On Wednesday evening at the BBC Food and Farming Awards in Bristol, the BBC World Service Global Champion Award was presented to Akshaya Patra – the world’s largest charity-run school meals project. This is the third year The Food Chain…
Month: June 2019
How urban consumption drives global emissions
Strong action from mayors, business and citizens is driving down emissions created locally. But emissions from urban consumption of goods like food and clothing, along with materials used to construct urban buildings, are set to double without action. Emissions due…
Taxation proposals in Bangladesh budget for 2019-20
Income Tax, Value Added Tax and Import-Export Duty NBR officials work relentlessly to achieve the revenue target set by the government every year. NBR tax revenue is basically collected from Income Tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Import & Export…
বাজেট প্রতিক্রিয়া – সিগারেটে করহার অপরিবর্তিত, লাভবান হবে তামাক কোম্পানি
প্রস্তাবিত বাজেটে নিম্নস্তরে সিগারেটের দাম বৃদ্ধি করা হয়েছে শলাকা প্রতি মাত্র ২০ পয়সা বা ৫.৭ শতাংশ। অথচ এসময়ে জনগণের মাথাপিছু আয় বেড়েছে ১১.৩২ শতাংশ। সিগারেট ধূমপায়ীর প্রায় ৭২ শতাংশই নিম্নস্তরের সিগারেটের ভোক্তা। প্রস্তাবিত বাজেট কার্যকর হলে এই স্তরের সিগারেটের প্রকৃতমূল্য…
BD to bring a quarter of population under social safety net
Dhaka, June 13 – The government is going to bring nearly a quarter of the families in the country under the social safety net programmes in the next financial year. The government has planned to allocate Tk. 74,367 crore in…
BD allocates Taka 1bn to settle riverbank erosion victims
Dhaka, June 13 – A total of Tk 100 crore has been allocated in the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal years to facilitate rehabilitation of the people affected by river erosion. Besides, steps have been taken for managing water resource,…
5 testify in Holey Artisan Café attack case
Dhaka, June 13 – The Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal of Dhaka yesterday recorded the depositions of five policemen in the Holey Artisan café attack case and later Judge Md Mojibur Rahman of fixed June 18, as the date for next hearing…
ICC WC: Rain ruins India-New Zealand match
Dhaka – The ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup saw another dull day on Thursday as the game between India and New Zealand was washed out by rain without a ball being bowled at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Both the teams were…
Rain unlikely to affect Bangladesh-West Indies clash
Dhaka – Rain is unlikely to affect the Bangladesh’s next ICC World Cup match against West Indies at the Cooper Associates County ground in Taunton on June 17. The recent weather forecast report suggested that the chance of rain in…
Joshi applauds Bangladesh’s spin attack
Dhaka – Bangladesh spin coach Sunil Joshi has applauded Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh spin attack for their outstanding performance in the World Cup, saying they are doing their job properly. Bangladesh have played four matches in the World Cup so…
Online system to control savings certificate transactions
Dhaka, Jun 13 (UNB) – Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday said real-time information is available now on the sale, profit and encashment of national savings schemes from the ‘National Savings Scheme Online Management System’. The system was introduced…
Exclusive tourist zone in Cox’s Bazar for foreign tourists
Dhaka, Jun 13 (UNB) – The work on establishing an exclusive tourist zone for foreign tourists is underway at Sabrang in Cox’s Bazar. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal disclosed this while placing the national budget in parliament for fiscal 2019-20…
Bangladesh unveils Tk 5.23 tln national budget for 2019-20
Dhaka, June 13 – Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today placed a Taka 5,23,190 crore national budget for FY20 in parliament to ‘make a big stride’ to materialize the Vision 2021 and implement the agenda for 2030. “We are committed…
Highlights of budget for 2019-20
Dhaka, June 13 – Following are the highlights of the proposed budget for fiscal year 2019-20 • Tk 5.2tr budget with 8.2% growth target• Generate fresh employment for 3cr people by 2030• Increase taxpayers number to 1.0cr from 21-22 lakh•…
Impacts on taxation proposals on prices in New Bad budget
In addition to imported smartphones, prices of ice-cream, cigarette, edible oil and different food products are likely to go up as the government has proposed rise in taxes or duties on these. Imported gold, locally made bread, biscuit and agricultural…
