Shop owners to seek compensation from govt, opposition

The country's shop owners are planning to go for a movement against the hartal programmes as they have to count losses to the tune of Tk 1.0 billion a day during shutdowns, the sector leaders have claimed. If such frequent...

Non-tax revenue earning rises by 71 pc in Q1

Revenue earnings by the office of the Chief Controller of Imports & Exports (CCI&E) under the Ministry of Commerce achieved about 39 per cent of its target in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, official sources said. Its...

Govt seeks time extension of four IDB-funded projects

The government has sought extension of time for at least four projects funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as various factors have delayed their implementation, sources said. The time extension was sought at a recent meeting when an IDB...

The abominable chemistry of shutdowns

The other day some of my friends had a long debate on shutdowns in Bangladesh. Fourteen-year-old Monir, who sustained burn injuries when pickets set fire to his father's covered van on Dhaka-Gazipur highway during shutdown hours last Monday, succumbed to...

Country\\\'s students at receiving end

Politics at its nastiest is taking its toll in myriad forms. Apart from the direct casualties of senseless violence, people with no allegiance to any party politics are finding themselves at the receiving end. In fact they have been held...

Troubled politics causes rising loan default

The country's banking sector is now on a reverse gear once again. Successes achieved in streamlining it through joint efforts of government, central bank, private sector sponsors and multilateral lenders over the past few years now face the risk of...

Political crisis casts shadows over the economy

A peaceful environment is necessary for economic progress of a country and wellbeing of the people. But in our country, the long continuing political crisis over the election-time government is pushing the economy from bad to worse. Sustainable economic growth...

The quest for a credible election—\\\'hardliners\\\' scuttling prospect!

The nation is unquestionably getting itself increasingly enmeshed in developments that are causing political uncertainty of a serious proportion. And in the process of this, chances of a way-out from the current imbroglio are becoming slimmer, being made difficult by...

Bangladesh\\\'s efforts on capital market reforms

Bangladesh has had its share of stock market booms and busts. Following a bull run during most of 2010, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) crashed in early December 2010 and by March 2011 the index had fallen by half from...

Checking formalin use in food

In the backdrop of large scale use of formalin in food items, the cabinet has approved, in principle, Formalin Control Bill 2013 with a provision to award food adulterators' jail-terms up to ten years and Taka 0.5 million as fine....

Tongi-Bhairab railway double track work progressing fast

Construction work for upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong single track railway into double track in the Tongi-Bhairab section is progressing fast. The progress has been 56 per cent in the last twenty four months and it is likely to be completed within...

Steady growth in MNCs\\\' profits

Profits of the multinational companies (MNCs) operating in the country have been growing steadily despite the prevailing unfavourable business condition thanks to their good management and product quality, sources said. For doing better business most of foreign and multinational companies...

Better education for a better world

Now teachers' voice is heard in the global forums to make this planet better giving better education to the students. In the 7th Asia- Pacific Teachers' Conference held in Kuala Lumpur between September 18 and 20, 2013 the voice of...

Revisiting equal education for all

This article is about the current role and weaknesses of Equal Education for All (EFA), as there are missing objectives that have a deep impact on the ability to achieve quality education in South Asia. "Despite significant progress over the...

BTRC to reward best telecom operator

The telecom regulatory authority is going to introduce a policy to reward the best performing cell phone operator by setting three criteria in an effort to encourage them to meet compliance. Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Authority (BTRC) plans to introduce the...

BB survey on inflation expectation soon

The central bank will soon conduct a survey on inflation expectation aiming to help the financial sector players and investors frame proper policies and draw up investment plans, sources have said. The inflation expectation is a rate of inflation that...

BD-Myanmar JTC meet in Nay Pyi Taw in Jan

The Joint Trade Commission (JTC) meeting of Bangladesh and Myanmar will be held in January next to strengthen bilateral trade between the two countries, a high official said. With this end in view an inter-ministerial meeting will be held soon...

More PCBs set to go for mobile banking service

A large number of private commercial banks (PCBs) are now set to start mobile banking business with a view to bringing a vast segment of unbanked people under their coverage, sources said. Besides, the grand success of others also lured...

BHBFC to expand housing finance to dist, UZ levels

The state owned Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) is set to expand its housing finance activities to district and upazila levels of the country, sources said. To this effect, the BHBFC recently sought Tk 5.0 billion as capital assistance...

Little Master\\\'s departure from cricket

The word retirement has a resonance of dispensability. One is given the message that you are no longer required. Common people have their retirement age at a considerable ripe age. But the geniuses, exceptional as they are, either have no...

Micro-credit and the poor

Conventional banks never showed interest to provide loan to poor people and did not lend them. So, they had to borrow money from moneylenders with high interest rates. As a result, they ended up more or less permanently in debt....

Containing adulteration of foods

We cannot think of our survival without food because of its indispensable nutritional support for the body. Everyone is constitutionally entitled to get pure food. Article 15 of the Constitution says it shall be the fundamental responsibility of the state...

Sustainable water futures versus Washington Consensus

The first three-day meeting of the UN Water Futures and Solutions Scenario Focused Group ended in Paris on November 06, 2013 agreeing on three water scenarios and pathways and a set of strategies and policy options to be further fleshed...

Banks\\\' classified loans reach Tk 567.2b in Q3

The amount of classified loans in the country's banking system marked a gradual rise throughout this calendar year and reached Tk 567.20 billion in the third quarter (July-Sept), which is nearly 13 per cent of the total outstanding loans. Senior...

Govt move to expand \\\'one house, one farm\\\' project

The government has initiated a move to push forward the ongoing 'Ektee Bari, Ektee Khamar (One House, One Farm)' project through increasing the number of Gram Unnayan Samity (village development associations) to make the rural people self-reliant, officials said. "There...

BSEC empowered to formulate own annual budget

The ministry of finance (MoF) has empowered the securities regulator to formulate its own annual budget without taking the approval of the government, officials said. The latest move taken by the MoF comes following a strong demand made by the...

Beware of these dream merchants

My good old neighbour, Alec Talukder suffered a setback in the share market where, he lamented, bad people took away his money through manipulation of share prices. He recently again came very close to be hooked --well, almost -- by...

Human endeavours and excellence redefined

This is called the digital era with the electronic wonder machine, computer taking the centre stage. Long before it another such electronic gadget, television, came to radically change the lifestyle of people. The introduction of cable TV in particular has...

Modernising rickshaws for safety on roads

The unchanged features of a cycle-rickshaw have been still persisting probably since its first inception. Primarily, it has now become a matter of serious safety concern under the current road traffic environment. The secondary issues like passengers' comfort and convenience...

Pak ties with Nato again on the rocks

Pakistan's ties with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) remains topsy-turvy centring mainly the situation in the war-torn Afghanistan. This is because Pakistan plays a vital role in shaping up of the affairs in the country where the NATO forces...