USCG team's 6-day Ctg port visit starts tomorrow

CHITTAGONG, Jan 19: A four-member team of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) will start its six-day Chittagong port visit tomorrow (Monday) to assess its overall security measures. The visit will end on January 26.Led by USCG Lieutenant Commander Khiem...

A felon in the presidency

On Monday, President-elect Donald J Trump will take the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States (US), cementing his place in history as a leader of unparalleled controversy. He enters the presidency not only with the...

Attacks that smack of ingrained autocratic mindset

The Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB), The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Commission, the Ganotantrik Odhikar Committee and a student group have voiced their concern about as well as severely criticised the attacks on peacefully protesting indigenous people on Wednesday and the...

Air pollution now a health emergency

The fact that Dhaka's air is among the most polluted in the world does not shock its citizens any more, as it is regularly reported in the media. Whenever something, however dangerous, happens repeatedly, it becomes normal to the public....

Bangladesh economy in transition -

Like the body politic, Bangladesh economy is in transition at present. Both macroeconomic management by the government and microeconomic performance by the market are facing headwinds. While policy making in the first instance is within the bailiwick of the government,...

Rate hike yet to contain inflation

In a determined effort to combat the high rate of inflation, the interim government has taken a significant step by increasing the rate of profits on various savings certificates from the beginning of the current year. This move, in line...

Regular train service begins this month

CHATTOGRAM, Jan 18: The Bangladesh Railway (BR) is going to introduce more trains on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route this month due to pressure of passengers.The BR authorities have decided to make permanent the existing special train services to meet the...

1.1m submit tax returns online since Sept 2024

More than 1.1-million individual taxpayers have submitted tax returns online since 09 September 2024 through availing the fast and simplified system.The number is one-fourth of the returns the revenue board received last year.They have paid Tk 959 million in taxes,...

Promising stocks are cheaper than junk ones

Large-cap companies having stronger fundamentals are cheaper now on the bourses compared to small-cap firms with poor business performance. Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios reveal such a picture of the current market. A P/E ratio indicates a stock price relative to the...

Refiners press for edible oil price hike despite global fall

Local refiners pressed the government twice this month to raise edible-oil prices despite a falling trend in prices in the global market in recent weeks, sources say. This came after the government on December 9 last year raised bottled soybean...

Twin push comes thru bus purchases, signaling setup

Two new push-through projects are initiated for launching full-fledged rapid-transit bus services in Dhaka, which is expected to dilute a slew of nagging problems the capital city smart from. Dhaka BRT Company is undertaking the two schemes for the bus...

Fund may delay releasing fourth tranche of loan

Finance officials fear the release of next tranche of International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan can be delayed, or even halted, as the government backtracked on the just-hiked VAT and SD for some items.An IMF note of dismay to Bangladesh finance...

Imported rice from Myanmar arrives at Ctg port

CHATTOGRAM, Jan 17: A ship from Myanmar carrying 22,000 tonnes of sun-dried rice has berthed at the jetty of the Chittagong port, the prime sea port of the country. Sources said, MV Golden Star berthed at Jetty No. 9 of...

Poush Parbon flickers as a reminiscent of the vibrant festival once it was

Poush toder daak diyechhe, aay re chole, aay aay aay/ Daala je taar bhoreche aaj paaka phosole, mori haai haai haai (Poush has called you, come, come soon/the basket of it is full of ripened crops, what bliss it is!)....

Risk based pricing: a safeguard for the banking industry

Risk-based pricing is gaining growing attention in today's business world full of risk imbalance. As all customer groups do not mirror the same look on a business scale, all cannot share the same cost burden alike. It has been around...

Let Dhaka not crumble under its own weight

Dhaka city's infamy for its chaotic public transportation system is known but now it makes news for the dwindling of the fleet of buses. The bus service system in the town is steadily losing its share of passengers for a...

Government backtracks on tax hike for eight items

Eight items, including medicine, mobile-phone usage and internet-service providers, are spared from the just-hiked VAT and supplementary duty (SD) as the government backtracks amid stakeholder discontent. The other items relieved of tax rises are non-AC hotel, restaurant, motor garage and...

Awareness after 2014 Sonali Bank hack might've prevented 2016 BB heist

National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA) Director General Abu Sayed Md Kamruzzaman on Wednesday said the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist might have been prevented had cybersecurity been taken more seriously following the 2014 Sonali Bank hacking. He voiced concerns over missed...

Addressing vegetable gluts and sharp price fall

Price slump at its lowest for some winter vegetables has raised the old question of troubles and travails farmers often undergo. Oversupply of perishable fruits and vegetables compared to demand has ever remained a problem in this country. If a...

LGD seeks Tk 14.23b for two controversial 'MP projects'

An allocation of Tk 14.23 billion has been sought for executing controversial projects taken posthaste by the Awami League government on demands from MPs in the wake of the student-mass movement that toppled it.Local Government Division (LGD) has placed such...

Govt plans to impose duty on onion import

The government plans to impose tariff on onion import with an eye to protecting the interest of domestic farmers, sources said.To this end, the agriculture ministry has written to the commerce ministry recently, suggesting taking further measures on the issue.The...

On forming an independent revenue commission

Since its establishment in 1972, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been tasked with the dual responsibility of formulating revenue policy and enforcing its implementation. This inherent conflict of interest has led to various limitations, distortions, and shortcomings in...

Science out there in space, here on Earth

There are times when we need to sit back and reflect on the world as we have known it. It is an exercise men and women throughout the course of history have engaged in. One can be certain that the...

BPDB seeks Tk 80b urgent subsidy payment from government

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has sought a Tk 80 billion urgent fund from the government to maintain uninterrupted power supply across the country. The government owes BPDB around Tk 265 billion in subsidy payments. It will pay the...

Saving people from air pollution

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh with a population of about 20 million crammed into an area of 300 plus square kilometres, is one of the worst liveable city in the world, in terms of air pollution level. Even the day...

Railway saves over Tk 16b in two projects

Bangladesh Railway has saved over Tk 16 billion in two projects involving new track development on the Dhaka-Chattogram rail corridor and the Akhaura-Agartala line after final revisions.Sources say reduced estimations have been proposed for contingency, resettlement, transport procurement, and administrative...

NBR eyes most of Tk 120b from four prohibitively taxed items

Over one-third of the projected Tk 120 billion in additional revenues that the government expects in the next six months through a surprise VAT hike will come from four prohibitively taxed items, officials say.These include cigarettes, artificially flavored drinks, and...

When nature is on a rampage

The second most populated city and an important cultural and commercial hub of the United States, Los Angeles, has been burning since January 7. The catastrophic wildfire that so far reportedly claimed at least 16 lives had been raging for...

New issues driving PTAs

Are the Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) losing appeal to countries worldwide? Since 2021, when the total number of RTAs that came into force in a year reached a record level of 44, there has been a decline in RTAs both...

Inflation control in focus of next monetary policy

Current tightfisted monetary stance may last another six months as the central bank starts crafting its upcoming monetary policy with top priority on curbing inflationary pressure on the economy by keeping exchange rate stable. Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials dropped hint...