Sayeed Muhammad: The Centre for Policy Dialogue or CPD, a leading think tank of Bangladesh, said the proposed budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 lacks clarity about the source of fund and expenditure. According to the CPD, the projected revenue target is unrealistic and there is no clear guideline over the source of the…
Raj Abrar: At the invitation of her Canadian counterpart Justine Trudeau, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dubai yesterday for Toronto on a four-day official visit to attend the outreach session of G7 Summit. After making a five-hour stopover in Dubai, the Emirates flight carrying the prime minister and her entourage departed Dubai International Airport at 3:30…
Abrar Hussain: Finance Minister AMA Muhith claimed yesterday that an ‘implementable budget’ has been proposed for the next fiscal year. “When we propose a budget, we do not do it without thinking whether it will be possible to achieve the target,” he told reporters at a post-budget media briefing at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in…
Rahat Chowdhury: The government has backtracked from their initial plan to impose 5% VAT on online shopping. According to the National Board of Revenue, the VAT on online shopping as announced in the new budget was a “printing error”. “It was printed mistakenly. We dropped the decision,” said Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, chairman of the NBR,…
Sofian Khan: Road Trans-port & Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader regarding the fiscal year 2018-19 budget, said the has been proposed aiming welfare for the people, not the upcoming parliamentary election. “This budget is not an electoral one of Awami League. This has been proposed as a people-friendly budget,” said Quader, also the General Secretary of…
Sejuti Mourin: BNP has rejected the proposed national budget, claiming that the government has placed the colossal budget for “looting money ahead of the general election”, reports NewAge. BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the allegation at a news briefing at the party central office in Dhaka yesterday. The BNP leader claimed that…
Sofian Khan: Three more alleged drug-peddlers were killed overnight in the countrywide ongoing anti-drug operation, taking the death toll to 134 since the it begun on May 18. According to the claims of the law enforcers, one suspect was killed in an encounter during raids in Thakurgaon and Rangpur and an unidentified bullet-ridden body was…
Abrar Hussain: The US has urged the Myanmar government to fulfill its commitment in working with the UNHCR and UNDP to implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, reports NewAge. Heather Nauert, US Department of State spokesperson said on Thursday, “We welcome the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by…
Sayeed Muhammad: In a surprise comment, US President Donald Trump yesterday said Russia should be reinstated to a leading group of industrialized nations before his visit to the G7 summit this weekend. The remark is an extraordinary break from key US allies, and significantly striking given Russia’s meddling in the 2016 polls. A special counsel probe…
Sejuti Mourin: United States President Donald Trump is reportedly leaving the G7 meeting in Canada earlier than scheduled in order to travel to Singapore for his much-anticipated summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday (June 10), a few hours earlier than initially planned. His route from Canada and his new arrival time…