Headlines

Seven Ministers of the Awami League government came under fire in the party central working committee meeting held on Saturday at its Dhanmondi political office. They are Finance Minister A M A Muhit, Commerce Minister Farooq Khan, Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen and State Minister ... Read more

Syndicate of 50 claims land in Atir Khal, set to fill it up, sell as plots Defying the wetland protection act and a prime ministerial order, a real estate developer has embarked on a project to fill up Atir Khal, one of the busiest canals till today, connected with the river Buriganga, and serving thousands ... Read more

MPs, academics to join brainstorming on its draft on June 15 Expatriate and local energy experts, parliamentarians and energy sector officials will examine the draft coal policy at a four-day exclusive brainstorming session, jointly organised by the energy ministry and Petrobangla. The session begins on June 15 at Jamuna Resort near the Jamuna Bridge, sources ... Read more

Weather and spinners could be the decisive factors when Bangladesh take on Ireland in their must win final group match of the Twenty20 World Cup at Trent Bridge today. With the India game already lost, the Tigers now face a make-or-break situation against a side that have shown abilities to beat them in the past ... Read more

Some 10 persons, including two businessmen and two students, were killed in the capital in the first seven days of June indicating deterioration of the city’s law and order situation in recent times. Despite many initiatives undertaken, including special drives starting from May 14, by the DMP in the wake of growing lawlessness in the ... Read more

World Environment Day observed Rivers will be revived at any cost: PM The severely degraded river systems will be reverted to their past grandeur whatever the cost, prime minister Sheikh Hasina declared on Friday. She pledged assistance of her administraion to multidimensional researches into modes of combating environmental disasters. In the same breath, the prime ... Read more

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) yesterday, the third day of the on-going eviction drive, dismantled parts of two major and at least 30 makeshift sturctures erected on the river Turag. With the assistance of Gazipur district administration BIWTA tore down the illegaly Kamarpara Bridge in Masimpur mouja and Hossain Dyeing at Pagar mouja of ... Read more

Bangladeshis forced to stop fishing near St Martin’s island Nasaka, the border security force of Myanmar, opened fire on a group of Bangladeshi fishermen in Batirdia sea channel under Teknaf upazila near Saint Martin’s Island, Thursday morning, leaving 11 fishermen wounded, according to a delayed report. Bangladeshi fishermen have not been able to go fishing ... Read more

The government is planning to impose strong control over trade union activities at government, semi-government and autonomous bodies. A government plan and policy, in this regard, is expected to be reflected in the coming budget speech of the Finance Minister on June 11, it has been learnt. Sources in the Ministry of Labour and Employment ... Read more

Successive governments could have recouped up to Tk 200,000 crore had they taken measures on the thousands of audit objections brought against public servants since independence, according to a new research published Thursday. “With this money, Bangladesh could have constructed 20 Padma bridges,” said a former comptroller and auditor general, who carried out the study ... Read more

They demand its amendment The Election Commission (EC) is not going to sit with the political parties soon to discuss further amendments to the amended Representation of People Order, 1972 (RPO, 1972), as demanded by the parties. The law wing of the EC is working on preparation of the agenda of meeting with the political ... Read more

The Daily Star has received the National Environment Award 2009 in environment education and campaign category, for promotion of environmental awareness. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the award to Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of the newspaper, at the launching ceremony of a two-day programme marking World Environment Day yesterday in the capital’s Osmani ... Read more

Law enforcers have retrieved a list of 50 members of an Indian mafia syndicate of Dubai-based underworld don Daud Ibrahim by conducting raids at the rented residences of Zahid Sheikh alias Muzahid, at Shekerhat of Mohammadpur in the city on Thursday. A high official of Detective Branch police preferring anonymity told The Independent, “We recovered ... Read more

A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque packed with worshippers in northwest Pakistan Friday, killing 38 people and wounding dozens more in the deadliest such attack in more than two months. The bomb exploded at the mosque in the remote, mountainous village of Hayagai Sharqai in Upper Dir, which borders the district of Swat, where ... Read more

The overall natural environment of the port city Chittagong is under threat due to the pollution, rampant hill and tree cutting and inadequate drainage and sewerage system for discharging clinical, industrial and household waste. As a result, Chittagong is increasingly exposed to high risk manmade and natural disasters. Pollution of environment, indiscriminate hill cutting and ... Read more

PM asks MPs to step up relief The budget session of the ninth Parliament began on Thursday with the opposition boycotting the House proceedings centering the rearrangement of seats for the opposition lawmakers in the front row. The second session started yesterday at 3.22 PM with the Parliament Speaker Advocate Abdul Hamid in the Chair. ... Read more

Strict enforcement of laws, blocking grabbers’ way to court’s stay order, effective river commission must to save rivers Commitment of the government, tough enforcement of environmental laws and formation of an effective river authority are the key to save the rivers physically and biologically. The government must step forward to save the rivers and acquire ... Read more

President Barack Obama has said the “cycle of suspicion and discord” between the United States and the Muslim world must end. In a keynote speech in Cairo, Mr Obama called for a “new beginning” in ties. He admitted there had been “years of distrust” and said both sides needed to make a “sustained effort… to ... Read more

* Court injunction * Ducking of 2001 verdict * Missing demarcation * Clouts of grabbers * Lack of govt coordination Government drives against encroachment largely fail because encroachers often obtain stay orders and injunctions from the court against eviction drives, high officials of BIWTA, Environment Directorate, and Land Survey Directorate told a High Court bench ... Read more

State minister for home Tanjim Ahmed, returning to work on Thursday after a rumour-filled four-day absence, has denied having tendered his resignation during that time. “I never resigned,” Tanjim said when asked about the reports that he had quit his office, submitting his resignation to the prime minister on Monday. He also said he would ... Read more