ACC organogram with 2,200 manpower almost ready

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has almost finalised its draft organogram consisting of the strength of around 2,200, more than double the current workforce. If the ACC gets the organogram approved by the government, there will be 70 per cent increase...

Bangladesh Fund yet to receive significant public subscription

Bangladesh Fund, a special Purpose Open-end Growth Fund launched with an initial size of Tk 50 billion, observed insignificant public subscription over the last three years due mainly to legal complexities faced by NRBs. Bangladesh Fund was floated by state-run...

How distant is South Asian economic integration?

South Asia as a region is fairly late to embrace the notion of regional economic integration which was highlighted in the later half of the 1980s. Notably, it took almost a decade after the establishment of the South Asian Association...

Pvt EZ developers offered incentives

The government has decided to offer a full-range incentive package for developers of private economic zones (EZs), including tax holiday facility for 10 years, tax exemption from dividend income, and income tax waiver on service charges. The incentive package has...

A fresh move made to build Bangladesh-Myanmar road

A fresh move has been made to build the long- dreamt Bangladesh-Myanmar friendship road after the neighbouring country agreed in principle to explore the possibility of routing the continental highway through Bandarban area, official sources said. The trans-border communications route...

Telecom operators seek lower taxes, relaxed licencing

Telecom operators have made a set of proposals for inclusion in the proposed National Telecom Policy (NTP)-2015, sources said. The proposals include ones that suggest reduction of taxes, relaxation of licencing and fix a few regulatory issues. The operators have...

BB finances likely to jack up milk output

The Bangladesh Bank looks to launch a refinance scheme worth Tk 2.0 billion to help narrow the gap between demand and production of milk, officials said. The move has been taken to widen loan facility to milk and milk food...

Stocks fall for two weeks in a row

Stocks tumbled for two consecutive weeks with key index of the prime bourse hitting almost nine-month low as panicky investors released their holdings fearing further fall. While the political situation was relatively calm, the investors remained cautious. "Fears over impact...

Imru\\\'u al-Quais - A pre-Islamic Arab poet

Ameru' al-Qays or Imru'u al-Quais Ibn Hujr Al-Kindi, was a celebrated pre-Islamic Arabian poet of the sixth century, circa 501-544 CE and the author of one of Al-Mu'allaqat or "Suspended Ode", an anthology of Arabic literature attributed to seven famous...

Quality of dormitory foods leaves much to be desired

Students who have to go through the experience of hostel life in Bangladesh almost without exception complain against foods. And they surely have valid reasons for this. School and college hostels in rural areas in most cases provide better foods...

Containing corruption

People often wonder about the ways out of the widespread corruption in Bangladesh society. They often argue for strict law and order enforcement. But this kind of argument invites another problem. It concerns the enforcement of strict law and order...

Govt to keep inflation rate at 6.2pc, targets 7pc GDP growth

The government is likely to keep the inflation rate at 6.2 per cent for the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2015-16. It may set the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) at over 7.0 per cent. The inflation target has been...

Undisclosed income allowed for buildings, flats, not land

The revenue board, in a clarification, has made it clear that undisclosed money can be invested only in buying residential buildings and apartments without facing any queries from taxmen, but not in purchase of land. The special tax treatment on...

Film industry sinks into atrophy as it yields to tech

The glamour world of heroes and heroines appears to be getting into the twilight as the state-backed film corporation runs up cumulative losses in an outmoded movie business. Officials said the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation-nicknamed Dhallywood in the fashion of...

Businesses licking their lips to haul Tk100b from halkhata

Country's business community expects a collection of Tk 100 billion from halkhata, as Pahela Baishakh holds out promises of growing economic returns. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) appeared upbeat about such a turnover from the...

Keeping capitalism with a new face

There is no doubt that capitalism will continue to be a driving force for the future global economy. And it is actually too early to think that socialism will revive in the near future to challenge capitalism. Stimulated by these...

Crash of a training flight

Training flights are normally conducted by a licensed flying school. After a student passes a medical test, as laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and vetted by the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB), he/she goes through ground...

Demise of cinema industry

Closure of cinema halls one after another over the past one and a half decades is indication enough that this once popular entertainment industry is in a moribund state. Movie theatres are pulling down the shutters because running them is...

Trade and knowledge sharing in HYV rice seeds

The signing of a protocol on high yielding varieties (HYV) of rice seeds on October 18, 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal, by the agriculture secretaries of Bangladesh, India and Nepal is a much awaited event. It opens up the scope and...

US jittery over China\\\'s attempt to play major league at IMF

Having failed to prevent its close allies from joining the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), Washington is now trying to spoil Beijing's attempt to enlist its currency yuan (also known as RMB) in the IMF's basket of SDR...

NBFIs barred from waiving principal amount of loans

The central bank has issued a fresh guideline imposing restriction on waiving the principal amount of loans by the non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), officials said. Under the guidelines, the NBFIs are not allowed to waive the principal amount of loans...

Cash-strapped SoBs to get Tk 34b recapitalisation

Five cash-strapped banks are likely to get nearly Tk 34 billion from the government coffer to meet their capital shortfall, officials said. The badly-off state-owned banks (SoBs) are reportedly experiencing difficulties in running their day-to-day operation and foreign trade properly...

Govt to create fund to develop human resources

The government will create National Human Resources Development Fund (NHRDF) to produce more skilled manpower to help achieve Vision 2021, a high official said. "We are going to create NHRDF this year," additional secretary of Ministry of Finance (MoF) Jalal...

Most price controlled drugs unavailable in market

People are deprived of benefits from the government’s drug price control as most of these medicines are unavailable in the market. According to chemist and druggist sources, maximum 30 per cent of 153 price controlled items are being manufactured now....

Tourism village in Cox\\\'s Bazar under PPP model under way

The government has taken an initiative to develop an entertainment and tourism village replacing its old Shaibal Hotel under a public-private partnership model for making the country's Cox's Bazar city more attractive to tourists from home and abroad. The PPP...

ICT entrepreneurs coy about EEF credit

Entrepreneurs from the information and communications technology (ICT) sector remain cool about getting financial support from the Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF). Only 20 per cent applicants qualified for the EEF financial support for the ICT sector against more than...

Muhith sits with telecom regulator bosses, NBR, operators today

Finance Minister AMA Muhith will sit with top executives of the telecom regulator, revenue board and operators today (Thursday) to discuss the long-standing disputes over payment of SIM replacement tax. The ministry of finance has convened the meeting as mobile...

Acing the GMAT

You have finally decided that IBA of Dhaka University is not enough for you and you are going to Harvard for your MBA. But when you started your application for Harvard, you get stuck on a single word: GMAT! Yes,...

Pharmacist: A noble healthcare professional

Being a health care provider brings an added responsibility to your shoulder that every pharmacist would realise. Invention of new drug molecules, advanced drug delivery systems, ensuring quality medications to a patient, all these magnanimous duties primarily belong to pharmacists...

Launch disaster: Will it ever stop?

It seems to be an endless trail. It is the same story all over again rewritten with blood and tears. Until recently, the Chandpur estuary of Meghna river was considered as the most vulnerable point for launch accidents due to...