in Guwahati to facilitate visa process of Indian nationals living in parts of the Seven Sister states. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has already...

PCB subsidiaries get \'breathing\' space

The latest enhancement of paid-up capital by commercial banks for their subsidiaries has given a 'breathing' space and scope of adopting existing business to the banks amid the sluggish trend of capital market, the top officials said. As per the...

Delhi seeks duty waiver on billet export to BD

India has requested Dhaka to allow duty-free export of their non-alloy steel billet to Bangladesh through a reversal of the recently levied regulatory duty and value added tax (VAT) on the item. To back up their desire, the Indian High...

Move to build two rail bridges over Meghna, Gumti rivers

The Bangladesh Railway has taken a move to construct two separate rail bridges over the Meghna and the Meghna-Gumti rivers. The new move was taken as a technical committee has ruled out the possibility of establishing rail-cum-road bridges over the...

Cement industry booming as real estate gets new life

The rising demand of construction and resurgent real estate in recent times has helped the cement sector flourish, insiders have said. The domestic demand for cement has been surging from 5.0 per cent to 8.0 per cent over the last...

Using technology to empower Afghan women

Roya Mahboob knew that she wanted to build a career in technology from the first time she set her eyes on a computer in the only internet cafe in Herat, Afghanistan, when she was 16 years old. In 2010, at...