Shops in Hong Kong close doors to ‘find breath of freedom’
Hong Kong, Jun 13 (AP/UNB) — By the entrance of his restaurant, Kelvin Chung hung a piece of paper announcing the restaurant’s intention to strike on Wednesday. “Hoping to find a breath of freedom,” the sign said, adding that the…
At least 60 ice seals found dead along west Alaska coast
Anchorage, Jun 13 (AP/UNB) — At least 60 ice seals have been found dead along Alaska’s west coast and federal biologists on Wednesday were trying to determine the cause. Some carcasses had lost hair and NOAA Fisheries will try to…
Iran newspaper asks Abe: How Can You Trust A War Criminal’
Tehran, Jun 12 (AP/UNB) — With Japan’s prime minister on the way to Tehran for a historic visit, a hard-line Iranian paper published a front page image Wednesday of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear blast — a reference to…
Arrest warrant for Bangladesh’s absconding police OC Moazzem
Jashore, June 12 (UNB)- District police on Wednesday received the arrest warrant issued against former officer-in-charge of Feni’s Sonagazi Police Station Moazzem Hossain. He is hailing from Dalmil Raipara of the city’s Chanchra area. Now his two brothers and a…
Gold traders plan to organise Bangladesh’s 1st Gold Fair
Dhaka, June 12 (UNB) – A three-day long gold fair will be held at Dhaka’s Hotel InterContinental between June 23-25 following the government’s offer to legalize undeclared gold. Bangladesh Jewellers Samity or Bajus General Secretary Dilip Kumar Agarwala announced it…
Islamic State in Afghanistan aims to attack US, general says
Ramstein Jun 13 (AP/UNB) — The Islamic State group in Afghanistan is a “very worrisome” threat to the United States, and U.S. counterterrorism efforts have yet to shrink its extremist ambitions, a senior American general said Wednesday. Marine Gen. Frank…
Social imbalances in the EU
by Sylvia Schmidt Despite the economic recovery of recent years, persistent social imbalances—such as those affecting women and young people—must be taken into account in the debate on Europe’s future. In the wake of the European Parliament elections, this autumn…
Netflix gets its game on at E3 with ‘Stranger Things’
Netflix on Wednesday made its first formal appearance at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, showcasing plans for video games based on hit original shows such as “Stranger Things.” The streaming television powerhouse is looking to expand its original shows into…
Holistic effort stressed to stop child labour
Concerted effort of all government and non-government entities has become an urgent need to prevent child labour for the greater interest of flourishing children’s physical and mental health. Many children especially coming from the poor and distressed families suffer from…
Remake of Tapan Chowdhury’s first song after three decades
Culture Desk After more than three decades a popular production from Tapan Chowdhury-Ayub Bachchu-Khoshnur has been reengineered to suit modern tastes. Titled ‘Mone Koro’ the song was composed and arranged by late band musician Ayub Bachchu, written by the first…
Jaya coming as first woman serial killer
Cultural Correspondent Jaya Ahsan is now set to revive the first female serial killer in India. Named Troilokya this lady roamed the streets of West Bengal in the late 1800s to switch from one crime to another for livelihood before…
Bangladesh Film Festival begins in Seoul
The 2nd Bangladesh Film Festival organised by the Embassy of Bangladesh was started at the Yongsan Art Hall of Seoul on Tuesday. Chairman, Korea-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship Group Kim Kisun, MP and Mayor of Yongsan County Jang-Hyun Sung were Guests of…
India’s most significant innovations have roots in civil society
By Apoorva Oza Ahmedabad, Gujatar, India (IPS) – When we look at some of the things we take for granted in India today, there is a common thread to all of them. Every single one. They all originated from civil…
Developing technologies for zero-carbon economies
By Nils Røkke Trontheim, Norway, Jun 11 (IPS) – Never before has half a degree (0.5C) meant so much for humanity. We are behaving as if we have time to deal with climate change. We don’t. The main problem is…
Climate change peril Uganda’s tree climbing lions, primates
By Wambi Michael Kasese, Uganda, Jun 12 2019 (IPS) – As climate change leads to increased temperatures in East Africa, a thicket of invasive thorny trees with the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions have begun threatening Uganda’s second-largest park,…