Modi seeks to crown global sales pitch with US tour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in the United States on Friday aiming to woo corporate titans and crown a burst of investment-focused diplomacy, while marking a personal victory for a man who was for years unwelcome in the country....

IS blows away Gulf qualms about joining US military action

It is more than 23 years since Arab countries last made common cause to join US-led military action, and it has taken the threat of Islamic State to persuade them that any public backlash in an already turbulent region is...

Honing skills of academic writing in English

Writing is an art which helps a person express oneself.  It is one of the ways by which we translate our thoughts for other people. Some people are better at expressing themselves in writing than any other ways, and we...

UN climate summit makes a powerful statement

Just a week before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) UN chief Ban Ki-moon said, while taking part in the People's Climate March attended by 310,000 people, "There is no 'Plan B' because we do not have...

DSE prime index crosses 5,000-mark

The prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange – DSEX--- surpassed the 5,000-mark on Thursday after a week-long rally with turnover hitting second highest in this year as investors' buying spree continued. Meanwhile, the share prices of the United Airways...

DSE, CSE open positive

The prices of most of the shares at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in early hours of trading on Thursday, the last session of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE,...

Boards of demutualised exchanges under pressure to pay dividend

Boards of the demutualised exchanges are under pressure for dividend disbursement for being profit-oriented organisations and for attracting foreign strategic partners, officials said. They said earlier the move for demutualisation was successful, following the shareholders' expectation of receiving dividends from...

Tanners demand time extension to relocate factories to Savar

Country's tanners have demanded extension of the timeline encompassing 2015 to relocate the tanneries from city's Hazaribag to the newly-built Savar hub, industry-insiders said. The government is yet to consider the plea. Bangladesh Tanners' Association (BTA) feels it may not...

How to beat stock market manipulators

The term 'stock market crash' has a striking similarity with the popularity of a celebrity. A celebrated figure such as an actor or actress comes into our notice when we see him/her in the big screen and likewise a stock...

State-owned banks a burden on the government

The government is finding it difficult to run the state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs). These banks are facing capital shortage. Loan default has increased to an alarming level and many loans have been written off. On top of these, there was...

A renewed movement against climate change

Since the Copenhagen climate conference ended with a whimper in 2009, about 120 presidents and prime ministers, including the prime minister of Bangladesh, have gathered again in a one-day Climate Change summit, this time  at the United Nations in New...

BD proposals to Sri Lanka sent

Bangladesh has sent proposals to Sri Lanka for signing a coastal shipping agreement between the two countries aiming to boost bilateral trade and commerce, officials said.      The proposals that Dhaka has sent to Colombo include standard of procedure, classification of...

DSE closes higher for 7th day

Dhaka stocks closed higher for the seventh straight session on Wednesday amid choppy trading with turnover falling slightly as investors took position on large cap stocks. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went up marginally by...

Imports up 43.70pc in August

The country's overall import rebounded in August following an upward trend in import of food grains as well as accessories for readymade garment (RMG) sector, officials said. "The upward trend of import may continue in the coming months, if the...

Enthusiasm at tax fairs and beyond

The just concluded tax fair, organised countrywide by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), was again a grand success. If the amount collected as income tax this year is compared with that of the previous years, one would tend to...

BSC’s bid to procure six vessels faces fresh threat

The Bangladesh Shipping Corporation's bid to procure six ocean-going vessels with Chinese assistance has come under a fresh threat.  The officials of the Chinese Exim Bank, which had agreed to make available $171 million to the BSC for procuring the...

Travel agents under CIC scanner

The travel agents are under watch of the tax intelligence after the NBR wing found irregularities in showing incomes in their corporate-tax files. Authorities concerned guess that such alleged cooking of books could have led to tax dodging to the...

Iran seeks \\\'give and take\\\' on militants, nuclear programme

Iran is ready to work with the United States and its allies to stop Islamic State militants, but would like to see more flexibility on Iran's uranium enrichment program, senior Iranian officials told Reuters. The comments from the officials, who...

Close ally of Pakistan army chief to head ISI

Pakistan appointed a close ally of the army chief to head the country's most powerful and controversial intelligence agency on Monday, cementing the military's dominance following weeks of anti-government protests. Rizwan Akhtar, who has extensive experience of counterinsurgency from a...

How to whittle down that wireless bill

If you're unhappy with your cell phone service - and really, who isn't? - now might be a unique time to either renegotiate your contract or move to a new carrier. Your window of opportunity may be short, however, as...

World leaders gather at UN in shadow of IS, Ebola crises

World leaders are gathering in New York this week to tackle a host of crises: the violence Islamic State militants are wreaking in Iraq and Syria, the exponential spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa and deadlocked negotiations on...

G20 nearing growth goal, but more needed from Europe

The Group of 20 leading nations say they are tantalisingly close to adding an extra $2 trillion to the global economy and creating millions of new jobs, but Europe's extended stagnation remains a major stumbling block. The finance ministers and...

The brighter side of the coin: Fundamentals of the growth story

Not too long ago, a friend shared a post on Facebook from Euromonitor International titled "Top 5 fastest Growing Key Emerging Economies in 2014". This writer was happy (and definitely not surprised) to see that Bangladesh had made the 4th...

Corruption and poverty alleviation

Corruption has always been pervasive in this country. Bangladesh has been ranked as the 'most corrupt country' in the world for four consecutive years by the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI). Although Bangladesh was placed in the 13th position in the...

Afghanistan: Finally a power sharing accord

Afghanistan, jolted for long by a dispute on the outcome of the presidential elections, has finally seen resolution of the stand-off as the rival candidates have reached a power-sharing deal. Former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah...

DSE turnover surpasses Tk 10b-mark

Stocks ended higher for the six straight session on Tuesday with turnover on the major bourse crossing Tk 10 billion-mark once again riding on the continued buying spree of investors. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE)...

Tug-of-war over Kuril flyover maintenance

Maintenance of Kuril flyover faces looming uncertainty as Rajuk and Project Builders Limited (PBL), the constructing company, began shifting the responsibility to each other following the finding of fault.        The over-the-road bridge, built with local technology, was commissioned a year...

Formulation of comprehensive CSR policy planned

The government plans to formulate a comprehensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy as it thinks that a significant amount of money is being misused, according to minutes of a meeting. It says terrorist group spends a large volume of funds...

B’desh to seek Lankan duty reduction on 40 products

Bangladesh will seek duty reduction on some specific products to Sri Lanka during the ongoing two-day long joint working group meeting that began in Colombo on Monday, sources said. An eight-member delegation, headed by an additional secretary of the Ministry...

15 border points at ‘risk’ of rawhide smuggling

Security officials have identified 15 points along the border areas with India from where rawhide of sacrificial animals could be smuggled out after the Eid-ul-Azha. The issue of possible smuggling of rawhide was also discussed in a recent meeting of...