Outgoing US envoy for sweeteners to draw foreign investors into BD

Bangladesh should make its investment packages lucrative in real sense to lure more foreign investors to build huge infrastructures as a prerequisite for achieving the aspired middle-income status. Such a suggestion came from outgoing US Ambassador Dan W Mozena who...

Foreign cos to partner with Biman soon to improve shabby airport services

National flag-carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BBA) moves for joint 'ground handling service' at the country's three international airports in partnership with foreign companies to improve the substandard quality of work, officials said. Tender floating soon to select international partners to...

Venezuela\\\'s poor sour on Maduro as prices, shortages sting

Packing potatoes at his vegetable stand on a sun-baked street in Caracas's hillside Catia slum, Jesus Jimenez fondly recounts voting for late president Hugo Chavez. Like millions in Venezuela's poor "barrios," the chatty father of 14 worshipped the larger-than-life Chavez...

DSE turnover dips new low

Turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell significantly today (Thursday) as investors were reluctant to make fresh investment on the first trading day with the newly launched trading system. The daily turnover dropped by 68 per cent from that...

DSE, CSE dip at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw downward trend in early hours of trading on Thursday, the last session of this week. The day’s trading at DSE started with the new automated trading system as...

Remittance, export earnings cool heated forex market

Country's foreign-exchange market eased slightly Wednesday as an upturn in both remittance inflow and export earnings began to take the heat out of the greenback, bankers said. "Higher inflow of remittance and rising trend of export earnings have contributed to...

Corruption Perception Index 2014

Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2014 released by Transparency International  Bangladesh (TIB) on December 3 shows that Bangladesh's position has worsened in both score and ranking. The country has scored 25 on a scale of 0-100 this year, two points lower...

Making National Human Rights Commission grow up

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is now 7 years old and the present Commission has completed its four-and-a-half year tenure with a tardy claim that it has no 'teeth but jaws'. Of course, this statement was made by the...

A case for multi-deck transports

The first option of our transportation strategy should focus mass transports of multi-decker modes and we should not follow other emerging countries which use single-decker modes. It is a fact that our population density is at least more than twice...

Exporting Bangladesh-made ships: Challenges and prospects

Shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh can be traced back to the medieval era. It underwent gradual expansion during the British colonial rule. At the start of the new millennium, Bangladesh already had a basic shipyard industry as well as availability of...

CSE MD vows to boost turnover

Managing Director of Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Wali-ul-Maroof Matin has inked a robust marketing plan to attract institutional, local, retail and cross country investors with an aim to boost the turnover value. Mr. Matin set his working strategy after joining...

Pakistan\\\'s women cotton pickers find power in uniting over wages

Azeema Khatoon, a mother of five, has spent most of her life labouring in Pakistan's sunbaked cotton fields for less than $2.0 a day. Last year, she and a group of around 40 women struggling to feed and clothe their...

Stocks end flat amid choppy trading

Stocks ended in red today (Wednesday) amid choppy trading with no significant movement of index as investors followed cautious stance amid lack of market’s direction. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 4,943.72 points, shedding...

DSE, CSE open positive

The prices of most of the shares at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) increased in early hours of trading on Wednesday, maintaining the previous session’s upward trend. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up...

Barber turns surgeon, water life-saving drug

A couple of days back the members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-3 detected the presence of an unauthorized orthopaedic 'clinic' in city's Agargaon area. All the doctors and medical technicians of the said clinic, housed in a residential building,...

IFC, VF to enhance credit for small RMG factories

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has planned to expand its newly-launched small credit facility for readymade garment (RMG) factories, not covered by Accord and Alliance as it continued discussion with 10 more brands in line with the IFC product to...

BARVIDA for allowing \\\'8-year old\\\' reconditioned bus for public transportation

Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) has demanded of the government to allow import of minimum 'eight-year old' reconditioned bus for public transportation, as it will significantly facilitate to ease the existing severe traffic jam in Dhaka city....

PMO for quick fund finding to build Paira seaport

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) to arrange funds immediately to construct the country's third seaport, Paira Port, to fulfil the present government's election pledge, sources said.    To intensify the move to construct the...

The enigma of development and resources

When somebody initiates a discussion noting ours is a resource-scarce country, and that the scarcity of resources is one of the main stumbling blocks to development, we feel tempted to wonder and ask: are we really a resource-poor country or...

How\\\'s life with rural people?

There is a wide variation in perceptions as to whether rural people are better-off now than before. The question mark is still there despite the fact that Bangladesh has emerged as a development puzzle in all available discourses. The non-income...

Failure of SAARC: Does Delhi want promotion of sub-regional grouping?

Apart from India-Pakistan friction which practically derailed late last month's Kathmandu SAARC Summit, it has also brought forth in the open New Delhi's efforts to make South Asia a viable counterweight to China and limit Beijing's role in the region....

Stocks end marginally higher

Stocks ended marginally higher Tuesday after previous session’s flat movement with turnover increased slightly as investors took position on selected stocks. The market opened with a positive mood which sustained till the market closure. DSEX, the prime index of the...

DSE, CSE up at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in early hours of trading on Tuesday, the 3rd session of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 16.27 points or 0.33...

Traffic flow in capital hits ‘total blockage’

Sheer inability of Dhaka to take the mounting load of motorised and non-motorised transports has been mathematically proved in a recent study that indicated the city traffic is facing a "total blockage'.       It has found that the capacity of the...

Individual taxpayers’ number set to grow by 20pc this FY

The number of individual taxpayers is set to grow by 20 per cent in the current fiscal year (FY), 2014-15, following the taxmen's increased efforts and monitoring to widen the tax-net. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has attained an...

Q1 disbursement of industrial term-loans marks steep rise

Industrial term loans registered a steep rise in the first quarter (Q1) of this fiscal year (FY) principally due to higher lending on account of import of capital machinery, officials said. The disbursement of such credits increased 44.24 per cent...

Making TV talk shows useful

TV talk shows are a new phenomenon in our world of electronic media claiming credit and discredit, applause and criticism. These have already earned popularity, particularly among the conscious citizens of the country because of lively discussions on the issues...

BR\\\'s SUVs: Gouri Sen won\\\'t mind!

The state-owned Bangla-desh Railway (BR) still lives in the sixties as far as the quality of the services it offers to thousands of passengers everyday is concerned. Its passenger coaches wear a sickening look and the worn-out and diesel-run locomotives...

Racism is also a reproductive rights issue

Generally speaking, Americans understand reproductive rights as being about abortion, and sometimes, about birth control. In the mainstream understanding, reproductive rights are about the right to prevent or end unwanted pregnancy. But reproductive rights are about more than pregnancy. Reproductive...

On Nisha Desai Biswal\\\'s visit to Dhaka

There was a great deal of media hype leading to the visit of Nisha Desai Biswal, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, to Dhaka but not much following the visit. The US government had questioned...