Insights into Nazrul's life and works

It was the time of explosion in British India and anti-British movements were getting in high gear across the sub-continent. Bengal was no exception. As series of events like the Jalianwallah Bag massacre in 1919, Khilafat Movement in 1920 and...

Black money whitening at 15pc tax blocked

Blocked now is the window of opportunity for whitening 'black money' by paying 15-percent tax at a flat rate, following widespread contentions over the scheme.The interim government, which replaced the immediate-past regime following a student-mass uprising, made the decision Thursday...

Attacks on factories & industries unfold a grim spectre

At a time students and people of various walks of life are battling elements to reach flood victims with a single-minded mission of rescuing and providing them with food and other relief goods, there are elements who are setting factories...

Perspectives of state reforms and the pathways

An Interim Government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus was formed on August 8, 2024, following the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina’s government by a student-led popular uprising. Although interim governments are not new in Bangladesh, the current government is different from...

Floods slow down container release in Ctg port

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 28: Release of goods and containers in Chattogram port, the prime seaport of the country, is taking a relatively longer time in the current month due to the ongoing flood situation in Chattogram, Feni and Cumilla districts. Container...

Street must not dictate govt's decisions

Throughout Bangladesh, people are reveling in their newfound freedoms like someone who's been incarcerated in solitary confinement and seen no sunlight or inhaled fresh air for over a decade. They had all but forgotten the freedom of expression, peaceful assembly,...

America 2024: Robert Kennedy's son roots for Trump

It was an eccentric candidacy all along. There was not any meat in it, no policies on offer. Robert F. Kennedy Jr based his drive for the White House on two factors, neither of which helped him in the end....

Bourses have legal scope of choosing independent directors: BSEC

Confusion over the selection of independent directors has been removed as the securities regulator finally found a legal solution.Talking to the FE, officials of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said the exchanges' Board and Administration Regulations, 2013 allows...

ERL going to discard proposal of S Alam Group

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 26: The construction of a second unit of Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) is expected to undergo another review, with a view to rejecting S Alam Group's proposal to partner with ERL on this project. As the ERL authority...

JBC's risk-bearing capacity shrinks amid capital shortfall

State-run Jiban Bima Corporation (JBC) has long been hamstrung by a huge capital shortfall, making it difficult for the entity to carry out operations efficiently, officials said.The capital deficit of the JBC is now Tk 250 million. It has only...

Pollution tax can help promote clean energy transition

With per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of 1.29 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) against the global average of 4.58tCO2e (2019 levels), Bangladesh's contribution to climate change is low. Nonetheless, inefficient and traditional technologies often cause high levels of...

Navigating economic sovereignty of small nations

The relationship between larger influential nations and their smaller neighbouring counterparts has historically involved a careful balance of power and independence. Both economically and politically, larger countries often wield considerable sway over their smaller neighbours, potentially undermining their ability to...

Merchant banks suggest reforming IPO rules for efficient listing

Merchant banks demand a review of the existing public issue rules before much-needed changes to attract good-performing businesses to the capital market.The Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) has already prepared a set of proposals aimed at overcoming barriers to the...

Chaktai, Khatunganj traders bear the brunt of waterlogging in Ctg

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 26: Traders of Khatunganj and Chaktai commodity hubs in the port city have suffered huge losses as their stocks have been damaged by flash flood.Heavy downpour and tidal surge have caused waterlogging at the commercial hubs, damaging essential...

Large makers unwary of complex taxation

Large manufacturers fear complexities of their taxation following a recent clarification of the income tax wing, which instructs paying tax on same transactions by both producers and distributors.The recent Income Tax Circular-2024 has come with the clarification where national distributors,...

BSEC's plan to eavesdrop on stakeholders' conversation awaits MoF nod

Arrangements were all set by the securities regulator under now-sacked Prof Shibli Rubayat to set a virtual booby trap on bourses in cahoots with a state telecommunications agency to gather information about online activities and voice-call records of stock-market investors,...

Inclusive development for an equitable country

Through the war of independence, the people of Bangladesh sought to establish a country free from exploitation and deprivation, where every citizen would enjoy fair treatment and access to basic rights and benefits. It is deeply regrettable that even after...

Forecasting flying rivers

The flash floods that struck the north-eastern and south-eastern districts of Bangladesh on August 20 shocked many and confused others about why those (floods) happened at all at a time when the interim government in the wake of a bloody...

Routes loan sharks chose to devour banks

The number of delinquent borrowers who have ripped the country's private and public banks is unknown. Together, these plunderers have brought the banking industry to its knees. The interim government that assumed power following what many fondly describe as the...

Mass resignation and the way forward

Never before has the country seen mass resignations of this scale. The resignation of the country's ousted premier opened the floodgate of voluntary stepping down by people in high positions of the three organs of the government---the legislative, executive and...

Revolution before us

Neither students nor the masses who joined them in the political upheaval that reached its peak on August 5, could, perhaps, comprehend what they had done. That the entire nation owned August 5 and was ready to defend it at...

Rohingya's fate remains unchanged even after seven years

The Rohingya have faced a continuous process of de-legitimization, systematic persecution, and worsening abuses culminating in genocide. Today is the seventh year of the Myanmar military's genocidal attacks against the Rohingya. The Rohingya diaspora in different countries observe today as...

A new era of natural disasters looming?

Exceptional heavy rains and unprecedented water flows from upstream have inundated large areas of eastern Bangladesh threatening life, causing untold chaos and profound concern, and seemingly heralding what to many may seem like the world is ending. Millions of people...

Resetting economy an uphill task

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's brutal autocratic regime on August 5, thanks to student-people's mass upspring and scarifies of hundreds of lives, the country has entered an unchartered territory. The details of the economic damage done by the ousted...

A big responsibility on interim govt's shoulder

Today I remember the day, Oct. 13, 2006, when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and its founder, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, for pioneering microcredit, lending tiny amounts of loans to help destitute women emerge...

Acceptance of people's sovereignty shows the way

The past month has witnessed the unfolding of momentous events in this part of the world. What was thought to be unchangeable changed with the artificially constructed reality lying shattered. This nation often boasts that few peoples in world history...

Partial opening of Ctg elevated expressway uncertain

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 23: Uncertainty looms about opening of Chattogram elevated expressway following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government.Sources said the construction work on the ramps of the country's largest expressway has come to a halt, so its partial opening...

Sugar refiners seek lower import duties amid global price slump

Local sugar refiners are seeking a switch from the current tariff structure to a specific duty on raw sugar imports, citing a cash crunch amid a falling global sweetener price, according to an official document.The Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association --...

Reviewing cancelled HSC examinations

The interim government has conceded to the student demand for cancellation of examinations in the remaining subjects of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations that had to be postponed earlier on account of the quota movement and anti-discrimination...

The good, bad and evil of social media

Along with its other useful purposes, social media has become a powerful tool of communication through audio, video and print formats. Its potency and power to communicate in these versatile forms are highlighted by the fact that news conveyed takes...