We have outshone our neighbours, improving in social indicators such as child mortality rate Bangladesh’s progress over the last few years has been impressive. Bangladesh’s per capita income has increased exponentially since 2013, when it was a mere $974. Now it stands at $1,355 -- an almost 40% increase. At this rate, we could potentially surpass India by 2020, according to a report in a top financial publication. This is in ...details

Finance Minister AMA Muhith is set to place a mega budget of around Tk 468,200 crore in Parliament on Thursday for the fiscal year 2018-19 amid the fast approaching national election. The Finance Minister is going to set a rare example by placing the 10th consecutive budget of the current government. He will place the budget at 12:30pm. However, this will be his 12th budget so far and also the last ...details

Although yaba is mainly smuggled from Myanmar in massive quantities, law enforcement agencies say the contraband drug is also being produced inside Bangladesh. Several arrested local yaba producers have told the court about using pseudoephedrine or similar chemicals, used to produce medicine for cold, as raw material for amphetamine, the main ingredient of the drug. Bangladesh banned pseudoephedrine import in February last year after noticing a spike in the ...details

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has called on governments to stand up to the tobacco industry and fully implement 'proven' strategies that protect their citizens from the devastating harms of tobacco use to save lives. The leading anti-tobacco group made the call in a statement issued on World No Tobacco Day on Thursday. "Around the world, we have seen that when countries implement these proven measures, they can quickly and significantly ...details

The ticket sale began on Friday, 15 minutes behind schedule due to server troubles. Tickets of 31 intercity trains for Jun 10 travels are being sold at the Kamalapur Railway Station. Advance tickets are offered from 26 counters, out of which two are for women. A passenger can buy a maximum of four tickets. The ticket sale was expected to begin at 8am from the counters, but was caught in a technical glitch. ...details

Hundreds of Rohingya victims have appealed to judges at the International Criminal Court to grant prosecutors jurisdiction to investigate deportations from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh, an ICC official said on Thursday. The world's first permanent war crimes court does not have automatic jurisdiction in Myanmar because it is not a member state, but the prosecutor in April asked the court to look into the Rohingya crisis and a possible ...details

The government has reduced the number of subjects by three and scores by 200 in the JSC and JDC examinations in an effort to ease the stress on the students. Now, there will be no second paper in English and Bangla, and an optional subject in the exams. It means the number of subjects will come down to seven from 10. Secondary and Higher Secondary Secretary Md Sohrab Hossain told reporters after ...details

Expressing her firm stance against drugs, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said her government will completely eradicate the menace from the country as it did in the case of militancy. "We've contained militancy. Now, we've taken an initiative to save the country from drug menace. You've noticed that drives against drugs have already started," she said. The Prime Minister said this when newly elected Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Mayor Talukder Abdul ...details

People accused of irregularities will not be part of the local scrutiny committees. New committees will be formed in areas where allegations of irregularities have been raised The work on preparing a list of freedom fighters will not take place during the remainder of the incumbent government’s tenure ahead of the national polls and the Freedom Fighters’ Central Command Council election. A new list will be made after the general election, said ...details

The Election Commission or EC plans to procure nearly 2,500 electronic voting machines or EVMs, with an eye on the next elections. The estimated cost of per EVM is Tk 200,000, which is four times higher than the machine used for the first time in 2010. After the use of the newly-designed EVM on a trial basis in the Rangpur city polls in December last year, the commission has picked up the ...details