Browse Tag

featured news

UNESCO recognises Mangal Shobhajatra

UNESCO today recognised Mangal Shobhajatra, Bangla New Year procession, as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Mangal Shobhajatra has been inscribed in UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the 11th session of the Inter-governmental Committee on Safeguarding pahela-baishakh-webIntangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The committee in its decision noted that Mangal Shobhajatra, organised by teachers and students of Dhaka University's Fac...

Geopolitics hamper modernization of BD ports

The port of Chittagong, pictured, is working well above its designed capacity, but Bangladesh has no alternative maritime gateways. The competition to develop much-needed modern port facilities in Bangladesh has intensified following the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the South Asian country. Despite the clear need for a new port, and plenty of commercial incentives to build one, projects have been slow to materialize, as China, Japan, and India fight for the right to provide financing, and with that a ticket to build their influence in the country and in the region. During the presidential visit, China committed $24 billion for the development of <...

WB lends $ 10m for procurement data centre upgrade

Public procurement in Bangladesh is to be upgraded and expanded with an additional $10m in World Bank (WB) cash. The loan, which brings the bank’s financing for its procurement project in Bangladesh to $68.1m, will be used to replace a data centre, where capacity is too low to keep pace with growing demand from public procurement bodies. The bank said it will ensure the effective use of public money and increase transparency in the procurement system. Rajashree Paralkar, acting World Bank country director for Bangladesh, said the results of wb

Challenge remains in minimising urban-rural disparity

The proposed national budget for 2016-17 has seen a slight rise in allocation for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, however, the challenge remains in minimising urban-rural disparity. Per capita allocation in urban area is Tk 1,121 against   Tk 55 for the rural. A massive 86% of the WASH allocation has been earmarked for big cities. Good news is a project amounting Tk 500 crore has been proposed for hard-to-reach areas, however, it is yet to be funded. Although three new special projects for remote and disadvantaged communities and arsenic-prone areas has been proposed but no allocation has

BD ranked 5th with people without net access: WB

With 148 million offline population, Bangladesh still has the world’s fifth largest number of people who are not connected to the internet, said a World Bank report. India has the largest number of 1.003 billion people who are not connected to the internet, followed by China with 755 million offline population, Indonesia with 213 million and Pakistan with 165 million respectively, the report showed. According to the report titled ‘World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends’ launched in a city hotel on Monday, Bangladesh has one of the cheapest rates to make a phone call, but internet prices remain high, says news agency UNB. However, the number of people having access to the internet has recently crossed 60 million in

Is North Korea behind the £81m BB cyber-heist?

The probe into the $81m (£56m) cyber-heist at the Bangladesh central bank has taken a strange turn as security researchers from BAE Systems claim to have linked the malware used in the attack to the online siege against Sony Pictures in 2014. Many, including experts in the US government, believe the cyberattack against Sony was the work of hackers affiliated with the North Korean government. Could the reclusive nation really be involved in this latest incident? The BAE report, titled Cyber Heist Attribution, claims what initially appeared to be an isolated attack against one bank has turned out to be larger in scope than previously thought.
Verified by MonsterInsights