Thursday, 01 June, 2023
Thursday, 01 June, 2023
FY24 budget: No big news in private investment
All industrial imports, ranging from raw materials to capital machinery, have slowed down due to the dollar crisis, while the industries have been suffering from an energy crisis. All of these

‘Shishu Paribar’ centres mired in problems

UN Special Rapporteur proposes suspending Digital Security Act

Bangladesh-China relations should focus on further development: PM

CEC wants fair election with concerted effort from all

Visa policy to encourage right behaviour for free, fair polls: Haas
US ambassador in Dhaka Peter Haas on Tuesday said the new US visa policy applies to “everyone” and it is to encourage the right “behaviours” to ensure free and fair election.      “The Idea behind the (new visa) policy is that it applies to everyone, it’s about the behaviours and it’s about encouraging the right behaviours for free and fair elections. So people who support free and fair elections have nothing to fear,” he said. The envoy was talking to reporters after inaugurating a special photo exhibition along with state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam tilted ‘Roots of Friendship:  50 Years of US-Bangladesh Relations in the capital’. Last week, Washington announced its new visa policy for Bangladeshis where it said it would enable the US “to restrict the issuance of visas for any Bangladeshi individual, believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh”. US ambassador in Dhaka Peter Haas and Md Shahriar Alam attended an exhibition tilted ‘Roots of Friendship: 50 Years of US-Bangladesh Relations in the capital’ BSS When talking to reporters, Haas said, the US wants the same thing what Bangladesh government is committed for to hold a free and fair election. “(Bangladesh) prime minster (Sheikh Hasina) made her commitment (to hold free, fair polls) clear and (Bangladesh) foreign minister has made the commitment and welcomed international observers to visit and watch the elections. So, I don’t see any disagreements at all,” he said. Haas added, “We the US want what every Bangladeshi want – free and fair elections”.   The ambassador said the US announced the new visa policy is in support of the Bangladeshi people and the prime minister Sheikh Haisna’s call for free and fair elections.  “This is one of our ways of supporting that, using our policy,” he added. State minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam speaks at a exhibition tilted ‘Roots of Friendship: 50 Years of US-Bangladesh Relations in the capital’ BSS When asked about the challenges in the current relations of Bangladesh and US, Haas said that he would “turn the focus (Bangladesh-US ties) on the positives rather than the challenges”.  “The (today’s) photo exhibition is a great example historically what our partnership was then, but even currently we have a very strong partnership on trade, security relations, people to people ties, healthcare and then of course we are working through, and we are having good conversations on the upcoming elections,” said the ambassador.  The exhibition displayed 50 historic photographs - an extended celebration of the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties between the United States and Bangladesh - represents six distinct categories.  The “Early Contact” category features the initial seeds of friendship and collaboration between Bangladeshis and Americans—early immigrants, artists, scholars, architects, doctors, and entrepreneurs—prior to Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.  The category “Official Visits” showcased visits and meetings of the US and Bangladeshi heads of state.  The “Aid & Infrastructure” category covers the United States’ support for Bangladesh’s development over the decades while the “Trade & Business” category features the vibrant bilateral trade relationship. The “Education & Science” category shows how Bangladeshi and American scientists and scholars have collaborated for decades on a wide variety of research projects and the “Culture & Diaspora” category portrays how over half a century, both countries have connected through cultural expression.
FY24 budget: No big news in private investment
All industrial imports, ranging from raw materials to capital machinery, have slowed down due to the dollar crisis, while the industries have been suffering from an energy crisis. All of these

