Fitra for this year has been fixed at minimum Tk 53 per head and maximum Tk 1,320. The amount was fixed by Islamic Foundation at a meeting yesterday. Prof Maulana Mohammad Salahuddin, Khatib of Baitul Mukarram mosque chaired the meeting. A pres release issued after the meeting said the Sadqatul Fitra was fixed taking into ... Read more
Other Headlines
Tareque Masud laid to rest
A dream unfulfilled He had a dream. Or many dreams, to be precise. One of them was to make some epic films. According to his own words before his death, his journey to make a history in Bangla films would start with the making of Kagojer Phool (paper flower). But the dreamer, the creator of ... Read more
Cargo boat sinks in Meghna
4 missing Four crewmembers went missing after a clinker-laden cargo boat capsized yesterday following collision with an oil tanker in the Meghna river in Hizla upazila of Barisal. Eight other crewmembers were rescued after the accident. The oil tanker OT Raida coming from Chittagong hit the Dhaka-bound cargo boat MV Wising
Mamun to be sent to Bangkok
Family members of Dhali Al Mamun, the artist who survived the Manikganj crash on Saturday, said they hope to take him to Bangkok tomorrow for treatment since his condition is not improving as expected. “There are some formalities– air ambulance and the visa process among other things– to be taken care of,” said Syed Iftekher, ... Read more
Mishuk laid to rest
Family, friends try in vain to get over the loss Spending much of the last three days weeping by himself, Ahmed Munier Bhashan became numb yesterday. The 60-year-old seasoned UN peacekeeper has lost a brother, a younger one, in a tragic road accident on Saturday. “I couldn’t even bear to read the news…his face was ... Read more
Mamun’s condition unchanged
Move to send him abroad for treatment Dhali Al Mamun, the painter who survived the Manikganj crash Saturday, will be taken abroad in a day or two for treatment since his condition in not improving as expected. “His [Mamun’s] physical condition is not improving expectedly; so we have started the process of moving him abroad, ... Read more
Agri land shrinks alarmingly
The total area of farm land inthe country continues to shrink alarmingly signalling conspicuous shortfall infood production badly needed for the growing population. The country is loosingits farm land at the rate of one per cent per annum because of unplanned use ofland, according to a recent survey report. Although the country had bumper harvests ... Read more
Another woman kills herself along with baby
A mother allegedly committed suicide with her baby early yesterday by jumping under a running train at Shamsher Nagar Railway Station at Kamalganj upazila in the district. The deceased were identified as Ruma Begum, 30, wife of Lechu Miah of Rameswarpur village of the upazila and their two-year-old son
Homage paid to Bangabandhu
All roads led to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum on Monday, with thousands of mourners thronging the historical landmark of the country’s War of Liberation, to pay homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on his 36th martyrdom anniversary. Road No 32 and its adjoining areas turned into a sea of human faces, ... Read more
Roads collapse, minister smiles
Transport boss high on mega projects, low on road repair As the country’s road network teeters on the brink of collapse, the communications minister stays preoccupied with ambitious projects like elevated expressway and Padma bridge. Almost nothing has been done in the last two and a half years to repair the roads and highways. Due ... Read more
Road safety directives fall on deaf ears
The government’s directives to ensure road safety seem to have fallen on deaf ears with traffic on highways becoming more chaotic and travel riskier across the country. No initiatives have apparently been taken so far to carry out the order of the prime minister and the decisions of the cabinet committee on law and order ... Read more
Graft gobbles up funds
Road Maintenance Graft gobbles up funds Misappropriation of funds meant for repair and maintenance of highways is particularly blamed for the sorry state of roads and highways. A section of engineers and contractors of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) pocket the lion’s share of the money allocated every year for the job, insiders
Bus driver arrested
He blames microbus driver The driver of the bus that killed five persons, including filmmaker Tareque Masud and media personality Ashfaque Munier Mishuk, in Manikganj on Saturday was arrested yesterday from Gangni upazila of Meherpur. A team of Detective Branch (DB) of Police from Dhaka in cooperation with Meherpur DB picked up bus driver Jamir ... Read more
False cry over fund
The communications ministry has recently claimed that it could not repair roads and highways due to fund crunch, while it failed to spend timely the money allocated for two major donor-funded road development projects. Besides the donors, the government every year allocates the ministry over Tk 600 crore for repair and maintenance of roads and ... Read more
A survivor’s tale
Monis narrates how the accident happened “I was unconscious for a moment,” said Monis Rafique. “I woke up and tried to remember what actually happened,” he added. Monis survived completely unharmed the Manikganj road tragedy that killed journalist Mishuk Munier and film maker Tareque Masud. He is the assistant director of Tareque’s next film “Kagojer ... Read more
3 crushed to death
Mobile talking on rail tracks blamed Three people including a TV cameraman were crushed under the wheels of a train in Kalihati upazila of the district early yesterday. The three were standing on railway tracks and talking over the mobile phone when Dhaka-bound Drutojan Express from Rangpur knocked them down, said Helalul Islam, officer-in-charge of ... Read more
One silver lining
Textbooks to have road safety issues The government will incorporate a chapter on road safety and road use in primary and secondary textbooks next year to raise awareness about it. The primary and mass education ministry formed a panel to prepare contents on road safety and road use for textbooks after 40 people, mostly students, ... Read more
Travel travails
Transport minister blames previous govt for battered road conditions Dilapidated road condition, badly managed intersections, disrespect to traffic rules and overwhelming number of vehicles have not only turned the country’s highways extremely dangerous but also increased travel time between the capital and the rest of the country. Most of the 20,000-kilometre network of major roads ... Read more
BRTC steps in to ease crisis
The government has moved to ease the ongoing road transport crisis through operating 30 BRTC buses on two strike-hit routes yesterday as the private bus owners continued their strike for the fourth day. Twenty buses of state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) started plying on Dhaka-Mymensingh route while 10 others operated on Dhaka-Tangail route, BRTC ... Read more
Mother commits suicide with 2 kids
A mother and her two children died as she jumped under a train with her four kids in Madhabpur upazila of Habiganj yesterday morning. The two others sustained severe injuries. The dead are Ferdausi Akhter, 35, her six-year-old son Jibon and eight-year-old daughter Bonya. Ferdausi threw herself along with two daughters and two sons under ... Read more