Securing Bangladesh's water future

AIR and water are two very essential elements without which no living being can survive beyond a certain time. Nature has given us both and there are renewable sources which will probably never end. But we, human beings, through irrational...

Making pithas for a living

MANY women make traditional Bangladeshi pithas, a kind of indigenous cake, in the Dhaka city for a living. Women making pithas is a common sight in the city these days. Bhapa, chitai, pati shapta, etc. -- all tasty pithas --...

Bangladesh needs to diversify trade and investment

IN an increasingly interdependent world, trade and investment are crucial for every country. Like other countries, Bangladesh, too, in this contest, needs to diversify its trade and investment. Bangladesh's exports are limited to a few products or commodities, with fluctuating...

Current account balance records surplus in Dec

The country's current account balance that maintained a negative trend in July-November period recorded a surplus in December due mainly to increased flow of remittances.Besides, the overall balance of payments also registered a surplus in the same period because of...

The many pluses of concentration

When I was a school student, I read something interesting in one book of Bangladesh

Quotes

Imagination is more important than knowledge.Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Impact of foreign aid on development

THE concept of foreign aid was floated in the 1950s as part of post World War II economic development theory, to fill 'domestic saving gaps'. It involved a massive transfer of capital and technical assistance from the developed to the...

Ananda Shipyard to go public by year-end to finance its expansion

Bangladesh's pioneer shipbuilder Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Limited (ASSL) would go public by year-end to raise fund from the country's stock markets to finance its massive expansion drive, its chief executive said Saturday.The move is a boost for the country's...

NYT backs idea of killing 70 m Iranians

Not too many people get to read the New York Times (NYT), especially the strapped people of the Third World. Either they cannot afford to subscribe to the broadsheet or do not have the privilege of access to online publication....

Mozilla offers do-it-yourself mashups for all

Mozilla released an experimental browser plug-in last week that aims to connect the Web with language to help users perform common Web tasks more quickly and easily.Ubiquity, created by Aza Raskin--son of Apple Mac pioneer Jef Raskin--is a command-line interface...

Saif Powertec, joint forces help Ctg port attain international status

CHITTAGONG, Aug 30: The staying period of vessels in the port has been reduced to only 30 to 39 hours from 11 to 15 days earlier with the handing over the operational activities of the Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) of...

Fellowship and scholarship news

To promote international scientific cooperation, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science encourages highly qualified researchers from the worldover to come to and conduct joint research activities with colleagues at Japanese universities and research institutes.JSPS offers six fellowship programmes,...

news digest

at German checkpointKABUL, Aug 30: Afghan and German troops killed two children and a woman by opening fire on cars that failed to stop at a checkpoint, German and NATO forces said Friday, in the latest of a string of...

Google tests: what a difference a few pixels make

In the old days, designers often had little more than gut checks and rules of thumb to determine the efficacy of creations such as advertisements or newspaper layouts. Later came expensive eye-tracking tests that showed how people scanned pages or...

Ballseye

Sri Lanka finally got a win after losing three games in a row to India. The victory was by a big margin actually, by 112 runs, in a rain affected game. After scoring a modest 227 the Lankan bowlers then...

The incredible shrinking desktop

The desktop computer is getting smaller. Sure, you can still find the bulky towers most often associated with the category. Those are fine for people concerned about customization. However, some people want a small, low-cost, energy-sipping PC that isn't a...

Govt aims to host 1.7m foreign tourists in 2021

The government is set to unveil a mega plan aiming to host around 1.7 million foreign tourists in the country in 2021 when Bangladesh celebrates its golden jubilee of independence, a senior official said on Thursday.He said the Ministry of...

Misery of the overseas job seekers

ACCORDING to reports, there is hardly any letup in the activities of the rackets which have been taking large sums of money from gullible people with promises of sending them abroad with jobs. They provide forged visas in many cases...

Solving the city's traffic problem

TRANSPORT is an important element in determining not only the city's efficiency, but also its sustainability. While most of the cities regularly vie to build the tallest building, they pay much less attention to smart and energy-efficient infrastructures that minimize...

Not overregulation but facilitation of quality education is needed

Introducing any regulation is certainly a tough job. When the parliament is there, the government puts forward a bill to the house for approval of the members. All of the members get then the opportunity to give their opinions in...

Trade deficit shoots up to $5.54b in FY '08

The country's overall trade deficit widened by 60.23 per cent to US$5.541 billion in the last fiscal due to price hike of essential items, including fuel and foodgrains, in the global market.The higher trade deficit pushed the country's overall balance...

US, Pak military chiefs discuss strategies to combat militancy

NEW YORK, Aug 28: Admiral Mike Mullen, joint chiefs of staff of America convened a joint meeting with high level Pakistani military commanders aboard air craft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Indian ocean last Tuesday. They discussed strategies as how...

A hollow promotion of SAARC tourism

South Asia's centuries-old civilisation, its cultural and geographical diversity, its exquisite food, wonderful archaeological monuments, historical and religious sites and, above all, its friendly people, make the region an attractive tourist destination.The region allures tourists from all over the world.The...

Fresh SEC move to amend direct listing regulations

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken a fresh initiative to amend the direct listing regulations following a setback in Titas Gas stocks sale and wild price fluctuation of Jamuna Oil share on the their debut trading.The commission is...

Power : Strange delay in opting for the best option

The daily production of power in the country is far short of its effective total demand at around 5000 mw. Total production of power by the government's Power Development Board (PDB) being in the neighbourhood of some 3,200 mw or...

news digest

Philippines unrestMANILA, Aug 27: The top rights official in the Philippines Wednesday raised alarm over the rising human cost of an army offensive against Muslim rebels in the south, saying civilian deaths had gone unreported. Monitors on the ground have...

Credit flow to private sector goes up by 25pc in FY '08

Credit growth to the private sector had recorded a significant 25 per cent rise in the fiscal 2008 (FY08) against that of the previous year.The rise was mainly due to recovery of losses caused by natural disasters and global price...

Musharraf's departure: What

EXIT of Musharraf was fated; it was brewing with the war on terror, tottering economy, assassination of Benazir Bhutto last December, the humiliating defeat in national elections in February at the hands of opposition parties-the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and...

BB seeks opinions from stakeholders

The central bank has sought opinions from stakeholders including banks on using mobile phone network for money transfer by September 10 next.The central bank sought their opinions at a review meeting held at the central bank Tuesday with Bangladesh Bank...

Meeting the first condition of poverty alleviation

The country took its first donor-driven poverty reduction strategy in 2003. Though implementation of the poverty reduction targets in line with the design of the strategy paper remained a far cry, the interim government, which inherited the Poverty Reduction Strategy...