Cyclone Komen: 6 killed, 6 missing in 4 dists

At least six people were killed and six others went missing as strong wind and heavy rains have been sweeping four districts under the influence of cyclone ‘Komen’ since early Thursday. Met office says cyclonic storm 'Komen' over Northeast Bay...

Stocks edge up amid choppy trading

Stocks edged marginally higher amid choppy trading on Thursday, after previous day’s marginal fall, as investors went for late hours moderate buying. The market moved between positive and negative territory initially, but moderate buying in the last hour helped the...

DSE, CSE down at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw downward trend in early hour of trading on Thursday, the last trading sessions of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 13.62 points...

Tigers batting: Tamim Steyn\\\'s 400th wicket

Bangladesh’s opening batsman Tamim Iqbal became South Africa’s bowler DW Steyn’s 400th scalp in Test cricket on Thursday. Bangladesh were 18 for one wickets in 7 overs against the visitors in their second and final Test at Mirpur in Dhaka....

How to write notes that you actually can remember

While turning the pages of your notebook, does your brain reply with a blank feedback? Research shows that human brain tends to lose almost 40% any new information within the first 24 hours of reading or hearing it. However, you...

Govt moves to export arms, ammunitions

The government has started groundwork to begin export of arms, ammunition and explosives as the country produces a plentiful number of the items over domestic demand, officials said. The Ministry of Defence recently sought to know from the Ministry of...

Four-nation meet in Dhaka in Sept to finalise MVA

Four South Asian countries will meet in Dhaka in September next to finalise draft protocols on motor vehicles agreement (MVA) signed in June by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN), officials said. The two-day joint secretary-level meeting beginning on September...

BB unveils H1 monetary policy today

The central bank is set to unveil its monetary policy for the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year (2015-16) today (Thursday), officials said. Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman is expected to announce the monetary policy statement...

Challenges and opportunities of growing forex reserves

In fiscal Year 2014/15 (FY15), Bangladesh's foreign exchange (forex) reserves crossed the US$25 billion mark, setting a new record for the emerging South Asian nation. With current level of reserves, Bangladesh will be able to afford seven months of imports....

Erosion by river Ghaghot renders over 60 families homeless

RANGPUR, July 29: Erosion by the river Ghaghot rendered over 60 families homeless at Monglakuti Ujanpara area at Koikuri union under Pirgachha upazila in the district during last one week. Due to erosion crop fields, vegetable gardens and other farmlands...

Lifting the extreme poor out of poverty trap

Since the inception of microcredit in Bangladesh, a criticism was often been made in academic circles that the microfinance programmes had possibly benefited the poor but the extreme poor (consuming less than 1,800 calorie/person/day) were been left in the lurch....

Monetary & exchange rate management options

A large foreign currency reserve is likely to improve the credit rating of the country as the likelihood of repayment is greatly increased. This has a knock-on effect on the country's external borrowing costs as both sovereign and private interest...

Stocks return to red amid low turnover

Stocks returned to the red on Wednesday after previous day’s marginal gain with falling turnover as investors followed cautious stance. The market opened with a downturn and the negative trend sustained throughout the session. DSEX, the prime index of the...

DSE, CSE down at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw downward trend in early hour of trading on Wednesday, the fourth session of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 8.02 points or...

Tk 20b project taken up to modernise Mongla port

Mongla seaport is being modernised under a Tk 20 billion (2,000 crore) project to turn it into Bangladesh's second shipping hub to handle an increased volume of domestic and transit cargoes. Officials said the Mongla Port Authority (MPA) has taken...

Government borrows cheaper as yields on treasury-bonds fall

The interest rate on Bangladesh Government Treasury Bonds (BGTB) slumped Tuesday as commercial banks rushed to stake their huge liquidity on auctions of the secure tools. Treasury officials said the yield, generally known as coupon interest rate, of the 15-year...

When news headlines speak otherwise

Headlines of a number of news reports concerning banking sector developments, published during the last couple of days, appeared very much linked, of course, accidentally. Most national dailies last Monday carried reports on the Financial Stability Report (FSR) that had...

Fresh move on to offload govt power cos’ shares

The government has initiated a fresh move to mobilise fund from the capital market through offloading shares of the state-run power entities to finance power sector development projects, officials said. Under the move, a high-powered committee, comprising of representatives from...

BPO loses ground to pvt card operators

The postal cash card has become a dead horse as stiff competition from private operators and slow decision-making have hit sales, sources said. Data available with the Bangladesh Post Office (BPO), showed that both sales of cards and total income...

The manning of ships and repatriation of seafarers

There was a time when trade used to be conducted by sailing ships. There was no question of marine pollution as marine technology was primitive. The loss of ships and lives occurred frequently - accepted as the peril of sea...

Creating productive employment for everyone

During the past few decades, Bangladesh has made notable progress in both economic and social fields. On the one hand, there has been continuity in economic growth, and on the other, the country can boast of its achievements in social...

Stocks return to green

Stocks returned to green on Tuesday after two sessions’ marginal correction as investors went for buying spree on large-cap stocks amid optimism. The market opened with an upward note and the upturn sustained throughout the session. DSEX, the prime index...

DSE, CSE open optimistic

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw upward trend in early hour of trading on Tuesday, the third sessions of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 26.23 points or...

NBR to earn Tk 22b less than original estimates

The last-minute amendments made to two major tax proposals in the national budget is likely to deprive the government of revenue estimated at Tk 22 billion during the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16. Tax at source (TAS) on export bill and...

New gen PCBs not being able to open \\\'credit line arrangements\\\' for LC confirmation

The new generation private commercial banks (PCBs) are not being able to open 'credit line arrangements' for LC confirmation because of non-cooperation from the foreign commercial banks (FCBs). "Our export-import and other non-funded businesses are being affected as we cannot...

Philips pressing ahead with expansion into Bangladesh

Dutch electronics giant Philips said it will expand its business into Bangladesh by launching new products focused on personal health. The new product portfolio of the Bangladesh arm of Philips, a subsidiary of the Netherland-based Royal Philips, include kitchen appliances,...

Bad time for public sector jute mills

Bad time for the country's jute industry has staged a comeback after some years to haunt the nation. Historically, jute has been a vital sector for the country's economy. It remains so even today, maintains the chairman of the Bangladesh...

Looking beyond the lower middle-income bracket

Bangladesh has made big strides in the economic field over the last few decades. More importantly, it maintained a steady growth of over 6.0 per cent per annum. Not many countries in the world could register an economic growth at...

Cabinet okays draft of Ship Recycling Law-2015

The Cabinet on Monday approved in principle the draft of the ‘Bangladesh Ship Recycling Act-2015’, subject to the vetting of the Law Ministry. The approval came from the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime...

Stocks see mild correction for 2nd day

Stocks saw mild correction for the second consecutive sessions on Monday, with turnover falling further, as investors continued to book profit. The market opened with a downward trend and the downturn sustained throughout the session amid choppy trading. DSEX, the...