‘Dedicated’ roads needed for smooth transportation

The Minister for the Roads and Highways is frequently seen travelling on different roads and assuring better services. In so doing, he lays emphasis on the necessity of extending roads to four and six lanes. In fact, extension  of highways...

Stocks plunge amid low turnover

Stocks witnessed sharp fall on Monday with turnover falling significantly as budgetary incentives virtually failed to revive investors’ confidence. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dipped 75.43 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at 4,542.27...

4 SAARC ministers to sign motor vehicle transport deal June 15

The Cabinet has approved Motor Vehicles Agreement draft for signing by four South Asian nations – India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan – on June 15. The road transport ministers of the four SAARC states will ink the agreement in Thimpu...

Stocks see volatility at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw negative trend in early hour of trading on Monday amid choppy trading, the second trading session after budget announcement. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, lost 10.69 points...

WB funding for BRT-3 project uncertain

The World Bank funding for a bus rapid transit (BRT) project in the city has become uncertain following the authorities' inability to sort out some problems hitting its implementation. Officials said the BRT line-3 project could not be included in...

Only 22pc of dredging project completed in four years

Only 22 per cent works of a dredging project has been completed in the stipulated five-year period, officials said. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), the implementing agency of the project, is now seeking extension of the tenure by...

$300m WB fund ready for lending to productive sectors

The central bank prepares to start disbursing loans from World Bank's US$300-million scheme approved to facilitate long-term financing, particularly in productive sectors. Bangladesh Bank's disclosure came Sunday following approval for the soft loan under Financial Sector Support Project (FSSP) by...

Move to revamp foreign missions to boost export

The government is going to find ways and means on how to boost export earnings by its missions abroad, officials said. They said necessary initiatives will also be taken to expedite the trade promotion activities and remove the bottlenecks of...

Dhaka: A boiling cauldron

A difference of eight degree Celsius temperature between two places may mean that those may be thousands of kilometres apart. But believe it or not, this is a reality within this country and not at a long distance. Two separate...

Transparency vs. secrecy in budget

That the preparation of the national budget is a serious business has, apparently, been forgotten by the individuals concerned in the relevant government agencies and a section of the media in Bangladesh in recent times. These people tend to be...

Stocks end marginally higher

Stocks closed marginally higher Sunday, the first session after budget announcement, after witnessing correction in the previous session. Finance Minister AMA Muhith Thursday proposed a set of fiscal measures in the upcoming budget for the development of capital market, including...

DSE, CSE open optimistic

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed steep gain in early hour of trading on Sunday, the first session after the announcement of the national budget. Finance Minister AMA Muhith Thursday proposed a set of fiscal...

Concerns as pvt edn getting costlier

Country's private university, medical and engineering education is going to be costlier as the government has proposed imposing tax on the sector in the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2015-2016. Terming the government's proposal to impose such tax a major 'barrier'...

Penalty for non-compliance with provisions toughened

Non-compliance with the provisions of income tax ordinance, including failure to file tax-returns despite having TIN, comes under a set of punitive actions stipulated in the Finance Bill 2015. The Tax authority will have the power to penalise the holders...

TCB turns lame duck for lack of money while traders make hay

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has long been hamstrung by capital shortages that impeded market-intervention activities of the agency, officials said.   Such seeming bankruptcy of the government's trading arm is specially a matter of concern ahead of the holy...

Govt mulls signing FTAs, PTAs to diversify products, markets

The government opts for signing bilateral free-trade area (FTA) and preferential trade area (PTA) agreements as tools to diversify export products and markets since the country is poised to graduate into middle-income status, officials said. Until now, they added, Bangladesh...

Grameen Bank and John Nash

Here is an exercise on Grameen Bank's sustainability through the Game Theory of Nobel laureate mathematician John Nash, who, along with his wife Dr. Daniel Kabet, died in a car accident on May 23 last. In Grameen's context, sustainability refers...

Financing the budget: Harnessing internal resources

Over the last few years Bangladesh has been relying heavily on import duties for its revenue income. Understandably, the development partners had been pressing to reduce dependence on import duties and concentrate more on income tax and VAT for revenue....

Felani: Our girl and other ladies

Admittedly, the first daunting task of an irregular and amateur writer   is to decide on a topic. The topic must be of current interest and must bear relevance especially when it is appearing on the pages of a daily which...

An action agenda for the people and the planet

2015 marks the seventieth anniversary of the United Nations. It is also the year when countries will come together to adopt the next generation of goals for our people and their only home - planet Earth. 2015 will also see...

6 protocols, 13 MoUs signed with India

Bangladesh and Indian governments signed six protocols and agreements along with 13 memoranda of understanding (MoU) on Saturday, the first day of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day official visit in Dhaka. The deals were inked after the first of...

19-gun salute welcomes Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on Saturday morning on his two-day official visit to Bangladesh at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The special Indian Air Force One 'Rajdoot' plane carrying Modi and...

Modi on way to Dhaka

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left Delhi for Dhaka for a two-day official visit on Saturday. A special India Air Force plane 'IAF Rajdoot' carrying the Indian Prime Minister took off the international airport of New Delhi in the morning,...

Stocks extend winning streak for 5th week

Stocks edged higher for the five straight weeks that ended Thursday as investors followed cautious stance about the national budget. Finance Minister AMA Muhith Thursday proposed a set of fiscal measures, including increasing the threshold of tax-free dividend income and...

Savings tools\\\' rate cut defies rationale

The central bank of the country is virtually seeking the ultimate authority to set yield rates of the government savings tools. The rationale behind such a move is, apparently, to ensure stronger supervision of the financial market and contain inflation....

From bilateral to multilateral cooperation

Bangladesh is looking forward to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit with a positive frame of mind. A number of agreements are expected to be signed during his visit. The ratification of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement by Indian parliament...

Corporate governance: Vital aspects and reality

A recent report has assessed that corporate governance practices across the top 150 companies in India have improved but female representation on the boards of companies is still skewed. While provisions like having a whistleblower mechanism have been widely accepted,...

Unrecognised role of housewives and GDP

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a common indicator for economic development, widely used by all countries in the present century. It is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in a country in a fiscal year....

Remembering Mahbubul Alam

June 06, 2014 was a significant day on many levels - some worldwide, some personal. Today's column is about a significant loss of a notable person on that day, which will be forever engrained in my memory. As an old...

Scenario of human trafficking in Bangladesh

Human trafficking is essentially a new term for slave trading. It is the buying and selling of human beings, like the buying and selling of any other product. Victims are either sold by family members to people who want to...