Businessmen to seek Japanese infra support during Tokyo tour

Bangladeshi businessmen will request their Japanese counterparts to scale up imports from Bangladesh and increase investment to help narrow the trade gape between the two countries, a trade body leader said. A business delegation lead by the Federation of Bangladesh...

Bangladesh agriculture -- prevailing realities

Bangladesh is one of the least developed countries in the world. The majority of its people depend on agriculture for survival. Despite planned efforts by the government to increase agricultural productivity for over four decades, the growth and output in...

China-Russia is a match made in heaven

As Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Russia's historic $400 billion gas-supply agreement with China, he must have felt the satisfaction of a chess grandmaster revealing the inexorable outcome of a complicated endgame. In theory, the next phase of the chess...

Thailand: Democracy moans in pain

After Thailand's army declared martial law at dawn on Tuesday (May 20), military officials said "This is not a coup. People don't need to panic". A curfew was imposed; but nobody bothered. Tourists and pedestrians were posing with the soldiers...

Mercantile Bank\\\'s move to facilitate industrial growth

Managing cost of fund, encouraging low cost deposits and lowering higher rate of bank loans are the top priorities of Mercantile Bank Ltd to facilitate industrial growth of the country, the Bank's Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)...

Rethinking about higher education system in Bangladesh

There is no denying the fact that 'Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world' as said by Nelson Mandela. Needless to say, education is the password in the path of enlightenment and prosperity....

BTRC starts taking harsh steps against defaulting IGW cos

The country's telecom regulator has started taking stringent measures to realise its dues, coming to around Tk 9.0 billion, from the international gateway (IGW) operators, which work for termination of international VoIP calls in the country. The operators, mainly some...

Birshreshtha Rouf\\\'s mother dies

FARIDPUR, May 23 (UNB): Mukidunnesa, mother of Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf, died of old age complications at her Arpara village residence in Madhukhali Upazila Thursday night. She was 99. Mukidunnesa left behind her two daughters, one son and a host...

Stocks sink for 4th straight week

Stocks plummeted for four consecutive weeks that ended Thursday, with key index of the prime bourse plunging below 4,400 points mark as investors' confidence eroded. Of the week's five trading sessions, four finished in the red and only one session...

The Boers and Bangalees

The Boer war had inspired the Indian nationalists in the fight against British imperialists. But how much we know about the saga of relations between Boers and Bangalees. Recently a distinguished Bangaleee intellectual and freedom fighter told me the saga...

Integrating climate change into development

THE development partners and the climate change experts of the globe have recommended integration of climate change into development. The whole world is now busy in setting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) far beyond 2015-MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). Ban Ki...

Agent banking for financial inclusion

The concept of 'agent banking' is new in the country. The term is now a much-talked-about issue in the banking industry. It may play a pragmatic role in paving the way for financial inclusion. The central bank of the country...

BoP sees downtrend

The country's balance of payments (BoP) witnessed a downward trend in the first nine months of the fiscal year (FY) 2013-14 due mainly to widening trade gap, negative growth of inward remittance and lower inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI)....

Chinese co gets main Padma Bridge job

A Chinese company has got the job of constructing the main structure of the Padma Bridge at a cost of Tk 121.33 billion. The cabinet committee on government purchase gave its nod to the offer of the lone company, China...

ILO for amendment to BD acts, ordinances

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has requested Bangladesh to bring necessary amendments to the country's several acts and ordinances to make them conform to its convention on abolition of forced labour, sources have said.   Bangladesh ratified the ILO Convention on...

Now admission to reputed colleges worries them

After publication of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exam results, now comes the battle for admission. A large number of students who passed the SSC and equivalent exams this year are concerned that they might not get admitted...

Ethical basis of economics

Adam Smith (1723-1790) is famous for founding economics as an independent field of study by synthesising and systemising classical economics in The Wealth of Nations (1776). But he was also a significant moral philosopher in his own right who saw...

A step backward, not forward

Google seems to have been put in the soup by a Spanish lawyer named Mario Costeja González. Twelve years ago, González's adored house had been auctioned off to settle his debts and a local newspaper called La Vanguardia ran a...

Stocks return to red

Stocks returned to the red on Thursday, a day after positive trend as investors followed ‘wait-and-see’ policy ahead of national budget. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) went down by 26.56 points or 0.60 per cent...

DSE, CSE up at opening

The prices of most of the shares on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw upward trend in early hours of trading on Thursday, the last trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the...

NBR finalises tax collection target at Tk 1.49t for FY \\\'15

The revenue board has finalised aggregate tax collection target for upcoming fiscal year, estimating some 22 per cent growth over the current year eyeing a surge in direct tax collection. Of its aggregate target of Tk 1.49 trillion, the National...

Leaking of questions: BCS examination

We wrote an article in The Financial Express on May 13 illustrating through an economic analysis how centralised control of the medical entrance examination creates higher possibility of questions leaking. In addition, we explained how the centralised method of distribution...

Cheating in banking

Hallmark Loan Scam in Bangladesh involved a total amount of about Taka 4,000 crore which means 40 billion in Bangladesh Taka and half a billion in US dollar. The Finance Minister at one stage remarked the amount was paltry. He...

How to deal with enforced disappearance, abduction, kidnapping

The occurrences of abduction, kidnap, enforced disappearance, killing etc. have increased rapidly all over the country. The most sensational is the recent case of abduction and killing of seven persons at Narayanganj. Most of the incidents are still unsolved and...

Thai scene - will martial law resolve political crisis?

The army of Thailand has declared martial law without taking over power in the country against a backdrop of a long-running political crisis. The development has come as another twist in the topsy-turvy politics of the south-east Asian nation, where...

Under-invoicing in fish import to be probed

Import of sea fish is now under scanner of the government as it has received allegations of rampant under-invoicing, officials said.  "The government has decided to scrutinise the import of sea fish for detecting under-invoicing," a senior official of the...

Dhaka for advancing duty-free market access agenda

Bangladesh will request the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to help the country get duty-free market access to the US market when the head of Geneva-based global trade arbiter arrives in Dhaka next month, officials said. Simplification of origination rules and...

Stocks return to green after 8-day slump

After fall in eight consecutive sessions, the stocks returned to the green on Wednesday amid increased participation of investors in the trading. “Market came back into positivity with investors’ focus on lucrative scrips,” said a stock broker. In the last...

DSE, CSE see positive trend at opening

The prices of most of the shares on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed positive trend in early hours of trading on Wednesday. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 33.03 points or...

Real estate, construction sector awaits reforms, adjustments

Over the last decade, the contribution of the real estate & construction sector in Bangladeshi economy has tripled. For an exposition of the relative growth rate of Bangladesh real estate & construction sector over the decade spanning from 2001-2012, the...