Pakistan: Earning distinction as a failing state

Pakistanis are in the habit of blaming others for their troubles. Most of the time, their accusing finger is pointed towards India. At other times, it is the United States (US) which is cited as the villain keeping Pakistan in...

Making life from scratch

Man is scouring the known universe through his most advanced telescopes to see if there is intelligent life elsewhere other than on earth. In fact, the search is more about life than about intelligent life per se. That is because,...

Stimulus to the private sector

It has been over a month and half since the new government took charge of the economy including governance over vital areas of economic policies. Even before the changeover, there was noted advocacy that Bangladesh should be preparing in haste...

Anti-AIDS strategy

To avoid the experience of the neighbouring countries Bangladesh needs to adopt short- and long-term strategies against the possible of HIV/AIDS. The marginalised sections of the society are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Ignorance and lack of access to information make...

Conserving plant genetic resources at community level

A good number of villagers in Bangladesh invests considerable time and energy in subsidiary economic gardening. This is often in the form of a vegetable garden and tree orchard in whatever household land is available to them. In fact, this...

US households lose $11.1t of wealth in 2008

NEW YORK, March 13: The US households lost $5.1 trillion of their wealth in the last three months of 2008, worst in the past 57 years, the Federal Reserve revealed yesterday. The full year loss has been estimated at $11.1...

Vegetables in the export basket

Bangladeshi agricultural products have good demand in the UK, USA, Europe and the Middle East. But the export to these destinations, so far, is far below the potential. One of the main reasons of this is inadequate investment in agriculture.Of...

DSE turnover sets new record boosted by BB repo rate cut

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) crossed Tk 6.00 billion for the first time in history, lifted by the central bank's short term interest rate cut that signalled easing of credit for the private sectors.Manufacturing, power and pharmaceutical shares...

The great tragedy at BDR headquarters

The human tragedy of BDR Headquarters is enormous. Not only the officers were killed but even some of the members of their families met the same fate. The number of officers killed at BDR Headquarters is far higher than those...

Ups and downs in manpower export

As the economic recession that started in the western hemisphere is gradually engulfing the rest of the developing world, recently its impact is being felt on Southeast Asia. Bangladesh, though it has not yet been sucked into the maelstrom of...

Central bank sets up debt management dept

The central bank has set up Debt Management Department to handle public debt efficiently and boost the secondary securities market."The new department will act as an implementing agency of the public debt management," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank...

Proliferation of frauds keeps mounting in US

NEW YORK, March 11: The proliferation of frauds has kept mounting keeping equal pace with the deceleration and contraction of economy. The federal and state investigators here in US are preparing for a surge of prosecutions of financial frauds.The US...

Killing at BDR HQ: National security and broader unity

ABOUT two weeks have elapsed since the country witnessed the brutal killing and massacre that took place in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters, the heavily guarded fort standing as a symbol of national security. A group of 'heavily armed youths,'...

Improving tax collection

A government needs resources to take up various projects and programmes in the social and developmental sectors. The resources in large measures are supposed to be mobilised as taxes given by people and organisations. But as everyone concerned probably knows...

When roads are liabilities

ROAD networks in Bangladesh have been expanded tremendously over the years. But the country is not getting the optimum returns from this development. Roads are vital for the growth and development of any economy. Roads facilitate business activities and movement...

BB cuts interest rate on repo

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has slashed its interest rate on repurchase agreement (repo) after nearly seven months aiming to offset the ongoing global financial recession through boosting fresh investment, officials said.The interest rate on repo auction was re-fixed at 8.50...

Malaysia cancels 55,000 visas of Bangladeshi jobseekers

The Malaysian government Tuesday cancelled visas for more than 55,000 Bangladeshi jobseekers, who are due to enter that country soon.Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government is closely monitoring the issue."If necessary, the foreign minister...

news digest

Palestinians in GazaGAZA, Mar 11: Two Palestinians were wounded early Wednesday when Israeli warplanes fired rockets at the border line between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources said. Mu'awia Hassanein, director of emergencies at the health ministry, said two...

Merchant banking licence

In the backdrop of an earlier announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that more licences would be granted for operating merchant banking, a recent meeting of the commission for selection of the prospective licensees proposed by the selection...

For a more predictable management of power and energy gap

WITH the advent of summer, the city people are again faced with the old problem of power shortage in the form of load-shedding or outage. The fear is that the problem may take crisis proportions this year given the fact...

New direction for investments in education

Whether redundant types of education are being favoured over the forms of education that help the creation of human resources is posing increasingly as a serious question in the context of Bangladesh. Clearly, the country requires not the creation of...

Asia's multibillion-dollar remittance flow drying up

OVER the past three to four years, one of Asia's fastest growing industries has been exporting workers, especially to the oil-driven, construction-crazed economies of the Middle East.Remittances have become a major contributor to foreign exchange earnings and gross domestic products...

Energy crisis: Use of coal should be top priority

The Petrobangla, the state-owned oil and gas entity, might soon suggest the government to allow the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the private sector to help offset the energy crisis which might soon become unmanageable, particularly in the...

Wrong time for Pak series

It was a good thing that the Pakistani cricket tour of Bangladesh was deferred to another future date. As it is this is the month of March. In 1971 this was a momentous month and it has become a very...

Why is nationalisation of the US banking systems unavoidable?

CRITICS claim that long-run growth of the private sector investment in Bangladesh was affected seriously during the early years of independence due to the policy of nationalization. Soon after coming to power, the then government nationalized the industrial and the...

Not yesterday or tomorrow, concentrate on the present

CONCENTRATION is vital for every student. The more concentration one has, the better chance one has to perform in studies. Lack of full attention to studies is probably one of the main problems our students face.Most of the time the...

EBL mutual fund to hit market by Apr

A close-end mutual fund, launched by Eastern Bank Limited, is making debut in the stock market by next month."The EBL First Mutual Fund valued at Tk 1.0 billion will hit the market by April next," a market source told the...

Inflation downtrend continues

The country's Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation eased marginally in January on an annual average basis because of declining prices of food and non-food items both in rural and urban areas.The CPI inflation came down to 8.46 per cent in...

History of International Women's Day

THE idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialised world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies, actions by working women anywhere in the...

Fighting frustration during terminal years of academic life

Towards the end of their academic life, in honours fourth year or masters level, many students in Bangladesh suffer from frustration. They become restless, thinking when their academic life will be over and when and how they will get a...