Web portal to guide investors launched

A web portal, launched by a young woman entrepreneur, to reduce unemployment has gained enormous responses among both local and foreign entrepreneurs across the country. The first-of-its-kind portal www.luckyideabd.com is providing technical and advocacy support to the people who are...

Road, sea link with Myanmar can \\\'help reduce trade gap\\\'

Connectivity with Myanmar by sea and road could help the country lessen its trade gap, stakeholders said. The important economic dimension of the two countries is to develop connectivity that will help the two nations reach their annual trade target....

Fresh distress call from Zinda Park

Green activists continue to protest the recent move taken by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) to take over the Zinda Park. Situated in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj, Zinda Park was set up through voluntary participation of the local people on their...

Man-made disasters and earthquakes: Plan and action

Bangladesh has a long history of major disasters and natural calamities. Millions of lives have been lost over the years. The medical backup required to save the victims was never up to the standard. Moreover, the facilities near a disaster...

Cold War warmed over

Can we have a new Cold War without a communist threat?  Some important political players seem to think so. One of them is Russian President Vladimir Putin. At his surreal press conference, Putin depicted the protest that overthrew the pro-Russian...

Pry, mass education sector may lose $ 667m foreign aid unless donors’ conditions met

The country's primary and mass education sector may lose US$ 667 million in foreign aid unless the government meets certain conditions set by donors, including reviewing its decision to cut the sector's development allocation beyond 15 per cent, officials said....

Farmers need soft loan for mechanised farming

Concerned quarters feel that soft loan facilities for farmers are needed for buying equipment like tractors and power tillers, as currently they have to rely on rental equipment which erodes their profit. Sources said cultivation in the country is getting...

Government should finance private universities

Private Universities are those higher education institutions established privately by a group of people or an organisation under Private University Act, 1992 (Amended 1998) that was passed on 9th August in 1992. The present scenario of private universities reveals a...

IFN publishes country report on BD

A country report on Islamic Banking in Bangladesh has been published in Islamic Finance News (IFN) Annual Guide-2014 written by Md. Touhidul Alam Khan, Senior Executive Vice President & Head of Corporate Assets & Client Origination and also Team Leader...

Promoting Global Alliance on Media and Gender

The UNESCO joins forces with international and regional partners to launch the annual 'Women Make the News' initiative on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 08, 2014.  In line with that initiative, it has perfectly selected the theme:...

Interest rate reduction and borrowing from foreign banks

A suggestion has recently come from Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal that investors should borrow from foreign banks and such borrowing would reduce the domestic interest rate. Before assessing how much justified such assertion is, we should note one thing...

Potato a blessing for Bangladesh economy

In the global economy, every country has its own economically important products for domestic and global markets. Economically important agricultural or industrial products have been playing a dominant role in the economy of a country. The dairy products of New...

Russia\\\'s control over Ukraine: Threat to US hegemony!

What is the interest of Russia in Ukraine? Russia is a former superpower of the world and now it is spreading its influence beside Europe. It has huge military power. You need to exercise your military power; otherwise nobody will...

Chile may allow duty free access of BD RMG items from next yr

Country's export of ready-made garment (RMG) items to Chile will increase as the latter is considering duty free market access from next year, industry insiders said. Earlier, Ambassador of Chile in Bangladesh resident in New Delhi Cristian Barros during his...

Govt high-ups, others to review RMG compliance Tuesday

Several ministers and secretaries of the government will review the compliance situation in the readymade garment (RMG) industry next week aiming at revival of the GSP (generalised system of preferences) facility in the US market, officials said. They will evaluate...

Two ministries sitting on sand export proposal

Bangladesh is missing a good volume of earnings in foreign currency in the wake of a row between two ministries over a proposal on sand export. The demand for sand from Bangladesh was increasing gradually across the globe. But the...

Tk 5.0b invested so far for biotech-based products

A large number of local pharmaceutical companies in the country have come up with huge investments in manufacturing biotech-based products to cope with the world's latest innovative products. Besides investments in pharmaceuticals, many other types of biotech products could be...

Country\\\'s jute, jute goods export earning falls by 30pc this fiscal

Country's jute and jute goods export decreased dramatically in the current fiscal year (FY) 2013-14 following depreciation of Indian rupee and sluggish demand in the world market, industry insiders said. According to data available with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB),...

BSCCL ponders major cut in bandwidth price

The state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) mulls over cutting down its internet bandwidth price significantly. The company wants to do so to remain in race, as private sector service providers are gradually grabbing the major share of the...

Stocks down for 2nd straight week amid volatility

Amid volatile market sentiment, stocks edged lower for the second consecutive week that ended Thursday with turnover dropping slightly as investors remained watchful. The week featured all five trading sessions. Among them, the market gained only two sessions while three...

BB\\\'s IT leader

Nazneen Sultana, the country's first deputy governor of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), started her career in the central bank taking up the challenges of acquiring knowledge in the Information Technology (IT). It was the time when IT was not even...

Role of BWCCI in development of women entrepreneurship

Today it is widely accepted that the women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh are energetic, willing to learn and take risk, innovative, hard working and an important driving force of the economy. Support and assistance are extremely helpful in their bid to...

Situation improves in urban areas but unchanged in villages

Emergence of women entrepreneurship has changed the business landscape of Bangladesh. Financial empowerment of female workforce has added pace to the economic development. They proved themselves as successful entrepreneurs in diversified businesses ranging from handicrafts, boutiques to light engineering, banking...

Tobacco makers\\\' drives at universities to hire hands

Tobacco is an addictive element having not a single usefulness. Despite knowing the bad effects, millions of people consume tobacco and thousands are being added to the group globally each year. The government of Bangladesh has formulated Smoking and Tobacco...

Searching for honest and efficient science advisers

A very hopeful message was published in a national daily on February 6, 2014 quoting that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is looking for honest and efficient resource persons to speed up the development activities in the country. She likes...

Shale oil revolution and Bangladesh

The world is undergoing a new revolution, the shale oil and gas revolution. The United States has already made a breakthrough. But in shale oil technology Canada and Norway are not far behind. During Canadian Governor General's recent visit to...

When a hawker is sorely missed

Those who are avid readers of human character often discover traits either common to people or simply special in a certain individual. Some have those inborn, others simply develop those as they grow, others have to think of peculiar ways...

BPC seeks Tk 7.25b from state coffer to meet deficit

The state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has sought a subsidy of over Tk 7.25 billion from the government to help keep its fuel imports and supplies uninterrupted, officials have said. The BPC has sought the subsidy while the Biman Bangladesh...

General investors\\\' IPO spree goes on

Public subscriptions of the newly-approved companies are witnessing a huge response, as general investors still prefer the primary market for risk-free investment amid volatility in the secondary market, officials said. Latest data reveals that three companies that completed public subscription...

BD businessmen now focus on JVs with foreign investors

A good number of local entrepreneurs have now shifted their focus on business expansion through joint ventures (JVs) with foreign investors, especially for building their capacity through adopting modern technologies, insiders said. According to them, the ever-growing global competition has...