Delhi hosts BIMSTEC summit in Nov

The long-deferred second summit of the economic bloc of seven South and Southeast Asian countries has been scheduled to be held in the second week of November in New Delhi, an official in Dhaka said Monday.The Bay of Bengal Initiative...

Europe needs boardroom diversity to stay competitive

Too German, too white and too male: that was the verdict of Siemens' own chief executive on the engineering group. But Peter L

Humanities group disappearing from many schools

IT was one of the happiest days in Mahin's life. The result of his Master's degree examination was published and he did well. Delighted, Mahin's parents thought their hard time was over as their son obtained the highest degree and...

Is central bank's autonomy under threat?

If the media reports on the functions of the newly created macroeconomic policy unit under the ministry of finance are true, the top brass of the country's central bank should have ample reasons to feel frustrated.The unit that has been,...

Microlending pioneer opens first branch in the United States

Grameen Bank, acclaimed for improving the lives of the poor in Bangladesh by providing tiny business loans, has begun operations in the United States.This is its first attempt to bring microlending to the poor in a developed country.Grameen America's first...

Subway can ease Dhaka's traffic congestion

SOLVING the problem of congestion in a mega-city like Dhaka is not an easy task. A solution should approach a system that consumes less of fuel.Trams and trolley bus would provide a performance even better than that of underground mass...

Hazaribagh one of 30 most polluted places on earth

World's well-known environmental magazine 'Ecologist' has termed Hazaribagh in Dhaka as one of 30 most polluted places on the planet.The widely read weekly UK magazine in its article titled 'Hell for Leather', published in June this year, criticised the efforts...

Gas crisis hits dozens of ready EPZ plants

Dozens of newly set-up factories in the country's export processing zones (EPZs) could not start operation as they have failed to get gas connections despite assurances by the authorities, officials said Saturday.The companies-most of them owned by foreign entrepreneurs--- have...

Policy support for the private sector

Bangladesh desperately needs faster economic growth. The growth has to be led by the private sector. The smaller the role of the government, the better the prospect of efficient use of scarce resources for economiSc growth.Following this principle, Bangladesh has...

What will be in Apple's next laptops?

Soon after Intel's recent announcement of its new Centrino 2 mobile platform, rumours began to circulate about what would be inside Apple's next round of MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops (which are, themselves, rumoured to be refreshed in the near...

South Asian University to offer wider choice to students

THE posh South Asian University (SAU) is expected to start by 2010. It will be going in for a "cafeteria approach" (freedom of choice in opting subjects) where students can go straight for studying science and humanities courses.The regular university...

Shrimp price fall puts squeeze on earnings from frozen food export

The shrimp price fall in global markets put a squeeze on earnings from the country's frozen food exports, exporters concerned said Friday.Earnings in the sector, the country's second biggest foreign currency earner after garments, fell short of the target by...

Social safety net covers only 10pc of hardcore poor

Only 2.0 million out of 20 million ultra poor could be brought under the government's social safety net programme (SSNP) due to delayed disbursement of fund, lack of planning and weak surveillance and monitoring, a study report said."

The triple threat: Our food, water and climate challenges

FOOD prices rose 4.0 per cent in the United States in 2007, the highest rise since 1990. All over the world, food prices are on the rise and Bangladesh is no exception.There are many reasons contributing to this current crisis,...

AIDS victims must not feel the absence of love and care

"Enough is enough. No more hiding. We'll have to fight for our dignity and rights. And this how we can force the society to change its attitude towards us," says Perveen, an HIV carrier.Perveen (not her real name) got infected...

Bangladesh is not small, many big countries would pale into insignificance before it

The unfortunate typical instinct of many Bangladeshis these days is to despise the surroundings from which they draw their sustenance. There are over 180 countries in the world and conditions in many of them are far worse than Bangladesh such...

Drive for Iran sanctions seen long, hard

The United States and its Western allies are pushing for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran but negotiations will drag on for months as Russia and China work hard to delay and water down any new measures.US and...

SMEs' potential for job creation

SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) are especially suited for Bangladesh for its vast workforce. A large portion of this workforce is unemployed or underemployed. Big industries, which are geared to achieve the economy of scale, involve high establishment and operating...

Strides science making recently

Many new technological innovations have been made during the last few decades. But though those inventions are of recent origin, they have already become essential elements of our day to day life. Now think of a day without the Internet,...

4 more regional passport offices will start operations this year

Four more Regional Passport Offices (RPO) will start operations this year as a part of the government's decision to extend passport-related services across the country.With the setting up of these four offices, the number of total RPOs will be 19....

South Asia faces food crisis despite India's high productivity

THOSE most affected by the current global food crisis are the poor, particularly in developing countries, international agencies and independent experts agree, and a large number of people for whom steep food prices spell disaster live in South Asia.Rice, an...

corporatewatch

18pc cash dividendThe board of directors of National Polymer has recommended 18 per cent cash dividend for the year that ended on June 30, '08. The annual general meeting (AGM) of the company will be held at the National Shooting...

Respecting every dollar the remitters send

With the remittance from the expatriate wage earners rising in amount, the government has decided to reward the highest remitters. The reward will provide them with special citizen's benefits.' Such persons will enjoy the status of commercially important persons (CIPs)...

Getting immersed in Olympic frenzies

The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. China perhaps would not have agreed to host Olympics in any other year that would not bear the digit 8 as a qualifying index and I guess China...

Mischievous stories of gloom, doom about Bangladesh

It is known to all that Bangladesh gets unfair media coverage on some issues most of the time. For example, let us recall the banner headlines in a newspaper last week about the imminent earthquake to hit Bangladesh, or more...

Death of Solzhenitsyn: a dazzling flame extinguished

Not for a split of a second time freezes, not for a micro millimeter the Earth wobbles off its trajectory at the deaths of thousands of people everyday. But, at times news of death of a single luminary sends people...

Majority of old Dhaka, Gulshan businesses are without TINs

At least 100,562 businesses and professionals received new taxpayers identification number (TIN) during the ongoing drive across the country by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), officials said.They constitute 64.67 per cent of the 155,500 businesses and professionals surveyed across...

Heritage sites for cultural tourism

THE cultural heritage of Bangladesh and his archaeological wealth is yet to be projected and exploited to attract tourists. Cultural tourism can change Bangladesh's image to tourists, both domestic and foreign.Not many in Bangladesh are aware of its cultural heritage....

The concept of community policing

POLICE for its effective functioning anywhere in the world requires rapport with the ones whom they serve. Policemen are found working in social settings where they are not expected to try and do their professional work with a gruff or...

Three more landports will be handed over to pvt operators

Three more landports will be handed over to private operators under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement for a period 25 years by 2009 to help boost cross border trade, officials said.The landports that will be handed over to private operators in the...