Dhaka Mirror

The dwindling size of farms, rise in landlessness and constant depletion of farmland are posing formidable threats to Bangladesh’s agriculture, increasing poverty and trapping many ultra-poor people in a vicious circle, according to various reports. The average farm size has been reduced to less than 0.6 hectares and the percentage of landless people stands at ... Read more

Absconding jawans now 25; no mercy for post-Feb 25 rebels The committee, headed by Director General (DG) of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Maj Gen Md Mainul Islam, that was formed to report on restructuring the paramilitary force, submitted yesterday a partial report suggesting the new logo, the new uniform and the new name for the border ... Read more

Villagers along polluted Turag moving to safer places Indiscriminate discharge of liquid waste by the industries in and around Konabari industrial zone has ruined a large part of the Turag river and Baimail Jheel, causing immense suffering to residents living on the banks. Industrial liquid waste and black smog created by brick kilns have doubled ... Read more

Prabhakaran’s ‘body’ recovered from battlefield Sri Lanka’s president declared his country “liberated from separatist terror” yesterday as the military said it recovered the body of Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran from the battlefield on which he was slain. The images were shown after the Tigers announced the guerrilla leader was still alive and well, ... Read more

The government is going to entrust the army with the much-discussed machine-readable passport and visa project that would cost nearly Tk 283 crore. The home affairs ministry took the move following directives from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for engaging the army in implementing the project which was originally initiated in 2004 by the Bangladesh Nationalist ... Read more

Meeting finalises machine readable passport work plan National identity (ID) cards would be made compulsory for every citizen of the country by amending the citizenship act, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday. “If necessary laws will be amended to make national ID cards compulsory because laws are for the people’s welfare,” he told reporters after ... Read more

Auto- traffic signal proves ineffective The severe traffic congestion in the city of Dhaka has been continuing despite promise given by Dhaka Metropolitan Police to ease. It is true, hardly there is any city in the world free of traffic jamming, but in the case of Dhaka it is beyond tolerable level. The installation of ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Tuesday said disbursement of loans to women entrepreneurs has been included in the CAMEL Rating so that they can easily avail loan facility for running trade and business. Speaking at a pre-budget discussion meeting of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity, with ... Read more

A legal notice was served yesterday to the government for taking immediate steps to stop illegal encroachment on the banks of rivers Buriganga, Turag and Shitalakkha. Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) served the notice seeking steps to stop earth filling and building any kind of temporary and permanent structures along the rivers in ... Read more

178 infections confirmed Japan reported 178 swine flu infections yesterday and closed more than 4,000 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus, officials said. Experts warned that infections had probably already spread to other regions including the capital Tokyo, which with almost 36 million people ... Read more

Sri Lanka declared Monday it had crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels, killing their chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, and ending his three-decade quest for an independent homeland for minority Tamils. State television broke into its regular programming to announce Prabhakaran’s death, and the government information department sent a text message to cell phones across the country confirming ... Read more

Hearing adjourned till May 25, govt directed not to disturb her till then At last the High Court took up hearing on writ petition challenging government notice asking BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia to vacate her cantonment house. A Division Bench comprising Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury started the hearing Monday ... Read more

Investigators glean it from Boma Mizan; Huji too received training from the RSO Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) had close links with Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), an insurgent group in the Myanmarese state of Arakan, JMB explosives expert ‘Boma Mizan’ revealed in interrogations. Sources close to Rab interrogators said Mizan and some other JMB operatives received ... Read more

From an increasingly small area in the north-east of Sri Lanka, Velupillai Prabhakaran heads the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or Tamil Tigers. He has a reputation as a fearless and ruthless guerrilla leader and under his leadership, the Tamil Tigers have become a highly-disciplined and highly-motivated guerrilla force. But in recent months his ... Read more

Accuses them of abuse, extra-judicial killing Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recommended the disbanding of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), terming them symbols of abuse and impunity in a report released yesterday. The New York-based HRW said if the two forces are not disbanded they should be made to ... Read more

Sent to jail after filing sedition cases A total of 591 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) jawans were arrested at different units in ten districts on charge of staging mutiny following the Pilkhana carnage on February 25-26. Police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) made the arrests after filing sedition cases against the suspected mutineers. The arrested border ... Read more

Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan Monday questioned the veracity of newspaper reports on findings of the army probe report on BDR carnage, claiming that the newspaper reports are based on speculations, reports UNB. “It was not known to anybody except the investigators about findings of the probe report and I think the newspaper ... Read more

Several dozens of Rakhaing supporters of Burma’s long incarcerated democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi staged demonstration in front of city’s National Eidgah yesterday morning demanding her immediate release. Rakhaing Women’s Union (RWU) organized the hour-long programme and later placed their four-point demand at a press a briefing. Addressing the press briefing, RWU

The High Court yesterday granted bails to two bigwig graft convicts former, Communications Minister Anwar Hossain Manju of JP and Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan of BNP, in graft cases. A division bench comprising Justice MA Wahhab Mian and Justice M Marzi-ul-Huq passed the orders following separate petitions. The bails will remain valid until the ... Read more

The government is likely to take initiatives to make the installation of solar power system easier and cost effective in urban areas so people could cope with the mounting power crisis. Sources said the government appears positive to simplify solar power equipment import and offer special bank loan for its import and installation. Commerce Minister ... Read more