Low turnover amid trading disruption

Stocks ended lower Sunday with turnover dropped significantly as the investors remained shaky following trading disruption at opening session on the prime bourse.Trading was halted on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) at 10.35am Sunday after five minutes of trading following technical...

DSE trading to continue till 3:15pm

Trading at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) resumed at 1:15pm today (Sunday) after being halted at 10:35am following a technical glitch and it will continue till 3:15pm, said a DSE official. Meanwhile, DSEX, the prime index of the DSE went down...

Digital glitch halts DSE trading

Share trading on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) halted at 10:35am today (Sunday) after five minutes of trading following a digital glitch, a DSE official said. “Due to the technical problem, today’s (April 13, 2014) market has been halted. Starting time...

Pakistani Taliban plot with seminaries to assault the capital

The Pakistani Taliban will coordinate with Islamist activists at major seminaries in or near the capital, Islamabad, to launch attacks if peace talks with the government fail, police said in a report. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took power last year...

NBR moves to offer tax benefit to FFs

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has moved to offer special tax facilities to freedom fighters (FFs) to help them maintain cars and facilitate their travel abroad. As part of the facilities the board is likely to waive Advance Income...

Indian polls: Opponents hurl new weapons at front-runner Modi

The front-runner in the 2014 national elections in India - Narendra Modi of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - finds a personal issue emerging as a highly embarrassing one for him even as the balloting has already begun...

New taxi cabs unlikely to hit streets on Pahela Baishakh

New taxi cab service is unlikely to hit the city streets from Pahela Baishakh, as announced earlier, due to failure to complete major formalities like publication of a gazette notification on fares. Officials said completion of registration, digital name plates,...

Weeding out unfit vehicles

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader has, once again, expressed determination to remove the old and unfit vehicles from the city. Talking to reporters last week, Mr. Quader announced that a coordinated drive would start next month in this connection, aiming to...

DCCI to help new entrepreneurs get bank loans: Shahjahan Khan

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has initiated a move to help new entrepreneurs get bank loans for launching businesses. Under the new initiative, the DCCI appointed a consultant to assist the new entrepreneurs for scrutinising their project...

Language, a particularly divisive issue in Bangladesh secondary education

In ancient times, Bangladesh was situated in the eastern portion of a huge river delta region and called Bang, where the Ganges and Brahmaputra River systems empty into the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. The region became known as...

Teaching language without textbooks

Language teaching needs five important components such as students, teachers, materials, teaching methods and evaluation. Using materials mostly indicating textbooks gets third importance in language teaching.  Can we teach English without a textbook? One thing has made me surprised to...

Role of financial sector in spurring growth

We all know Article 15 of the Bangladesh Constitution requires the country to follow the path of a planned economy for realising its development objectives. Accordingly, to fulfill this constitutional obligation and also to transform Bangladesh into a middle income...

TIB\\\'s report and present political climate

The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in a report on March 18 said the present Bangladesh parliament lacks a genuine opposition party to hold the executive branch accountable to the people. TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman, while releasing his organisation's findings on...

Afghanistan elections and Pakistan

The question deals less with which candidate wins the presidential race and more with the legitimacy and acceptance of the election results by the multi-ethnic population of Afghanistan. The Afghan election system follows that of the French. There are a...

Law enforcers to be engaged to stop GSP certificate forgeries

The government is set to engage law enforcement agencies to help stop forgeries of certificates under the European Union's generalised system of preferences (GSP), a high official said. The move came following a suggestion from the visiting team of European...

MRA plans to go tough on errant MFIs

The microcredit regulator is planning to go tough on the errant micro finance institutions (MFIs) to protect the interests of millions of clients. The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) cancelled operations of some 10 microfinanciers in the last two months for...

Slashing of bandwidth price fails to benefit internet users

Internet users in general are not getting full benefit of slashing of internet bandwidth price once again from Tk 4,800 to Tk 2,800 for one year. However, the bandwidth price is also much lower for those who buy it from...

Restive politics puts a damper on insurers’ premium income

The country's insurance sector was affected severely by the heightened political tensions and sluggish economic growth in the last calendar year (CY). Premium income of the country's insurance companies declined by 6.15 per cent to Tk 76.785 billion (7678.5 crore)...

Stocks return to red amid cautious trading

After a single week break, the stock market plunged into the red as cautious investors booked profit and re-balanced their portfolios during the week, notwithstanding improved turnover. Despite infrequent profit taking, Large Cap segment remained positive over corporate declarations and...

Restoration of US GSP: Some observations

We have for some time been locked in rhetoric and war of words over the temporary 'loss' of trade benefits under US Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). Emotional outbursts have taken centre-stage in the country on the modalities of winning...

7th FYP should focus on people\\\'s interest

Turning Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041 is a key objective of the incumbent government. Bangladesh can become a middle-income economy by 2019-20, two years before the target if the economy keeps...

Afghan poll: Too soon to write off Taliban

Afghanistan's presidential election closed on April 05 last amid relief that attacks by Taliban fighters were fewer than feared. The voting that will see the first-ever democratic transfer of power in a country plagued by conflicts for decades. It will...

Cactus drink

In the sixties of the last century while travelling in the Australian outback, I had cactus drink. One can over live few days with it. Cactus is an Australian plant. It usually did not grow in Bangladesh. But it is...

Suchitra Sen: A legendary heroine of Bengali film

Suchitra Sen, a legendary heroine of Bengali film, was born on April 6 in 1931. She breathed her last on January 17 in 2014 in Kolkata. Her family name was Roma Das Gupta. Suchitra Sen is her filmy name. Roma...

Values and norms prized by ethnic people

Can a people be superior to another? Confronting such a question is quite disquieting. It is not easy to agree on the criteria for determining a people's superiority. A particular people may have produced a very large number and proportionate...

Overall imports grow by 13.49pc in 8 months

The country's overall imports grew by 13.49 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2013-14, following higher import of food gains, particularly rice and wheat, officials said. "The overall imports increased during the period...

Fund shortage affects SCITI functioning

Shortage of fund is badly affecting the overall functioning of the Small and Cottage Industries Training Institute (SCITI), officials said.   "We are unable to function properly due to budget shortage. We proposed to the BSCIC to revise the budget so...

Upgraded status and salary raise for primary teachers

Salary of the headmasters of government primary schools in the country has been raised and their status upgraded. According to an announcement by the prime minister on March 09, the head teachers will now enjoy the status of class II...

A passage to Chittagong Hill Tracts

In this largely deltaic plain, they remain mostly forgotten -a world apart. But if Bangladesh's diversity has to be realised in its unerring context, the hilly districts on the south-eastern fringe of this land are the places one must pay...

Another concession to India

Bangladesh's generosity when it comes to India is on an upswing since the Awami League returned to office for a second consecutive term following the controversial January 05 elections that the Congress-led government in India backed strongly. The new AL-led...