Exempt five gas exploration projects from feasibility study

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division approached the Planning ministry to exempt five vital gas exploration and development projects from the mandatory third-party feasibility study requirement.The government division reasoned that rapid exploration of gas will help to reduce dependency on...

Election timetable: perspectives, challenges, & opportunities

Dr Muhammad Yunus, the globally renowned Nobel Laureate and the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, recently delivered a historic speech commemorating the first 100 days of his administration. At the heart of his address was the contentious issue of the...

What does Moody's downgrade imply?

The US-based international credit rating agency, the Moody's on Monday lowered Bangladesh's long term credit rating from B1 to B2, citing lingering political uncertainty, deteriorating law and order and weak domestic demand. The B2 rating, classified as "highly speculative," signals...

A President, a President-elect and missiles for Ukraine

President Biden's decision to supply long range missiles to Ukraine in its war with Russia is clearly a move toward an escalation of the conflict. The missiles, capable of hitting targets as far away as 190 miles, are a new...

CPA starts crackdown on syndicate, monopoly practice at Ctg port

CHATTOGRAM, Nov 20: Chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) Rear Admiral SM Moniruzzaman revealed that efforts are underway to eliminate the syndicate system and monopoly practices at the port. As part of the crackdown, 23 licences of operators had...

HC orders formation of expert body to analyse, prepare report on deals

The High Court on Tuesday asked the government to constitute a high-powered body comprising internationally acclaimed energy and legal experts for preparing a detailed report based on analysis of all the terms and conditions of the deals signed with the...

Defiant transport owners now rush for a business slice

Once-defiant transport companies now make a beeline for a slice of the business cake as six-colour bus service under one-route, one-company franchise system begins soon in Dhaka, sources said. As planned for a much-cherished modern mass-transport system to remove chaotic...

Country loses $355m annually in taxes

Bangladesh loses US$355 million in taxes annually as multinational corporations and individual tycoons are parking funds in tax havens to underpay tax, reveals a report on capital flight.The report, launched Tuesday by Tax Justice Network, says tax loss has declined...

Main boards need a facelift. Here's why

Stock exchanges' main boards should be cleaned up removing the companies that fail to maintain minimum financial standards. The boards have so many poor-performing companies that they engender a bad impression about the market to both local and foreign investors....

Leaked calls of Hasina: a socio-political analysis

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leaked phone conversations, reportedly broadcast from her location in India, have become a sensation among the Bangladeshi people and reveal the extent of her influence over the Awami League loyalists in Bangladesh. During those calls,...

Traveling Bangladesh's longest sleeper bus route

"Is there a chance the bus could get stuck in floodwater?" I asked the Cox's Bazar counterman over the phone.Before booking my ticket for the nearly 700km journey across Bangladesh, I needed to inquire about road conditions in Cumilla and...

Collection unhindered despite Q1 slump

Economic downturn has not impacted the direct tax collection from large taxpayers in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY), 2024-25, according to the tax officials concerned.The Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU), where all banks among other big payers,...

Falling global interest rates, market reforms drive up foreign investments

The equity market has been showing signs of a return of foreign investors since the August political changeover.Stocks known as lucrative to overseas investors saw their stakes increase by October, compared to the holdings four months back. According to market...

Must Buriganga die?

The days are not far off when people will talk about Buriganga river in the past tense. There is still a stretch of narrow water body called Buriganga which was 45 kilometres long when the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)...

Data manipulation by autocratic regime

The committee formed by the interim government to prepare a white paper on Bangladesh economy has reportedly found evidences of fraudulent practices and widespread manipulation of official data by the ousted fascist regime. It only reinforces the long-held view of...

COP16 on biodiversity: an appraisal

The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) has come to be associated with the annual summit on climate change with such automatic conditioned reflex that other conferences held under the same rubric are easily confused with the former or ignored altogether....

Pangaon terminal activities decreasing due to high freight rate

CHATTOGRAM, Nov 17: Customs-related problems, high freight rates, and a number of accidents are seen as primary reasons for the significant reduction in activities at the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (ICT) by the Buriganga River in Keraniganj. The Chittagong Port...

Discrimination at its worst

Politics, finance, commerce, market volatility and various protesting workers' unions or professional bodies along with major accidents mostly hog news headlines because those issues concern the entire nation and even others well beyond the border. But the news carried on...

Bringing looted money back home

Within two months of assuming office, the interim government of Dr Muhammad Yunus on September 29 formed a 9-member task force headed by the Bangladesh Bank governor to bring back the money stolen and smuggled out of the country during...

Shadows over future of television on OTT platforms in Bangladesh

As we celebrate the World Television Day, on November 21, Bangladesh's television landscape, particularly on over-the-top (OTT) platforms, stands at a critical juncture. Once celebrated for democratizing television access, these platforms now navigate regulatory ambiguities and challenges of competitiveness that...

Return of the 'tariff man' and Bangladesh

Before he became the 45th President of the United States (US) in 2016, Donald Trump claimed himself as a 'tariff man' who maintained no ambiguity about imposing higher tariffs on imports, mainly from China. After winning the election, he assumed...

Future of jobs and what it means for Bangladesh

The economic growth of Bangladesh happened because of the contributions from the RMG (ready-made garment) sector and an ever-expanding middle class which presents both challenges and possibilities for creating jobs. Information technology, renewable energy, healthcare, and digital services are all...

Dhaka bourse plans overhaul of market monitoring

Prevention of stock price manipulation and security of investments are must to ensure investors' fearless participation in the equity market.Keeping that in mind, the new board of the Dhaka bourse has set out to contain unlawful activities that come in...

Why neglect the most vulnerable?

In a time when the interim government is working with the objective of building a discrimination-free Bangladesh, it is deeply concerning that children with special needs and their caregivers are left in a state of uncertainty. According to recent reports,...

Sailors' carelessness, negligence blamed for Kutubdia ship fire

CHATTOGRAM, Nov 15: Mother vessel Captain Nikolas and lighterage vessel Sophia caught fire in Kutubdia in October due to the inefficiency, carelessness, and negligence of sailors and Bangladesh Shipping Corporation officials, the investigation report says. The investigation committee of the...

Procurement in disarray for lack of genuine suppliers

The government undergoes a critical phase in procuring key commodities to operate its subsidised sales drive for 10-million families as it cannot get genuine suppliers of such items as required.According to sources, the government cannot procure essentials from domestic and...

Project afoot to advance tech, vocational training

The Technical and Madrasah Education Division (TMED) of the Ministry of Education has initiated a project to advance technical education and vocational training (TEVT) at an estimated cost of Tk 24.58 billion.The project will ensure training for 34,310 technical and...

4B Movement takes America by storm, can it sustain?

Few people were aware of 4B Movement before it got going following Donald Trump's election as the 47th US President. Neither is it American homegrown. It has its origin in South Korea way back in the mid-2010s before the #Me...

Ctg-Dhaka oil transportation thru' pipeline likely from Jan

CHATTOGRAM, Nov 14: The commissioning of the Chattogram-Dhaka oil pipeline is likely to take place in December and may be handed over to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) in January of next year. The project's works have almost been completed...

Project in limbo as bid offers get no response

The Container Company of Bangladesh Ltd (CCBL) received no response to a bid invitation for investment and development of an inland container depot (ICD) at Ghorashal in Narsingdi, making the fate of the project uncertain.According to official sources, 12 private...