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For checking wastage, pilferage of gas, Titas will also install remote meters for 1,000 industries Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution company is set to introduce the first batch of pre-paid gas meters at homes in Dhanmondi from May next in a bid to check gas wastage and ensure fair payment by the consumers. The company ... Read more

Former British prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair arrived here yesterday on a three-day private visit to Bangladesh. Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes received the Blair couple at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the afternoon

Dhaka University will introduce online application for student admissions to the first year honours courses for the 2010-11 session. The admission process is tentatively scheduled to begin on September 21. ”We have already decided to introduce online admission process, and its launching date will be finalised at a meeting on August 24,” DU Vice-chancellor Prof ... Read more

As many as 48 Bangladeshis who were recently detained in Spain for illegal stay there returned home yesterday under a deportation process, immigration officials said. “A total of 48 Bangladeshis who were recently detained in Spain for illegal stay returned home today,” ASP Zaman of Immigration Department of

Environment Pollution 2 dyeing units fined Tk 62 lakh The Department of Environment yesterday fined two industrial units in Savar and Tejgaon around Tk 63 lakh for violating environment law. The dyeing and finishing unit of Biswas Garments at Rajphulbaria was fined Tk 60.5 lakh for having no environment clearance certificate and polluting the Bangshai ... Read more

The government is set to frame rules to bring courier service and mailing operators under a specific guideline in a bid to speed up the service and electronic money transfer. A review committee has recently finalised the draft of ‘mailing operators and courier service rules-2010’. The draft will be placed to the ministry of post ... Read more

Govt allows eight airlines, including Biman, to carry Hajj pilgrims The government on Thursday decided to allow six airlines other than Biman and the Saudi Arabian Airlines to carry the surging number of intending hajj pilgrims this year. The Saudi authorities have approved Bangladesh’s application for allowing 93,900 people to perform hajj in 2010 while ... Read more

At least 26 people including two children have contracted Anthrax disease in a Sirajgang village, the district’s civil surgeon has said. Dr Nurul Islam Talukder told bdnews24.com on Thursday that those people got sick after consuming beef and coming close to cows at Chithhulia under Kayempur of Shahjadpur

EU envoy Stefan Frowein on Thursday expressed concern about the delay in implementing the new minimum wage for garment workers. Speaking at a press conference in the capital, organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh, Frowein said, “I am concerned about the four

Fortune favours Dhaka City Corporation drivers as they created classic stories of rising from rags to riches. Their bosses wouldn’t disagree that over half a hundred DCC drivers minted millions out of the spare fuel oils, some of whom now drive luxury cars of their own, reports banglanews24.org, a

About 1000 prisoners are being set free on Thursday in what jail authorities say is the largest mass release in the history of the country. The inmates, who have already served 20 years imprisonment, are being released from 61 jails across the country under title 569 of the prison code, which grants amnesty to prisoners ... Read more

$900m investment needed to set up pipelines, double gas production Experts have found out that the country’s existing gas crisis was created due mainly to lack of adequate pipeline system, not necessarily for unavailability of enough gas. In a study submitted to the energy ministry late last month, the experts have pinpointed the

Traffic situation in the capital has been deteriorating gradually, causing untold sufferings to hundreds of commuters. The dwellers have been witnessing again serious traffic congestion in most of the important city points ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr. It usually takes about one and a half hours to travel a distance of six

Old town chemical warehouses Govt extends relocation deadline amid pressure The government has stepped back from its rigid stand on not extending the deadline for the relocation of warehouses of inflammable and risky chemicals from Old Town of Dhaka in amid pressure from chemical traders and business groups

HC asks cops A High Court bench yesterday directed the police to immediately provide security to the daughters of Sadequr Rahman and Romana Nargis who were killed by miscreants in March at Gulshan in the capital. It asked the Officers-in-charge (OC) of Gulshan and Badda police stations to give security to Sumaiya Yasmin Bithi and ... Read more

The government is going to purchase 17 dredgers at a cost of Tk 1,949 crore for the development of the country’s river routes. Some 21,600 cubic kilometre river routes will be dredged a year under this river dredging project. A high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister has been formed earlier to implement the

Sufferings mount for 6-hr closure Four hours had gone by and Rahman Bepari was still waiting for his turn to refill his CNG-run auto-rickshaw. Rahman, a three-wheeler driver, had been waiting at Jamuna CNG filling station at Moghbazar since 4:30pm for the resumption of operation of the station. “My total day is ruined. I won’t ... Read more

Over-speeding, faulty design and lack of maintenance of roads, weak enforcement of traffic rules are the major causes of the increasing number of fatal accidents on highways that claim scores of lives every month. Experts, the highway police chief, campaigners for road safety, victims and drivers

Production suspended for a day in 350 factories; 150 business establishments vandalised At least 350 garment factories in Savar, Ashulia and Fatulla suspended production yesterday after RMG workers clashed with police injuring over 100 people. The angry labourers damaged nearly 150 business establishments and vandalised more

A section of apparel workers’ leaders on Sunday accepted the new seven-slab wage structure with Tk 3,000 as the entry point wage, the government earlier announced for implementation from November and asked all to shun violence and join their work from