Abul on Padma project Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain yesterday claimed the Padma Bridge is the most transparent project the World Bank ever financed in Bangladesh. “I will finally prove, it [Padma Bridge] is the most transparent project ever executed by any ministry under the World Bank funding,” the minister said while launching new vehicles ... Read more
Other Headlines
Private coaching challenged
The High Court on Monday issued a rule asking the government to explain within four weeks why it should not be directed to take appropriate step to prohibit coaching business by MPO registered teachers and government teachers. It also issued rule asking the government why it should not be directed to publish a gazette
Ship-breaking yard in Ctg fined, sued
Probe begins A day after the death of four workers from toxic gas at the Jiri Subedar Steel Re-rolling Mills of Sitakunda, the Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday fined it Tk 25 lakh for not having proper safety measures in its ship-breaking yard. Local police the same day filed a case against four of its ... Read more
80pc production gone with gas
Konabari Industrial Belt 80pc production gone with gas Supply cut to feed Jamuna fertiliser factory; exporters of several hundred industries demand uninterrupted supply Production in scores of industries from Konabari in Gazipur to Mirzapur in Tangail has dropped by 80 percent since last month for severe disruption in gas supply. Gas distributor Titas has drastically ... Read more
Tk 20,000cr fuel subsidy this year
Although Bangladesh has revised retail fuel prices and power tariff frequently this fiscal year, the government would have to shell out more than Tk. 20,000 crore, which is highest so far, as fuel subsidy. According to a source at Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), fuel consumption is expected to cross seven million tonnes this year, ... Read more
National Univ decentralisation in limbo
The recommendation of a 2009 high-powered committee to decentralise the activities of the National University has not been implemented even in two years. The committee formed to restructure the National University submitted its report in 2009 containing a set of recommendations including decentralisation of the university through
WB names Abul, his firm
The minister denies allegation Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain and senior representatives of his family-owned company SAHCO, sought to coerce multiple companies into using SAHCO as a paid “silent agent” for getting permission to bid for the main bridge contract of Padma Multipurpose Bridge project. Companies failing to cooperate were threatened with retaliation, revealed an ... Read more
A hospital with a difference
BSMMU introduces specialised consultation service for patients More patients come, from more distant places every day. And the number rises every other day to take the “evening specialised consultation service” at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. October 1, the first day of the service, saw 89 patients. As the number crossed the 200 mark in ... Read more
Child marriage turning into major social evil
51 per cent of girls in Bangladesh are married early: UNICEF Though there is legal prohibition against child marriage, parents or guardians think that marrying their girls off, at an early age, would relieve them of economic burden and protect their daughters from the dangers of sexual assault, said advocate Salma Ali, executive director of ... Read more
Tragic deaths on vacation
TV producer, couple drown in pond at a Gazipur resort An executive producer of a private television channel and a couple drowned yesterday while on vacation at a resort in Rajendrapur, Gazipur. The deceased were identified as Tanveer Jahid Nayan, 32, of Ekattor Television, Jamil Akhter Lipu, 33, managing director of Srot Interior and Consulting ... Read more
Consumers not getting price benefits of govt LPG supply
The consumers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas are not getting the benefit of government announced lower price as dealers are still supplying LPG at double the price at which they are supposed to sell the kitchen fuel. In the absence of market monitoring, 12,000 dealers of government provided LPG are cashing more than Tk 100 crore ... Read more
Biofuel fuels food price
Global hunger research warns world against shifting to cultivation of fuel crop from food; 80pc Bangladeshi households worse off A steep rise in biofuel production and a highly concentrated export market coupled with export restrictions have contributed to the rising food prices across the world, badly affecting countries like Bangladesh. Increasing and volatile prices of ... Read more
Everybody is extortionist
Workers’ leaders reveal details of outrageous graft in transport sector; JS body terms disclosure tip of corruption iceberg * Bus: Over 5 lakh, * Workers’ Federation: 15, * Workers’ Organisations: 510, * Bus Owners’ Association: 412 , * Workers’ Union: 7,490 Transport workers’ leaders yesterday described to a parliamentary sub-committee how they run an extortion regime in league with ... Read more
Let Grameen Bank work productively
Hillary conveys US concern over Yunus removal; urges Dhaka to ensure press freedom, scope for NGOs At her first meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni in two years, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has conveyed her country’s concern over the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank and the removal of its reputed managing director Prof ... Read more
Railway to buy 11 locomotives
Bangladesh Railway yesterday struck a deal with Japan’s Marubeni Corporation to procure 11 metre-gauge locomotives costing Tk 439 crore. Of the total cost, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will provide Tk 307 crore, while the rest will be borne by the public exchequer
Amnesty for arrest of Bush
Torture Allegation Amnesty for arrest of Bush Amnesty International called on Canadian authorities Wednesday to arrest and prosecute George W Bush, saying the former US president authorised “torture” when he directed the US-led war on terror. Bush is expected to attend an economic summit in Surrey in Canada’s westernmost British Columbia province on October
Mobile operators evading SIM tax
The officials from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) have alleged that the mobile phone operators in Bangladesh evade SIM tax, by hiding the number of their actual subscriber base. The NBR officials said that some investigations of the board had revealed that lots of mobile numbers, from different operators, were found “active”, while as ... Read more
‘Low vision leads to 60 deaths per 10,000 accidents’
Speakers at a free eye care camp yesterday said 60 people die in every 10,000 road accidents in Bangladesh which is mainly caused by, among others, low vision and refractive errors. Dhaka Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project (DUCECP) organised the camp for transport vehicle drivers, supervisors and helpers in the city’s Mohakhali Bus Terminal marking
Stalker stabs teacher to death
Accused held A pregnant school teacher was stabbed to death for resisting unwanted amorous advances by a Jubo League activist in Agoiljhara upazila of Barisal yesterday. Police arrested Sirajul Islam alias Abul Gomosta, 35 in this connection. According to locals, he is known as an errant figure with a position in the upazila unit youth ... Read more
A huge digital step forward
Tk 10,000 Bangladeshi laptop hits market in week The first Bangladesh-assembled laptop “Doel” will take a week to hit the market though Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched its marketing yesterday. Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS), a public company assigned to manufacture the laptop, has so far made 6,000 laptops and netbooks for