‘Shishu Paribar’ centres mired in problems

UN Special Rapporteur proposes suspending Digital Security Act

Bangladesh-China relations should focus on further development: PM

CEC wants fair election with concerted effort from all

Bangladesh: slowdown in apparel exports to last till year-end
Shipping Corporation posts 23% higher profit in Jan-Mar
Improving Nepal’s connectivity to India and Bangladesh
US welcomes Bangladesh’s lift of cotton fumigation on-arrival requirement
The government is going to unveil a Tk 7,61,785 crore budget for the next fiscal year on Thursday, setting containment of high inflation as a major target. The budget would aim
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on Wednesday approved separate proposals for procuring some 18 million litres of soybean oil, some 80,000 tonnes of fertiliser and 12,500 tonnes of
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka top the list in terms of bad loans in South Asia while all other countries in the region are gradually reducing their non-performing loans. In the global
Saudi Arabia has offered to make a large scale of investment in various sectors of Bangladesh, as the country has a stable government and tremendous record of economic growth.  Saudi Arabian
Onion price dropped by Tk3-5 per kg at Khatunganj in Chattogram, the largest wholesale market in the country, immediately after publish of news reports that the government may allow import
Bangladesh will get $4.9 billion in loan from the World Bank for a dozen projects in the next fiscal year, given that those are ready on time for implementation as
IMF provides loan to those who have capacity to repay: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not provide loans to any "orphan" county that can't repay. "IMF grants loans only to countries that have the capacity to repay it. Bangladesh's economy isn't an "orphan" economy. If anyone (country) becomes an orphan, IMF does not provide loans to them. We have taken loans from IMF as Bangladesh has the capacity to repay it," she said. The premier made this remark replying to a question regarding the IMF loan at a press conference arranged at her official residence Gono Bhaban in the capital on the outcome of her recent three-nation visit to Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom from April 25 to May 08, 2023. Her comments came after Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), earlier today said the budget of Bangladesh has become "an orphan" and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is now the foster father of it. Asked, the PM said the government has plans to increase salaries of government employees in line with the inflation. She said her government has no plans for allocating dearness allowance.
১৬ মে, ২০২৩
Santiniketan recommended for Unesco world heritage list
IMF flags risks to Bangladesh economy as it concludes visit
ADB meeting: Participation trophy is all to Bangladesh

Number of child marriages falling too slowly: Unicef

Child marriages are declining -- but at a rate that would not eliminate the practice for another 300 years, while a perfect storm of crises could yet reverse the trend, the United Nations childrens' agency said Tuesday. "We definitely have made progress in the abandonment of the practice of child marriage, particularly in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, this progress was not enough," Claudia Cappa, lead author of the Unicef report published Tuesday, told AFP. According to Unicef estimates, 640 million girls and women today were married when they were under 18. At present, an estimated 12 million girls are becoming child brides each year. But over the past 25 years the rate at which such marriages take place has been slowing: in 1997, 25 percent of young women aged 20-24 were married before 18. By 2012 that figure had dropped to 23 percent, and by 2022 it was at 19 percent. Still, that means some nine million girls are expected to be married off in 2030, the report said. "At current pace, we might have to wait 300 years to eliminate child marriage," Cappa warned, adding that the majority of these marriages involve girls aged 12 to 17. And even that fragile progress is under threat -- Unicef also fears that the convergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, global conflicts and the growing impacts of climate change could reverse the hard-won gains. Covid-19 alone could be responsible for an additional 10 million underage marriages between 2020 and 2030, it said. "The world is engulfed by crises on top of crises that are crushing the hopes and dreams of vulnerable children, especially girls who should be students, not brides," said Unicef boss Catherine Russell in a statement. Such crises can see families feel forced to marry children off as a means of security. "Although child marriage is a clear violation of children's rights, it is often seen by families as a 'protective' measure for girls, providing financial, social or even physical protection," the report notes. It is also a way to have one less mouth to feed. Geographically, South Asia is the driving force behind the decline in girls' marriages. However, the region still accounts for about 45 percent of the 640 million women today who were married as children. India alone accounts for a third. Unicef is particularly concerned about the situation in sub-Saharan Africa, which appears to be bucking the trend. "Girls there now experience the highest risk of child marriage in the world, with one in three marrying before age 18," the report said. It expects the number of child brides there to increase by 10 percent by 2030.

