Sukanta Halder

Higher import costs are likely to be passed on to consumers

A total of Tk 37.54 crore in insurance claims has been paid to 8,417 policyholders of seven troubled life insurers in two phases under an initiative of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA).

For Rasel Hossain, this year’s Aus harvest should have been a source of relief. Instead, the farmer from Uttargram village in Naogaon’s Mohadevpur upazila is counting his losses.

Alleged collusion among dealers and retailers to hike fertiliser prices by “creating an artificial shortage” through hoarding and supply control is causing discontent among farmers, according to a report prepared by the Special Branch of the police.

A crude oil tanker of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC), MT Ninemia, arrived at Chattogram port from Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Bangladesh has enough fertiliser, the government says. Dealers say they have stocks. Yet farmers in several districts say authorised dealers are refusing to sell or capping them at one sack, forcing many to buy from unauthorised sellers at inflated prices.

Years of overfishing, destructive fishing practices and damage to marine habitats are depleting Bangladesh’s fish stocks, with catches of hilsa and other marine species falling sharply.

Bangladesh could see lower Boro rice production in the coming season as climatologists warn of an exceptionally strong El Niño, which typically brings hotter and drier conditions during the crop’s growing period.