Load-shedding has multi-dimensional consequences, especially at a time of punishing heat and humidity in April, the 'cruellest month'. According to the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) at the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, load-shedding on Wednesday reached up to 1500 megawatt (MW). Euphemis
While Intellectual Property (IP) is an asset for any business, leveraging it to access finance is strategically important for growth and development. This is more so in respect of women entrepreneurs in a country like Bangladesh where IP can be weighed as useful collateral for accessing bank financ
The Bangladesh Bank (BB)'s policy of tightening money supply to combat inflation has been instrumental in pushing up commercial banks' interest rates. The BB has allowed commercial banks to add 3.5 per cent margin to the benchmark rate, the so-called SMART. Notably, the BB in July last year, remove
Against the backdrop of growing climatic turmoil Bangladesh and the rest of the world find themselves in, the country has formulated a national climate adaptability plan covering 27 years called 'National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2023-2050. With the country ranking 7th in the Global Climate Risk Index
A severe heat wave now sweeping across the country has made life miserable. The latest update from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department offers little hope of respite and paints a foreboding picture of weather conditions across various regions. Khulna division together with Rajshahi, Pabna
That country's most institutions have become largely dysfunctional is hardly disputed. And, such an unfortunate decadence has happened amidst impressive development works, a phenomenon that many economists tend to describe as a 'paradox'. The fact remains that the economy in general is in doldrums,
The short-lived relief on account of reduced price of bottled soybean oil at Tk 163 from the previous Tk 173 per litre enjoyed by the common consumers for the last two months is over. Vegetable oil refiners have decided to return to the pre-VAT-reduction price regime. Notably, the government, throu
The plan of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) to bring three million farmers under its network of agro-related weather information sounds good. Currently, the DAE runs a project under a network covering 30,000 farmers across the country. The World Bank-funded project 'Bangladesh Agro-M
Collateral casualties of big and joyous festivals have become routine in this country. Network of road communication with the addition of six-lane highways has not only expanded but also improved in most places. This has its reflection on comparably smoother journeys home during the Eid vacation th
On the Bangla New Year's day (April 14, 2024), came the good news that MV Abdullah, a privately-owned Bangladeshi marine cargo vessel with 23 crew members on board has finally been released by Somali pirates. Notably, the pirates hijacked the ship on March 12 this year, 600 nautical miles off the S
