Other Headlines

Nine BDR men claim innocence The nine BDR men accused of mutiny claimed themselves innocent in written statements submitted to the Special Court-4 of Bangladesh Rifles in Rangamati yesterday. The jawans of 12 Rifles Battalion at Rajnagar in the district submitted the statements following a court directive, reports our

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) traded over 300 gunshots on Sripur and Jaintapur borders in Sylhet yesterday over fishing in a water body. BDR sources said three people were injured in the BSF firing and they were taken to local hospitals for treatment. They are Abdur Rahman, a truck

Green light to 300 units The Awami League-led government is issuing environmental clearance certificates for industries on “private land” inside the Bhawal National Park in Gazipur, backtracking on its stance and lifting a ban imposed in 1999 during its previous tenure. This move will legalise around 300 illegal industries set up in eight mouzas during ... Read more

A high level meeting on Wednesday last attended by the officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Power and National Hydro Power Co-operation Ltd under the chair of the Manipur Chief Minister, O Ibobi discussed on the proposed construction of controversial Tipaimukh Power Project in

Seven of a family including two kids were killed in a fire at a multi-storey apartment block in the city’s Mohammadpur area last night, reports The Daily Star. The fire originated at around 10:15pm on the 10th floor of building-6 at Japan Garden City, said witnesses. Billows of smoke spiralling upwards caused panic among the ... Read more

3 killed as cylinder explodes Three persons were burnt alive and nine others injured as the CNG cylinder of a microbus carrying them exploded at Satkania in Chittagong yesterday. Identities of the deceased could not be confirmed while the injured were Tapu, 27, Delwar Hossain, 40, Mizanur Rahman, 36, Sabuj Mian, 39, Abdus Sattar, 30, ... Read more

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