An inspirational biography

Khuda Buksh: The Pioneer of Life Insurance in Bangladesh is a well-written and interesting book about a fascinating individual.  Clearly Mr. Khuda Buksh was one of the outstanding life insurance men of his generation in Asia and his story can...

Nation cannot afford to lose its arable land

Bangladesh is located in the lowest part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river systems with a long coastal belt along the Bay of Bengal. The country is endowed with diversified species of flora and fauna. Agriculture is the major economic activity...

Fault line in health service

Not all is quiet and well on the health-service front in this country. Its hospitals are making news for all the wrong reasons.  No civilised nation has ever experienced clashes, let alone such negative incidents repeatedly between physicians and relatives...

Thailand falls into deeper crisis

A court in Thailand has ordered prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra removed from the office for "abuse" of power. The country now appears to be plunging into a deeper crisis. The development has come as a big setback for the prime...

BD proposal for local value addition at 30pc for LDCs opposed

Bangladesh proposal on setting local value addition criterion for least developed countries (LDCs) at 30 per cent, instead of 40 per cent, in preferential trade among the Developing-8 (D-8) countries has triggered strong opposition from most of the bloc members,...

DCCI holds meeting with diplomats tomorrow

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) will hold a meeting with the foreign diplomats in Dhaka tomorrow (Saturday) aiming to increase Bangladesh exports in different countries, said the chief of the trade body. The government has set the...

Stocks see decline

Stocks returned to the red on Thursday after three sessions' positive trend with sluggish trading activities as investors remained in cautious mood.The market started with a positive note, but could not sustain as session progressed. Eventually, DSEX, the prime index...

DSE, CSE open positive

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

Dhaka to seek duty-free facility to Russian market in July

Bangladesh will seek duty-free market access of its products to Russia when a high- powered official delegation visits that country in July next, officials said. The commerce minister Tofail Ahmed will lead the Bangladesh delegation, the officials added.   Products, mainly...

Horror of abduction stalks

Committing a crime and then laying the blame on others is often a common theme in most of the Bangladeshi or Indian thriller movies that are box-office hits. The theme is smartly tailored to create an air of tension and...

Developing citizen-centric public administration

There has been a paradigm shift from traditional hierarchical bureaucratic public administration to a citizen-centric modern public administration. This has happened due to globalisation, rapid technological advancements, rising expectations of the citizens from the public servants in terms of better...

Non-banking financing: Role of Factoring

Apart from traditional bank borrowings there are few non-banking financing options such as housing finance, leasing and hire purchase. "Factoring" is also a non-banking financing scheme that aims to provide temporary cash flow problems and, or improve liquidity of a...

On forced disappearances, kidnappings and extrajudicial killings

Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta has hinted at reality concerning the "forced disappearances", kidnappings and extrajudicial killings when he pointed at a government within the government (GWG) for these acts that have become a national nightmare the like of which...

Minorities deserve protection all over the world

Fresh violence against the minority Muslims in eastern Indian state of Assam has caused concern and anxiety as India is in the last leg of its staggered elections that began on April 07 and will close on May 12. The...

Stocks close marginally higher

Stocks edged marginally higher on Wednesday for the second running sessions with declined slightly as investors remained in cautious mood. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 4,575.50 points, gaining 12.53 points or 0.27 per...

China awaits BD decision on tariff preference change

China is awaiting a decision from Bangladesh regarding replacing tariff preference it offers under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) with zero tariff treatment, sources said. It is seeking Dhaka's opinion before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits Beijing next month to...

Taking strength from an unreliable source

The power generation during the peak evening hours was 541 megawatt (MW) more than the demand for the same on May 05 last (Monday).  So there was no load-shedding on that day across the country. In fact, according to the...

BPC seeks Tk 14.50b subsidy from govt again to meet fuel import bill

The cash-strapped state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has sought over Tk 14.50 billion again from the government to meet its fuel import bill, officials said. The state entity is facing acute financial problem mainly because of non-payment of outstanding dues...

Practice of \\\'undercutting\\\' saps RMG of bargaining power

A section of apparel units, against the backdrop of a decline in work orders from the international buyers, are, allegedly, undercutting their rivals at home. Industry insiders said the 'unhealthy' trend that has become strong lately has been causing substantial...

Govt to conduct detailed feasibility study soon

The government is going to conduct a detailed feasibility study for setting up the country's first express highway on the Dhaka-Chittagong corridor. The Roads and Highway Department (RHD) is set to select an Australia-Japan-Bangladesh joint venture (JV) firm for the...

BB relaxes rules for enterprises in EPZs seeking foreign loan

The central bank has relaxed foreign exchange regulations allowing all industrial enterprises in export processing zones (EPZs) to borrow medium and long-term loan from overseas sources, officials said. Under the relaxed regulations, industrial units in the EPZs will submit borrowing...

Experts suggest revival of 23 rivers thru\\\' capital dredging

The consultants engaged in pilot capital dredging have recommended that twenty-three rivers be revived to its full capacity on priority basis, officials said. The costs for the work have been estimated at Tk 9000 billion. If the money is available...

Devising strategies to face non-tariff barriers

Bangladesh is a promising economic powerhouse in South Asia. The Goldman Sachs investment bank and economist Jim O'Neill in its 'Brics and Beyond' report identified 11 countries having high potential of becoming the world's largest economies in the 21st century...

Abduction is a cause for serious concern

Incidents of kidnap mainly for ransoms have increased recently. In some cases, victims are killed. Seven bodies, including Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) panel mayor Nazrul Islam and his four associates, were recovered from the Shitalakhya River. He was abducted last...

Gold smuggling - a potential threat to national security

There has been a rise in the seizure of gold consignments over the last two years. Recently, the customs officials seized 106 kilogrammes (kg) of gold stashed in the toilets of a Biman flight at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka....

Revenue earnings show 28pc rise in DSE

The government's revenue earnings from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) marked a 27.47 per cent rise in April compared to a month ago as the trading volume was on the rise. The government bagged tax worth Tk 137.01 million in...

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 Tuesday, the third trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the...

NY firm to invest $200m for RMG modernisation

A New York-based investment firm is planning to invest a significant portion of its US$1.0 billion global fund in the ready-made garment (RMG) and textile industries of Bangladesh. "Modernisation and transformation of the country's apparel and textile industries will be...

MoF decides to go tough on loan irregularities in SoCBs

The government has decided to take tough action against irregularities in loan approval and sanctioning process in the state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs), officials said. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Bank and Financial Institutions...

Dhaka-Ctg 4-lane project may take one more year to complete

It may take one more year to complete the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project due to slow progress in widening the highway, though political disturbance was rather absent during the last three months, said officials. Expansion work of the country's main corridor...