Sewerage disposal into drains Action against offending house owners ordered The government on Wednesday asked the authorities concerned to take action against the house owners who dispose of their sewerage into the storm sewers, ultimately polluting the rivers around the capital. The task force responsible for ensuring the navigability and natural flow of the
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Govt decided to allow more fuel oil-run power plants
Ignoring financial crisis and widespread criticism against power generation using fuel-oil, the government had decided to allow installation of more power plants fired by diesel or furnace oil. The decision would further hit the consumers. The government already increased the price of electricity five times since February 2011 due to soaring cost of generation using ... Read more
Syndicate behind passport abuses
A sinister quarter within the department of immigration and passports was allegedly involved in the incident in which several thousand passports went missing from the Agargaon passport office in the capital, DIP officials said. They said the syndicate also let many people use old unscratched passports alongside
No steps against unsafe selling of drinking water
Unsafe bottled water in different names is being sold in the city streets, bus and launch terminals for a long time but the relevant authorities seem indifferent to the need for taking effective steps to stop it. Street hawkers, mainly slum children, are seen selling these bottle waters or soft drinks
HRW deplores Rohingya killings
Human Rights Watch, the New York-based rights organisation, said on Wednesday that the Myanmarese security forces had killed, raped, and arrested a score of Rohingya Muslims. It also said that the security forces had failed to protect the Rohingyas and the Arakan Buddhists during the deadly sectarian violence in western Myanmar in
Bangladesh cut off from cyber net
Internet connections in Bangladesh were totally disconnected for three hours on Thursday morning between 2:00am and 5:00am due to repairs carried out on the submarine cable between Singapore and Malaysia. Managing director of the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited
Fakhrul, 45 others indicted
Trial in arson case begins Aug 7 A Dhaka court on Tuesday charged 46 leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance, including the acting BNP secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, with setting a bus on fire near the Prime Minister’s Office on April 29. The Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal of Harun-or-Rashid posted for ... Read more
Govt’s action under watch
Padma bridge co-financiers ADB, Jica extend loan deal by a month; wait to see how govt acts on WB’s graft concern; failure to cost future donor funding The ADB and Jica have extended their Padma bridge loan effectuation date by a month with a clear message that during this time the government has to address ... Read more
HC orders injunction on BUET protests
The High Court on Tuesday ordered an injunction on the current movement of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology teachers, students and employees demanding removal of the vice-chancellor and the pro-vice-chancellor. The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar
Garment makers move to right labour wrongs
Share their steps with The Daily Star following international outcry Against the background of growing concern over labour rights violation in Bangladesh, garment makers yesterday said they had taken the issue seriously and started to improve work environment and maintain compliance in factories. They said garment makers have already engaged the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) “Better ... Read more
ACC files two cases against 22 Destiny officials
Embezzlement of Tk 3,285cr ACC files two cases against 22 Destiny officials The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday filed two cases against 22 senior executives of the Destiny 2000, including its president M Harun-ur-Rashid, also former army chief, and managing director Mohammad Rafiqul Amin for allegedly laundering about Tk 3,285 crore. The cases were filed separately ... Read more
Petrobangla to give job to US firm without knowing details
Petrobangla is likely to award the US-based Astra Oil and Excelerate Energy a contract for installation of a floating LNG terminal at Moheshkhali in the Bay of Bengal, although the firm has not given the financial break-up or technical details in its bid document for project implementation, said officials. An Energy Division official told New ... Read more
No fish export till next order
Prawn exempted; exporters not happy The government yesterday slapped a ban on export of all kinds of white fish, except for prawns, to keep prices of the protein-rich food at tolerable levels. The ban will remain in force until further orders, said MA Sabur, chief controller of imports and exports. His office issued a notice ... Read more
Grameen Bank refutes PM’s remarks
Interest Rate Grameen Bank refutes PM’s remarks Grameen Bank yesterday refuted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s claim that the microcredit organisation charges 30 to 45 percent interest to the poor. The Nobel Peace Prize winning bank in a statement said it charges 20 percent interest at the most in any sector, which is 7 percent lower ... Read more
Eyes on hydropower
1,000MW to be imported from Nepal With an aim to import 1000 megawatt of electricity, Bangladesh has agreed to cooperate with Nepal in managing water resources and hydropower. The two countries also stressed the need for a trilateral discussion with India, in this regard, soon. At a foreign secretary level meeting yesterday, Bangladesh and Nepal ... Read more
Half of India without power
Blackout affects 22 states after 3 major grids fail Half of India yesterday went without electricity as three power grids serving Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern regions failed, crippling normal life across 22 states. The blackout comes a day after a mass outage left eight states without power for much of the day. The federal Indian ... Read more
Telecom policy up for review
The government is going to revise the existing telecommunications policy, by the end of this year, to adopt the state-of-the-art advancements in the telecommunications sector. The policy was formed in 1998, to chalk out a plan for the development of the telecommunication sector of Bangladesh. Sources with the ministry of post and telecommunications (MoPT) said ... Read more
TIB slates legalisation
Illegal Housing TIB slates legalisation Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday condemned the government’s decision to legalise some illegal housing schemes defying a High Court directive and ignoring environmental impacts. Expressing deep concern over the decision by an inter-ministerial body to “provisionally’ approve the projects, the anti-graft watchdog urged the government to cancel the decision
WB failed to give graft evidence
Padma Bridge Project WB failed to give graft evidence PM tells BBC; says she didn’t mention anyone in her ‘bloodsucker’ comment Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the World Bank could not present evidence for the graft allegations over the Padma bridge project. Click here to watch the interview. Interviewed by Stephen Sackur for BBC ... Read more
‘Small cabinet’ during polls
PM invites BNP to join interim govt; Khaleda says ‘no’ Ruling out the restoration of caretaker government system, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has suggested forming a “small cabinet” including the opposition ahead of the next parliamentary polls. In an interview scheduled for broadcast today, Hasina told BBC Bangla Service that she would allow if the ... Read more