BD to place report next week at EC meet

Bangladesh will highlight the outcome of Compact initiatives to improve working conditions at its ready-made garment (RMG) factories at a meeting next week in Brussels, sources said. Bangladesh ambassador in Belgium Ismat Jahan will place a report at the meeting...

Women edge into Gulf boardrooms as economies, societies shift

Amina al-Rustamani, a member of a prominent UAE family, raised eyebrows among friends and relatives when she started her career in Dubai 13 years ago as an electrical engineer, becoming one of few females in the Middle East to enter...

Confectioners sweet on ADM\\\'s decision to keep cocoa business

Easter came early for the global chocolate makers this year. Just days before one of the busiest holidays for chocolate sales, Archer Daniels Midland Co last week ditched long-running efforts to sell its niche cocoa business, easing concerns that have...

VoIP service providers renting out licences to IGW operators for survival

Many local VoIP service providers are now renting out their operating licences to the International Gateway (IGW) operators for survival in the absence of required overseas calls from IGW companies, industry insiders said. They said as per rules, the IGW...

Novo Nordisk vows to bring innovation in BD market

Novo Nordisk, one of the global leading companies in diabetic care, has expressed its strong commitment to continue bringing its latest innovative insulin products in Bangladesh to serve the diabetic patients with different ranges of healthcare demand. "Our commitment is...

FPP yet to start fully due to dealers\\\' apathy

The government's initiative to sell rice and atta under Fair Price Programme (FPP) is yet to make any major headway due to poor response from the dealers, officials said. The programme for selling these foodstuffs to limited income group of...

Square plans to set up blood plasma fractionation plant

A leading pharmaceuticals company is planning to set up a blood plasma fractionation plant for commercial purpose. The initiative is the first of its kind in Bangladesh, where blood demand is still met by donors and in many cases use...

Medical profession fails to do justice to itself

Professional aberration is hitting a new low nowadays. Hardly has there been any profession that can now maintain immunity to this general decline in standard. But more than most other professions, the medical one has been making screaming headlines of...

Should doctors resort to strike?

Bangladesh has a comprehensive and updated labour law. The law extensively defines who are workers and their rights, obligations and privileges. This piece of legislation also gives the workers the right to form trade unions and resort to strikes, if...

Time to stop following defunct economic policies

Can economists contribute anything useful to our understanding of politics, business and finance in the real world? I raise this question having spent three days from April 10-12 in Toronto at the annual conference of the Institute for New Economic...

DSE turnover hits below Tk 4.0b-mark

Stocks edged marginally higher Sunday for the second running session with turnover dipped below Tk 4.0 billion-mark once again as investors moved cautiously. The market started with upward trend and the positive trend continued till the market closure amid modest...

DSE up, CSE down at opening

Share prices on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) saw positive trend while the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed negative trend in early hours of trading on Sunday, the first trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the...

Lacklustre tax revenue growth in July-Feb period of FY \\\'14

The aggregate revenue collection maintained a sluggish growth in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY) due to poor investment trend, decline in the import of revenue-generating products and fall in business of major corporate taxpayers. The...

Indian elections: BJP relies on religious cards

As the general elections of India are midway through the voting, an impression is gaining the ground that the forerunner in the polls -- the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi, are gradually...

No headway in ADR reporting project

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting project, taken up by the government for knowing both good and bad effects of a drug, is not getting momentum in the absence of expected response from the doctors. Under the project forms are distributed...

Printing estate land acquisition soon

The government is going to start acquisition of nearly 50 acres of land next month in Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj district for setting up a printing estate. According to sources with the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), a...

Monitoring building code violation

Widespread violation of national building code, formulated in 1993, continues in the absence of proper supervision by the relevant authorities. An exclusive report, published in The Financial Express in its issue of April 14 last, says that despite a High...

What Bangladesh may learn from the Philippines

Last month this writer spent busy 15 days in Manila, capital of the Philippines. He was invited by the MARINA (Maritime Industry Authority) of the Philippines to assist them in proper implementation of the STCW (International Convention on Standards of...

Public opinion is imperative for sustainable democracy

Public opinion is commonly taken to mean the opinion of the public. Indeed public opinion is a shared aggregate phenomenon. It is a collective social entity, and publicity and awareness is necessary for its formation. It is the knowledge for...

Govt likely to extend aromatic rice export time for another year

The government is likely to extend the time limit for exporting aromatic rice to the international markets by another year, officials said. The aromatic rice export may be extended to June 15, 2015, they said. Earlier, the office of the...

How safe are our children in school?

Many examples around the world prove that children are more vulnerable to disasters compared to other segments of the population. Disasters have persistent and long-term negative impacts on human development.  They can destroy lives and livelihoods and disrupt/halt the progress...

Shailakupa Shahi Mosque in need of renovation

JHENIDAH, Apr 19: Built 500 years back, an Islamic edifice of the Sultan dynasty, the Shahi Mosque at Dargapara under Shailakupa municipality of Jhenidah district near the Kumar river needs renovation now. The mosque premises now covering 2 acres and...

Non-compliant factories can\\\'t do business with exporters

The government has drafted a new policy to bar non-compliant sub-contracting readymade garment (RMG) factories from doing business with exporters, official sources said. The government, after consulting local and international stakeholders, is framing the new 'sub-contracting policy 2013' with a...

Dishonest recruiters take job-seekers for a ride

Unscrupulous businessmen are now cheating jobseekers promising them jobs with high salaries in Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, sources say. The aspirants are charged between Tk 0.5 million and Tk 0.7 million per head for work permit visas...

UK based Bangladeshis show interest to invest in IT, education sectors

Bangladeshis living in the United Kingdom (UK) have expressed interest to invest in the information technology (IT) and education sectors in the country. The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and UK-Bangladesh Catalysts of Commerce and Industry (UKBCCI) have...

Signs of stability still a far cry!

Should 2014 be better than the year 2013?  Indications are there - inflation and interest rates are low in most of the economies, oil prices are expected to fall, companies are sitting on cash, there's plenty of pent-up consumer demand...

The problems of HFT, Joe Stiglitz edition

The most interesting and provocative thing to be written of late about financial innovation in general, and high-frequency trading (HFT) in particular, comes from Joe Stiglitz. The Nobel prize-winning economist delivered a wonderful and fascinating speech at the Atlanta Fed's...

Bridging pay-gap between CEOs and employees

The controversy over the pay gap between chief executive officers (CEOs) and employees is not new and has a well-traced history. It is often argued that the CEOs are too highly remunerated. Their high remunerations seem to counter the reality...

Stocks flatline on profit taking

The stock market closed flat last week that ended Thursday with turnover remaining sluggish as investors sold shares to net short-term profit on certain stocks. The week featured four trading sessions instead of five as the market remained closed on...

Wooden chairs replacing revolving ones

Wooden chairs have now started replacing the luxurious revolving and foamed ones in various offices and business establishments as use of such modern flexible chairs is learnt to have caused various health hazards including back pains. It has been found...