An artist on the frontline

My friendship with Shahabuddin stretches back over 30 years now, in which, I can confidently proclaim, there has never been a dull moment. Even today, his mere presence manages to bestow an air of bohemia in a room the moment...

Thai military tightens grip on the country

Thailand's military junta has further tightened its grip on the affairs of the politically turbulent South East Asian nation. Army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who led the May 22 coup, has been endorsed as prime minister by Bhumibol Adulyadej, the...

Stockpile of jute goods at a record high

Jute growers are not finding buyers to sell their produce at this peak season. The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) is not buying raw jute at this time due to fund constraint. It has opened over 140 jute purchase centres...

Stocks inch up, turnover falls sharply

Stocks inched up on Wednesday for the third straight session amid volatility with turnover fell drastically as investors followed cautious stance. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 4,599.46 points, gaining 8.81points or 0.19 per...

DSE, CSE rise in morning trade

The country's two bourses – Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) – advanced in early hours of trading on Wednesday amid modest see-saw, the fourth trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE,...

Trade in rice: Where does BD stand?

One has ample reasons to get confused by the recent developments involving the country's trade in rice, the main staple of its 160 million people. The cabinet has, reportedly, decided to allow the export of 50,000 tonnes of rice to...

Bimstec secretariat starts functioning in city next month

The secretariat of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will start officially functioning in Dhaka from next month.    Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the secretariat at Gulshan in the city in...

Blocked accounts for the jute millers: Crony capitalism at work

A recent press report suggests that the commercial banks have been asked to put away in the 'freezer', otherwise known as blocked accounts, the past accumulated loan liabilities of the private jute millers and open new windows for infusion of...

Stopping capital flight

Foreign exchange rate is vital for the country's economy. Bangladesh has been experiencing a floating exchange rate regime since May 2003. Actually it is not floating exchange rate; it is a managed exchange rate system in our economy. We have...

The spectre of inflation: Coping with macro-economic scenario

No sooner was the monetary policy for the first half of the current fiscal (2014-15) announced than came the news about inflation raising its head in the economy. The revelation is disconcerting because the monetary policy statement (MPS) pegged containing...

ICB moves to take action against 12 fake ICT cos

The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) moves to take legal action against a dozen ICT companies that disappeared with money borrowed from the Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF), competent sources said. They said the ICB move came after Bangladesh Bank...

Interest rate on 2 T-bonds falls significantly

The interest rate on two more Bangladesh Government Treasury Bonds (BGTBs) fell significantly Tuesday, as commercial banks rushed to offer bids in the auctions, officials said. A total of 88 bids amounting to Tk 29.06 billion was submitted by the...

BTRC to develop mobile app to get users\\\' complaints

The telecom regulator has planned to receive users' complaints against the mobile phone operators directly to protect the rights of individual subscribers, officials said. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will develop a mobile app soon with a view to...

Iran \\\'completing\\\' nuclear steps agreed with IAEA

Iran is "in the process" of completing measures on transparency in its nuclear research that were agreed with the U.N. atomic agency, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying, suggesting Tehran had at least partly met a Monday deadline...

No let-up in Gaza war, Israel moves to protect its economy

Israeli air strikes killed at least nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and militants kept up cross-border rocket fire on Monday as Israel moved to cushion its economy against the effects of a war now in its seventh week. Egypt...

DSE turnover rises to Tk 7.95b

Stocks ended higher for the second straight session on Tuesday with significant improvement in turnover due to strong buying and selling pressure. Initial rise on stock prices subdued as the session progressed with profit booking mainly on large cap stocks....

DSE, CSE gain at opening

The prices of most of the shares at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw sharp rise in early hours of trading on Tuesday, the third trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the...

NBR withdraws spl tax rate for RMG exporters

The tax authority has withdrawn the special tax rate for apparel exporters in a bid to prevent transfer of profit from other businesses to export-oriented industries. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has not given extension of the tax calculation...

Banks in the soup with housing loans

Nearly 38 per cent of the loans extended to the housing sector by commercial banks have become classified amidst a noticeable slowdown in real-estate business for the last couple of years. Bankers are now deeply worried about the future of...

Economic and human resource development: Bangladesh makes its mark

Over the last two decades Bangladesh, in terms of development, has been making steady and remarkable progress. It has maintained both steady economic growth and human development, so that, according to the World Bank in 2012, it was then already...

Living with poisoned fishes

Fish has a very strong cultural attachment as an irreplaceable animal food source in Bangladeshi diet with high nutritional value. Unfortunately, over the years, marketing of fish across the country has been tainted by the abominable practice of applying Formaldehyde...

Of fertility, food and farming

Michael Lipton, a well-known economist and now a Professor of Economics at the Sussex University, recently talked on rural transformation in Bangladesh. In a seminar organised by the Bangladesh Economists' Forum, the economist has attributed the transformation to three 'F's:...

Ukraine defiant on national day, rebels parade captives

Kiev/Donetsk (Ukraine): Ukraine marked its independence day last week with a military march-past in Kiev intended to send a message of defiance to Russia, but pro-Moscow rebels countered by parading captured Ukrainian troops through the streets of their main stronghold....

Roche to buy US biotech firm for $8.3 billion

Roche Holding AG has agreed to buy US biotech company InterMune Inc for $8.3 billion in cash, marking the latest multibillion-dollar deal in a consolidating pharmaceutical sector. The Swiss drugmaker said last week it would pay $74.00 a share through...

How aggressive lending came back to bite African Bank

Stocks return to green, turnover falls

Stocks returned to the green on Monday after three sessions' losing streak with turnover falling slightly as investors went for late hour buying spree. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went up by 23.74 points or...

Stocks open positive

The prices of most of the shares at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw upward trend in early hours of trading on Monday, the second trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the...

Tazreen owner turns to govt to get Tk 182m insurance claim

The owner of Tazreen Fashions Ltd, Delwar Hossen, has now moved the government high-ups to get insurance claim of deadly fire incident which burnt 111 garment workers alive and injured many, sources said. Last week Mr Hossen submitted an application...

Four categories of people relieved

Four categories of people have been relieved of mandatory submission of tax returns if they don't have taxable income by relaxing the rules to avert unnecessary hassles. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has relaxed the rules and its income-tax...

Billions drained as roads built sans guideline, study

The country incurs an aggregate loss of billions of taka for constructing road network without following proper guideline and conducting feasibility study. Experts said due to fault in designs hardly any desired benefit is visible from the constructed roads. Officials...