The country’s export growth in first 10 months of the current fiscal year slumped to 8.41 per cent compared with the same period of the last fiscal year when the export growth was 40 per cent year-on-year. Officials of Export Promotion Bureau said that the economic crisis in Europe and sluggish market in the US ... Read more
bangladesh
Pharmaceutical cos jack up medicine prices
Drug Admin seems tongue-tied Patients suffering from serious diseases are in a quandary as medicines are becoming costlier in the country as government authorities have no control over the pricing of many lifesaving drugs, according to firsthand findings. People of middle-and lower-income groups are the worst victims of such price spirals as they have to pay ... Read more
Hasina trusted by 77 percent
Gallup poll survey of 2011 ranks her 7th among Asian leaders Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has 77 percent approval rating, according to a Gallup poll. Washington-based Gallup, renowned for predicting US election results and conducting the US presidents’ approval ratings, ranked Sheikh Hasina seventh in its survey conducted in 21 countries of Asia and the ... Read more
Rash driving puts people’s lives in peril
Nine people are killed daily Reckless driving by a legion of greenhorn drivers has shot up the number of road accidents in the country, but due to lack of enforcement of rules and no real punishment for killing people on the roads, careless drivers are still at large on the roads, experts observed. Data from the ... Read more
Private sector women get less maternity leave
Discrimination in maternity leave entitlement for working women resulting from inconsistencies between the Labour Act 2006 and the amended Bangladesh Service Rules is a cause of significant concern, according to working women and lawyers. Non-implementation of the existing laws particularly related to maternity leave and lack
Hit hard by summer heat
Frequent power cuts make Dhaka life all the more difficult The scorching heat, high humidity, frequent power cuts and perennial water crisis have made life miserable in the capital in the last few days. The situation is also contributing to the spike in diarrhoea cases. More than 500 people are getting admitted to the International ... Read more
Samsung poised for a lift-off
The company’s Bangladesh MD says it completes groundwork Samsung aims to strengthen its foothold in Bangladesh as it sees the country as a promising market due to the presence of a large customer base and high economic growth. The South Korean electronics giant has completed its groundwork in the country by opening a branch office ... Read more
School health programme only does ‘paper work’
School health programme aimed at providing primary medical treatment and health education to school children is in disarray and barely operational, according to a senior official of the directorate general of health services. Since its inception in 1951, the coverage of school health programme has not expanded,
Danger lurks on roads
Wild driving inspired by poor enforcement of traffic rules and soft penalty have made the highways across the country and the streets of the capital death traps. Fifteen people died in road accidents across the country yesterday alone. Last year, the number of road casualty in the country was 2,467 while the number of the
Tremor jolts Bangladesh
A moderate earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale yesterday jolted the capital and other parts of the country. A good number of structures in different areas of the country shook heavily due to the tremor that hit around 6.41pm when people out to the street in panic. However, there was no immediate report of damage or
Bangladesh set for slower growth
UN report sees 6.6pc GDP growth, troubled exports Bangladesh faces a year of slowing growth, partly caused by contraction in exports due to the eurozone crisis, an annual United Nations report warned yesterday. Economic growth may slow slightly to 6.6 percent in 2012 from 6.7 percent last year, the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for ... Read more
EU presses for talks
Says political unrest sending devastating signal to investors abroad Bangladesh’s image abroad faces a serious crisis because of political violence, hartals, corruption and disappearances, European Union envoys said yesterday. They said incidents of street violence, killings and disappearances in Bangladesh give a negative signal to the outside world and discourage foreign investments in Bangladesh despite ... Read more
Bangladesh exposed to security risks
Says UK climate security envoy Visiting UK Climate Security Envoy Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti yesterday said Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters, is also exposed to potential security risks. Such risks may come in the form of higher criminal activities and terrorism, said Morisetti, who was on a two-day visit in ... Read more
Call for more allocation for social safety net programmes
Pre-budget discussion Call for more allocation for social safety net programmes Speakers at a pre-budget discussion on Wednesday urged the government to increase the budget allocation to social safety net programmes (SSNP) and ensure that it would be provided to poor people without corruption. They also called upon the government to formulate an integrated national ... Read more
Bottled water safety come into question
Bottled drinking water in Bangladesh is no longer safe as it does not comply with international safety standards, thus becoming a threat to public health. Supply of bottled drinking water is a rapidly growing business in the country. A large number of people have turned to bottling drinking water, reflecting the diminishing confidence of people ... Read more
50 Indian double-decker buses arrive
240 more in pipeline Fifty Indian double-decker buses will hit the city roads Tuesday. This will be the first successful project under India’s $1 billion credit agreement inked two years ago. The new buses started arriving in small lots in the last two months. These could have been seen on the Dhaka streets much earlier, ... Read more
HSBC honours young entrepreneurs
A team of four budding entrepreneurs yesterday finished as toppers of HSBC Young Entrepreneurs Challenge, after their idea of producing capsule shells from fish fins and scales was rated as the best business concept. The team, called Fireflies comprising Makame Mahmud, Ayasha Sultana,
New Tigers coach likely this month
No sooner had Stuart Law departed yesterday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) intensified its search for the new head coach. Law’s replacement could be named as early as this month with the major candidates being asked to come to the BCB headquarters and give their interviews. In previous times the BCB had to look for ... Read more
BTRC to retrieve Tk 2250cr bandwidth from cell operators
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will be able to retrieve a total of 15 MHz of bandwidth worth Tk 2250 crore from different mobile operators after it completes the systematic re-arrangement of the bandwidth distribution in 1800 MHz band, sources at BTRC have said. 1800 MHz band is the portion of the radio frequency spectrum ... Read more
HSC exams rescheduled
The government has rescheduled Higher Secondary Certificate and its equivalent examinations under all education boards that were due to take place on Sunday and Monday because of the general strike called by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, an education ministry release said. Examinations scheduled for Sunday will now be held on Friday (May 4) at 9:30am ... Read more