RHD, LGED at odds over fixing working area

Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) are once again locked in a row over fixing their working area in connection with a project to establish regional road connectivity between Bangladesh and China through India. LGED...

BB unlikely to recommend SoCBs’ recap

The central bank has decided not to play a role anymore in injecting public money into the cash-strapped four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) to meet their capital shortfalls, officials said. Exasperated with repeated request for recapitalisation of the banks over...

PCBs dominate list of top 10 corporate taxpayers in FY15

Private commercial banks (PCBs) remained notable contributors to government's corporate-tax receipts as six of them were among the top ten payers of income tax last fiscal. Out of the rest four, Grameenphone -- the leading mobile-phone company -- stood on...

Power venture, factory fire weigh Otobi down

An apparent misstep and a mishap like factory fire almost brought a household name in Bangladesh's furniture sector to its knees. Otobi now struggles for survival.           Sources said the well-known furniture brand set its foot in a new field --...

Rural banking for threshold population

In a developing economy, the financial sectors need to be focused on major portion of population to meet the demands of the real sector. The financial system should be flexible and competitive to cope with multiple objectives and demands made...

TPP: Why Hawaii talks failed to reach consensus

The meeting of the 12 trade ministers at Hawaii that ended on August 01 without reaching an agreement to seal a Pacific Rim trade deal by the year end indeed marked a setback for the proposed US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)....

Focusing not on GSP but on building export capacities

The issue of restoring generalised system of preference (GSP), i.e., duty-free access, by the USA to Bangladesh's export has been a much-talked-about subject for quite some time now. Bangladesh was the beneficiary of this preference until June 2013 but only...

Move to improve water security by reducing demand-supply gap

The government is set to create a platform of stakeholders for efficient and coordinate use of water aiming at improving water security through reducing gap between demand and supply, officials said. The body namely Water Multi-Stakeholders Partnership (MSP) will also...

Draft of deal ready on JICA\\\'s bridge funding

Japan is set to fund a project undertaken to upgrade more than 60 bridges in the country's western zone like eastern zone aiming to ensure smooth traffic. A draft loan agreement in this regard was finalised in a meeting with...

Move to make PKB scheduled bank

Authorities of Probashi Kallyan Bank (PKB) want to have it converted into a specialised scheduled bank with a view to expediting collection of its loan instalments, officials have said. Besides, the bank authorities have also taken an initiative to provide...

India this time wants to carry steel, fertiliser

India has again sought transhipment facility at Bangladesh's Ashuganj river port to carry cargoes like fertiliser and steel to its landlocked eastern state of Tripura, pending a permanent transit arrangement, officials said. Earlier, on humanitarian grounds, the neighbouring country had...

Brig. General Jamil - an epitome of courage

In the dawn of August 15, 1975, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made one of his final phone calls to his military secretary Col. Jamil Uddin Ahmad. He had been attacked, Bangabandhu told Col. Jamil, and the residence on Road No....

An overview of newly developed HSC textbook

The newly developed 'English for Today' for classes 11&12 has appeared in the market which has been designed highlighting the National Curriculum 2012. The 205-page book accommodates fifteen units with fifty seven lessons replacing the previous 321-page book accommodating 24...

Violence against children: Where is our conscience?

In Islam, children are regarded as ‘angels’. Their pristine innocence makes them immune to the strictness of adults. But, New Yorkers have recently witnessed a frightful incident – a mother (21) has killed her baby who was only 4 weeks...

Population dividend requires youth investment

Nowadays, almost one quarter of the global population consists of young people in the 10 to 24 age group. Meanwhile, Bangladesh remains eighth with 47.6 million youngsters (30 per cent of its total population) whereas India is ranked highest and...

A tribute to Abdul Kalam

Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam, the 'missile man' and India's 11th president who became popular as 'People's President' took his last breath at 83 on July 27 evening after he suffered a massive cardiac arrest and collapsed during...

Drive against billboards is eyewash

Billboards, flex boards, glow sign boards, neon sign boards, acrylic boards and acrylic led boards are all meant for promotion of products, services and personalities. But the fact is, they are too numerous and at times too large to offer...

\\\'Faulty\\\' tax system raises smokeless tobacco use

Consumption of health-hazardous smokeless tobacco items is gradually increasing in the country despite substantial hike of tax, as producers of these items are somehow escaping from taxmen. Experts said 'faulty' tax collection system is the major reason behind poor collection...

Unrest, weak euro eat into textile makers\\\' margins

Profits in most of the textile companies tumbled in the first-half (January-June) of the year compared to the year-ago period as political turmoil and depreciation of the euro hurt earnings. Of the 41 listed companies in the textile sector that...

Regional group to conduct research on BD\\\'s rural finance

Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) will conduct a research in Bangladesh with a view to evaluating its rural finance, officials said. A team commissioned by APRACA will visit the country to conduct the research on "Bangladesh Rural Finance...

Three state jute mills to undergo BMRE

The government will start repairing three state-run jute mills on its own fund aiming to boost production while reducing incurring losses, officials said. With this end in view, the ministry of textiles and jute (MoTJ) held a meeting recently and...

Exploring the ways of learning

The ability to learn is the most marked trait in human beings. Learning takes place throughout our life, in different ways and in different contexts, beginning when we are in the mothers' wombs. Evidence shows that at least the beginning...

Oil price hike bid disappointing

Oil prices fell in Asian trade on August 10, 2015 extending weeks of losses after a US report stoked expectations of a global glut of supplies, reports AFP. Brent crude for September was trading at $48.25 a barrel after ending...

Reversal in HSC results

People who care for the country's education are unanimous in their verdict that the results of this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations have suffered a serious setback. Since the introduction of the grading system in 2003, it is for...

How important is US GSP?

The issue of US Generalised System of Preference (GSP) is back again to stimulate some more debate. The US government has renewed the scheme, after two years of interval, for almost all countries except for few like Bangladesh and Russia....

Stocks return to red amid low turnover

Stocks closed the week with marginal fall on Thursday with turnover declined slightly as investors remained cautious amid profit taking tendency. The market opened with a positive note, but could not sustain as the session progressed. DSEX, the prime index...

Easy Shopping BD for the fashion oriented men

The online stores in Bangladesh have been contributing in both making life easier and helping our national economy. In this era of internet, they are bringing a wide range of products within the fingertips of their clients. Easy Shopping BD...

DSE, CSE open optimistic

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw upward trend in early hour of trading on Thursday, the last trading session of the week. The country’s premier bourse faced a technical glitch on Wednesday that forced...

Session on investment banking at NSU

People want to become part of the rich lifestyle to be one of those whose lives are defined by full of success stories. The reference here is made to investment bankers - people who thrive in the on-going process of...

HRW for govt steps to ensure security of all

Bangladesh authorities should unequivocally declare their commitment to free speech instead of proposing self-censorship, Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its latest statement said. The killing of secular blogger Niladri Chatterjee Niloy on August 7, 2015, is a harrowing reminder of...