Bdnews24.com . Dhaka Investment in national savings certificates has increased two and a half times in the first half of the 2008-09 fiscal year compared with the previous year. Reduced inflation and suspension of anti-graft drive have contributed to the rise of investment in savings schemes, experts say. According to the central bank data, savings ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
UN unveils ambitious ‘green’ food programme
AFP, Nairobi The UN Environment Programme has unveiled an ambitious seven-point plan to feed the world without polluting it further by making better use of resources and cutting down on massive waste. A survey of the current state of food production and consumption released to a forum of the Kenya-based UNEP and world environment ministers ... Read more
Russia keen to replicate Grameen Bank model
Star Business Report A delegation led by Deputy Minister for Economic Development of Russian Federation Anna Popova arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a four-day visit to Bangladesh to learn about operations and the legal structure of Grameen Bank and
Increase in mobile phone penetration enhances GDP growth
BSS, Dhaka According to a recent research findings with every ten percent increase in mobile phone penetration, a country’s GDP increases by 0.6 percent. A Wireless Intelligence report said Bangladesh at present is one of the top ten mobile phone growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region. It said in 2007, Bangladesh recorded unprecedented increases in ... Read more
23 million Asians to lose jobs this year: ILO
Agence France-Presse . Manila More than 140 million people could be plunged into poverty and 23 million lose their jobs in Asia this year as the global financial crisis batters the region, according to a study released Wednesday. The crisis could also slow rural-to-urban migration, with many facing the prospect of returning to low-paid agricultural ... Read more
Hasina asks students to refrain from violence, crimes
Staff correspondent The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday urged the students to be attentive to their studies, devote themselves to the development of the country and refrain from getting involved in crimes, extortion and violence in the
Toxic elements in Dhaka, Chittagong air reach dangerous level
Shahidul Islam Chowdhury Severe air pollution is choking the citizens in the Dhaka and Chittagong cities with poisonous particles in the air exceeding the permissible level of human toleration. The citizens are at a serious health risk due to the highly-polluted air. ‘Many patients, both elderly and young, are coming to us these days with ... Read more
Panic spreads as law enforcement slacks
Julfikar Ali Manik with Kailash Sarkar Law and order is witnessing a slide with an increase in criminal activities in the city and elsewhere in the country, although law-enforcement agencies and the government claim to have the situation under control. Despite such claims of the police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and other law-enforcement agencies, a ... Read more
Silent extortion goes on by different groups
Staff Correspondent Silent extortions by different group of outlaws under the shadow of political influentials have been going on in the city’s different areas and recently it has intensified keeping city’s small businessmen and traders in anxiety. In the name of ruling political party activists, the terrorists are issuing threats to the owners of different ... Read more
Bad loans with SoBs decline for first time
Reforms, absence of political interference seen as reasons; loans with pvt banks rise Rejaul Karim Byron Defaulted loans with state-owned banks (SoBs) decreased for the first time last year because of absence of political interference and reforms initiated by the immediate past caretaker government in the last two years. However, default loans with the private, ... Read more
RMG workers’ rights smashed by 3 CG ordinances
Staff Correspondent Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon on Wednesday said promulgating three ordinances relating to garments industry and workers by the immediate past caretaker government, the rights of around 25 lakh garments workers was smashed illegally. He said this at a discussion meeting organized by an apex body of 21 different garments workers federation ... Read more
Student beaten to death by friends
Feud over beer supply suspected as reason Staff Correspondent A feud over liquor dealing resulted in a clash among friends that caused tragic death of a student of Shanto-Mariam University in the city’s Uttara Tuesday night. The deceased Mahfuzur Rahman alias Nasim, 20, a second semester student of Fashion Design Department, was brutally beaten up ... Read more
Govt humiliates Khaleda, her family: Delwar
Staff Correspondent BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Wednesday alleged that in absence of the main opposition party from the parliament, the government is trying to humiliate BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and her family. On February 16, Awami League law maker Meher Afroz Chumki from Gazipur- 5 wanted to know from the finance ... Read more
BNP grassroots leaders jostle at party office
Staff Correspondent Narsingdi BNP leaders on Wednesday jostled in front of the party’s central office in Dhaka over the presence of followers of the expelled party secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan during the interview with grassroots leaders. The leaders and activists of Narsingdi, home district of Mannan Bhuiyan, chased some leaders who were known to ... Read more
Ziaul Haq arrested, sent to jail
Staff Correspondent Convicted former BNP state minister Ziaul Haq Zia, who entered the country on February 13 dodging immigration officials at Zia International Airport (ZIA), was arrested in the capital early yesterday. Sources said members of Rab-4 and intelligence agencies arrested him at his relative’s house at Mohammadpur Geneva Camp at about 4:00am and produced ... Read more
PAC, 10 more JS bodies formed
BNP’s MK Anwar, Joynal Abedin to head two committees Staff Correspondent The House yesterday constituted the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and 10 more standing committees, completing formation of 32 out of 48 committees so far. BNP lawmakers MK Anwar and Joynal Abedin were appointed chiefs of the standing committee on the environment and forest and ... Read more
More changes in Attorney General’s office
“I am aware of this corruption”: Attorney General Staff Correspondent Attorney General office has become a den of corruption due to a section of uns-crupulous law officers and staffs engaged in taking bribe from litigants and manipulating cases. Since long a section of unscrupulous law officers have been indulging in corruption by way of taking ... Read more
Bangladesh may strongly feel impact of global economic downturn, says UN official
UNB, Dhaka UNDP Assistant Secretary General Ajay Chhibber on Tuesday said although the impact of global economic meltdown on Bangladesh has so far been limited but it could be strongly felt in the future as the international news about the current recession gets worse everyday. “Hope for the best but be prepared,” he told a ... Read more
HC asks for list of unprotected level crossings
Staff Correspondent The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to submit a list of the unprotected level crossings across the country to the Supreme Court’s registrar within four weeks. The court also asked the government to explain why a directive should not be made to take steps for sufficient traffic system in the level ... Read more
BERC unlikely to allow DESCO to increase power price
Staff Correspondent The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission is not likely to allow the Dhaka Electric Supply Company to increase the price of electricity for consumers, commission officials told New Age after a public hearing on Wednesday on the company’s proposal to hike power price. ‘Most of the participants at the hearing opposed the DESCO proposal ... Read more