Headlines

Former shipping adviser MA Matin has rebuffed the allegations against him and says ”a group” is trying to bring the Chittagong port back to the days before Jan 11, 2007 to commit corruption, reports bdnews24.com. He claimed that a specific group is being ”favoured” to spoil the successes in the last two years in improving ... Read more

Police unearthed a powerful clandestine radio transmission centre at a college dormitory in the town last night and arrested a student identified as an Islami Chhatra Shibir “cadre”. Acting on secret information, police raided Alam student dorm near Zia Hall of Satkhira Government College at night and discovered the radio station inside room no 14. ... Read more

Cyclone Aila victim 65-year old Omar Ali’s wait for fresh clothing ended in vain as he died of diarrhoea in Chandnimukho village in Shyamnagar in the early hours yesterday. Bangladesh Red Crescent Society on Saturday enlisted his name and gave him a non-food item relief card. “He was very happy to get the card as ... Read more

A Bangladeshi indigenous citizen, sentenced to two months rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a false case filed against him on charge of intrusion into the country, was released here yesterday after keeping him in different jails for 14 years. District and Sessions Judge Hrishikesh Saha ordered the authorities concern to release U Thoai Hla Marma from ... Read more

Sri Lanka appealed yesterday for international support in dismantling the global political network of the Tamil Tiger rebels after declaring a full military victory over the separatist movement. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told a high-level security forum in Singapore that Colombo needed help in disabling the Tigers’ “powerful political lobbies in certain capitals” that are ... Read more

River-gobblers having a feast on Buriganga, Shitalakhya, Balu as they face no govt resistance The Buriganga Second Bridge in Postogola overlooks a significant part of the river. Anybody standing on the bridge would have a clear view of the river and easily realise how shamelessly and ruthlessly encroachers have squeezed the lifeline of the capital. ... Read more

River grabbers back after 2 years of hibernation; rampant encroachment narrows the river down to a canal Encroachment, after pollution, stands as the biggest threat to the life of our rivers. The reach and scope of the encroachers have made them seemingly invincible. Powerful, rich and ruthless, these encroachers have come to pull strings in ... Read more

The government has initiated an inquiry into unnatural deaths of Bangladesh Rifles soldiers in custody after the February 25–26 rebellion in the BDR headquarters in Dhaka. ‘The home affairs ministry has formed a committee for an executive inquiry into unnatural deaths of BDR soldiers after the February rebellion… The committee will find out the reason ... Read more

The government has decided to go ahead with the project of machine-readable passports, to be issued from the next year, backtracking from its earlier decision to introduce e-passport, to be commissioned in 2014. The Awami League government immediately after assuming office on January 6, 2009, first decided to implement machine-readable passports and then moved towards ... Read more

Communications ministry meets today to settle the issue The Awami League-led coalition will sign the inter-governmental agreement on the Asian Highway network although the BNP-Jamaat government refrained from ratifying it on the grounds of ‘controversial’ route proposals, said officials of the communications ministry on Wednesday. The BNP-led four party alliance, which tried to bring about ... Read more

Two former generals who were once in charge of national security intelligence of the country were taken to dock for abetting arms supply to Indian separatist ULFA. They were accused of using the government installations in CUFL Jetty in Chittagong Port for unloading arms. But their political bosses have not yet been taken to task. ... Read more

Ctg Arms Haul Ex-NSI chiefs tell of foreign links Interrogators have gleaned important information about the smuggling of 10 trucks of arms and ammunition and foreign links to the incident from the two arrested former National Security Intelligence (NSI) chiefs, the prosecution yesterday told the court. But the former NSI directors general–Maj Gen (retd) Rezzaqul ... Read more

JS body members for combining Gazipur, N’ganj with capital giving them city corporation status Members of the parliamentary standing committee on the local government ministry at a meeting yesterday discussed forming Dhaka metropolitan government combining Gazipur and Narayanganj to improve city life. Members of the parliamentary body suggested that Dhaka City Corporation should be divided ... Read more

Country’s construction industries face slide, as the prices of raw materials of this industry are increasing day-by-day following the global economic recession. Due to the economic meltdown across the world, thousands of Bangladeshi workers employed in the construction industries in Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have been discharged from their jobs. The jobless people ... Read more

At least 28 journalists have been killed while covering the news in 19 countries as we approach the mid-point of 2009. INSI (International News Safety Institute) counts an additional 13 deaths in 10 countries where it is not yet clear whether the victim died as a result of their work as a journalist. The worst ... Read more

Direct effect of tobacco About 50,000 people die and 40,000 become disabled due to smoking and direct affect of tobacco every year in the country. Some 12 lakh people suffer from eight kinds of various respiratory, brain and kidney-related diseases due to the use of tobacco every year, speaker yesterday said this while addressing a ... Read more

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