MENA countries plan to cut energy subsidies to reduce budget deficits

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries in general are in favour of cutting the energy subsidies targeting redirection of the supports to the poor and pushing down their budget deficits, policy makers and experts said. The observations came at...

Plight of citizens under split DCC

Citizens' hope for better civic amenities under the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) remains largely unfulfilled yet. More frustrating is the fact that the taxpayers do not exactly know to whom they would seek redress of their grievances. The divided...

Wasa to recover 5 city canals to ease water logging

The Dhaka Wasa has taken an initiative to recover five canals from grabbers in the city to ease water logging during the upcoming rainy season. The WASA has already sent the proposal to the planning department for approval. The five...

Modi\\\'s nationalist foot soldiers take centre-stage in India

Standing with Narendra Modi as he was sworn in as prime minister on the majestic forecourt of India's presidential palace was a cabinet made up almost entirely of ministers whose careers started in a hardline Hindu nationalist movement. After the...

Is any hope for enclaves?

There are 162 enclaves between Bangladesh and India -111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh side and 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India. The 111 Indian enclaves are spread over 17,203 acres of land in four districts - Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Panchagarh....

\\\'No light at the end of the tunnel\\\'

Mahbubul Alam gave an interesting twist to the dictum 'Light at the end of the tunnel' when he was the Adviser in charge of the Information Ministry in the caretaker government of Professor Iajuddin Ahmed. When confronted by the media,...

Facilitating reverse flow of money stashed abroad

With huge wealth accumulated through corruption or illegal means, hordes of black (or undisclosed)-money-holders seem to be busy moving their riches out to safer havens. With leadership crises fraying the fabrics of our society, those who are honest and eager...

Western Union to strengthen presence

Western Union, leading global money transfer service provider, looks to continuously grow its presence in Bangladesh by providing different options to the customers to send and receive remittance here. "Bangladesh is very important remittance market for us…. Our goal is...

Proposed VAT raise on mobile handset to increase price burden

Finance minister`s proposal in the budget for imposing 15 per cent VAT (Value Added Tax) on mobile handset at the import stage will increase price burden on the customers, even it will impede the growth of digital Bangladesh, said the...

Secondary education still lacking basic requirements

Currently I am working as the President of the newly founded Volunteers Association for Bangladesh Canada (VAB-Canada), which is a chapter of parent VAB-USA. This charitable organisation was originally founded in the USA in 1998, under the leadership of Dr....

Steps to ease traffic snarls at city intersections

The government has initiated steps to improve management of intersections in Dhaka city aiming to overcome difficulties in handling hundreds of thousands of motorised vehicles that make long queues during busy hours every day. Under the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority...

Rajuk limps with ambitious housing projects in Dhaka

Rajdhani Unnayan Kortipakkha (Rajuk) appears to be failing to hand over plots and flats to the winners of lottery arranged for allocating those in its housing projects in Purbachal,Uttara and Jhilmil in Dhaka, sources said. In Purbachal, the overall development...

Good connectivity to facilitate rapid dev

The China-South Asia Expo kicked off in the Chinese spring city of Kunming Friday aiming to expand cooperation in diversified areas from trade-investment to silk corridor development through road and sea in the region. Some 46 countries including Bangladesh are...

IEA World Congress begins in Jordan

The World Congress of the International Economic Association (IEA) began at King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre in the Dead Sea, Jordan Friday.  It aims to promote interaction among prominent economists towards gaining a truly world perspective on issues of...

Typhoon Yolanda: Lessons in post-disaster management

It has been more than six months since the fiery typhoon Yolanda (the local name of Haiyan) struck. Most of the affected people in the Philippines are still recovering from the devastation. Responding to the Yolanda aftermath was quite different...

FDI: Key to multi-pronged development

Like most other developing and least developed countries, Bangladesh also considers Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as an important tool for development. In order to attract more and more FDI, the country has taken many initiatives. One such initiative was the...

Derivatives: A long way to go

'Derivative' is the new buzz word in the financial sector of Bangladesh. Some local and international experts are continuously telling about the importance of introducing a derivatives market to mitigate investment risks in a developing country like Bangladesh. The Bangladesh...

Challenges of consultancy

Most people perceive consultancy as an easy source of earning handsome amount of money and consultants as persons having least accountability for their activities.  But in reality this perception is not true. In fact, though monthly salary of a consultant...

Corruption: Where to draw the line

Corruption takes many forms. It is not easy to draw a line to define corruption. The definition of corruption no longer fits into a definite pattern as the ways of corrupt practices are becoming increasingly wide ranging. Definition of corruption...

Climate change adaptation research in Asia and Africa

IN the book titled 'Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health', authors Hans Baer and Merrill Singer mentioned, "Our world is changing in dramatic and consequential ways. From melting glaciers to rising seas, and from increases in violent storms...

How will Narendra Modi change India?

The Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide victory in parliamentary elections has ended an era of shaky coalition governments in India. The desire for change among the country's youthful electorate after a slump in economic growth, years of policy drift and a...

The role that Dhaka University has played so far

The headline "Bangladesh after four hundred years of its existence" reminded me of a course I took in Sociology at the Dhaka University. It was taught by National Professor Dr Rangalal Sen, a renowned sociologist and I am honoured to...

DSE hails budget

Dhaka Stock Exchange has hailed the budgetary proposal to exempt the demutualised stock exchanges from paying taxes for the next five years "This is a positive message for the stock exchanges", said Swapan Kumar Bala, managing director of DSE. The...

GDP target not achievable:CPD

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Friday said the quality of investments, both public and private, is needed to be increased to achieve the target of 7.3 percent growth set by the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Dr Debapriya...

Ambiguity, populism mark a pro-growth approach

Finance Minister AMA Muhith Thursday placed the Tk.2.5 trillion national budget for the next fiscal (2014-15) setting the country's economic growth target at 7.3 per cent for the year. The finance minister fixed the higher growth target with the expectation...

19-party to stage countrywide demonstration Monday

The BNP-led 19-party alliance will stage demonstrations across the country Monday protesting the 'growing' incidents of killing, forced disappearance and abduction, reports UNB. BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the programme at a press briefing at the BNP's...

A deep look into the present-day realities of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is negotiating a difficult path in the present-day global scenario as it is beset with myriad problems that a developing nation, having its own characteristics, generally faces. Nevertheless, the country of 160 million people is making remarkable strides on...

Unemployment and corruption

The fact that unemployment causes corruption is well established and makes sense both from common observations and rigorous theoretical points of view. However, the fact that corruption also causes unemployment can struck one as a total surprise. To make an...

When the US needs support, Europe pleads poverty

The United States has troubles. This was the subtext of President Barack Obama's speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point last week. The latest trouble is the raw ambition of Russian President Vladimir Putin to dominate as...

S Korean exports suffer worst decline

South Korean exports last month suffered their worst decline in eight months as a drop in Chinese demand and the effect from fewer working days more than offset growing purchases by European and US customers. South Korea, the fourth-largest economy...