Quake toll rises to 71 Indications are strong for major earthquakes to strike South Asia, geological experts observed yesterday, a day after a 6.9 magnitude quake in Sikkim rattled the region, killing 71 people in India and Nepal. A number of below-surface cracks, geologically known as faults, have made the region the most quake-prone in ... Read more
Other Headlines
Humanity trampled
Savar police didn’t even bother to take victims to hospital after Aminbazar mob beating Law enforcers did not care to send the seven injured students to a hospital even seven hours after they were brutally beaten by a mob on Shab-e-Barat night on July 18 at Aminbazar, a police probe found in its enquiry. “Police ... Read more
OC closed, 2 SIs suspended following probe reports
The officer-in-charge of Savar police station was closed to Dhaka police line and two sub-inspectors, who were closed to the police line on September 11, were suspended on Monday as a police probe body found that the cops failed to discharge their duties properly during the Aminbazar incident in which six students were beaten to ... Read more
6.8 Sikkim quake jolts Bangladesh
Causes widespread panic; no major loss A 6.8 magnitude earthquake jolted the country yesterday evening, prompting thousands of panic-stricken people to rush out into the street from their homes. The quake that was felt for nearly two minutes from 6:40:47pm had its epicentre in Sikkim, India. It was the strongest tremor to have hit the ... Read more
Victims were not robbers
Killing of 6 Students at Aminbazar Victims were not robbers Police probe echoes judicial investigation; proposes action against Savar police A police enquiry yesterday concluded that the six students killed by a mob in Aminbazar in July were not robbers, 10 days after a judicial probe also found them innocent. A four-member committee formed by ... Read more
Biman flight makes emergency landing
A London-bound flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines with 193 passengers on board made an emergency landing at an airport in Jordan last evening. Biman officials said the Airbus made the emergency landing after a technical fault surfaced while it was on the way from Dubai to London. The Dhaka-Dubai-London flight left
Bangladesh 6th ‘high-risk country’
Ranks disaster watchdog A leading disaster watchdog has ranked Bangladesh as the world’s sixth “high disaster risk country” in terms of its exposure to typhoons, earthquake and tsunamis. The German-based United Nations University (UNU) Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in its ‘World Risk Report-2011’ said Bangladesh ranked second in its risk index in
Fuel prices hiked
The government increased for the second time this year the prices of all fuel oils, including diesel, by Tk 5 per litre and that of furnace oil by Tk 8 a litre with effect from Sunday midnight under heavy pressure from the International Monetary Fund. The price of diesel and kerosene has been raised from ... Read more
Little care for luggage
Showkat Alam Khan, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Canada, was much excited about his Dhaka trip. He was going to see his mother, a cancer patient living in the city’s Kalabagan, and to let her have a glimpse of his fifteen years of life abroad, captured in video and still cameras. Unfortunately, the tour turned quite
Metro Rail Project: Air force concern unfounded
Experts object to its route change proposal; financier upset with delay, change Bangladesh Air Force’s objection to the Bijoy Sarani portion of the proposed 22-km metro rail on a plea that it will hinder the operation of Tejgaon airfield is unfounded, experts have said. The experts also rejected an alternative route, suggested by the air ... Read more
Sharp rise in carjacking
9 held with 14 cars, 5 motorbikes Police recovered 14 stolen cars and five motorbikes and arrested nine suspected carjackers in Chittagong and Dhaka on Thursday and Friday. The law enforcers were seemingly happy with the success of their recent drives, which came at a time when the crime is on the rise. But they ... Read more
Students on rampage after teacher’s death
A female teacher of the Dhaka Commerce College died after delivery, allegedly due to wrong treatment in Dr Azmal Hospital in Mirpur on Saturday, triggering violent protests by her students. The deceased, Trishna Ganguli, 32, was an assistant professor of the college’s Bangla department. The management of the Dr Azmal Hospital said that Trisha was ... Read more
Human traffickers active in 20 transit points
Teenage girls, widows, maidservants, abandoned women and children, slum dwellers and female garment workers are the main targets of agents, who are active in country’s at least 20 transit points of human trafficking. Although the latest issue of the monthly publication, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, cannot put a figure on human trafficking ... Read more
Save JS complex from metro route
Architects, environmentalists ask govt, suggest relocation of military sites from city The air force’s pressure to realign the proposed metro rail route through Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises is not acceptable, leading architects and city planners said at a media briefing in the capital yesterday. They instead demanded relocation of all military installations from the core ... Read more
Woman kills herself after facing village arbitration
A young housewife allegedly hanged herself after she was harassed in village arbitration at Boteshwar village under Belabo upazila of the district Thursday night. She was identified as Yasmin Sultana, 27, daughter of late Suruj Mia of the village. Yasmin was married off to Asad Mia 14 years back, villagers said. Following family feud and
Moeen blames caretaker govt for torture in DU
Former army chief Moeen U Ahmed, who now lives in the US, on Tuesday denied his involvement in the August 2007 campus violence in Dhaka University and blamed the Fakhruddin-led caretaker government for this. During a one-hour long teleconference with the parliamentary probe committee, Moeen said he had no control over the members of Directorate ... Read more
Now Louis Kahn’s JS masterpiece at stake
Air force’s objection forces metro rail to change route; new proposal awaits PM’s approval; financier Jica yet to respond In the face of pressure from Bangladesh Air Force, the government has decided to change the course of the much-talked-about metro rail, and take it through the parliament complex. About 55 metres of land on the ... Read more
Vast tracts of land to go barren
Feni River water sharing A large tract of cultivable land in the south-eastern parts of the country will face a serious irrigation crisis during the dry season if Bangladesh and India share waters of the river Feni, officials told The Independent, on Tuesday. The river Feni, originating from a spring in the hills of South ... Read more
Take a hilsa, get marbles free!
It would have been funny but for the deplorable business practice: buy a hilsa, get marbles free. That, however, is precisely what happened on Tuesday to one Mashreful Islam Saikat, a student of Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and vice-president of the Chhatra Kalyan Parishad (students’ union). While buying his morning quota of four fish from ... Read more
BIWTC faces loss in ferry operations
Poor Navigability BIWTC faces loss in ferry operations Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation is incurring a loss of about Tk 16 lakh a day for the last one week due to the disruption of ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia route in the Padma for poor navigability, BIWTC officials said. The ferries now carry vehicles less than ... Read more