Other Headlines

The authorities have decided to strictly enforce from November 1 the safety rules on roads like fastening of seatbelts for drivers and passengers of all motorised vehicles to curb fatal road accidents, while buses, trucks, microbuses, three wheelers and human haulers still do not have seatbelts. Officials at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority said that ... Read more

At least two people were killed and five others injured, one critically, when a train hit a microbus at a level crossing under Jhaoil bridge in Kamarkhand upazila of Sirajganj yesterday afternoon. Bimol Chaki, officer-in-charge of Government Railway Police (GRP) Station at Sirajganj, said the accident occurred as there was no rail gate at the

The government would install 12 more inflatable rubber dams on medium and small rivers in as many districts at an estimated cost of Tk 167.58 crore for dry season irrigation, officials said. They said that each dam would have the capacity to irrigate more than a thousand acres of crop land using surface water

Many schools did not give cash memos for the extra fees charged Several schools in the capital are illegally making money by holding ‘model tests’ on the plea of preparing the students of Classes V and VIII for the newly introduced public examinations. The guardians and students of the schools said that the students were ... Read more

Hundreds of Hindu devotees thronged Dhaka Ramkrishna Mission and Dhakeshwari National Temple for Kumari Puja yesterday. The Goddess Durga is worshipped in various forms during the five-day Sharodiya Durgotsab and one of those forms is Kumari, the virgin form of the

A woman here succmbed to her burn injuries yesterday after she set herself on fire to commit suicide on Thursday. Deceased Hasina Begum, 35, was the wife of Idu Mia of Munshipara under sadar upazila in the district. While undergoing treatment at the hospital, Hasina told The Daily Star Thursday night that she torched herself ... Read more

Husband arrested A group of unknown criminals strangled a housewife at a South Banasree residence of Khilgaon in the capital yesterday evening. The deceased was identified as Sumi Begum, 38. Police arrested her husband Mahfuzur Rahman Rana, an employee of a shop in Paltan, in this

New power connection Four lakh applications pending At least four lakh applications have been filed with five power distribution companies seeking new electricity connections. The new connections would need additional 1,200MW electricity while the country is facing at least 2,000MW power shortfall against the existing

Bangladeshi scientists discover how harmless viruses turn into deadly ones A group of Bangladeshi scientists made a breakthrough discovery of how a group of viruses can turn harmless bacteria into deadly cholera causing ones. The finding will have far-reaching global implications in predicting cholera epidemic, and will make it easier to produce preventive vaccine, the ... Read more

The government revived a project, after 18 months, to transform 306 non government secondary schools in as many upazila headquarters into ‘model schools’ to reduce the growing gap in the standard of education between urban and rural areas, said officials. The project, they said, would transform a non government school in each of the 306

The government has imposed a 10-day ban from today on netting hilsa in the coastal areas to create a disturbance free breeding environment for mother fish during this peak season. “The highest number of hilsa releases eggs during this period. To increase production of national fish, we are slapping the ban.”

Chilean rescuers hoisted 33 trapped miners to safety yesterday as millions watched round the globe after a two-month underground ordeal. In a complicated but flawless operation under Chile’s far northern desert, Luis Urzua, who was shift leader when the mine collapsed in early August, emerged last through 2,050 feet (625 metres) of

A 10-year boy, Ridoy, was killed on Thursday when a bus ran over him while he was selling newspapers on Badda Link road the city. The poor boy was knocked down by a bus of Dibanishi Paribahan at about 7:30am while he was trying get onto the bus to sell newspapers to the

Yet Turag rescue called off Though the authorities called off the rescue operation Wednesday afternoon, relatives of the missing passengers of the ill-fated Baishakhi Paribahan bus continued their isolated search efforts in the Turag river and its adjacent areas yesterday looking for dead bodies. No more body was found yesterday as nobody could still ascertain ... Read more

Unidentified robbers snatched a submachine gun and 30 rounds of ammunition from a policeman, after severely injuring him in the head with a sharp weapon, at Baniakhali Bazaar under Dumuria upazila in Khulna district in the early hours of Thursday. Naik Abul Bashar, 45, of the Sharafpur Armed Police Battalion camp, was admitted to the

Thousands of students of Dhaka University (DU) are living in a risky condition in different dormitories as many of their infrastructures have already become outdated. According to structural engineers and experts, any kind of tragedy may occur in such buildings if an earthquake with a moderate to strong magnitude struck the

Troops were deployed at the Chittagong Port on Wednesday afternoon to contain labour unrest that has crippled activities at the sea port for six days, officials said. ‘The army has been deployed to ensure security of the protected areas and restore operational activities that had been disrupted because of the labour unrest,’ said the Chittagong ... Read more

PM’s adviser, LGRD minister call on CEC The local government elections, particularly the long overdue Dhaka City Corporation polls planned for December this year, are probably going to be deferred again. The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, made this plain after a meeting with LGRD and cooperatives minister Syed Ashraful Islam and prime minister’s ... Read more

Two more bodies were recovered yesterday from the Turag river at Amin Bazar in Savar where a bus plunged into the river on Sunday. Rescuers have so far recovered 13 bodies. The bodies rescued yesterday were identified as Maulana Hafizur Rahman, 45, Imam of

Cross-Border Power Tranmission $100m loan deal signed with ADB Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank yesterday signed a $100 million loan agreement for a cross border electricity transmission deal between Bangladesh and India under which Dhaka will be able to import up to 500 megawatts of power. Dhaka signed another $40m loan agreement with the ADB ... Read more