No fund arranged yet for Bangabandhu-1 satellite project

Uncertainty looms large over implementation of the ambitious satellite project, Bangabandhu 1, as the authorities concerned could not confirm the 'orbital slot' for sending the satellite into space due to a scarcity of fund, sources say. The government is yet...

Politics in India: still a man\\\'s game

Women's issues may be high on the agenda for political parties vying for votes in India's mammoth general election, but few female lawmakers will get an opportunity to implement the policies being proposed. Less than a fifth of the candidates...

Sharp rise in reconditioned car sales

Sales of imported reconditioned cars have marked a significant rise over the last couple of months thanks to the decline in their import cost following depreciation of the US dollar and Japanese yen against the local currency.        Sources said now...

Political pygmies in their hot seats

Politics is a serious business. But it cannot, of necessity, remain so all the time. Anecdotes, innuendos, humour, sarcasm and even direct salvoes of words make its practice lighter and spicy. Only seasoned politicians of the highest calibre can use...

Gold glitters at BD airports

Bangladesh is not blessed with the deposits of any precious minerals. But of late, its two international airports, located in Dhaka and Chittagong, have turned out to be man-made mini mines of a precious metal, gold.   Customs officials stationed at...

Globalisation a boon or bane for developing countries?

Both proponents and opponents are unanimous that globalisation always brings huge gains for some countries and in sharp contrast, causes pains for some others. Globalisation is a much-talked-about issue of the present century. Its impacts, whether gains or pains, are...

Stocks slip into red after six sessions

Stocks slipped into the red Sunday after sixth sessions' gaining streak with turnover dropped significantly as investors booked marginal profit. The market started with a positive note, but could not sustain. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime...

Mixed trend

Share prices on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw mixed trend in early hours of trading on Sunday, the opening day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 12 points...

GSP among other issues on agenda

Bangladesh is expected to raise issues including GSP (generalised system of preferences), relaxation of the rules of origin and trade and investment in the first TICFA (Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement) meeting to be held in the city tomorrow...

Indian elections: Ties with neighbours often figure in campaign

The ongoing Indian elections are being bitterly fought mostly on the national issues, but ties with the neighbours including Bangladesh do also figure often in campaign with varying degrees of views by the key players of the political spectrum. As...

Beware of counterfeit cosmetics

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel raided a factory producing fake herbal cosmetics located at a building in city's Lalbagh area a fortnight ago. A photograph of the factory published in a contemporary showed how a young boy was engaged in...

The dos and don\\\'ts of agent banking

Agent banking is now a buzzword in the banking industry. Its importance is immense in paving the way for financial inclusion. But, many of us, including bankers, still do not have a clear perception of agent banking, its services, risks...

Peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention

The nature of war and conflicts has changed over time. We rarely see inter-state conflicts in the present world. With the end of Cold War, conflicts have become intra-state in nature. We see ethnic clashes or majority vs. minority conflicts...

Guidelines for young bankers for processing loan proposals

The banks assess the credit risk of a potential borrower by using one or other set of rules. One popular rule, known as "5 Cs" of credit,  tries to capture five essential characterstics of the borrower - Character, Capacity, Capital,...

CCI&E\\\'s revenue earnings rise 22.38pc in July-Feb

Revenue earnings by the office of the Chief Controller of Imports & Exports (CCI&E) increased by 22.38 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY) over that of the corresponding period, according to the CCI&E...

Capital shortfall of BKB, RAKUB crosses Tk 64.50 billion

Capital shortfall of two state-owned agricultural banks - BKB and RAKUB - has crossed Tk 64.50 billion, putting them into a difficult situation to comply with Basel-II requirements, officials said.     Such capital shortfall of the Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and...

Renata strives to be a unique model of CSR

Renata Limited, a leading pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh, appeared as a unique model for other firms in doing activities under the corporate social responsibility (CSR), its top official said. "Renata became quite a unique model because of its ownership structure...

Social and emotional learning in school curriculum

As individuals and members of society the students who make just better results in terms of academic performance may not be well prepared to face the practical challenges of life. They must be well-equipped with social and emotional learning which...

Electrical home appliance sales boom on hot spell

The ongoing spell of unbearable heat has pushed the sales of almost all electrical home appliances, especially air conditioners, air-coolers, electric fans and IPS up, shopkeepers said. They said the sales of these items had witnessed a sharp increase over...

CPA finds LNG terminal site risky for deep-sea port

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has found the site, preliminarily chosen for building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Maheshkhali, crucial for constructing various establishments of the proposed deep-sea port, sources say. It also considers the proposed LNG terminal...

State sugar mills struggle with surging stockpile

Around 221,555 tonnes of sugar valued at Tk 9.0 billion remain unsold in state-run mills, forcing them to delay payment to banks. Stocks of sugar at the state-run sugar mills have been piling up since 2013 due to price fall...

DSEX surpasses 4,700-pt mark

Stocks cruised to a higher path for the second straight week and key index of the prime bourse crossed the 4,700-point mark with improved turnover, driven by banks and multinational companies. All the five trading sessions of the week gained....

Poultry industry: Realities and prospects

The poultry industry has developed in Bangla-desh. This industry provides various opportunities for increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate plus equitable distribution through arranging food security as well as ensuring self-employment at a large scale. It was in...

Gabriel García Márquez: Such giants never die

Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez died on April 17, 2014 at the age of 87.  That everything he wrote was gold is how a translator of his works recalls. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century,...

When the tiger appears, the lamb must give way

A K Fazlul Huq (1873-1962) and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) both were famous leaders in the then Indian subcontinent. Huq was known as "Sher-e-Bangla" that denotes the "Tiger of Bengal.'' He was the Mayor of Calcutta (1935), Chief Minister of...

Ingenuity used for dubious purposes

The Bangalees have a penchant for imitating everything. When they imitate, the difference between the original and their look-alike is nearly impossible to discern. Dholaikhal's engineering works bear testimony to this observation. Only a few years ago companies used to...

Financial offer of Chinese co for building PMB accepted

Only a Chinese company has finally submitted financial proposal for the country's costly Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) construction work, asking for Tk 29.61 billion more than the project's estimated cost for the bridge construction. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) accepted...

TCB to import gram, date for Ramadan

The state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would import 1,500 tonnes of gram and 150 tonnes of date for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, officials said. The food items will arrive in the country by next month. The TCB...

Legal barriers create obstacles in trading odd-lot shares

Investors, having odd-lot of shares of listed companies, are facing problems to sell such stocks mainly due to their poor demand coupled with the existing legal barriers, people close to share market said. The situation for the odd-lot shareholders of...

Ministry for marketing skills abroad

Hundreds of thousands of fresh graduates are unemployed in Bangladesh. They have obtained their graduation degrees in various disciplines including Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Genetic Engineering, deemed very attractive across the world. Those employed are also not satisfied...