E-governance: A priority agenda for the government

THE customs procedures in the ports of Chittagong and Mongla as well as in the airports and land ports are complicated, slow and bureaucratic. the customs officials, in this regard, have considerable discretionary power in estimating the tariffs of goods...

IEA highlights need for 'technology revolution'

The world needs to spend $45,000bn on green technologies in the next 40 years, or 1.1 per cent of annual global economic output, to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday.The investment - much...

Lure of simplicity in scientific theories

Simplicity of a scientific idea is a measure of its power to explain. Physical and biological sciences were a world of chaos before Newton, Darwin and Einstein. Their theories accommodate so much diversity and complexity in one fell sweep that...

Uncomfortable truths for a new world of them and us

The world has been turned on its head. Consumers in the wealthiest nations are struggling with the consequences of the credit crunch and with the soaring cost of energy and food. In China, retail sales have been rising at an...

India's man in a hurry

ANIL Ambani, the Indian industrialist, was on a family holiday in a game park in South Africa earlier last month when the news came. Takeover talks had collapsed between rival billionaire entrepreneur Sunil Mittal, chairman of India's biggest mobile carrier...

Overseas workers' welfare fund spending under scrutiny

Serious questions about the use of a welfare fund raised through fees collected by the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) from the Bangladeshis leaving the country to take up jobs abroad have surfaced.The size of the fund is...

Dilly-dallying in protecting the RMG sector

What things the administration has done so far in securing the country's readymade garments (RMG) sector from short and long term threats to its existence, are too little to say the last. The RMG sector faced peril even two years...

Crude palm oil tipped for 20pc price rise

FT Syndication ServiceJAKARTA: Crude palm oil prices should rise 10 per cent by the end of this month and more than 20 per cent by next February on the back of strong demand, tightening supply and buoyant crude oil prices,...

BB gears up forex support to commercial banks

The central bank has geared up its foreign currency support to the commercial banks for settlement of fuel import bills.The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been making such intervention to keep the country's foreign exchange market stable.As part of the operation,...

Development challenges facing Bangladesh

DEFICIENCIES in key infrastructure such as power, railways and roads, seriously hamper export growth, investment, and opportunities for transport integration within Bangladesh and also regionally, where possible, for better business. Power is the biggest logjam in physical infrastructure. Per capita...

Politics lead the way

"We have had over ten years' experience with a nearly gender-equal government and Parliament," says a very pleased Gertrud

Bringing new issues to be made mandatory for merchant banks

SEC chairman Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi Thursday said an amendment will be brought to merchant bank rules making it mandatory for the merchant bankers to bring new issues in the market."If they fail to bring new issues they will face cancellation...

The end of abundance: Food panic brings calls for a second 'green revolution'

THE world stood on the brink of starvation and, warned doomsday forecasts in the 1960s, the battle to feed all of humanity was already lost. Famine was common in some of the most populated countries. Predictions of Malthusian catastrophe made...

commodities digest

alight in beef protestSEOUL, June 5: A South Korean man was in a critical condition in hospital Thursday, police said, after setting himself on fire in protest at government plans to resume imports of US beef. Police said the 56-year-old,...

Business community's stakes in politics

THE representatives of the business community who attended the government-sponsored dialogue with a panel of advisers headed by the chief adviser have again given vent to their concerns as well as come up with their views about the present status...

Liquidity to keep markets from drying up

The current financial crisis has revolved around the drying up of markets that had been built on the presumption of ample liquidity.Massive leveraged positions were built up in instruments that, in spite of their triple A credit ratings, suffered from...

news digest

in rebel ambushLEGASPI, (Philippines), June 4: Three members of an elite Philippine army unit were killed Wednesday in a communist guerrilla ambush near this eastern city, the military said. The three army scout rangers were riding a motorcycle to the...

East and west must resist the siren call of protectionism

SINCE mid-March equity markets have been driven by cheery folk who can see their way through the murk of today's financial trauma to the sunlit uplands beyond. One of the more powerful props to their optimism is a belief that...

Whither the roadmap for the power sector?

IT came as very reassuring as well as very heartening amid all the gloom in the power sector when last year the government declared a roadmap of task lists for the power sector. It was a year by year plan...

Imports go up by 25pc in 10 months

The country's overall import grew by 25.07 per cent during the first ten months of the current fiscal over that of the same period of the previous fiscal, officials said."The import trend is still in right track on the basis...

Needed more public universities

A total of 13 public universities in the country are proving absolutely inadequate to cater to the growing student population. In sharp contrast, one is reminded that the number of private universities has swelled to 52. Traditionally, the public universities...

Removing incongruities relating to bad debts written off by banks

THE objective of write-up is to help remove some misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the tax law and accounting treatment that have crept into the minds of the bank officials, tax officials, auditors of the offices of the Auditor General, Bangladesh...

Fear chasing the wage earners

THE news that the Bahrain government has imposed a temporary ban on issuing work permits to Bangladeshis has come as a shocker for us all. But the worries do not end here. At the same time, those expatriate Bangladeshi workers...

Of statistics, lies and inflation

The policy analysis unit (PAU) of the central bank in a policy paper published recently has recommended introduction of a method for measuring 'core' inflation in order to help the bank formulate what it said credible monetary policy.The policy paper

China says west's lack of market oversight led to subprime crisis

FT Syndication ServiceBEIJING: Western governments must strengthen their oversight of financial markets and improve cross-border regulatory cooperation if they are to avoid future global financial crises, a senior Chinese banking regulator told the Financial Times recently."I feel the western consensus...

More to it than just 'leaning against the wind'

IN recent months the debate about monetary policy and asset prices has intensified again. This should be no surprise given the deep financial problems affecting in particular the US. However, the issue is certainly not new. In the world of...

Housing for urban poor

The leaders of the readymade garment workers recently demanded allocation of fund in the next budget for a housing project for the RMG workers. The demand deserves serious consideration. It's a genuine suggestion and needs to be treated accordingly.Hundreds of...

Consumers still awaiting a law for protection

THE activities of some unscrupulous elements, ranging from unlawful syndicated trading to adulteration of food-products, are causing growing concern to the consumers across the country. Consumers in Bangladesh, specially the non-affluent, who constitute the majority, have been passing time in...

Manpower export marks 42.16pc rise in 5 months

The country's manpower export marked an impressive 42.16 per cent growth in the first five months of calendar 2008 over that of the same period of the last year as two Arab states recruited large number of Bangladeshi workforce, officials...

Taka appreciates by 0.12pc against US dollar

Bangladesh Taka has appreciated by 0.12 per cent against the US dollar during the last one week following increase in the supply of greenback in the market, officials said.The appreciation emerged after seven months as pressure on import payment bills...