Telecom regulator asks mobile operators The telecom regulator has asked mobile operators to inform customers about the regular tariff of their SMS-based value added services when the promotional period of a particular service ends. The regulator also directed the operators to let the customers choose whether they want to continue receiving the service at the ... Read more
bangladesh
SSC exams begin
7,723 absent on first day A total of 7,723 candidates were absent on the first day of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations while 35 students and two invigilators were expelled for resorting to unfair means. A man was also arrested for impersonating a candidate yesterday. Eight education boards, one madrasa education board ... Read more
Business travel on a roll, good times for airlines
Domestic air travel rose 11.58 percent last year on the back of countrywide expansion of business activities and poor conditions of roads and railways. In 2012, some 589,108 people travelled nationally by air, up from 2011’s 527,950 passengers, according to data from Civil Aviation Authority of
Novels lead tally of new books
Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2013 Novels lead tally of new books Fans rush for Humayun’s books Novels led the tally of the new titles that appeared on the third day of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Sunday. Of the 95 new arrivals, 25 are novels and 15 books of poetry, followed by seven collections of ... Read more
Govt out to find sources but WB
Padma Funding Govt out to find sources but WB Economists warn it not to hurry into the bridge project The government has decided to approach Bangladesh’s potential bilateral and multilateral development partners other than the World Bank to finance the Padma Bridge project. The finance ministry has instructed the Economic Relations Division to write to potential ... Read more
Land grab hampers academic activities
Govt Pry Schools Land grab hampers academic activities 29 schools face problems in capital Encroachment on land of many government primary schools in Dhaka, and also in outlying areas, continue to hamper academic activities, leaving students with little or no space for classroom teaching and morning assemblies. Officials overseeing schools and teachers said that in ... Read more
Govt blamed for slack monitoring over food adulteration
Agrobangla, a platform of students of different universities, on Saturday alleged that the government was trying to evade its duty to monitor food adulteration pleading lack of manpower. They said the government’s different bodies — city corporations and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution — were shrugging off their responsibility leaving the sector
Ekushey book fair set rolling
The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair began on the Bangla Academy premises on Friday. With 274 stalls, the fair was inaugurated by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in the afternoon. She said that there was option but to study other languages and cultures to develop the Bangla language and asked the academy to have plans ... Read more
‘Balanced’ monetary policy eases money supply slightly
Bangladesh Bank on Thursday announced a ‘balanced’ monetary policy for January-June, easing slightly money supply in the final year of the current government. The central bank governor, Atiur Rahman, while unveiling the six-monthly monetary policy statement said that they tried to strike a balance between GDP
Traders bag spot orders worth Tk 157cr at DITF
The 18th Dhaka International Trade Fair 2013 ended on Thursday with the traders bagging export orders worth Tk 157 crore at the biggest trade exposition in the country. The target to clinch spot orders was Tk 45 crore while last year the traders had bagged spot orders worth Tk 43 crore. The 18th DITF 2013 has ... Read more
BTRC seeks opinion on draft consumer protection guideline
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission on Thursday sought public opinion on draft National Telecommunication Consumer Protection Guideline to ensure that the consumers’ privacy is being protected and the operators are maintaining commercial ethics. The commission has made the draft public and people can submit their suggestions
Ekushey Book Fair opens today
The curtain lifts on the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2013 today on the Bangla Academy premises, with the participation of only 274 publishing houses and government organisations and other facilities. Last year, a total of 425 institutions, approximately double that of this year, were accommodated in the fair that spilled onto the road outside ... Read more
BGMEA taskforce makes little headway
Ensuring Fire Safety In Garment Factories BGMEA taskforce makes little headway The taskforce formed by the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association to ensure fire safety in the garment factories has made little headway as it is working in a slow pace. The BGMEA taskforce visited only four factories in the last one month after ... Read more
China’s ZTE launches two smartphones
Chin’s telecoms equipment maker ZTE launched two smartphones yesterday to cater to the growing middle-class population in Bangladesh. The touchscreen, dual SIM handsets — Grand X and Skate Acqua — are 3G-enabled and would run on the Android 4.0 platform. The Grand X, which comes with a 1 Gigahertz dual core processor and 4.3-inch display, sells
BTRC to go tough on mobile phone operators
Bill Shocks After Promotional Offers BTRC to go tough on mobile phone operators The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is likely to go tough on the mobile phone operators as many subscribers are facing bill shocks after availing themselves of different promotional or campaign offers. BTRC officials said the commission would issue a directive to the ... Read more
English teaching trade kills learning
Say academics The “business” of English Language Teaching (ELT) is “killing” the learning of English in Bangladesh, said eminent academics at a conference in the capital yesterday. Popularity of ELT in the country has enabled some teachers and experts to profit from it, while the move away from teaching grammar and English literature
Repeated fuel price hike, political instability to hit GDP growth: DCCI
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday expressed its concern that frequent price hike of fuel oils and electricity and political instability might impede achievement of the government’s target of 7.2 per cent GDP growth for the current fiscal year. ‘Achieving the projected 7.2 per cent growth would be very challenging mainly due ... Read more
No alternative to improving English teaching methods
Speakers tell int’l conference With a view to developing professional skills and proactive mindsets, teachers from different countries have assembled at a conference in Dhaka, sharing their ideas and discussing the challenges and issues of English teaching. Since teachers play a crucial role in the process of language learning, there is no alternative to improving the methods ... Read more
USAID starts youth training programme
The USAID, an American overseas development agency, in Dhaka yesterday launched a five-year Leadership Development Programme (LDP) to engage young people in alleviating poverty, creating jobs and protecting the environment. State Minister for Youth and Sports Ahad Ali Sarkar and US Ambassador
Safety nets mostly miss target groups
Reveals IFPRI survey Bangladesh now runs as many as 80 social safety net programmes, but many of them are missing the targets they have been designed for. For instance, the poorest 40 percent of the population, who are supposed to receive 100 percent primary school stipend from the government, get only 55 percent and the ... Read more