Falling Aman prices add to farmers’ plight

Good harvest brings no smile
As about 98 per cent of Aman harvest is over, the growers have no way but to count losses as the prices they are getting are much below the production cost. The production of rice would exceed the target of 132.6 lakh tonnes this season, said officials of the department of agricultural extension (DAE).
The gross production of rice would increase due to the increased acreage of rice (56.43 lakh hectares) this Aman season although farmers in some regions are experiencing a slightly

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‘Strong EC no substitute for caretaker govt’

Judiciary under threat, says Rehman Sobhan
Removal of the caretaker government system is not likely to be compensated by a strong Election Commission (EC), and the history of electoral politics in Bangladesh indicates that no ruling party has ever conceded defeat in polls, without the presence of a non-partisan government, Prof. Rehman Sobhan, chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said this in a keynote paper at a programme

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Fresh survey to thwart Turag encroachment

The administrations of four districts in and around the capital have taken up a fresh survey to finalize the boundary lines on the banks of the Turag by January 15 to thwart any encroachment bid.  Setting up of boundary pillars was stopped by the district administrations concerned when the river shrunk after the rainy season. Sources told The Independent that a section of corrupt land officials, in  league with

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Little accommodations for students with disabilities

Accommodation facilities for people with disabilities,  are too inadequate to cope with their growing number hampering their mainstreaming in the society.
Bangladesh Pratibandhi Kalyan Sangstha programme coordinator Azmal Hossain said that there were 16 lakh children with disabilities for whom the government needed to set up a large

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Bike-riding muggers worry city dwellers

Law enforcers find it tough to tackle them
Dhaka dwellers are terrified of bike-riding muggers, who in broad daylight snatch money from citizens on their way to or from banks and they do not give a second thought to hurting anyone.
Even law enforcers are worried about the recent increase in such mugging incidents.
At least 20 such incidents were reported in December alone but many incidents go unreported

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Biman in severe fund crunch

Board sits today to find way out
Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ financial crisis has turned so grave that the national flag carrier is now struggling to manage its regular expenditure while its payable to different organisations piles up by the day.
Biman owes Tk 247 crore-plus to its fuel supplier Padma Oil, more than Tk 270 crore to Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Tk 56 crore to National Board of Revenue (NBR) in

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Hamidullah Khan passes away

Sector Commander of 1971 liberation war and freedom fighter affairs secretary of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Wing Commander (retd) M Hamidullah Khan, Bir Pratik, passed away at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on Friday. He was 74. He left behind his wife, two sons and a host of relatives, friends and well-wishers to mourn his death

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Jahurul ton stalls Biman

Out-of-favour Jahurul Islam slammed the first hundred in the ongoing Premier Division Cricket League as star-studded Victoria Sports Club started their campaign with a 21-run victory against Bangladesh Biman in the high-scoring match at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Shakib Al Hasan was off-colour in the first game but opener Tamim Iqbal returned among the

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Fuel oil prices go up again

In an unprecedented move, the government on Thursday raised the prices of all kinds of fuel – twice in 49 days – by Taka 5 per litre apparently in a bid to ease the balance of payment pressure which has been threatening macro-economic stability.
Due to the decision made effective from Thursday midnight, the prices of petrol will be TK

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Tribute to a titan

Zainul Abedin’s 97th birth anniversary observed
Yesterday marked the 97th birth anniversary of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin (1914-1976). The Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka and several cultural organisations have arranged programmes to celebrate the birth anniversary of the maestro.
On the occasion, a three-day long festival is now on at the Charukala (Faculty of Fine Arts, DU) premises. The

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The actor with a golden touch

Joya Ahsan in uncharted territory
Joya Ahsan certainly has a golden touch, making a success in every field she enters, be it as a model or actor on the small and silver screen, where she has earned raves for her performance in “Guerilla”. However, the modest actor leaves it to the audience to measure her success.
Recently, Joya entered uncharted territory by appearing as a ramp model at a fashion show in Gulshan’s

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Actress Doel dies of cancer

Film actress Doel died of cancer at a city hospital on December 29. She was 45.
The once popular actress breathed her last at Dipham Hospital, finally giving in to a two-and-a-half-year struggle with cancer.
After Doel, whose real name is Ifte Ara Dalia, suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2009, she was

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83.71 per cent cross JSC, JDC hurdles

Students fail mostly in English, maths
A total of 83.71 per cent schoolchildren came out successful in the combined results of Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations this year showing a 10.67 per centage point rise in pass rate from the last year.
The pass rate in JSC exams is 82.67 per cent and JDC exams 88.71 but the rates were

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Mash’s wait almost over

If you want to know how painful it is for a cricketer to be a mere spectator for almost an entire year, you can ask pace spearhead Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. It has never been a smooth journey for the ‘Narail Express’ because of persistent injuries since his international debut in November 2001 against Zimbabwe. The agony was exacerbated this year as his dream of playing in the World Cup at home was

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Fresh grabbing narrows Turag

Wrongly Set-up Pillars
Fresh grabbing narrows Turag
Land grabbers have occupied a large portion of the Turag river after the Gazipur district administration “wrongly” put up boundary pillars along the dry-season waterline, excluding much of the river land.
Since the pillars were set up nine months ago, river grabbers in their dozens have been filling up the river bed and the foreshores on both sides along Tongi-Ashulia road, thus reducing the river into a canal.
The foreshore, an integral part of a river, is the soil between the low-water

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A poem turns saviour against tyranny

BNAP celebrates 90 years of Nazrul’s “Bidrohi”
Bangladesh Nazrul Abritti Parishad (BNAP) celebrated 90years of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam’s poem “Bidrohi” (The Rebel) written during the last week of December 1921. A creative genius, his poetic work caused patriots to rise up against colonial rule in unison and gave a taste of freedom to the country. The celebration at Shawkat Osman Memorial Auditorium of central Public Library, aimed at projecting

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