Headlines

Polytech students’ death in city A murder case was lodged with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court against 11 people including 10 members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on charge of killing two students of the Dhaka Polytechnic Institute in an alleged ‘shootout’ with the force at Manik Mia Avenue on May 27. Though ... Read more

Vested quarters are again trying to grab parts of the Gulshan Lake to build new residential plots inside illegally filling with soil. The lake is being filled at the sides of roads No 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 55, 105, 118 and 136. Recently, hundreds of trucks have been engaged to carry soil to different ... Read more

Convicted criminal’s records show 184 calls on a single day A convicted imprisoned top criminal made and received 184 cellphone calls to and from his cohorts in just 24 hours, law enforcers found this out recently to their disbelief. Inmates are not allowed to have cellphones in jail but that convict made and received over ... Read more

Like all rural Bangladeshis, Saidul Islam knows the hardships of summer, when his tin-roofed house turns into a furnace with not enough electricity to power even a fan. For the 100 million Bangladeshis — most of them farmers — who live in the countryside, the notion of electricity supply is little more than an empty ... Read more

Natural and man-made disasters killed nearly a quarter of a million people in 2008 and warnings about looming disasters, particularly climate change, are not being heeded, the Red Cross said yesterday. In 2008, disasters ranging from the Chinese earthquake to a devastating cyclone in Myanmar wrought the second most devastating annual toll of the past ... Read more

Three routes on wish list The cabinet on Monday approved Bangladesh’s accession to the Asian Highway network though the route through the country will be decided later on from among three options. A regular meeting of the cabinet held at the Prime Minister’s Office with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair took the long-overdue ... Read more

Public Procurement Govt’s rules change to rock WB aid flow As the government has finalised some major amendments to the public procurement rules, the World Bank last week said adoption of these changes would jeopardise its project aid including budget support for Bangladesh. To amend the Public Procurement Act/Rules (PPA)/(PPR), the government has finalised about ... Read more

MPs, ministers should step down if they fail to stop Tipaimukh Dam: Prof Mozaffer The construction of Tipaimuk Dam on Barak River will be resisted at any cost and the government will be forced by countrywide movement to raise its voice against this evil plan of India. The sentiment was expressed by the members of ... Read more

The government is planning for reaching an understanding with the countries concerned to bring back siphoned off money within three to four months, according to highly placed sources. “The money siphoned off particularly by political leaders, businessmen and individuals will be brought back as soon as the government reaches understanding with countries concerned,” hinted a ... Read more

Students and political activists across the country on Monday went out on demonstrations against the just retired chief of army staff, Moeen U Ahmed, burning his effigies and asking the government to put him on trial for violating the constitution by going beyond his professional jurisdiction. Effigies of the former military chief were burnt on ... Read more

Patients’ Sufferings Know no Bound DMCH finds huge food supply graft Indoor patients at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) are getting apparently improved diet after being provided with rotten food for years thanks to rampant irregularities by the authorities and food suppliers. DMCH Director Brig Gen Bazle Quader admitted the ill-practices that existed at the ... Read more

Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division M Abdul Mubeen yesterday took over as the Chief of Army Staff upon becoming a four-star General succeeding  General Moeen U Ahmed who proceeded on retirement  after completing his extended tenure. Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Z U Ahmed and Chief of Air Staff Air ... Read more

No need of caretaker system, says Suranjit Lawmakers came down very heavily on the immediate past caretaker government for making a Taka 94,140 crore additional budgetary allocations for the fiscal 2008- 2009 as the general discussions on supplementary budget continued in the Jatiya Sangsad [JS] for the second day yesterday. They said, despite enough allocations ... Read more

Experts at a workshop here on Monday urged the government to formulate a national action plan to reduce indoor air pollution as it kills nearly 50,000 people every year in the country. They said about 50,000 people, two-thirds of them under-5 children, die each year for using indoor solid fuel since 92 percent households in ... Read more

Allegation of corruption A sub-committee formed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Shipping Ministry at its meeting yesterday decided to summon former shipping adviser Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin to hear his version about allegations of corruption against him in  awarding a container handling contract at Chittagong Port. The sub-committee however did not fix any ... Read more

318 buildings defied height limit; Rajuk asked owners in vain to knock down over 100 structures in 2007 Over 300 buildings including high-rises have been constructed in violation of the country’s aviation rules around the Zia International Airport (ZIA) and Tejgaon Airport making take-off and landing of planes risky. Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) in 2007 ... Read more

Tipaimukh issue should be resolved through discussion: Robert Blake Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake has said that that the trial of war criminals should not be politicised hindering democratic progress. He was speaking at a press conference at the ARA (American Club) in Gulshan on ... Read more

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday stressed on enhancing mutual cooperation and assistance among the SAARC member states in Science and Technology to improve the people’s living standard in the region. “The first and main objective of SAARC Charter is to ensure people’s welfare and improve their living standards. Attaining the goal is possible through increasing ... Read more

Enforcement also missing to make matters worse With various flaws and loopholes environmental laws in our country have failed to take any measures against influential quarters responsible for environmental degradation, experts said. The foremost obstacle to implementation of the Environment Conservation Act of 1995 is that an aggrieved person has to take permission from the ... Read more

General discussions on supplementary budget 2008-2009 started at Jatiya Sangsad yesterday in the absence of the opposition lawmakers who are abstaining from the House demanding more seats in the front row. In the one-sided discussion, the treasury bench members expressed mixed reactions on the rationale and purposeful utilisation of allocated money and overall performances of ... Read more