Sukanta Halder

The government has initiated a fresh move to help three old state-owned enterprises turn around after its previous attempts largely went in vain.

No one knows how the poor man dines, says a Russian proverb that now seems all too fitting in light of the government’s decision to hike the prices of diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. 

The consumers have expressed their anger just after the government hiked prices of diesel and kerosene by 23 per cent or Tk 15 a litre as the spike will upend their living cost the time when they are still reeling from the pandemic induced economic downfall.

Hossain Ahmed, a resident of Rajarbagh in Dhaka, ordered a couple of gowns worth Tk 3,340 on a Facebook-based online shop for his wife on October 13.

Due to conflicts between two ministries, the plan to establish a unified and independent intellectual property (IP) office to provide copyrights, patents, design, and trademark certificates has been stuck in limbo.

Braving heavy heat, she was standing in a long queue in the capital’s Farmgate last week with hopes to buy some essential items at subsidised rates from a truck selling the products.

The consumer rights watchdog of Bangladesh has fined 17 e-commerce firms for their failure to deliver products as promised and deceiving customers through false advertisements.

The Bangladesh Forest Department has given undue advantage to a particular company while purchasing four double-cabin pickups and related accessories worth about Tk 2.4 crore for a development project, said a government report.

Shopping centres, fashion houses and retail outlets are recording higher sales on the occasion of Durga Puja as worshippers are gearing up to celebrate the biggest religious festival of the Bengali Hindu community.

The government has targeted an annual average productivity growth rate of 5.6 per cent for the next 10 years as it is set to begin implementing the Bangladesh National Productivity Master Plan from January next year.

It calls its hefty discount offers tornado, typhoon, kalbaishakhi (Nor’wester), conflagration and Tufan (hurricane) and sells mobile phones, flats, cars and whatnot.

Appetite for purchases through online platforms using cards declined in July this year from that a month ago, as people have become cautious in placing orders following a series of scams centring e-commerce companies having started to come to light.

Qcoom has suspended its physical operations after hundreds of customers thronged its office in Dhaka, demanding products or refunds amid the e-commerce platform’s failure to make deliveries within the promised dates despite receiving payments in advance.

E-commerce firmly began to put down roots in Bangladesh back in 2009 and since then has gone on to become a mainstay in the retail landscape.

Lured by hefty discounts at e-commerce platform Eorange, Md Sahedul Islam, a private firm employee with a Tk 15,000 monthly income, borrowed Tk 13 lakh from family members, relatives and colleagues to make advance payments for five motorcycles in May and another three in June.  

Many Dhaka residents are well aware about the milkman, known as “goala” in Bangla, who delivers fresh milk to their doorsteps on a daily basis.

The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) is all set to launch an e-commerce platform enabling local entrepreneurs to sell different products in the domestic and global markets.

Md Nabid Rahman, employed at a private company in Dhaka, made a payment of Tk 12.5 lakh to e-commerce platform Dhamaka in March for two motorcycles and other products which were on offer at hefty discounts.

Pran-RFL Group, one of the leading conglomerates in Bangladesh, plans to double its plastic recycling capacity to make new products from thrown away items.

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has taken up an initiative to make all industries and factories adopt group insurance, made mandatory in the Bangladesh labour law, against the backdrop of recent tragedies in the industrial sector.