Marvelous Mustafiz enters world mark

The Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur turned into a fever pitch as wonderboy Mustafizur Rahman completed his six-wicket haul against India to batter the batting lineup of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team on Sunday night. India were bundled out for 200...

DSE, CSE open positive

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in early hour of trading on Monday amid marginal volatility, the second session of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 11.02...

BD cargo vessels dominate India water transit routes

Bangladeshi water vessels are now carrying more transit cargoes than Indian ones through Bangladesh's rivers, as the transit deal between the two neighbours stimulated the trade. Statistics available with Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) revealed the waterway transit and...

No more new pvt EPZ now

The government has decided not to permit any new export-processing zone (EPZ) in the private sector for now. Rather it will allow establishing economic zones (EZs) to promote investment in the country, officials said. A meeting of the board of...

Fresh row over inclusion of CMAs as \\\'professional accountants\\\' in FRA

Fresh row mainly over inclusion of Cost and Management Accountants (CMAs) as 'professional accountants' in the proposed Financial Reporting Act (FRA) has surfaced just before its passage, raising concern about further delay in enacting the law. A parliamentary standing committee...

Launch of nat\\\'l air cargo service thrown into uncertainty!

A government step to introduce a national air cargo service has been hanging in the balance for more than a year due to bureaucratic tangle, officials said. The cargo service was supposed to be launched early in the current fiscal...

Fashion retailers open new stores targeting Eid

Fashion retailers are opening new outlets in the city, pinning hope on sales during the Eid festival, insiders said. Retailers of clothing, footwear, jewelries, cosmetics and kidswear are among the racers to open such stores across the city. Leading retailers...

Export diversification - a key policy objective of LDCs

Enterprises in GVCs (global value chains) add value by providing labour and tangible inputs (e.g., raw materials and semi-finished goods) or intangible inputs (e.g., technologies, knowledge and skills) to the final commercial goods or service.  As commercial entities, they seek...

Obama blames gun lobby \\\'grip\\\' on Congress for lax US gun laws

President Barack Obama blamed public apathy combined with the tight "grip" on Congress of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful U.S. gun lobby, for blocking stricter gun laws. Speaking during an interview recorded on Friday, just two days after...

Personal tax gets regressive for marginal taxpayers

The finance minister in his budget speech wishes to uphold the principle of horizontal equity in taxation among salaried taxpayers of both public and private sectors. He proposes to introduce similarity in calculating taxable income for public sector employees adding...

Banks treading a tightrope

Banks are now going through one of their worst times. Their profitability declined substantially during the last two to three years amidst a passive stance of the country's private sector on fresh investment. Banks' problems compounded further due to an...

Stocks end lower for second day

Stocks ended lower for the second running sessions on Sunday with falling turnover as investors followed cautious stance. It is the first reduced trading session by an hour during holy month of Ramadan. Trading at the DSE and CSE began...

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 Sunday, the first session in Holy Ramadan month. It is also the first trading session with reduced trading hour as...

Govt to take tough action on \\\'artificial\\\' price hike

The prices of some vegetables that shot up on the first day of Ramadan are expected to cool down shortly as the supply is pretty plenty and drive against profiteers underway, government authorities said Saturday. Commerce officials also said the...

Disbursement of industrial loans falls by 28pc in Q3

The disbursement of industrial term loans dropped by more than 28 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of the outgoing fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 mainly due to political turmoil, officials said. The disbursement of industrial term loans came down...

New bus routes adding to traffic anarchy in city

The authorities concerned are allowing new bus routes in Dhaka city overlooking the recommendations made by recent studies carried out by the Dhaka Traffic Coordination Authority (DTCA).  The DTCA study, done in 2013, had suggested bringing down the number of...

Meghna Bank set to make debut in stock mkt operation

Meghna Bank Ltd is set to start its operation in the capital market soon as it has already opened a subsidiary company named 'Meghna Bank Securities', officials said. The officials of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) said the Meghna Bank has...

Plan to make EPZs low-carbon areas

The government has adopted a plan to make all the EPZs across the country green and low-carbon area by setting up solar-power and central effluent treatment plants, a high official said. Under the plan, the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority...

Diversifying value chains for LDCs: The case of Bangladesh—I

Global value chains (GVCs) are a principal means by which international business is presently conducted, and cannot be ignored by policymakers seeking to improve their countries' economic performance. This paper seeks to reveal the nature of GVCs in least developed...

Church Massacre warning bell for all Americans

A white American sat an hour with 15 others, all blacks, in an African-American Church in Charleston, South Carolina and participated in a Bible study group. He then turned his gun and killed instantaneously eight of the participants including the...

Reforms address structural deficiencies in capital markets

Bangladesh has had its share of stock market booms and busts. Following a bull run in 2010, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) crashed in December 2010 and by March 2011 the index had fallen by half from its all-time high,...

ADB lending may overrun target amid growing needs

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) lending for the term of 2016-2018 for Bangladesh may go beyond the indicative US$ 2.68 billion (268 crore) mark for increased fund needs following 'over-programming'. Such forecast is contained in the lender's latest draft aide...

Corporate entities cool about CSR tax rebate

Corporate taxpayers are yet to find the existing tax rebate on their social responsibility activities attractive despite several changes and amendments made to the relevant law over the last five years. None of the corporate taxpayers availed or applied for...

Stocks end flat with high volatility

Stocks ended flat last week that ended Thursday, after remaining down in the previous week, as investors followed cautious stance due to June closing and holy month of Ramadan. The week featured five trading sessions as usual. Of those, the...

Plight of elderly people in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is presently experiencing a demographic shift and the proportion of the population 60 years and older is rapidly increasing. Bangladesh's elderly population is one of the largest in the world in terms of absolute numbers. Currently, older people account...

An evaluation of Modi’s visit to Bangladesh

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh during 6-7 June 2015 with his team. A good number of deals were signed and renewed during his visit which included: 1. Exchange of Instruments of Ratification of 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and...

Creating waves in telecommunications

Mobile is no more a mere tool of communication but also a productivity tool. From serving a basic role of voice calls, SMS and alarm clock, the smart phone today has transformed itself into a companion. It has showcased its...

Of an uncivilised habit and public toilet

The city corporation of Ahmedabad, India has taken an ingenuous step towards encouraging its people to use public toilet instead of responding to nature's short call anywhere of their choice. Usually, one has to pay a very negligible amount for...

Economic specialists for economic ministries

FISCAL BUREAUCRACY: In New Zealand, strong economic specialisation and open recruitment policies within the civil service have produced tax policy bureaucrats identified as economists, had a high level of economic expertise, were very receptive to the neo-liberal ideas from the...

Bangladesh out of Asia university rankings

At a time when the country's education-higher education in particular, has come under the scanner, the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2015 are made public. Not a single higher seat of learning from Bangladesh could make it to the...