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Tk 2,500cr scheme taken up in 1999 includes eastern bypass Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said in parliament that the government is going to revive a Tk 2,500 crore project, which was approved in 1999 to protect Dhaka from floods, expand the city and ease traffic congestion. She said the Water Development Board, Roads and ... Read more

The overused and soiled two-taka notes have become a silent public health threat, as those contain huge third generation antibiotic-resistant bacteria, says a study, reports UNB. According to the study, each old filthy two-taka note contains 180 to 200 crore bacteria most of which are antibiotic-resistant that might play a role in

Alleges MP in JS None of the public transport companies operating on routes in the capital has Dhaka City Corporation’s approval for their ticket counters, alleged a ruling Awami League lawmaker in parliament yesterday. “The transport companies set [ticket] counters haphazardly causing sufferings to the pedestrians and worsening the traffic congestion. But

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday forwarded its comments to the government strongly opposing the proposal to bring amendment to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004. The commission said that if the cabinet division’s recommendations were approved, the Commission’s authority and status as an independent agency

Secondary School Certificate and its equivalent examinations begin today with a total of 1,206,019 examinees from 26,192 educational institutions across the country taking the exams. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said that the government has completed all the necessary preparations to hold the examinations in an

Erosion by border belt rivers Feb 10: The havoc caused by the rivers Surma and Kushiara along the Sylhet border changing their course is pushing the Bangladesh border inward, resulting in the country losing more than 3,000 acres of land. According to the 1974 Mujib-Indira Border Treaty, midstream of border rivers defines the boundaries of ... Read more

Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith said yesterday that the government would assist in the development of the information technology (IT) sector by providing incentives and necessary policy support. “The government will provide policy support and incentives for infrastructure development to help flourish the IT sector,” he said as the

Hunted regularly; meat sold openly Critically endangered worldwide, marine turtles are regularly hunted and their meat sold openly in village markets around the country’s Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. A local market in Bajua adjacent to Dangmari Forest Beat Office is one such place where meat of a marine turtle species — ... Read more

The death of Faruk Hossain at Rajshahi University shattered the hopes of a poor family who was dreaming to come out from the vicious poverty cycle with the achievement of their only son. Faruk, born in 1984 in Khord-Shaguna village under Joypurhat Sadar upazila, was a final year student of RU’s

Arsenic remains a serious threat to Kalia Upazila people in Narail District, posing a big challenge to the government in achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for ensuring “safe water for all” by 2013. More than one lakh people of the Kalia Upazila, home to 41610 families, have been drinking arsenic contaminated water for a

The government on Monday decided to expand its social safety net programme to urban areas in the form of rice sales to the ultra poor in Dhaka and other cities at a ‘fair price’. The decision came at a meeting of the food planning and monitoring committee at the secretariat with food and disaster management ... Read more

Countrywide junior terminal examination for class-VIII students will be held simultaneously across the country with same question paper from this year. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid came up with the discloser at a press briefing at his office yesterday. The decision came after holding the maiden primary terminal examination at the end of last academic

The government will prepare a list of non-government educational institutions on the basis of index system for MPO (monthly payment order) allocation. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid said this at a press briefing held in the ministry yesterday. New MPO allocation would be under index system, he said adding, “A total of 100 points will ... Read more

A team of surgeons has successfully separated Siamese twin girls in a two and a half hour operation yesterday at the  Dhaka Shishu Hospital. After separation, Moni and Mukta, aged six months, have been taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with  the next two-days considered crucial for their survival. Doctors,however, said signs were good ... Read more

A joint venture agreement between Indian hydro power producers NHPC Ltd and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVN) and the government of Manipur to develop the Rs 8,138-crore Tipaimukh power project in the north-eastern state is likely to be signed by the end of the current financial year ending in March, The Business Standard reported

Extortion and threat to high profile people using cell phones is going unabated as law enforcers could hardly trace the criminals who manage their SIM cards without following proper registration procedure. Sources observe that the menace has reached an intolerable level as even Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her nephew lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh could

The government has taken initiative to send 18,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year by ship so people can perform the holy Hajj at lower expenses than airfares. Meanwhile, a private shipping corporation has made some proposals to the government for carrying the pilgrim passengers at 40 percent less than the cost of travel by ... Read more

Vehicles already 7 times the road capacity The number of vehicles is around seven times the capacity of the roads in the capital. In last six years, the volume of motorised and non-motorised vehicles has almost doubled, while the city has seen only two new thoroughfares–Doyaganj-Jurain and Bijoy Sarani-Agargaon–built in last two decades, said traffic

Lafarge cement plant in Chhatak to be affected The Indian Supreme Court yesterday restrained the French cement giant Lafarge from carrying out mining of limestone in Meghalaya for its cement plant in Bangladesh saying mining cannot be allowed in the eco-fragile area, reports The Daily Star. The 255-million dollar Lafarge Surma Cement project at Chhatak, ... Read more

Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, the senior-most Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, was yesterday appointed the Chief Justice of the country. As per Article 95(1) of the Constitution, President Md Zillur Rahman gave the appointment. Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, the 18th Chief Justice of the country, will replace the incumbent Chief Justice ... Read more