Abrar Hussain: Member of the National Narcotics Control Board Dr Arup Ratan Choudhury has stated that around 70 lakh people in Bangladesh are drug addicts, spending almost Tk 600,00 crore (600 billion) on drugs every year. He disclosed the statistic at a roundtable discussion titled ‘Anti-drug Operation and Reality’ at the conference room of East…
Dr. Syed Anwar Hossain, Historian and Professor, Dhaka University : There is lack of good governance in spending what is allotted in the budget for the education sector. There is no accountability in the education ministry. The country’s education ministry and education sector are the most corrupt of them all. The government uses the taxpayers’ money…
Sarwar J. Minar, Senior Officer, International Programs and Relations, IUB : After causing awful atrocities against the Rohingya people, another identity of Myanmar is gradually unfolding. It is a massive yaba producer and supplier; it has been smuggling yaba to its neighboring countries for a long period of time. Yaba (also known as energy pill, crazy…
Dr. Ahmed Al Kabir, Former Chairman, Rupali Bank : The proposal to cut corporate tax for banks in the upcoming budget is logical. Previously, the rate was very high, but now it is at a reasonable level. Excluding cigarettes and a few other sectors, nearly every other sector has been reduced to or below this level….
Prof. M Tamim, Chairman, Petroleum and Resources Engineering Department, BUET : Problems in gas supply to domestic consumers during Ramadan are created due to the increased use in the industrial sector. For wider deficit this year, the problem deepened. Huge illegal domestic connections are added to it. Around 5,000 new connections have been added to 1…
Dr Md Tajul Islam, Professor, National Mental Health Institute : The race between buses, minibuses or other motor-vehicles is not coming to an end. The whimsical attitude of drivers is not stopping either. The head of an old woman got separated after she fell under the wheels of a bus in front of the National…
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…