Says DMP chief The arrested accomplices of Mafia don Daud Ibrahim took shelter in the country after committing crimes in India, but they are not involved in any criminal activities in the country. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner (DMP) AKM Shahidul Haque made the comment to reporters after attending a seminar at his office. He also ... Read more
News
A swing in time
The change is more internal than external. It will be more of a systemic change. Daylight Saving Time (DST), that is. With DST to be effective from the midnight of June 19, all the offices are bracing for a synchronised change in their internal systems from computer to other time-sensitive devices. Bangladesh is set to ... Read more
Beximco buys into GMG
Beximco Group has bought a 50 per cent stake in GMG Airlines and is injecting enough cash into Bangladesh’s biggest private passenger carrier to buy two big planes, the company announced Wednesday. Beximco paid Tk 30 crore to buy the stake in the ailing airline and will also lend another Tk 40 crore to help ... Read more
DSE wants special court
BUSINESS-RELATED CASES DSE wants special court Law minister Shafique Ahmed on Wednesday suggested that the parties may avoid delayed disposal of their cases if they resolve business-related disputes through arbitration instead of moving to court. Shafique Ahmed made the suggestion when a delegation of Dhaka Stock Exchange led by its president Rakibur Rahman met the ... Read more
Mobile penetration goes slow
Mobile operators added only 0.28 million customers to their networks in May, recording a 26 percent lower growth rate than in April 2009. According to data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the total number of mobile phone customers reached 46.41 million in May 2009. The industry added 0.38 million customers in April 2009.
Warid renews Tk148 crore working capital
Warid Telecom International has renewed its working capital facility arrangement worth Tk 148 crore for one year. Warid Telecom, in this regard, signed an agreement with nine commercial banks in a city hotel on Tuesday. Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance Company has acted as the lead arranger and security agent in this agreement.
BNP for continuation of CG system
BNP Secretary General Advocate Khandakar Delwar Hossian yesterday said the caretaker government system is needed until changes and thinking in the minds of political leaders, and the party influence on the administration are removed. The secretary general was addressing a press briefing at their party office in Naya Paltan in the city. BNP joint secretary ... Read more
Expat experts begin reviewing coal issues
Barapukuria mine operating amid high risk, they observe While dissecting the draft coal policy at a four-day brainstorming session, a panel of expatriate and local experts emphasised on health and environmental aspects in finalising the policy that should additionally be trimmed down. They said that the policy should dictate that health and environment should represent ... Read more
Appointment of teachers: JU style
The authority of Jahangirnagar University (JU) is reportedly going to appoint about 50 new teachers not on the basis of merit of the candidates but on political consideration and their close relationship with influential teachers of the university. The vice- chancellor of JU, Dr. Shariff Enamul Kabir, who took over charge when Awami League came ... Read more
15 to 25pc tax suggested for whitening black money
Speakers at a budget discussion here yesterday suggested that the government allow whitening of black money in exchange for payment of 15 to 25 percent taxes. The chance of whitening black money should be given to the holders for only one year and if any discrepancy is found in declaring the sum of their black ... Read more
MPs criticise provision for whitening
A number of ruling party lawmakers yesterday criticised the propose budget for keeping the provision of money whitening. The ruling party, however, praised the budget by terming it chartered for change, pro-people and investment friendly. During the budget discussion, several lawmakers said the provision went against the electoral manifesto of ruling
Akhtar Hamid freed on bail
Former deputy speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiki was yesterday released on bail from Naogaon jail in connection with a sedition case. The Court of District and Sessions Judge M Habibur Rahman granted him bail in the sedition case early in the day. A crowd of party-men and relatives at the jail gate greeted BNP bigwig Hamid ... Read more
LPG price slashed by Tk 150
The government has reduced the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Tk 150 per cylinder with effect from tomorrow (Friday). Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) yesterday fixed the new price of 12.5 kg cylinders following recommendation from Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). “We have reduced LPG price of each cylinder from Tk 850 to 700,” ... Read more
Manpower export sector overlooked in budget: BAIRA demands Tk 500cr stimulus package
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) president Golam Mostafa Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the proposed budget saying all its demands to keep the prospective manpower export sector alive have been overlooked. Terming the budget as frustrating, he said the government’s ‘charter of change’ is unlikely to achieve if the sector neglected. The BAIRA president ... Read more
No meeting in more than a decade
Nat’l Environment Committee No meeting in more than a decade The national environment committee headed by the prime minister to deal with environment issues did not hold a single meeting in more than a decade, a parliamentary sub-committee disclosed yesterday, and urged the national committee to sit immediately. Although environmental disasters occurred repeatedly, the highest ... Read more
Swine Flu cases rise in Gulf states: American-Bangladeshi boy tested positive in Doha
Swine flu cases in Arab states in the Gulf, a high-traffic transit zone for millions of air travellers, rose to 34 on Tuesday after Qatar reported its first cases, two of them young boys. Three people arriving in Doha on international flights were diagnosed with A(H1N1) influenza, and Kuwait also reported that one of its ... Read more
Govt. decides to connect BD with Asian Highway: PM
Activities of intelligence agencies to be coordinated, she says Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told the House that the government has decided in principle to connect Bangladesh with the Asian Highway. Replying to a question from treasury bench member Md. Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, she said the issue is now under discussion at the policy level ... Read more
Adieu Gen Moeen: An anatomy of past two years
General Moeen U Ahmed, the man behind the Fakhruddin’s Caretaker Government, is still in the newspaper headlines even after his retirement as the Chief of the Army Staff. The newspapers are replete with stories and counter-stories about his next job in the country or outside. Speculation is ripe that he is going to succeed Ismat ... Read more
Dhaka to lodge protest at UN
Sea Boundary Claims of India, Myanmar Dhaka to lodge protest at UN Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said in parliament Bangladesh will soon send a diplomatic protest note to UN against the claim of India and Myanmar over extended continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal. “Bangladesh’s permanent mission at UN is preparing the protest ... Read more
Boon for tax-dodgers, bane for taxpayers
Tk 18,000 crore whitened since ’76; only Tk 2,285 crore pumped into industries, stocks The provision for whitening black money in the proposed new budget comes with certain strict conditions this time, but the rate of tax for whitening money still remains unduly favourable for black money owners, compared to regular income tax rates, just ... Read more