Fruits sprayed with various chemicals have flooded the city’s markets, seriously threatening the health of the public who consume a good amount of fruits during Ramadan, warned officials and physicians. The sellers are using chemicals either to ripen the fruits or to keep them looking fresh, said officials of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution
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Internet blackout early Sunday
Bangladesh will experience an internet connectivity black out for about an hour early Sunday between 2:00am and 4:00 am due to submarine cable maintenance and repair in Singapore, said internet gateway and submarine cable related officials. Bangladesh will suffer multiple internet disruptions between August 7 and 11 as the 20,000-kilometre
Structural flaws put dyke at risk
Sirajganj Town Protection Structural flaws put dyke at risk The decade-old Sirajganj town protection embankment is at risk of caving in due to its faulty design, finds a panel of experts. Several breaches and cracks have developed in the structure, raising the spectre of a collapse. On July 25, a 100-metre stretch of the embankment ... Read more
Three lawyers sent to jail
A Dhaka court on Friday sent BNP woman lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papiya and two pro-BNP lawyers Barrister Abu Bakar Siddique and Advocate Towhidul Islam, to the jail custody after they were produced before it. The court, however, fixed August 8 to hear a police petition seeking 10-day remand for the three with investigation progress ... Read more
Signs of flowing water on Mars
Striking new images from the mountains of Mars may be the best evidence yet of flowing, liquid water, an essential ingredient for life. The findings, reported yesterday in the journal Science, come from a joint US-Swiss study. A sequence of images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows many long, dark “tendrils”
Yingluck first female Thai PM
Yingluck Shinawatra was confirmed as Thailand’s first female prime minister yesterday, as the volatile kingdom begins a new chapter after years of political upheaval since her brother was ousted. Weeks after she was propelled from relative obscurity to election victory by the support of her older sibling, fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck won parliamentary ... Read more
Tagore’s death anniv today
The 70th death anniversary of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, who reshaped the Bangla literature in late 19th and early 20th century, will be observed in the country today. Tagore, the first non-European litterateur who won the Nobel prize in 1913, was a poet, playwright, novelist, educationist, social reformer, artist and music composer. He wrote ... Read more
Hard rot disease affects Pasur trees in Sundarban
Hard rot disease, a fungal infection of plants characterised by lesions with hard surfaces and rotten tissue, is affecting an increasing number of pasur (Xyicarpus mekongensis pirre) trees in different parts of Sundarban, the largest mangrove forest in the world, researchers and experts said. Forest department officials, however, described it as just a natural process ... Read more
Pedestrians lose pavement to encroachers
Hawkers and others however, are having the time of their life With the Dhaka City Corporation and Dhaka Metropolitan Police at a loss on how to clear the city’s pavements, walking has become a tedious affair for pedestrians. Hawkers and other encroachers, however, are having the time of their life, as they continue to rule ... Read more
Mr Bean actor hurt in car crash
Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson is in a stable condition after he crashed his McLaren F1 super car which caught fire. The Blackadder star is believed to have suffered a shoulder injury when the car hit a tree and lamppost, near Peterborough. He is said to have walked from the car after the crash, on ... Read more
PM warns against water, power supply disruptions
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said the ‘culprits’ who are behind load-shedding and water crisis during Iftar and Sehri will be identified and be given exemplary punishment. “We don’t have that much of power and water shortage which may cause sufferings to people during the Iftar and Sehri,” she said during a meeting with ... Read more
Eat less, Faruk says
Minister gives solution to avoid food adulteration Commerce Minister Faruk Khan on Thursday advised consumers to limit consumption to curb food adulteration. “Please eat less than your requirement. This technique will ease all problems. If you eat minimum, it will reduce many problems. If you control your eagerness of eating, the businessmen will get a ... Read more
BNP MP, two other lawyers arrested
Three lawyers including BNP lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papiya were arrested on Thursday afternoon just after a High Court judge felt embarrassed to hear their bail plea in connection with a criminal case filed against them. The other two lawyers are Towhidul Islam and his associate Abu Bakar Siddiqiue Rajan. The 10 others accused lawyers ... Read more
Turn in wealth info in 30 days
HC asks Rajuk boss to examine graft by his officials The High Court yesterday directed the officials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to submit their wealth statements to the Rajuk chairman in 30 days. The officials will have to do so, so that the chairman can asses whether they are performing their duties honestly or ... Read more
Remarks of judges motivated: Alamgir
Scuffle at Court BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s advance remarks on different issues are being reflected in the judgments of the higher courts. He has alleged that the government has forced people and judiciary to stand face to face bringing political matters in the court ... Read more
Govt slams Economist report
The government yesterday protested an article published in the London-based Economist magazine, saying that this is a blatant lie and aptly speaks about the writer’s utter disrespect for responsible journalism. “Our attention has been drawn to the write-up titled ‘India and Bangladesh: Embraceable You’ published in The Economist in its recent issue (July 30-Aug 5) ... Read more
Baby girl gets proper medicare
Ministry, people react to Star photograph Aged only two and a half years, Fatema Lamia has had chickenpox once and fever several times, each time recovering without treatment. In the first few months of her life, her resilience in fighting diseases impressed her mother and neighbours living in a slum on Gabtoli Beri Bandh in ... Read more
Dipu Moni’s statement draws flak
Expressing concern about Foreign Minister Dipu Moni’s recent statements about the country’s indigenous people, 15 noted rights activists yesterday said such statements betray the spirit of the Liberation War and insult those who believe in diversity and plurality. In a statement, they said the spirit of the Liberation War was of democracy, pluralism and
It’s indigenous or adivasi
Insist leaders of the community Leaders of the indigenous people have respelled their demand for constitutional recognition as “indigenous” or “adivasi” people instead of tribal or small ethnic groups as they fulfil all the United Nations criteria to that end. Ahead of the International Day for Indigenous People, the leaders said it at a press ... Read more
Survey on city beggars during Ramzan
Govt has allotted Tk 240 for counting a beggar The government has scaled down its nationwide survey on beggars to counting only 10,000 subjects in the capital this holy month of Ramzan. A large number of them descend on the city around this time. “The government has allotted Tk. 240 for counting a beggar, which ... Read more