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The deepest parts of our beings cannot be described in words

Maswood Alam Khan from Maryland, USA | 2016-01-28 00:00:00

Hundreds of Bangladeshis immigrate to USA and Canada every year for higher education and money-spinning jobs. But in the process they leave behind them many treasures back home: their parents, their easy lifestyle, and their close-knit family environment. Unfortunately, many...

Stock market: Debate over crisis of confidence

Shamsul Huq Zahid | 2016-01-27 00:00:00

Some big guns are seemingly extremely unhappy about the current stock market situation. There are no earthly reasons to be happy about a market that has been stagnant for more than five years in a row.  But when it comes...

Tk 69.36b fresh project on back of limping one for rural power expansion

Rezaul Karim | 2016-01-27 00:00:00

The government is going to undertake a fresh Tk 69.36-billion project to widen the electricity network in rural areas, on the back of a similar one that has largely failed to perform up to the mark, officials said.      To be...

Defaulters barred from $200m green industry fund of BB

Siddique Islam | 2016-01-27 00:00:00

Banks at default or having excessive non-performing loans are being barred from accessing the US$200-milion Green Transformation Fund (GTF) meant for financing environment-friendly textile and leather industries in Bangladesh. Officials said the central bank is set to issue guidelines shortly...

ADB may fund rail route to Cox\'s Bazar seaside tourist spot

Munima Sultana | 2016-01-27 00:00:00

The Asian Development Bank is likely to finance the construction of Chittagong-Cox's Bazar railway for establishing direct rail link with the tourist haven on the world's longest beach and beyond. A fact-finding mission of the ADB is due to arrive...

Primary education system needs a rethink

Masum Billah | 2016-01-27 00:00:00

Research for Advancement of Complete Education (RACE) conducted a research on the effectiveness of creative system in primary level - problems and the level of understanding of the issue among the students and teachers. The surveyors interviewed 100 teachers and...

Social media and the body politic

Mahtabul Alam Siddique | 2016-01-27 00:00:00

The history of human civilisation is inevitably a history of 'thinking'. The day when man became aware of his thinking aptitude, he discovered an un-trodden domain before him. He got stunned, dumbfounded and excited at his discovery of a novel...

Farm credit disbursement grows by 24pc in H1

Siddique Islam | 2016-01-26 00:00:00

Farm credit disbursement grew by nearly 24 per cent in the first-half (H1) of this fiscal year (FY), 2015-16, following the central bank's continuous persuasion, officials said. Disbursement of agriculture loan rose to Tk 87.56 billion during the July-December period...

NBR likely to reject RMG exporters\' plea

Doulot Akter Mala | 2016-01-26 00:00:00

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is unlikely to accept the local apparel exporters' plea for re-introduction of special tax rate at 10 per cent. Sources concerned said the taxmen would not be able to offer the special tax rate...

Snowzilla - the beauty and cruelty

writes Maswood Alam Khan from Maryland, USA | 2016-01-26 00:00:00

The first time in my life I saw snow falling was on a Friday, a cold December morning of 2010, when I used to live in College Park, Maryland. It was an unforgettable serene experience. It was beautiful, much like...

Determining rural income

Abdul Bayes | 2016-01-26 00:00:00

Income is considered as one of the most important determinants of livelihood in a society.  But it must also be admitted that ignoring distributional issues, increasing per capita income alone does not ensure welfare for all. It is mainly because...

Implications: Conservative world erupting wildly everywhere

writes Imtiaz A. Hussain concluding his three-part series on the Fourth Industrial Revolution | 2016-01-26 00:00:00

Each previous industrial revolution has transformed society, rattled policies, and, while raising the plateau of both expectations and consummation, also sowed the seeds of the next revolution. What does the 4th industrial revolution (IR) entail, particularly for a country far...

The haves and the have-nots: A period of growing discontent

Hasnat Abdul Hye | 2016-01-26 00:00:00

From time immemorial the people of the world have been divided into rich and poor. There is nothing new about this classification according to economic status defined by income and wealth. At first the difference was rooted in the ownership...

Padma Bridge gets yet another foreign consultancy firm

Munima Sultana | 2016-01-25 00:00:00

The government is going to hire another foreign consultancy to look after the management aspect of the Padma Bridge project. Officials said the UK-based firm has qualified as the management-support consultancy (MSC) among three shortlisted bidders. Of the three firms,...

