To whom did Musharraf surrender?

Pervez Musharraf may be gone, and it is tempting to conclude that his downfall will now help Pakistan galvanize democracy. But a certain degree of misgivings still exists among political thinkers who say Musharraf's departure will not solve Pakistan's problems....

Developing more productive workers

A recent ILO report emphasised that 20 to 35 per cent of the labour force in Bangladesh engage in at least 50 hours of work per week. This is reflective of the tenacity of the workers in this country. The...

Pakistan without a khaki-clad president looks un-Pakistani

The process of our cognitive impression, a part of our genetic behaviour, is based on what we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we taste---and what we read in newspapers and what we view in audiovisual media like...

WTO and after

THE World Trade Organization (WTO) came into being in Marakkesh on January 1, 1995 following the successful completion of eight years of prolonged negotiations from 1986 to 1994 as a sequel to the Uruguay Round (UR) of negotiations. The organization's...

sports digest

BEIJING, Aug 24: China's central authorities Sunday congratulated the Chinese athletes on their "achievement of a major historic breakthrough" and "significant contributions" to the Beijing Olympic Games. "The motherland and people feel proud of you. We extend warm congratulations and...

news digest

US Ambassador to ChinaBEIJING, Aug 24: The US Ambassador to China is pressing Chinese officials to immediately release eight Americans who were detained for holding pro-Tibet protests during the Olympics. Ambassador Clark T. Randt Jr. says in a statement Sunday...

CRP: proper enforcement remains the key

The anxious wait for a law that would protect the consumers from the unholy desires of the unscrupulous traders seems to be over. The council of advisers last week approved the Consumers Rights Protection Ordinance, 2008.After making a few amendments...

Delayed formation responsible for ineffectiveness of TAC

The academics, lawyers and business people have expressed doubt about the effectiveness of the Truth and Accountability Commission (TAC) because ot its delayed constitution.An ordinace providing for the formation of the TAC was promulgated on June 5 and later it...

US team on labour review mission in Bangladesh

A United States assessment mission is now visiting Bangladesh to review labour laws and rights situation in the country's main export-oriented manufacturing sectors, officials said Sunday.A three-member team, led by a technical officer of the United States Agency for International...

Wife influenced Obama to deny Hillary as running mate?

NEW YORK, Aug 24: The euphoria Obama created has now evaporated. He now leads John McCain by a mere two percentage point. South Asian Americans feel Obama has allowed the US presidency to slip out his clutch by not naming...

Marked rise in industrial credit disbursement

Industrial credit disbursement recorded a significant rise by over 66 per cent in the last fiscal against that of the previous fiscal (2006-07).Bankers are hopeful about the continuation of the upward trend in industrial credit distribution due to growing credit...

Govt to set up SEZ Authority by year-end to boost investment

The government is set to establish a Special Economic Zone Authority by year-end to speed up local and foreign investment in the newly-fashioned industrial parks, an official said Sunday.The chief advisor's office is now scrutinising the final draft of a...

Can the EC hold the polls in December?

For obvious reasons all eyes are now set on the Election commission (EC). The political parties and other stakeholders are getting apprehensive of the situation. The question is whether the EC would be able to complete registration and the reforms...

Fly ash of Baropukuria Coal Mine remains unused, dumped

NILPHAMARI, Aug 24: Fly ash at the Baropukuria Coal Mine worth hundreds of thousands of taka are being wasted as there are buyers of the by-product. Fly ash is an important component for producing cement and it constitutes around 20...

Einstein's faith and struggles

Is the aphorism that great men think alike always true?And as many believe, do great minds think in a way different from lesser mortals? Since the beginning of the modern liberated era of human thinking, the minds of great thinkers...

Power, gas crises stunt knitwear export growth

Around 2000 knitwear manufacturers of the country are facing difficulties in meeting the growing demand from overseas buyers as frequent power outages and shortfall in gas supply were impeding the production capacity, industry insiders said Friday.They said each and every...

Radisson at top among posh hotels

Three posh hotels -- Radisson, Dhaka Sheraton and Pan pacific Sonargoan -- paid over 27.28 per cent of total sales as value added tax (VAT) in fiscal 2007-08.There are 1,855 quality hotels and restaurants across the country.According to statistics of...

The small to the rescue of biggies

NEW YORK, Aug 22: The process of small unhindered bank taking over big beleaguered bank has started. The first transaction was inter-continental, an American bank taking over a German bank which sounds rather unusual at a time when the all...

Pakistan after Musharraf

General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has been exercising overlordship over the affairs of Pakistan for nine long years till his resignation which was really the outcome of arm twisting of him from behind the wings to do so. The days now...

news digest

election on Sept 6ISLAMABAD, Aug 22: Pakistan will hold a presidential election on September 6, the election commission said today, following the resignation of Pervez Musharraf this week. "Presidential elections will be held on September 6. The nomination papers can...

Israeli arms sales won't push Russia into enemy hands

Russia is courting Syria in a way not seen since the days of the Cold War. Syria's President Bashar Assad is in Moscow for a two-day visit at the invitation of Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart.Some observers believe Damascus could...

Food cost renders more people poor

BANGLADESH has been consistently producing record harvests of food grains in recent years. This would lead to a conclusion that the rate of consumption of basic food, rice or wheat, is rising or remains at a reasonably satisfactory level. But...

US presidential campaign 2008

In the background of the long, historic US-led terror wars in Afghanistan and Iraq killing thousands of innocent Muslims since the Sept 11 event, US is undergoing a long poll campaign season to elect a new president to take office...

news digest

in Brazilian truck crashSAO PAULO, Aug 20: Fourteen farm workers in Brazil returning home from a coffee harvest were killed Tuesday and another 19 injured when the truck they were traveling in crashed, local media reported. "Everything indicates that the...

NYT paints gloomy picture of US economy

NEW YORK, Aug 20: Writing under the heading 'No end in sight', the New York Times in its lead editorial yesterday painted a rather gloomy picture about the US economy surrounding which the global economy moved. A year into the...

Proposed RTI ordinance proves to be an empty show

The Right to Information Act has been eagerly awaited in Bangladesh by all those who understand and appreciate its significance for good governance of the country. The prevailing Official Secrets Act in Bangladesh is like an impenetrable shield that denies...

The state of technical and vocational education

Technical education is in a shocking state. For example, newspapers reported sometime ago that 31 out of the 38 government's polytechnic institutes of the country are running without principals. And 35 of them have no vice-principals. Besides, 450 posts of...

Implementing RRC's recommendations

With the aim to remove the existing legal barriers to the promotion of investment, the government on October 10 last year formed the 17-member Regulatory Reforms Commission (RRC). The tenure of the Commission will expire next October.So far, the RRC...

Career voyage

I am very fond of train journeys. My colleagues sometimes ridicule me at my extraordinary penchant for trains; some wonder why I eschew comfortable air journeys in favour of time-consuming train journeys even on official tours. Surprising as it was,...

news digest

first satelliteCARACAS, Aug 19: China is to launch Venezuela's first satellite in November which will serve to relay telecommunications data and television signals over Latin America, President Hugo Chavez said. The orbiter, named "Simon Bolivar" after a 19th century Venezuelan...