Month: July 2009

WDB office attacked A 500-feet stretch of Sirajganj town protection embankment caved in by the strong current of rain-fed Jamuna river Friday morning, endangering at least seven municipalities and villages on the river bank. Local office of Water Development Board said the embankment in front of Gaila Hindu cremation ground suddenly started caving in at ... Read more

Govt to scrutinise registration given by BNP-Jamaat; lax watch of social welfare ministry leads to irregularities Around half of the NGOs registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare remain inactive for long and a few of them are even regularly taking funds from the government, reveals a recent finding. The ministry makes the finding digging ... Read more

Nuclear power plant installation BD team to visit Russia soon for signing deal The move towards installing a nuclear power plant has gone one step forward as the Russian government has invited Bangladesh to send a delegation to visit its nuclear-power projects and sign deals. “We have received an invitation recently from the Russian government ... Read more

Industrial pollution and degradation by industries and human intervention goes on unabated as only 38 cases out of a total 340 filed till May 31 have so far been ended in conviction since the establishment of Environmental Courts in 2002. Although campaigns by environmental groups against pollution are gaining in strength in the country, only ... Read more

Garment sector unrest  Police have identified over 50 people, particularly labour leaders and jhut (garment cloth waste) traders, who are responsible for creating anarchy in the country’s largest foreign exchange earning readymade garment (RMG) sector. These unscrupulous people are responsible for creating unrest in Ashuliya-Savar and Mirpur-Tejgaon industrial belts in Dhaka district, Gazipur-Tongi-Joydebpur-Sreepur and Konabari-Kashempur-Mawna ... Read more

Indiscriminate use of chemicals in ripening blamed Ripe jackfruit, pineapple, papaya or mango–all fruits flooding the city markets look great but lack usual scent and taste as traders use chemical compounds to ripen them artificially, posing a serious health risk to the consumers. Sources said fruit growers and traders are using different harmful chemicals including ... Read more

The ruling Awami League is fully prepared to hold its long-awaited national council by July 25, the deadline fixed by the Election Commission to submit amended versions of constitutions of the political parties in compliance with the updated representation of the people’s order (RPO). The date and time of the party’s national council will be ... Read more

Prominent economist and former adviser to the immediate past caretaker government Dr. Akbar Ali Khan on Friday said there is no alternative to digital economy for building digital Bangladesh by 2021. In other words, digital economy is a must for building a digital Ban-gladesh, he said. He said this while addressing a discussion meeting on ... Read more

Bangladesh’s two unexplored natural sites-the Cox’s Bazar beach and the largest mangrove forest Sundarbans-have been placed among the top 77, out of nearly 440 naturally important places across the globe, in the New7Wonders competition. The top 77 have been selected on votes aimed at finding out seven natural beautiful places across the globe. The Switzerland-based ... Read more

Traditional birth control strategy coupled with slow implementation of various related programmes by the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) has failed to control birth rate in the country. The government is yet to achieve the target of lowering the birth rate to 2.2 per cent despite its 29-year effort. According to a study of ... Read more

Probe body places report in the House Scrapping of Sircar’s JS membership suggested The Parliamentary Investigation Committee, which probed the alleged corruptions and misuse of power committed by former Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Chief Whip, on Thursday suggested scrapping of membership of the 9th parliament of Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar and legal actions against him for ... Read more

Two private banks turned shares of a risk category company all too lucrative The company was in the red for at least three consecutive years. It did not give dividend even for once in the period. It was far from being a hotcake company on the bourses. And because of its lacklustre performance, it was ... Read more

The parliament on Thursday unanimously passed the International Crimes (Tribunals) (Amendment) Bill 2009 which is expected to expedite the process for prosecution of the 1971 war crimes. Members of the treasury bench expressed their support to the amendments to the law, originally enacted in 1973, by thumping the desks. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party ... Read more

The budget session of parliament was prorogued Thursday night with a call from the House to the boycotting opposition lawmakers to return to parliament to play their democratic role. Leader of the House, prime minister Sheikh Hasina said that keeping in mind the two-year rule of an unelected government, the main opposition party should join ... Read more

Parliament on Thursday passed the much-talked-about Human Rights Commission Bill 2009 giving legal coverage to the existing commission to help it safeguard the people’s constitutional rights to live with dignity. The House passed the bill by voice vote as law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister Shafique Ahmed placed it for endorsement. The bill was earlier ... Read more

The suicidal decision created scope for water logging Around 10 canals of the city have either been filled up entirely or turned into box culverts to construct roads, aggravating the water logging problems. Roads were constructed in Rayerbazar, Rajabazar, Gopibagh and Shyampur Kadamtala filling up canals and constructing storm water and sewerage lines. Segunbagicha canal, ... Read more

Intelligence vigilance has been beefed up to the highest level in industrial belts after the recent garment unrest at Ashuliya, as part of the government decision to ensure security to the over 12 billion dollar export-processing zone industries that employ over 3.1 million workers, mostly women. Ashuliya-Savar and Mirpur-Tejgaon belt in Dhaka district, Gazipur-Tongi-Joydebpur-Sreepur and ... Read more