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137951. Thoughts on municipal electionPublished: December 28, 2015 22:30:42

Municipal elections are scheduled to be held on December 30. The election of mayors on party basis has been introduced for the first time. The councillors, as in the past,...


137952. How to salvage remaining Doha issuesPublished: December 28, 2015 22:29:22

Now that the Doha issues, fondly dubbed DDA (Doha Development Agenda), have almost been snuffed, is it time for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to prepare to preside over the...


137953. Strengthening city corporationsPublished: December 27, 2015 22:06:08

At a time when the liveability rating of the capital city is at its lowest, poorest and ugliest, waging a war on it demands exceptional quality and courage. The two...


137954. Poura polls: Ill-matched enthusiasm?Published: December 27, 2015 22:04:59

Any type of polling, be at the local or national levels, does always generate enthusiasm among the people in this country. Voters love casting their votes. Very often they get...


137955. Of space farming, cosmic periwinklePublished: December 26, 2015 22:22:19

The news of future Mars explorers living for some time in NASA domes to experience psychological impact of a future prolonged stay on the planet has become old. The specially...


137956. Senior citizens in a sorry plightPublished: December 26, 2015 22:20:14

Many good decisions of the government remain confined in official files and the execution of many others progress at a snail's pace. Sometimes even snails move faster! A cabinet meeting,...


137957. Reforming property lawsPublished: December 24, 2015 22:20:55

Having a GDP growth rate of 6.51 per cent is quite an achievement and the country should feel proud of its achievement. Given the political unrest and the havoc that...


137958. A mental malaise getting better of rationalityPublished: December 24, 2015 22:20:09

"Move away, or I'll crush you", threatened a bus driver. The man whom he threatened was also an aggrieved driver but one of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. Aggrieved because his three-wheeler...


137959. Social marketing - a proven tool for social developmentPublished: December 23, 2015 22:24:34

For the first seven decades of the twentieth century, marketing was regarded as strictly an activity performed by businesses. In 1969, in one of their classic articles, Marketing Guru Philip...


137960. The pricing of IPOsPublished: December 23, 2015 22:22:45

Perhaps, pricing of the initial public offerings (IPOs) in markets across the world is a controversial matter. Sometimes the prices are overpriced and sometimes under-priced depending on market conditions and...


137961. Promoting trade and investment between Eastern India and its neighboursPublished: December 22, 2015 22:15:42

An important aspect of the ongoing globalisation process has been the increasing integration of national economies. Such a trend stems from the consensus that economies with geographical proximity could generate...


137962. Promoting trade and investment between Eastern India and its neighboursPublished: December 22, 2015 22:14:59

An important aspect of the ongoing globalisation process has been the increasing integration of national economies. Such a trend stems from the consensus that economies with geographical proximity could generate...


137963. The case of secondary school teachersPublished: December 22, 2015 22:13:55

A survey-cum-study report released recently says around half of the secondary school teachers in the country do not have any training at all. Newspapers picked up the issue, and made...


137964. The UN peace plan to end civil war in SyriaPublished: December 21, 2015 22:05:23


137965. Strategy on non-farm activitiesPublished: December 21, 2015 22:03:58

Although agriculture still remains the dominant source of rural livelihoods, its relative role in generating income has been falling over time. This is reflected by a slide in the share...


137966. Gravest harm done to educationPublished: December 20, 2015 22:13:37

Eminent writer and teacher Dr. Zafar Iqbal has complained that this government has done the gravest ever harm to education so far. His complaint is that the two public examinations...


137967. Snapshots of the rural labour marketPublished: December 20, 2015 22:11:48

The conventional wisdom about the current situation of the rural labour market in Bangladesh is that it is transforming to an extent. With diversification of the rural labour market, village...


137968. Let flowers blossom in our mindsPublished: December 19, 2015 22:13:29

The wide and busy street between Shishu Academy and the Curzon Hall in Dhaka has for quite some time assumed a special significance. Aside from its being an artery connecting...


137969. BIDA\'s role in divestment process under scannerPublished: December 19, 2015 22:12:28

In order to rejuvenate the private sector activities and reactivate the state-owned enterprises (SoEs), the government has recently moved for the merger of the Board of Investment (BoI) and the...


137970. Smoking in public transportsPublished: December 17, 2015 22:23:35

The government has signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003 and accordingly formulated Smoking and Tobacco Products Usages (Control) Act in 2005. To meet the growing needs...


137971. Bangladesh poised to be next Asian TigerPublished: December 17, 2015 22:22:20

Countries like Bangladesh usually want to hear words of praise from foreigners. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economist of the World Bank is not a foreigner of the Western stock but he...


137972. Slamming the door in the face of refugeesPublished: December 15, 2015 22:14:02

More than 250,000 people have died since the violence broke out in Syria in 2011, and at least 11 million people in the country of 22 million have fled their...


137973. Toward a Green New Deal: Public and private sectors join handsPublished: December 15, 2015 22:13:08

The global agreement reached in Paris last week is actually the third climate agreement reached in the past month. The first happened at the end of November, when a group...


137974. Ensuring victory against all oddsPublished: December 15, 2015 22:08:18

The day dawns today with the nation recollecting the jubilation and agony of 44 years ago. It was on December 16, 1971 that 75 million Bangalees of that time won...


137975. Will there be enough flexibility at Nairobi?Published: December 14, 2015 22:35:35

Less than a week before the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference, beginning today at the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Director General Roberto Azevêdo urged upon all WTO members to "seize the last...


