NO FRILLS
Dhaka-Chattogram Highway: Why no feasibility study?
When policy planners undertake a major connectivity project like the Dhaka-Chattogram highway expansion, which serves as a lifeline for our exports, one would expect that they would do what reasonably well-informed policymakers in other countries do, i.e. conduct
Aramco attacks: Fuelling the fire
Fingers are being pointed at Iran for the drone attack on two major Saudi Arabian oil facilities set ablaze on September 14. While the sabre rattling picks up the tempo, and despite reassurances by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) that strategic oil reserves will be deployed to stabilise the market, price of oil has shot up in the global markets.
Making the most of BRI
A daylong dialogue organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on September 8 brought together participants from Bangladesh and some South Asian countries, as well as from China. Among them were high-level policymakers, political leaders, academics and
Donors’ interest in Rohingya crisis waning?
By all indications, yes, it is waning. Not from ours, but from the perspective of the international donor community that has been providing humanitarian support to the million or so Rohingyas stranded on Bangladeshi soil for two years now. The data speaks for itself.
Getting a rotten deal on rawhide
The recent debacle over the purchase of rawhides after Eid-ul-Azha raises some important concerns. The government had fixed the prices of rawhides of cows and buffaloes at Tk 45-50 per square foot in the capital city of Dhaka and Tk 35-40 elsewhere. The price of the rawhide of castrated goats was fixed at Tk 18-20 per square foot, while it was Tk 13-15 for that of non-castrated goats. This year, some 1 crore animals were sacrificed across the country. Forty-five percent of these animals were cows, bulls and buffaloes, according to rawhide traders.
Socio-economic impacts of the Rohingya influx
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in association with the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) and the local administration of Cox’s Bazar, unveiled the findings of a joint impact assessment study on July 25, 2019. The report titled “Impacts of the Rohingya Refugee Influx on Host Communities” looks at the impact of the massive influx of Rohingyas on the host communities and how it has affected the long-term development needs of Bangladeshis living in the affected areas.
Foreign assistance boosts infrastructure development
During the five-day state visit by PM Sheikh Hasina to China on July 2-6, Bangladesh and China inked some important deals—five agreements including three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and other agreements that included investment in the power
Bringing more people under the tax net
The finance minister recently stated that it is the government’s intention to bring 10 million people under the tax net.
Water that kills
Contaminated drinking water is a major cause of deaths globally. Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) unveiled the report “UN Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS) 2017” which charts out the water and sanitation situation in 75 countries, and the news is not good.
Hacking is serious business
The internet has become an indispensible part of our lives. It's not just about sending an email. We surf it for banking transactions, online shopping, booking accommodation, entertainment, sharing our holiday pictures on social media sites like Facebook, etc.
Pollution plays havoc with children's health!
Thanks to the World Health Organisation (WHO), we now have a clearer picture of what indoor and outdoor pollution is doing to our children's health.
Asia's massive infrastructure gap
Asia is suffering from a USD 26 trillion infrastructure gap that threatens future growth. That is the subject matter of a recent report titled "Meeting Asia's Infrastructure Needs" by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Militancy strikes Pakistan hard
Those are the ground realities in Pakistan as elsewhere in other Muslim majority states including Bangladesh where the State essentially views religious extremism as a security problem that can be exterminated using overwhelming force.
Backlog in aid utilisation
As highlighted many times before, today, for Bangladesh, it is no longer a question of finding the requisite finance but the capacity to implement projects either undertaken or envisaged.
Why so many deaths on roads?
We are used to seeing the death toll rise in road accidents during the two main Eid holidays when hundreds of thousands of people travel to their village homes.
A mixed bag of challenges
Bangladesh has, over the years, been hailed as a potential economic powerhouse. The challenges are multifarious.
Make America great again. Seriously?
Is President Trump has gone after the tech industry through another of his executive orders. The Muslim ban that has adversely affected some of the biggest names in the US tech industry and now some CEOs are speaking out.
US academia witch hunt?
It is disturbing to find that a new website called the “Professor Watchlist” has appeared in the United States on November 21, 2016,