Flexible school banking policy

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been pressurising the country's commercial banks to open school banking accounts in an increasing number.  Already the banks have set targets for such bank accounts. This will affect bank rating. For this reason bank employees...

State sugar mills: Casualty of a price war

Sugar is one of the very few essential commodities that have not been troubling their consumers for a reasonable period of time. Rather, unlike most other essentials, its price has gone down by more than 33 per cent over the...

Climate change as sustainable goal for post-2015 era

The UN Open Working Group on Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (OWG SDGs) has finally picked up climate change as a stand-alone goal for the post-MDG (Millennium Development Goals) era. After long negotiations and heated debate, the OWG SDGs adopted this...

Clashes with Russia point to globalisation\\\'s end

As the European Union and the United States ramp up their sanctions on Russia, President Vladimir Putin's plans for retaliation seem to include an attack on McDonald's. There could not be a more powerful symbol that geopolitics is increasingly undoing...

DSE turnover crosses Tk 4b-mark

Stocks slipped in the red on Sunday, the opening day after nine-day Eid vacation with turnover crossing Tk 4.0 billion-mark after 7-week as investors took position on large cap stocks. DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSEX)...

Stocks see downtrend at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw negative trend in early hours of trading on Sunday, the opening day after a nine-day Eid vacation. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 9.49...

Violence, tension sweep the world over

Internal volatility in strife-torn Libya has become a matter of latest international concern at a time when the escalating violence and tension in the Middle East are menacingly threatening the global peace and security. As the situation in the Gaza...

Ctg port lengthy clearance discourages foreign trade

Lengthy procedures followed for clearing the import and export goods at the Chittagong port have been listed as a major constraint to facilitating smooth international trade, a recent study has revealed. The clearance of an import cargo at Chittagong port...

WCO to help Bangladesh combat gold smuggling

The World Customs Organisation (WCO) is expected to help National Board of Revenue (NBR) conduct a joint combat against identified local and international gold smugglers' syndicates operating through the country's airports, officials said. According to the sources, the Detective Branch...

No end to toxic poultry feed supply

Tonnes of toxic poultry and fish feed continue to find their way into markets across the country exposing public health to serious hazards. About a fortnight ago a mobile court asked relevant departments to destroy three hundred tonnes of poultry...

Lebukhali bridge construction to start by December

The government has set a fresh target to start construction of the Lebukhali bridge by December next after missing last year's target to establish direct link between capital Dhaka and southern region including the proposed port at Payra river. Officials...

Non-release of HC judgment keeps sponsor-shareholders at bay

Sponsor-shareholders of the listed companies are not being able to move to legally fight in the Appellate Division regarding the securities regulator's notification on mandatory holding of 2.0 per cent shares, as full text of the High Court Division's judgment...

City\\\'s shopping malls yet to reopen

Most of the shopping malls in the capital continue to remain closed after three days of Eid-ul- Fitr holidays that ended Wednesday. On the other hand, business transactions in the shopping malls that opened on Saturday registered a poor volume...

Copycat drug cos sprouting up on drug office inaction

Many small pharmaceutical companies are allegedly involved in manufacturing drugs by using the labels of leading brands, wholesalers at the Mitford market, have said. Abdul Hai, Vice President of Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association (BCDA), said while counterfeiters produce antibiotics...

Monetary Policy July-December 2014: A review

Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for July-December 2014, as unveiled by Bangladesh Bank recently, shows certain encouraging developments during the last six months, but few vital questions still remain unanswered. The MPS for January-June 2014 was based on certain key assumptions...

Why police torture continues unabated

In the wee hours on Sunday, 13 July, 2014, Rabbi, a 5-year-old son of Mahbubur Rahman Sujan, saw how brutally police raided their home, tortured his parents, beat his father mercilessly, dragged him to their bathroom, and hit him with...

Deaths and disappearances in custody

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for disbanding the Rapid Action Bureau (RAB) highlighting the 800 custodial and extra-judicial deaths in its hands as the main reason. The government dismissed the call and correctly so because the fate of...

Migrants\\\' remittances: Causes of decline

A flurry of speculations greeted the recent decline in the flow of home remittances from Bangladesh migrant workers. Think tanks, news reporters, freelance columnists and arm-chair analysts have joined the fray to tell their own stories of why the remittances...

Iraqi foreign minister blames Maliki for Islamist insurgency

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his security officials are to blame for the rise of Sunni Muslim insurgents who have seized parts of Iraq, the country's foreign minister said. The comments by Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, are likely to worsen...

Saudi king labels Israeli offensive in Gaza a war crime

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah broke his silence last week over the three-week-old conflict in Gaza, condemning what he saw as international silence over Israel's offensive and describing this as a war crime and "state-sponsored terrorism". Saudi Arabia, which regards itself...

India says WTO deal not dead, can sign in Sept if concerns addressed

India is willing to sign a global trade deal, which it has torpedoed, if other World Trade Organization members can agree to its parallel demand for concessions on stockpiling food, senior officials in New Delhi said last week. The deadline...

Moscow fights back after sanctions

Russia fought back last week over new U.S. and EU sanctions imposed over Ukraine, where fighting between Moscow-backed rebels and government troops has intensified since a Malaysian airliner was shot down. The worst confrontation between Moscow and the West entered...

DSE,CSE trading resumes Sunday

Share trading and official activities at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) will reopen tomorrow (Sunday) after a nine-day Eid vacation including weekly holidays, officials said. The DSE authorities on July 10 announced that the...

Tk 15b income tax from state entities targeted this year

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has set a target to collect Tk 15 billion from the state-owned entities as income tax this fiscal as it has streamlined tax collection procedures for them, officials said. The government has incorporated a...

Vegetable, fruit export may face EU ban

The European Union (EU) may consider imposing a ban on Bangladesh's vegetable and fruit export to its member-states in the event of the latter's failure to show major improvements in ensuring harmful organism-free exports by September 30, diplomatic sources said....

Experts for economic diplomacy to get TRIPs transition period extended

Bangladesh may face difficulties in extension of the special TRIPs transitional period for producing pharmaceuticals unless there is strong economic diplomacy after expiry of the current time in the year 2015, industry insiders said. According to sources, the general transitional...

CNG pumps\\\' strike, if pleas not met by August 24

The CNG refueling station owners will meet the authorities concerned of the government this week to discuss the progress in implementing their five-point demands. President of Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners' Association Zakir Hossain Nayan told the...

Primary share market making turnaround

Twelve companies have raised funds from the stock market through initial public offerings (IPOs) within the first seven months of this calendar year, which indicates that the investors shocked by the past crisis are now getting back to the primary...

Networking and women\\\'s rights in RMG sector

Industrialization has opened up a new avenue for young women workers in developing countries especially in garment industries over the period of last 25 years. Predominantly, industrialization process has been forced by the multilateral donor agencies like the International Monetary...

Road upkeep cost rises for less budgetary allocation

A less-than-required level of budgetary allocation during the last seven years has pushed up 90 per cent the funding needs for overall maintenance of roads and highways throughout the country, official sources said. The gap between the demand and the...