137976. Will there be enough flexibility at Nairobi?Published: December 14, 2015 22:28:20

Less than a week before the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference, beginning today at the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Director General Roberto Azevêdo urged upon all WTO members to "seize the last...


137977. Will there be enough flexibility at Nairobi?Published: December 14, 2015 22:26:32

Less than a week before the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference, beginning today at the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Director General Roberto Azevêdo urged upon all WTO members to "seize the last...


137978. How practical it is to phase out rickshawPublished: December 13, 2015 22:14:13

The dichotomy involving the phasing-out of rickshaws from the streets of the capital or not has supporters divided for and against with the majority willing to see those off. It...


137979. Crisis of \'coordination\'Published: December 13, 2015 22:13:06

'Coordination' is the rarest commodity as far as the decision making by regulatory bodies and government agencies in Bangladesh is concerned. The policymakers do often mention about the problem, but...


137980. Road to ruin is paved with market propheciesPublished: December 12, 2015 22:38:29

The long-range forecast factory is in overdrive as the year draws to an end. For financial markets, it may all be an unfortunate, if obligatory, waste of time. In most...


137981. Bike-riding women in a hostile DhakaPublished: December 12, 2015 22:34:24

Young women riding bicycles or motorbikes on the roads of Dhaka are no longer a rare spectacle. One may come across these devil-may-care cyclists and bike-riders even on the busy...


137982. How to check illegal outflow of fundsPublished: December 12, 2015 22:32:52

Illicit financial flow (IFF) from Bangladesh has registered a phenomenal rise in recent years. The amount of money, illegally transferred from the country, stood at US$9.66 billion in 2013 in...


137983. About our childrenPublished: December 10, 2015 22:42:05

In Bangladesh child issues have many dimensions. There are infant mortality, malnutrition, child labour, school drop-outs, child abuse etc. The street children are a constant reminder that there are serious...


137984. Database for Dhaka residentsPublished: December 10, 2015 22:41:07

By the look of it, the objective certainly is pious. But whether the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) can deliver on it is yet to be clear. The DMP move concerns...


137985. Behind small farm transformationPublished: December 07, 2015 22:19:23

The Center for Development Research (ZEEF) of Bonn, Germany is an internationally reputed research organisation. It is devoted to empirical research mostly on rural economy and mainly in Africa. Led...


137986. In a chaotic time, Pope\'s visit to AfricaPublished: December 06, 2015 22:47:56

No matter wherever in the world mass killings or terrorist attacks happen - our feelings elicit shock, fear and revulsion. With endless reports about deaths and destruction due to mass...


137987. Connecting people to machines anywhere in the worldPublished: December 06, 2015 22:46:49

Internet of Things (IoT) is now a big thing - like the way we heard about .com in the late 90s.  The IoT refers to the networking of physical objects...


137988. Strategy for social safety netPublished: December 06, 2015 22:45:13

Social safety through public social security programmes came of age after the Second World War when a number of developed countries adopted policies to provide pension, unemployment benefit, health services...


137989. Self-inflicted digital disasterPublished: December 06, 2015 22:44:22

Like other variants, addiction to computer has now become a serious problem for many, particularly among the youths. When certain behaviour or habit becomes compulsive beyond control, it tends to...


137990. Blaming for wrong reasonsPublished: December 06, 2015 22:43:38

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) is still being cursed by a section of market players ---some of them were actively involved in stock price manipulation and some others are doing it...


137991. Detailing Dhaka\'s metro railPublished: December 05, 2015 22:46:27

Around a couple of months after the launch of the work of Dhaka's metro rail project, its next phase began last week. Like the previous one, the present one is...


137992. Cross-border payment system in SAARC regionPublished: December 05, 2015 22:43:36

The 17th SAARC Payments Council (SPC) meeting was held at Cox's Bazar last week amid ambitious hope for developing a unique cross-border payment system at a lower cost using latest...


137993. Cash is far from meeting its WaterlooPublished: December 04, 2015 22:52:28

What do Swedish supergroup Abba, the Nigerian central bank and UK economist Andy Haldane have in common? All three are helping to speed the demise of cash. The news that...


137994. One of the safest places to live in!Published: December 04, 2015 22:50:48

Historically, Bangladesh has the reputation of maintaining peaceful law and order and communal harmony. The country remained one of the safest and comfortable places to live in. No conspiracy has...


137995. Is BBIN MVA a non-starter?Published: December 04, 2015 22:49:29

As expected, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) is set to grind to a halt. Sadly, it's again bilateral political dispute that has found its way...


137996. Behavioural intervention in public policyPublished: December 03, 2015 22:29:33

Since 1993, the government of Bangladesh has been implementing "food for education" programme to minimise primary school dropout by school feeding together with take-home rations. As of today, the quantifiable...


137997. Collaboration between industries and educational institutionsPublished: December 03, 2015 22:28:41

That the overall standard of education including that of the tertiary leaves much to be desired is a unanimous verdict. One of the reasons for the lacking is dissociation of...


137998. Global RMG market: A comparative studyPublished: December 02, 2015 22:42:05

In September, 2015, apparel imports into the US continued on their upward trajectory, with seven of the top ten supplier countries booking year-on-year growth. Bangladesh led the pack, posting a...


137999. The linkages between climate and conflictPublished: December 02, 2015 22:41:32

It is sheer coincidence that Paris was struck by terrorists on the eve of a key climate conference known as COP 21. To some, the attacks may appear like an...


138000. Why new Global Urban Agenda matters for BangladeshPublished: December 02, 2015 22:40:57

In less than a year, world leaders will meet in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito to map out a fresh urban strategy for the coming two decades. The United Nations...