Payra seaport yet to handle goods after 8 months

Even after eight months of formal opening the country's third seaport - Payra - is yet to start handling of goods due to lack of proper planning, officials have said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the seaport at Kalapara...

Tour operators wagering on Eid vacationers

Tour operators expect a business boom during the Eid vacation after two years of slump worsened by political unrest. Industry executives said political stability will help boost the flow of local and foreign tourists this year. "We are expecting good...

A Fox-Time Warner deal would give Murdoch new heft in China

Rupert Murdoch's plan to buy Time Warner would help the Twenty-First Century Fox chairman make larger inroads in China, a fast-growing market that media moguls are finding hard to crack. Time Warner's board rejected Murdoch's $80 billion offer, but the...

India keeps world guessing in countdown to landmark trade pact deadline

India will firm up its position regarding a landmark global trade pact shortly before a Thursday deadline, a senior official said on Monday, setting up a nail-biting showdown over a deal it says should safeguard a $12 billion anti-poverty food...

Is Germany still the champion?

More than a week on from its World Cup soccer victory, Germany may return to centre stage, though this time not with fan celebrations but concerns over the health of Europe's economic motor. Investors saw dark clouds building last week...

GP sees strong performance with solid earnings growth

Grameenphone Ltd. reported revenue of BDT 51.1 billion for the first half of 2014, a 7.8 per cent up from the same period of last year. Service revenue grew 7.5 per cent (YoY) along with 14.3 per cent (YoY) growth...

Stocks, turnover rise on DSE, CSE

Stocks ended higher for the second running session on Tuesday with improved turnover as investors went for buying spree on large cap stocks amid optimism. The market opened with a positive note which continued till the closure. DSEX, the benchmark...

Stocks see upward trend at opening

The country’s two bourses – Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) – witnessed an upward trend in early hours of Tuesday’s session, the third trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE went...

Inadequate allocation blamed

The Roads and Highways department (RHD) could not repair the roads and highways in bad shape as it was not given enough funds, sources said The maintenance wing of the RHD sought Tk. 77 billion to repair the national and...

Existing bank accounts to be allowed for rent deposit

The revenue board is set to relax the rules for house rent transaction through bank accounts by allowing house-owners to use their existing bank accounts for depositing the monthly rent exceeding Tk 25,000. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) made...

City halts in Ramadan gridlock

Shopping spree of the city dwellers, faulty traffic management system and numerous makeshift shops on footpaths caused unprecedented tailback across the capital Monday, like most other weekdays. Besides, illegal parking of a large number of private vehicles on the streets...

Bangladesh faces tough fight in ITU election

Bangladesh is going to face a tough contest to retain its council membership in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as some powerful contestants are vying for the similar seats in the UN agency, official sources said. ITU is the specialised...

Major city malls install fake note detectors

The city's most shopping malls installed Monday machines to detect fake currency notes as dozens of money counterfeiting gangs are active ahead of Eid-ul Fitr. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) with the cooperation of Bangladesh...

Non-tax revenue earnings from export , import exceed target

The government's earnings from imports, exports and indenting registration and renewal fees exceeded its target under the head 'non-tax revenue' in the just concluded fiscal year (FY) 2013-2014, thanks to strengthened recovery drive and increased registration and renewal fees, sources...

Top Kurdish security official warns the West of Iraq blowback

Western countries will end up fighting insurgents who have overrun large parts of Iraq on their own doorstep unless they intervene to combat the threat at its source, a senior Kurdish security official said in an interview. Masrour Barzani, head...

Iran eliminates sensitive stockpile under interim nuclear deal: IAEA

Iran has moved to eliminate its most sensitive stockpile of enriched uranium gas under an interim nuclear deal reached with six world powers last year, according to a monthly update by the U.N. nuclear watchdog obtained by Reuters on Sunday....

Late monsoon starts Indian farmer\\\'s \\\'journey to hell\\\'

Farmer Asghar Bhura scrapes a living by growing sugarcane, but this year's late monsoon has left his tiny plot parched and he will earn nothing from his harvest. Bhura will have to go and work for a big grower to...

Will economy\\\'s fate be set by next two weeks\\\' earnings?

A long hoped for improvement in the economy appears to be manifesting itself in second-quarter U.S. earnings, but the next two weeks could be the real test. Companies such as General Electric Co and Intel Corp have reported solid results....

The grim world of our child workers

Child labour is an acute problem in Bangladesh. Children in the country are engaged in many 'worst forms of child labour', primarily in hazardous activities in agriculture and domestic service. In 2002-2003, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) conducted the second...

Girl Summit 2014: A silver lining for girl child

The Girl Summit 2014 is scheduled to begin in London today (July 22). Heads of government including the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, women and human rights activists, community leaders, civil society organisations (CSOs) and development partners will join the summit....

Pressure for political dialogue mounts

A Minister is reported to have said recently that if the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not give up its demand for fresh elections, the current government's term would be extended for a year beyond 2019! The Minister failed to...

DSE turnover crosses Tk 3b

Stocks returned to the green Monday with turnover on the prime bourse crossing Tk 3.0 billion mark after 13-session  as optimistic investors went for buying spree. The market opened with a positive note and continued till the market closure. DSEX,...

DSE, CSE open positive

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in early hours of trading on Monday, the second trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE went up by 14.37 points or...

NBR issues rule covering 1.0pc surcharge on mobile handset

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a rule Sunday facilitating the collection of 1.0 per cent surcharge levied on both imported and locally produced mobile handset from the current fiscal year (FY) -- a measure that would make the...

Export target to be set at $33.20b for FY `15

The government is going to fix today the export earning target for the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 at US$33.20 billion, up by 10.02 per cent or $2.70 billion from the actual earning in the just-concluded fiscal, sources said. The...

Setting up industrial parks delayed

Construction of industrial parks outside Dhaka city keeps getting delayed lingering the city dwellers' grapple with pollution and other industrial hazards. Two industrial parks have missed their deadlines on work completion while the fate of some others is hanging in...

Peacekeepers fetch $150m a year on an average

Bangladesh has maintained an average foreign-currency income of $150 million annually from the United Nations peacekeeping operations over the last one decade, though experts saw a scope of raising the income substantially. They said the earnings from the PKO (peacekeeping...

26.4 per cent of DSE brokerage firms ready to launch new IPO process

Only 26.4 per cent of brokerage firms of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) have completed preparations for the pilot project of launching the new IPO (initial public offering) process, officials said. The premier bourse Sunday submitted the list of the brokerage...

Five-point demand to the government submitted

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) has finally agreed to accept the proposed Financial Reporting Act (FRA), under which Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will be formed to oversee functions of the auditors, according to its chief. The institute,...

MRA to go tough on errant micro-lenders

The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) will take action against micro finance intuitions found to be violating the interest rates on lending and savings as set by the regulator, officials said. Tough action will also be taken against the MFIs that...