Of Basmati rice and Dhakai Jamdani

In 1997, a Texan company named RiceTec won a patent on 'Basmati rice lines and grains'.   Basmati rice, very popular worldwide for its fragrant taste, is being produced by Indian farmers over hundreds of years. The rice variety is named...

Risks need to be addressed before disasters strike

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) organised the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan on March 14-18, 2015. Through a marathon round of negotiations, representatives from 187 countries have adopted the Sendai Framework as...

Shocks rural households endure

Rural households move up and down the poverty line in rural Bangladesh mostly on account of natural and man-made shocks they have to encounter. Current literature attributes movement in and out of poverty to prevalence of shocks. Periodic shocks causing...

PMO moves to spur nine PPP projects

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has moved forward to prepare a time-bound action plan for nine public-private partnership (PPP) projects for their quicker and smooth implementation, officials have said. High officials of the PMO will sit with heads of the...

Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere

In September 2015, Heads of State will convene at the General Assembly of the United Nations to agree upon a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The first target of the first SDG proposed by the Open Working Group (OWG)...

Introducing micro-insurance in cattle rearing

Micro-insurance is a new concept where premium is set in such a fashion that the low-income people can afford to pay it and get the benefit of insurance services. But then micro-insurance has been receiving less attention as an inclusive...

The looming shadows of political uncertainty

It seems dark clouds are gathering on the political horizon. People were beginning to see light centring the city corporation elections. But widespread irregularities in the elections, lack of action by the Election Commission and withdrawal of the Bangladesh Nationalist...

2nd Labour Legal Aid Cell to be set up in Ctg soon

The government is going to set up another legal aid cell, dedicated for workers only, within a couple of months aiming to take free legal services to their doorsteps, officials have said. "The second Labour Legal Aid Cell (LLAC) will...

Road conditions likely to aggravate due to fall in budgetary allocation

Budgetary allocation for road infrastructure development work is likely to drop significantly in the upcoming fiscal year. This has made the sector players worried about deterioration of the country's road networks. Sources said only six per cent increase in the...

PCBs are doing better than state-run banks: Moody\\\'s

Bangladesh government needs around Tk 135 billion for recapitalisation of the state-run banks because of their weak financial health, the Moody's has said. The government in the first phase injected Tk 41 billion into the four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs)...

Number of new BO accounts on rise

The number of new beneficiary owner (BO) accounts are on the rising trend in recent months though the secondary market is going through a torrid time. Some 87,782 new BO accounts were opened in the first four months in 2015,...

BCIM Economic Corridor for harmonious South Asia

One of the recent initiatives that warrants heightened attention and importance on the part of all concerned stakeholders in Bangladesh is the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC) which received formal endorsement through the first inter-governmental study group meeting in Kunming held...

Renewable energy: Filling the void

A newspaper report on renewable energy has recently drawn the attention of many who are concerned and many more who are affected. The issue is significant as it concerns the errant power sector of the country, which despite many trials...

Setting cricketing milestones

A score of 628 runs -and that too by the opponent batting second -is not just a mammoth total but also intimidating enough for the side batting in its own second innings. The lead of 296 runs nearly equals the...

Mollycoddling rental plants beyond limit

Experts at a dialogue held in Dhaka under the auspices of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a private think tank, last Saturday sought a thorough review of the current state of public sector subsidy operation: how it is allocated,...

Political tension hits stock prices hard

Stocks fell further last week that ended Thursday, with prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), hitting fresh 18-month low as investors continued selling spree, fearing further fall of stock prices. “Fear of political unrest has cast a dark...

DSE to impose circuit breaker on third trading day

The country’s premier bourse has moved to impose circuit breaker on the third trading day of a newly listed company to contain unusual price hike, officials said. The DSE’s latest move in imposing the circuit breaker on third trading day...

Urbanites drive fitness boom

Commercial fitness outlets are sprouting up in the capital, as students and housewives splurge lavishly to keep them physically fit. The demand for such services has been increasing steadily in the last couple of years, owners of commercial fitness clubs...

Poland: Struggles and triumphs

Whenever one hears of Poland, what is the first thing that comes to the mind? Nicholas Copernicus, Auschwitz, Warsaw Pact, Pope John Paul the II (Wojtyla), Lech Walesa, Kojak or the jaw-breaking Slavonic names of the people and places like...

ILO moves to launch injury insurance for garment sector

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has moved to introduce employment injury insurance scheme in Bangladesh in view of rising number of factory accidents in recent times, officials said. The move came after the deadly Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions...

BTRC steps in to address customers\\\' woes

The telecom regulator has decided to set up a joint taskforce aiming to look into customers' complaints on the telephony services including voice and data across the country, officials said. Bangladesh Telecommu-nication Regulatory Comm-ission (BTRC) has taken the decision at...

Dhaka wants Beijing to give import licence to retailers

The government has worked out a plan to minimise trade gap with China, a senior trade official said. The plan includes persuading China to give import licences to Chinese retailers, issue multiple visas to Bangladeshi businessman and arrange visits of...

China wants direct exchange of RMB with BDT

China wants a direct exchange of its currency Renminbi (RMB) with Bangladesh Taka (BDT) for cross-border transactions between the two countries. "It will be win-win (for both countries)…. By the direct transaction of RMB and your local currency, you will...

Dismantle barriers to trade in rice seeds

NEW DELHI: April 30: Governments of both Bangladesh and India have to work pro-actively to remove different regulatory barriers to rice seeds trade between two countries. Moreover, both the countries should extend cooperation in the area of agriculture by sharing...

Aggregate tax collection target revised downward

The aggregate tax revenue collection target has been revised downward to Tk 1.35 trillion for the current fiscal year, giving emphasis to the collection of direct taxes in the last quarter (April-June). The government was forced to reduce the aggregate...

Ensuring equitable investment in education

"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages." — Article 26, Universal Declaration of Human Rights Education is a powerful instrument to break the cycle of poverty and disadvantage for...

Flawed political culture

Even established democratic systems go through a process of permutation and combination depending on climes and conditions. Although the core issue is representative governance or management of affairs of the state or local bodies or organisations, it is not easy...

Developing employees\\\' multiple skills for sustainable business

Multiple skills are defined as having expertise in more than one skill or task. Multi-skilled employees have different skills, enabling them to do more than one kind of work. Human resource alone can add value more than that of a...

BD economy presents a stable outlook: Moody\\\'s

Bangladesh presents a stable outlook on the economic front but restive politics remains a looming risk to a robust performance, global credit-rating agency Moody's said once more in its latest analysis of the country's situation.       Bangladesh is rated Ba3 with...

A mission with a difference

Maybe police department is the least preferred by the mass when it comes to seeking assistance. General people usually keep themselves at a distant place from the police which are not at all expected. Police are meant to be the...