Int’l conference on climate begins Staff Correspondent Bangladesh must take bold steps to adapt to the climate change at the community level to reduce the risks and vulnerability of the common people, said speakers at an international conference on Wednesday. The six-day conference on community based adaptation to climate change aims at educating the Bangladeshi ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
Indian Hilsa importers demand price-cut of Bangladeshi Hilsa
Our Correspondent, Barisal The Indian Hilsa importers of West Bengal have demanded price-cut of Bangladeshi Hilsa or to face stoppage of export from Bangladesh. Ajit Das alias Monu Babu and Md. Yunus Sikdar, President and Secretary of Bangladesh Fish Exporters Association of Barisal, informed this correspondent that their counter part Atul Das, Chairman of Hilsa ... Read more
SCC organogram finally okayed after 4 years
Iqbal Siddiquee, Sylhet At long last, the ministry of LGRD has approved the organogram of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC), four years after submission of the same. However, the approved organogram allows a 650-strong manpower for 31 departments and sections of the SCC while the SCC had proposed for 850 staff to manage matters related to ... Read more
Fake examinees flee scene
Our Correspondent, Kushtia Fifty-six fake Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinees under Jessore board fled examination hall and did not turn up yesterday at Daulatpur (D-pur) centre. Thirty-five of them were giving proxy at the centre on Tuesday as examinees from Kamalpur High School while 21 others as examinees from Kalyanpur High School. Two headmasters, Abdus ... Read more
Bhutan offers Bangladesh surplus power
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka Bhutan offered Bangladesh opportunity of importing surplus electricity from the Himalayan country to feed its power-hungry national grid in the wake of huge demand. As the Bhutanese ambassador in Dhaka made the offer Wednesday, the commerce minister, Faruk Khan, said Bangladesh would sign trade agreement with Bhutan within May ... Read more
Prospect of broccoli farming bright in northern districts
BSS, Rajshahi Agronomists, researchers and scientists revealed that there has been a bright prospect of broccoli farming commercially everywhere in the northwestern region of the country. They said the prolonged winter climate being experienced in the region is suitable for cultivation of the non-conventional crop that is commonly known as green cauliflower. Its plant and ... Read more
Call centres face hurdles
Md Hasan The nascent call centre industry is facing policy hurdles and a shortage of skilled human resources that are posing a threat to nip the promising industry in the bud. Only seven out of 300 call centre licence holders in the country are inching towards grabbing a share of the $450 billion global
Recession hits garment sector: BGMEA
Staff Correspondent Garment exporters have admitted that the global recession has started affecting their businesses as orders are falling and importers are puting pressure for more price cuts. They, however, said that the government frustrated them more as it so far had not taken any decision on a stimulating support which
SOBs target 231 loss-makers for changing status
Asif Showkat Three state-owned banks, among four have targeted 231 loss-making branches to make them profitable by this year. The SOBs are Sonali, Janata and Agrani banks. Sonali Bank, the largest of the SOBs with 1,181 branches, had the most 439 loss-making branches in 2007 and the reform measures brought the number down to 191, ... Read more
Concord to expand Foy’s Lake resort
Kawsar Khan Concord Entertainment Company Limited (CECL) plans to invest Tk 15 crore over the next one and a half years to expand its resort facilities at Foy’s Lake in Chittagong, in a bid to cash in on a steady inflow of tourists. In the next five years, CECL, a concern of Concord Group, will ... Read more
Investment in savings certificates shoots up
Bdnews24.com . Dhaka Investment in national savings certificates has increased two and a half times in the first half of the 2008-09 fiscal year compared with the previous year. Reduced inflation and suspension of anti-graft drive have contributed to the rise of investment in savings schemes, experts say. According to the central bank data, savings ... Read more
UN unveils ambitious ‘green’ food programme
AFP, Nairobi The UN Environment Programme has unveiled an ambitious seven-point plan to feed the world without polluting it further by making better use of resources and cutting down on massive waste. A survey of the current state of food production and consumption released to a forum of the Kenya-based UNEP and world environment ministers ... Read more
Russia keen to replicate Grameen Bank model
Star Business Report A delegation led by Deputy Minister for Economic Development of Russian Federation Anna Popova arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a four-day visit to Bangladesh to learn about operations and the legal structure of Grameen Bank and
Increase in mobile phone penetration enhances GDP growth
BSS, Dhaka According to a recent research findings with every ten percent increase in mobile phone penetration, a country’s GDP increases by 0.6 percent. A Wireless Intelligence report said Bangladesh at present is one of the top ten mobile phone growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region. It said in 2007, Bangladesh recorded unprecedented increases in ... Read more
23 million Asians to lose jobs this year: ILO
Agence France-Presse . Manila More than 140 million people could be plunged into poverty and 23 million lose their jobs in Asia this year as the global financial crisis batters the region, according to a study released Wednesday. The crisis could also slow rural-to-urban migration, with many facing the prospect of returning to low-paid agricultural ... Read more
Hasina asks students to refrain from violence, crimes
Staff correspondent The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday urged the students to be attentive to their studies, devote themselves to the development of the country and refrain from getting involved in crimes, extortion and violence in the
Toxic elements in Dhaka, Chittagong air reach dangerous level
Shahidul Islam Chowdhury Severe air pollution is choking the citizens in the Dhaka and Chittagong cities with poisonous particles in the air exceeding the permissible level of human toleration. The citizens are at a serious health risk due to the highly-polluted air. ‘Many patients, both elderly and young, are coming to us these days with ... Read more
Panic spreads as law enforcement slacks
Julfikar Ali Manik with Kailash Sarkar Law and order is witnessing a slide with an increase in criminal activities in the city and elsewhere in the country, although law-enforcement agencies and the government claim to have the situation under control. Despite such claims of the police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and other law-enforcement agencies, a ... Read more
Silent extortion goes on by different groups
Staff Correspondent Silent extortions by different group of outlaws under the shadow of political influentials have been going on in the city’s different areas and recently it has intensified keeping city’s small businessmen and traders in anxiety. In the name of ruling political party activists, the terrorists are issuing threats to the owners of different ... Read more
Bad loans with SoBs decline for first time
Reforms, absence of political interference seen as reasons; loans with pvt banks rise Rejaul Karim Byron Defaulted loans with state-owned banks (SoBs) decreased for the first time last year because of absence of political interference and reforms initiated by the immediate past caretaker government in the last two years. However, default loans with the private, ... Read more