Headlines

From The News Today The Halda River in Chittagong, considered as the major source of Indian carps, is going to lose its fish resources over the next two decades due to intrusion of saline water apprehended to be caused by sea-level rise, reports UNB. “The Halda River will lose its sweet water flow eventually damaging ... Read more

Surveys on 4 rivers point at big names From The Daily Star The Narayanganj district administration in its survey report on the four major rivers has revealed how industrialists, influential individuals and government organisations have grabbed the Buriganga, Shitalakkhya, Balu and Dhaleswari since 1983. All the four district administrations, which also include Dhaka, Munshiganj and ... Read more

The much-discussed long march of Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) yesterday left the city towards Tipaimukh led by its Ameer and Chairmunai Peer Syed Rezaul Karim. The long march along with thousands of people in more than five hundred buses started its journey from Muktangan at 3 pm and few road marches were held at Motijheel, ... Read more

The government is expected to float an international tender for construction of Padma Multipurpose Bridge next February as a high-powered coordination meeting yesterday finalised a revised estimated cost of US$ 2.4 billion for the 6.15 km bridge. The cost almost entirely will be financed by the country’s development partners, which has gone up by one ... Read more

Govt spends Tk 35,000 a month on each car The government does not have any central mechanism to check misuse of its transport, especially the vehicles under various projects, allowing many officials and employees to avail themselves of transport facilities round the clock which they are not entitled to. An officer of the rank of ... Read more

The nagging traffic congestions on the city’s roads appeared to have returned to previous level as very few drivers were going by the lane system introduced by Dhaka Metropolitan Police to bring discipline on the streets. Commuters blamed the law enforcing agencies for lack of monitoring whether the drivers were going by their designated lanes. ... Read more

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on December 15 declared the four rivers and its foreshores, adjacent to the capital, ecologically critical to save the rivers from encroachers and pollution. They banned dumping sewage from home, industries and other institutions, setting up industries which pollute soil, water, air and sound and any work which can ... Read more

Some 5,000 trees felled in Sitakunda to clear space for ship-breaking yard From The Daily Star About 5,000 trees were razed in over half a kilometre of the forest belt at Sonachhari coast under Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong on Sunday night. According to officials, the wholesale felling of the trees was carried out with instructions ... Read more

3 varieties to prevent a million tonnes of crop loss a year From The Daily Star Bangladesh is set to officially release three flood-tolerant rice varieties that would help farmers prevent up to a million tonnes of annual crop loss caused by flash floods, researches said. Officials concerned told The Daily Star that these rice ... Read more

Woes of waterlogged victims compounded as they slip out of spotlight; thousands still live on embankments, aid flow stopped From The Daily Star Lutfar Gazi doesn’t even tries to recall that disastrous day when cyclone Aila ripped through the area he lives and wrecked havoc on his life in May this year. Since then he ... Read more

JS body decides to get the troublesome job to PM for directives From The Daily Star The Land Survey Department of the land ministry has finally demarcated the capital’s 43 canals lost to grabbers and identified persons and institutions that encroached upon the water bodies. On receiving the list of canals and grabbers, the parliamentary ... Read more

From The New Nation The BIWTA authorities yesterday knocked down 30 makeshift structures and gave two-day ultimatum to sand traders for removal of sand piled on Shitalakhya river banks in Narayanganj as part of the ongoing eviction drive against the river encroachers. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Narayanganj district administration conducted the drive ... Read more

High-rise buildings being constructed occupying canals, low-lying areas The low-lying areas on the outskirts of Dhaka city and vast areas of Mohammadpur, Hajaribag and Gabtali are being grabbed by different developers for constructing high rise building posing a threat to environment. The developers and vested quarters have been grabbing lands of the Buriganga river and ... Read more

US President Barack Obama sensationally won the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday, just nine months into his term, with the jury hailing his “extraordinary” efforts in international diplomacy and to hasten nuclear disarmament. Obama said he was “humbled” by the distinction but criticism built over how the award could be given so quickly. “Only very rarely ... Read more

The LGRD and cooperatives minister, Syed Ashraful Islam, on Tuesday told the parliament it was difficult to reclaim water bodies and canals in the capital grabbed by influential quarters. In reply to a question of ruling Awami League lawmaker Kamal Ahmed Majumder, he said, ‘Despite the prime minister’s directive and the High Court order to ... Read more

AL’s poll pledge to formulate code of conduct for political parties stays elusive Ruling Awami League is yet to make a move to formulate a code of conduct for political parties in line with its electoral pledge to bring changes in the country’s political culture and establish good governance. During Awami League’s nine months in ... Read more

About 61 cars hit the already chocked streets in the capital city every day in the first seven months of the current year, giving good sales to car dealers and an uphill battle to inefficient traffic department. Official data showed 12,905 new and imported reconditioned cars were registered with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority until July ... Read more

Mega Plan for 7,000mw Power Banks pledge part of $10b financing Demand transparent bidding; govt seeks lower interest rates, long-term lending Bankers told the government Thursday though they were new in financing power projects, they were eager to provide a part of US 10 billion dollar required for implementing the power projects of around 7,000 ... Read more

Some teachers of the public universities yesterday asked the government to arrange an open public debate with their nominated five-member team on gas and coal export policy before signing any agreement with foreign companies. They addressing a press conference at Institute of Engineers in the city said export of coal and gas should not be ... Read more

The national flag carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd, plans to procure seven planes on lease in order to overcome the frequent flight schedule disruption and provide smooth service to the passengers. “We are planning to procure seven aircrafts on lease to overcome the carrier shortage,” Biman Managing Director Air Commodore (retd) Muhammad Zakiul Islam told ... Read more