Signs of stability still a far cry!

Should 2014 be better than the year 2013?  Indications are there - inflation and interest rates are low in most of the economies, oil prices are expected to fall, companies are sitting on cash, there's plenty of pent-up consumer demand...

The problems of HFT, Joe Stiglitz edition

The most interesting and provocative thing to be written of late about financial innovation in general, and high-frequency trading (HFT) in particular, comes from Joe Stiglitz. The Nobel prize-winning economist delivered a wonderful and fascinating speech at the Atlanta Fed's...

Bridging pay-gap between CEOs and employees

The controversy over the pay gap between chief executive officers (CEOs) and employees is not new and has a well-traced history. It is often argued that the CEOs are too highly remunerated. Their high remunerations seem to counter the reality...

Stocks flatline on profit taking

The stock market closed flat last week that ended Thursday with turnover remaining sluggish as investors sold shares to net short-term profit on certain stocks. The week featured four trading sessions instead of five as the market remained closed on...

Wooden chairs replacing revolving ones

Wooden chairs have now started replacing the luxurious revolving and foamed ones in various offices and business establishments as use of such modern flexible chairs is learnt to have caused various health hazards including back pains. It has been found...

Left has not vanished

Those who forecast that left has vanished in Central America with successful military coup in Honduras will be totally disappointed by the recent elections in El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Former FMLN guerrilla leader Sanchez, candidate of the FMLN...

Rural life in the science-rich world

In the age of science and technology, people realise that they need to make their life compatible to their locality. It means people need to build a new big world which is the combination of a big number of small...

Medical malpractice at its worst

Want to be an orthopaedic surgeon? You need not have to enrol with a public medical college on the basis of excellent scores in the SSC and HSC results and of course the minimum required score in the medical admission...

Commuters\\\' sufferings unlikely to ease soon

Sufferings of commuters using the roads in and around the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover construction area are unlikely to ease in the next couple of years in absence of a traffic management plan and funds to manage the huge traffic during the...

BD\\\'s outlook stable again: Moody\\\'s

The global credit rating agency Moody's has projected Bangladesh's outlook as stable again for the current year, but cautioned that some factors including political disturbances and deterioration in the balance of payment might affect its rating. The outlook for Bangladesh...

Tk 1.44b more sought for Rooppur N-plant

The ministry of science and technology (MoST) has sought an additional allocation of Tk 1.44 billion for the proposed Rooppur Nuclear Power Project (RNPP) in Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP), official said. The MoST Secretary Khandaker M Asaduzzaman sent a...

Initiatives taken to boost foreign investors\\\' confidence

The government has taken up a number of initiatives including road show, seminar and discussion meeting in order to boost confidence of the foreign investors, officials said. They said Bangladesh is going to hold a road show in Hong Kong...

A business magnate with a difference

Syed Ragib Ali is no stranger in the realm of business and commerce in Bangladesh since he is a leading figure in this field. His presence is felt in many branches of trade and industry - ranging from tea plantation...

Middle East peace process: All is not lost

The latest round of US-brokered peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators suddenly came to a grinding halt -- not unexpected, but unfortunate. After years of incongruent meetings, such an end was not inconceivable. This time the negotiations plunged into...

Responsibility of illegal gas connections lies with Titas Gas

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited is responsible for supplying gas to Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Manikganj, Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sherpur, Jamalpur and Kishoreganj districts. According to Titas officials, around 250 km of illegal gas pipeline and two...

From Rangamati to Bandarban

They are not the last frontiers of Bangladesh but one nestled between a meandering and translucent lake and hills and the other between enchanting hilly peaks and a sea of gathering velvety clouds are natural choices for a retreat after...

Pitfalls of interpreting history along any partisan line

An Awami League (AL) leader's anger on Tareque Zia is understandable but not the way he expressed it. Tareque Zia served a number of salvos from 1971 that challenged the claims of the ruling party on issues of our independence/liberation...

Stocks close higher, turnover down

Stocks returned to the green Thursday after previous session's correction with lower turnover as investors moved cautiously. The market started with upward trend and the positive trend  continued till the market closure amid modest see-saw, eventually ended marginally higher. At...

DSE, CSE open positive

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 Thursday, the last trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the...

Banks turn to govt securities over lower credit demand

Country's commercial banks have started investing their excess funds in the government securities following lower demand for fresh credit especially from private sector, bankers said. As a result, the banks' investment in the treasury bonds and treasury bills rose to...

NBR to hike taxes on soft drinks by 10pc

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has moved to hike taxes on soft drinks by 10 per cent to check abuse of the existing tax benefit by some energy drink producers. The Value Added Tax (VAT) wing of the NBR...

edotco to invest $ 50m within next one year

edotco Bangladesh Company Ltd which recently launched telecom tower operating firm in the country, looks to grow aggressively expanding the 'sharing of telecom infrastructure', reducing the cost of its operation. "We are looking to grow aggressively," Andy Rolt, Managing Director...

Time for new and innovative approach

As a nation we clearly need to invest in infrastructure. To be on the higher trajectory of GDP (gross domestic product) growth, the ratio of investment to GDP needs to be raised to 35-40 per cent from its present average...

On sight and vision

The other day, I was in a remote village in Thakurgaon. On my way to that village, I was struck by the sight that women were planting in almost knee-deep muddy fields.  Most of them supply labour in advance (called...

Myanmar continues to persecute Rohingyas

Myanmar recently hosted the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit and was earlier elected the chairman of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). These are big leaps forward for a nation which remained largely...

Keeping jute mills operational

The Pubali Jute Mills was set up immediately after liberation to promote industrialisation of the country. The mill was closed last month. About two thousand workers became unemployed. During the last two months, five private sector mills were closed down...

DSEX dips below 4,600 points-mark again

Stocks returned to the red Wednesday after a single session break with slight decline of turnover as the investors booked marginal profit on large cap stocks in later part of the trading session. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka...

Stocks see upward trend at opening

Share prices on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed positive trend in early hours of trading on Wednesday, maintaining the previous session’s upward trend. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by...

Customs seizes record volume of smuggled gold in Jan-Mar period

A record quantity of 225 kilogrammes (kgs) of gold, smuggled into the country in the form of bars, were seized in the first three months of the current calendar year. The quantity is equivalent to near about 50 per cent...

Spectacular switchover!

One day, it had suddenly dawned on Ratan Krishna Majumder, a fish trader, operating reportedly at Mathbaria of Pirojpur district (some newspapers, however, mentioned Khulna city as his place of business operation), that the job of an orthopaedic surgeon would...