Bangladesh takes IMF loan as a ‘breathing space’: PM Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said Bangladesh has taken a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a “breathing space” while the global lender assured of continuing to provide such support in future. “We have taken the loan from the IMF as breathing space,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told a news briefing quoting the prime minister as saying. The prime minister made the remarks when an IMF delegation led by its Managing Director (MD) Kristalina Georgieva paid a courtesy call on her at the meeting room of The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington DC in the afternoon (local time). The IMF had recently approved a loan of 4.7 billion US dollar for Bangladesh. The foreign minister further said that the IMF managing director highly praised the unprecedented advancement of Bangladesh in various sectors under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina which makes Bangladesh economy stable after the Covid-19 pandemic. “Bangladesh is a role model in the world (in terms of its overall development) which makes its economy stable even after the Coronavirus pandemic,” Momen said quoting the IMF managing director. The IMF chief said leadership like Bangladesh prime minister is necessary to go ahead towards prosperity confronting all the hurdles. She said Bangladesh has achieved remarkable progress due to establishing massive infrastructure development, well connectivity and maintaining the law and order. Kristalina also hailed the maintaining stability in the macro economy even in the Covid-19 pandemic. Bangladesh’s prime minister apprised the IMF chief of her government initiatives to make sure the overall development of her country. “The development of the country has not made in a day rather it’s a result of longtime planning,” she said. Sheikh Hasina said that she prepared the plan on how she wanted to develop Bangladesh when she was in jail after the political changeover (in 2007) and started working with the plan after assuming power for the second time in 2009. She apprised the IMF managing director of Bangladesh’s measures to fight the adverse impact of the climate change and women empowerment. The prime minister also hailed the role of IMF in the journey of Bangladesh’s development and wish continuation of the support in future. During the briefing, Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rouf Talukder said the IMF has always stand by Bangladesh in the last 14 years to maintain stability in the macro economy and also gave required advices as the country never derailed from it. Bangladesh is currently engaged with a programme of 4.7 billion US dollar with IMF which Bangladesh has got only two weeks negotiation despite the fact many countries cannot avail the loan after negotiation of years, he said. “IMF will continue such kind of cooperation in future,” Rouf said quoting the IMF chief. Finance division senior secretary Fatima Yasmin and Economic Relations Division secretary Sharifa Khan were present during the briefing.
‘Missed Midterm’ at finance dept / 800 DU students face uncertainty
Ruet teachers stage sit-in at VC office demanding promotion
Another JCD man injured in Narsingdi factional clash dies
Court rejects journalist Rozina Islam’s appeal seeking passport
UN Special Rapporteur proposes suspending Digital Security Act
UN recognises Bangladeshi peacekeepers for their sacrifice
UN food agency to cut rations for Rohingya refugees again
UN expert says Russia, China sending deadly aid to Myanmar's military
Today, the United Nations has unanimously adopted the first-ever resolution on community-based health care. The historic resolution, entitled, “Community-based primary
Press freedom is under attack in every corner of the globe, with journalists continually harassed, jailed and killed, UN officials
Some 90 percent of young women and teenage girls in the world's poorest countries have no access to the internet,
Bangabandhu conferred ‘FOSWAL Literature Award’ for his trilogy
The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) today conferred 'Special Literary Award' to Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
২৭ মার্চ, ২০২৩
BIMSTEC countries to work together to realize potentials of the region                                                                                        - Foreign Minister
Bangladesh’s Golam Sarwar likely to become next SAARC secretary
Bangladesh's GDP growth expected to pick up to 6.2% in FY2024: World Bank
ADB approves $230m loan for Bangladesh flood rehabilitation
Bangladesh welcomes Ajay Banga as the new President-designate of the World Bank Group
World Bank Managing Director Reiterates Strong Support to Bangladesh
Williamson, Latham punish fumbling Pakistan

Japan coach Moriyasu staying on after WC

Hunger-striking Senegal journalist shifted to hospital

PM opens 1st phase of metro rail today

10 killed, 30 injured in hotel-casino fire on Cambodian border

Bangladesh maintains close ties with all – China, US and India: PM tells CNN

Williamson, Latham punish fumbling Pakistan

Japan coach Moriyasu staying on after WC

Hunger-striking Senegal journalist shifted to hospital

PM opens 1st phase of metro rail today

Williamson, Latham punish fumbling Pakistan

Japan coach Moriyasu staying on after WC

Hunger-striking Senegal journalist shifted to hospital

PM opens 1st phase of metro rail today

10 killed, 30 injured in hotel-casino fire on Cambodian border