Houston’s Bangladesh community seeks funds for cultural center
The growing immigrant Bangladeshi population of Houston has been trying for years to build a permanent community center but has been stalled by a lack of funds.
Now, the Bangladesh Association, Houston, is hoping to raise about $1 million in what board members hope will be a major step toward reaching their fund-raising goal.The nonprofit is holding a multicultural gala on Friday at Crowne Plaza Galleria to attract support.
The BangladeshAssociationCenter is a $2.5 million project being built on four acres purchased in 2001 at 13145 Renn Road in southwest HarrisCounty.
Tea prices up for 4th week
Tea prices in Bangladesh rose for a fourth straight week at a weekly auction held on Wednesday as strong demand from local buyers for the winter season offset higher supplies, brokers said.
The average price of Bangladeshi tea was 213.25 taka ($2.74) per kg against 209.24 taka in the previous auction on Nov. 6, an official from National Brokers Ltd said on Thursday.
More than 2.3 million kg of tea was offered at the country’s sole auction centre in Chittagong, with nearly 17 percent remaining unsold, compared with 2 million kg offered and 15 percen...
More than 2.3 million kg of tea was offered at the country’s sole auction centre in Chittagong, with nearly 17 percent remaining unsold, compared with 2 million kg offered and 15 percen...
Greenpeace tips hat to Facebook, Google for renewable energy use
Greenpeace has often been critical of big data-center operators like Facebook for their impact on the environment, but on Wednesday it said some online firms are improving their practices and may even be the vanguard for renewable energy use.
Facebook, Google, Apple and some other tech firms have been investing heavily in renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro and solar. While cautioning that they have more work to do, Greenpeace said the companies are showing how big organizations can use their buying power to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
"The changes I'm seeing from the companies in the room here are giving me big hope," said Gary Cook, a senior IT policy analyst at Greenpeace, at an event in San Francisco attended by Facebook, Google, Rackspace, Yahoo and other comp...
Trade balance to decline in FY 2013-14
The country’s terms of trade have been deteriorating unabated, reflecting a major structural weakness of the economy, reveals the Unnayan Onneshan, an independent multidisciplinary think-tank, in its latest monthly economic update released on Wednesday.
The terms of trade, the value of exports relative to that of imports, reached at 70.1 per cent in FY 2011-12 from 70.8 per cent in FY 2010-11 and the leading think-tank projects further weakening in the upcoming years to reach at 69.2 per cent, 68 per cent, 66.7 per cent and 65.5 per cent in FY 2012-13, FY 2013-14, FY 2014-15 and FY 2015-16 respectively, if radical actions are not taken.
![]()
RMG factory owners agree to pay Tk 5,300 wage
Owners of ready-made garment factories on Wednesday night agreed to pay Tk 5,300 in minimum wage for entry-level workers.
The announcement came after a meeting of representatives of the garment owners with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban, chief of the apparel trade body said.
“Yes, we’ve agreed to the new minimum monthly wage,” M Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told UNB over phone.
He said it will be decided in a day or two as to from which month the ...
He said it will be decided in a day or two as to from which month the ...
Rohingya refugees sceptical of Burmese reforms
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who fled sectarian violence in neighbouring Myanmar in 2012 have little faith in the much heralded democratic reforms taking place at home.
"We have been suffering for generations," Muhammad Zakaria, 31, who fled his home in Myanmar's western Rakhine State after the first wave of sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims in June 2012, told IRIN.
"Dating back to my grandfather's time, we haven't found peace. So I'm not really sure if any of these reforms happen it will bring peace."
Rohingyas, an ethnic, linguistic and religious (Muslim) minority numbering some 800,000 in Rakhine, have long faced persecution and discrimination in Myanmar.
![]()
