Though all over the world the price of consumables has come down to pre Ukraine-Russia war level, or even at the pre-pandemic level, for Bangladesh the scenario is opposite. People who go to markets to buy groceries know that in recent days, every consumable item is selling at a very high price. Yet the government is not admitting its failure and shifting the blame for high food inflation on the war and pandemic. While most people are finding it...
Rivers are rapidly eroding houses, schools, and farmlands in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and several other districts. Many people are losing their homes and belongings in a matter of hours. As flood waters are receding in the two districts, the Brahmaputra, the Teesta, the Dharla, the Dudhkumar and the Gangadhar are eroding the banks in at least 60 places. At least 280 homes, three schools and a college have been washed away in Kurigram while in Lalmonirhat, at least 20 homesteads have...
Berger extends contract with Rupali ChowdhuryBusiness DeskBerger Paints Bangladesh Limited (BPBL), has extended its contract with Rupali Chowdhury as the Managing Director for three more years owing to her exceptional and unwavering commitment to the company’s success. The recommendation was made by the esteemded members of the board of directors. Additionally, the company has also appointed Md. Mohsin Habib Chowdhury as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO). From an executive to the first female Managing Director of a leading multinational...
Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :After long 9 months of genocides, rapes, loots, arson, plunder of occupational Pakistani force, our closest...
THE London-based Civil Unrest Index (CUI) rated Bangladesh at sixth place in the top ‘extremely risky countries’ in the world in terms of businessmen fear about doing business. The low ranking for Bangladesh came less than a year after yet another such low ranking in terms of ‘ease of doing business’ when the World Bank puts it at 174 position – two notches below from previous rating. It mainly blamed stalled regulatory reforms and bureaucratic hassles impeding business. What is...
PRE-CONDITIONS of a vibrant bilateral relations are often defined in the light of how closely political leaders interact with the masses and what they do to make common people believe that behind the facade of enchanting bilateral state visits they also have unresolved legitimate issues where the public also should participate. Our Prime Minister’s ‘Hilsa diplomacy’ was noticeable when she cooked for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in the kitchen at the Rashtrapati Bhaban and prepared steamed Hilsa dish for Indian...
Ali M. Latifi :I spent the evening of April 13 with a cousin and two aunts in the upscale Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood in Kabul, Afghanistan. My aunts mostly talked about their relaxed, liberal early youth in the 1960s among the Kabul elite. As we waited in the driveway for our car, my cousin told me about an explosion in Nangarhar, the eastern province of Afghanistan, where our family comes from. We scrolled through our phones. As we drove out,...
Syed Tosharaf Ali :The United States of America stands unrivalled as the sole superpower in today’s unipolar world. With its vast wealth, capital, technological advancements, military might, and esteemed universities, America currently assumes the leadership of the capitalist and democratic realm. During the era when the world was divided into two ideological camps, capitalism and socialism, the Soviet Union reigned as the leader of the socialist bloc, while the United States held the mantle of the capitalist or free world....
Saleem Samad :As Indian Prime Minister “Chowkidar’ Narendra Modi is poised to take oath next week after his landslide victory last week, he is unlikely to hold a get-together of South Asian leaders, like in 2014.All South Asian leaders, including Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh have sent heart-to-heart congratulatory messages to Narendra Modi, the incumbent prime minister of India for the second time.PM Hasina made a phone call to Modi and conveyed her heartfelt wishes to her re-elected counterpart. While Imran...
ILLEGAL sand lifting from the major rivers, particularly Padma and Jamuna, has continued for years, although the government stopped leasing the sand fields in 2010 following an injunction by the court. With the growing demand of sand due to the increase in development works during the last few years, influential people got involved in massive sand extraction at different points of rivers. The unplanned sand lifting that involves business worth hundreds of crore of taka every year causes frequent erosion...
Crispen Mawadza : Countries everywhere are focused on supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). From successive G20 presidencies (Turkey, China, Germany) to many of our emerging country clients, supporting SMEs has become a clarion call. While this support appears to be largely driven by the global unemployment crisis (particularly among the youth) SMEs contribute much more than just jobs, including exports, production, innovation, diversification, geographic dispersion, and opportunities for women and youth entrepreneurs.A lack of access to adequate finance is...
Farhana Haque Rahman :By any measure this has been a devastating year: fires across the Amazon, the Arctic and beyond; floods and drought in Africa; rising temperatures, carbon emissions and sea levels; accelerating loss of species, and mass forced migrations of people.As seen through the eyes of IPS reporters and contributors around the world, 2019 will be remembered as the year the climate crisis shook us all, and hopefully also for the fight back manifested in the spread of mass...