CPA ignores JS body\\\'s decision on purchase of equipment for NCT

The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is going to buy equipment for New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) violating the decision of a relevant parliamentary (JS) committee. The committee earlier asked the CPA not to invest from its own fund since the...

Revenue collection marks rise in first nine months

An increased amount of VAT realised from three major corporate sectors has contributed to upward revenue collection growth in the first nine months of the current year. Cement, gas, banks, pharmaceuticals and cigarette companies have paid higher amount of value...

Term lending down, working capital up

Disbursement of industrial term loan declined by nearly 4.0 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) amid a substantial rise in overall industrial lending. Such a lower disbursement of term lending has been attributed...

Syndicates active in cheating people with false hope of jobs

Syndicates are active to cheat people through offering different kinds of jobs including labourers to the billion dollar Padma Bridge Project although its main construction work is yet to be awarded. Almost every day, the project office is visited by...

The BJP\\\'s victory and Bangladesh

The Awami League (AL) general secretary has called the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) "ahammaks" for "gloating" at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) victory. A senior AL leader has asked the BNP not to jump like goats.  Prime Minister's international affairs adviser...

Lessons from the Indian election

I am opposed to religious fanaticism, be it Islamic, Christian or Hindu. The state has no religion; people living in it may have their own religions. Ipso facto, and on that score alone, I shouldn't have any sympathy for a...

Is RMG becoming unattractive to rural women workforce?

One of the key contributions that the readymade garments (RMG) industry has made over the years is the empowerment of women (some even tend to claim that the industry has liberated the country's womenfolk). The non-governmental organisations (NGOs), with the...

Utilising aid for development

The very truth is that the world we live in is not equally provided with the resources needed. So, the flow of aid from government agencies of developed countries and private organisations goes a long way in supporting the economies,...

DSE turnover dips below Tk 3b mark

The country's share markets extended the losing streak for the 6th consecutive sessions on Sunday with turnover on the prime bourse – the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) – dipping below Tk 3.0 billion mark as investors were reluctant to make...

Stocks stocky in early trading

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 Sunday, the opening day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE,...

Indian elections : What is significance of Modi\\\'s massive victory?

On all counts, it has been a great victory for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi, in the 2014 general elections of India. Undoubtedly, the victory was very much on the cards, but...

Roti machine inventor seeks patronage

Roti, made of atta, is an essential item in the daily menu of poor, middle and even affluent families in Bangladesh. It becomes headache for a housewife when the domestic help does not turn up in the morning, and she...

Tk 2.0b sought for BJMC to help procure jute

The Ministry of Textile and Jute (MoTJ) has sought Tk 2.0 billion in the form of financial assistance for the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) to help it procure raw jute. The MoTJ is arranging the fund for the BJMC...

TCB taking steps to sell essentials in Ramadan

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is taking preparations for selling essential commodities in the open market during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, officials said. During the month of fasting the TCB sells sugar, gram, lentil, edible oil and...

Four-day int\\\'l ICT expo in city in June

An international information and communication technology (ICT) exposition is going to be held in the city next month. At least sixty government organisations will participate in the Digital World to showcase their automated e-governance services and products. Several ICT professionals...

Hundreds of new industries fail to go into operation for lack of gas connection

Hundreds of industrial units failed to go into operation due to alleged inaction by the government-formed special committee to deal with the fresh gas connections. Such a situation raised concern among the entrepreneurs, investors and officials said. Such inaction has...

Bangladeshi child prodigy included in UK publishing house

A Bangladeshi child prodigy has recently got one of its fiction stories published by a British publishing house, encouraging the local publishers to capitalise on such talents of the country's new generation and develop the knowledge industry. The newly published...

Consequences of loan default on banks

About Tk. 250 billion are stuck up with the top loan defaulters. Of this amount, Tk.105 billion are with the four state-owned banks, Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali. Filing cases against the defaulters does not produce any result. Loan default...

Taking on climate change urgently

Climate change is the most-talked-about issue of the present time. The impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystem, water supplies and livelihood of a large number of people. The striking feature of observed impacts is that...

Take-outs from teachers\\\' conference at Cox\\\'s Bazar

The Prime Minister office's Access to Information (A2I) project and the British Council with the help of the education ministry and the ministry for primary and mass education organised a three-day teachers'  conference between May 5 and 7 2014 in...

Is education still a public good in Bangladesh?

Like most of my colleagues in the development field, I have defended public schooling on the ground that education indirectly helps people who would not pay voluntarily for the benefits they receive from it, and thus education would be undersupplied...

Middlemen\\\'s syndicates luring BD patients to Indian hospitals

Syndicates of 'middlemen' have for some time been active at different Bangladesh government and private hospitals and clinics with the task of persuading patients to take treatment at Indian hospitals and clinics, in exchange of commission. Many hospital staff-turned-middlemen lure...

S Korea for steps against workers changing jobs

South Korea has sought Bangladesh's punitive measures against workers who frequently violate job agreements and stay there illegally. A team of Korea's Employment Permit System (EPS) Centre in Dhaka recently met high-ups of the Foreign Ministry and urged them to...

25pc incentives for Pangaon ICT users Move to make the terminal operational

The government has decided to provide 25 per cent incentives, in the form of reduced freight, to users of the Pangaon ICT (Inland Container Terminal) in a bid to make the newly-built infrastructure operational, sources say. The ministry of shipping...

Move to realise $168m outstanding bills soon

The government has taken an initiative to realise US$ 168 million in outstanding export bills of jute goods from the Sudanese government, officials said.   Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), under the ministry of textiles and jute (MoTJ) , made shipment...

Move to execute agricultural master plan for coastal dists

The government has taken a fresh move to implement its master plan for agricultural development in 14 coastal districts of the country's southern region, officials have said. As per the move, all relevant ministries will sit tomorrow (Sunday) at the...

Why power cuts despite sufficient production?

Bangladesh, producing 3,267MW electricity against the demand for 5200MW just five years ago, now has reached the milestone of 10,000MW power generation capacity. In the previous election manifesto of the present government, it had made a commitment to enhance the...

Let\\\'s talk openly about defecation, drinking water

Do you remember the scene in the hit film Slumdog Millionaire, where the little boy plunges under a pool of faeces to get to iconic Indian movie star Amitabh Bachchan? Remember that the boy had been using a shared latrine,...

It\\\'s time to return to the Constitution

The seven murders in Narayanganj have underlined that the country is caught in a political quicksand because of the way the Awami League-led government is conducting politics. Bangladesh's politics is breaking at the seams like a cricket ball. When a...

Battery-run cycle-rickshaws and easing traffic jam

The battery-run cycle-rickshaw has now become a common mode of transport in the capital city. It is banned; yet it has been emerging as a burgeoning mode of transport in the Dhaka City. It is an ordinary cycle-rickshaw but is...