BB seeks info on treasury bonds from banks

Siddique Islam | 2016-01-25 00:00:00

The central bank has sought information on treasury bonds from the commercial banks as the government has planned to buy back its securities from the market this month. Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked the commercial banks to submit the details...

The world is literally drowning in an ocean of oil

writes Maswood Alam Khan from Maryland, USA | 2016-01-25 00:00:00

The history of oil industry is bedecked with booms and busts. Now the history is witnessing its deepest downturn. Companies associated with oil exploration and digging all along have made record profits. Now the same companies are decommissioning most of...

Stemming the rot in the railway

Asjadul Kibria | 2016-01-25 00:00:00

The government is poised to hike railway fare by around 8.0 per cent. This is apparently another move to link the railway with market mechanism. Proposal to hike the rail fair every year is also a part of this move...

The saga of city\'s slums

Neil Ray | 2016-01-25 00:00:00

The old game is on. Fire broke out in a city slum that was set to be raged to the ground by bulldozers the previous day. On that day the slum was saved from the eviction drive by a stay...

Letting the economy be truly shiny

Shamsul Huq Zahid | 2016-01-25 00:00:00

Doing business is considered a difficult job in Bangladesh and a host of factors are held responsible for it. But, if not other areas, trading seems to be the easiest of all business avenues. That is why trading remains at...

Biman and BRTC: Victims of same maladies

Sarwar Md Saifullah Khaled | 2016-01-24 00:00:00

Most of the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) have become losing concerns mainly due to politicisation and corruption. The administrative interference in running their businesses is also responsible for the losses in the SoEs. Biman Bangladesh and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC)...

Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Larry Hatheway in London | 2016-01-24 00:00:00

Technological innovation has long triggered diametrically opposed reactions: awe of new possibilities for some; for others, fear of disruptive change. But most of us don't even realise what is happening. We take change for granted. Human ingenuity is far too...

Monetary policy for sustainable economic growth

Naim Suzon, Saiful Munna and Mamun Joy | 2016-01-24 00:00:00

The central bank has come up with the new Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for the second half of the fiscal year 2016 (MPS H2, FY2016) recently. It is a policy instrument of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) for achieving price stability...

BD begins remaking shipping laws ahead of IMO audit

Syful Islam | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

The government has started updating shipping laws to comply with various conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as the global body will conduct a mandatory audit for the first time in Bangladesh next year, officials said. A project titled...

BB battling rumours

Rezaul Karim | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

The authorities concerned are facing an embarrassing situation following a rumour over exchange of existing circulated coins, sources said. A problem has arisen over transactions of coins across the country. The central bank has received a lot of allegations against...

Move underway to assess cost afresh

Munima Sultana | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

A move is underway to make fresh assessment of the cost of the proposed 172-kilometre new rail track project designed to connect Jessore with Dhaka through the Padma Bridge. An inter-ministerial meeting held on January 10 last decided to conduct...

Many individuals, businesses ignore digital tax identity

Doulot Akter Mala | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

Many business entities and companies in the country shun obtaining eTIN (electronic taxpayer identification number), ultimately resulting in a yawning gap between the potential and the actual receipt of tax revenue.    Officials said such large-scale dodging of digital tax identity...

Stocks snap three-week gaining spell

Babul Barman | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

Stocks witnessed a marginal correction last week that ended Thursday, snapping a three-week gaining spell, as risk-averse investors went for short-term profit booking. Analysts said the market exhibited choppy trading almost throughout the week as most of the investors were...

Maulana Bhashani: The lighthouse of a nation\'s journey to emancipation

Mostafa Jamal Haider | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan  Bhashani returned to Bangladesh from exile on January 22, 1972. It was not a very pleasant and colourful home-coming amid resounding applause. But for a student of contemporary history of Bangladesh politics it was no less...

Paradigm shift for coping with climate change

Sarwar Md Saifullah Khaled | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

Climatic change forms human destiny at large and countries with coastal proximity are in particular destined to pay the most perennially for little fault of their own. Bangladesh is among the most climate vulnerable ones, so its climate cost is...

Importance of insurance in sea-borne trade

ABM Ahsanullah | 2016-01-23 00:00:00

In our ocular vision, we see import and export made on C&F (Clearing & Forwarding), CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) or FOB (Free On Board) basis, that are the core methods of sea-borne trade. The shipping industry is solely responsible...