Staff Correspondent Traffic movement in many of the city’s areas — including Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Shahbagh, Mirpur Road, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue and Rokeya Sarani — came more or less to a standstill because of the fire at Bashundhara
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Mega mall businessmen in fire trauma
Staff Correspondent An obvious trauma gripped the businesses at Basundhara City after a devastating fire Friday burnt many shops and offices into ashes inside the country’s biggest and iconic shopping centre. The fire broke out at the top of the
Bangladesh’s share in US RMG market widens
Refayet Ullah Mirdha Bangladesh’s share in the US apparel market is getting larger as cheap clothing (basic garment items) sales in that market are increasing in global recession, market operators said. Recession-hit retailers in the US and Europe are purchasing garments from Bangladesh in enhanced volume as the cost of the item is less here ... Read more
RMG training fund remains unused for 4 years
Khawaza Main Uddin The government is yet to begin providing training to garment workers for improving their skill, utilising an endowment fund, four years after it had been pledged to face the challenge of quota-free textile regime. The selection of a firm for imparting training to workers has become entangled in the complexity of a ... Read more
Many food items go to market without BSTI seal
Kazi Azizul Islam One of every seven essential food products, especially which are marketed in packets, has no seal of standardisation on its label, revealed a survey conducted by the Consumer Association of Bangladesh. Such a seal, which is approved by the national standardisation organisation–– Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute, is mandatory in the label ... Read more
Blaze at Bashundhara City
7 killed, 20 injured; 6 top floors gutted; govt orders probe; electric short-circuit suspected; mall closed for 2 days Staff Correspondent A raging blaze yesterday reduced the upper levels of the capital’s Bashundhara City shopping complex to a skeleton, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 others. Ill-equipped to douse high-rise flames, the fire ... Read more
RU shut indefinitely after series of clashes
bdnews24.com, Rajshahi Rajshahi University closed indefinitely after an Islami Chhatra Shibir leader was killed and scores were injured in campus clashes with Bangladesh Chh-atra League on Friday. Sharifuzzaman Nomani, general secretary of the RU Shibir unit, died around midday, Rajpara Police Station OC Anisur Rahman
Automated fire system fails
Complex’s water reservoir found empty Helemul Alam Even though Bashundhara City building in the capital had several fire hydrants inside, the building’s reservoir had no water. This helped the fire to spread and claim the lives of seven persons yesterday. Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah said the hydrants ... Read more
LPG, furnace oil prices slashed by 13-15 pc
Staff Correspondent Prices of liquefied petroleum gas or LPG and furnace oil produced by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation have been reduced by 13-15 per cent with effect from Sunday. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday approved the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s proposal to lower the price of a 12.5 kg cylinder of LPG to Tk 850 ... Read more
No firefighting beyond13th floor
Firemen waited for blaze to come down Raihan Sabuktagin Fire fighters could not douse the flames on upper floors of Bashundhara City shopping complex in the capital yesterday as they do not have required logistics and equipment to tame a blaze beyond 13th floor of a building. Despite reaching the spot immediately after the fire ... Read more
A battle in the dark
Sky-lift fails to reach top floors Arun Devnath and Emran Hossain A small crowd lingered into the night, hours after fire fighters battled out the blaze at the Bashundhara City shopping mall yesterday. Shards of glass glinted in the light streaming from an ’emergency’ lighting unit set up by the Fire Service and Civil Defence ... Read more
Fire service lacks logistics to put out high-rise fires
Taib Ahmed The Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence lacks logistics to extinguish fire in buildings of more than 14 storeys. The agency has only two hydraulic ladders which can hose water up to the 14th floor of a building at best and the country does not have helicopters equipped to put out flames in ... Read more
Fire Service has only 2 high rise ladders
Rafiqul Islam Azad Bangladesh Fire Brigade has only two modern ladders that could be used in dousing fire by throwing water up to 14-storey of a high rise building, according to sources in the Fire Brigade. Of the two Turning Table Ladders (TTL), the new one, brought from abroad two months ago, was used for ... Read more
Prostitution in the name of job
Staff Correspondent Prostitution goes unabated in different parts of the country specially capital Dhaka as young and minor girls are being forced to this immoral profession in the name of giving job. A section of unscrupulous inhabitants in the capital are engaged in collecting young and minor girls from their villages in the name of ... Read more
2009 ‘very dangerous’ year for economy: Zoellick
AFP, London World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Friday that 2009 is turning into “a very dangerous year” for the economy but warned G20 members against protectionist policies to fight the downturn. “2009 is shaping up to be a very dangerous year,” he told reporters ahead of Saturday’s G20 finance ministers meeting on how best ... Read more
Government to revise fertiliser dealership policy soon
Obaidul Ghani The government is planning to revise the fertiliser dealership policy as soon as possible after the current boro season to ease fertiliser distribution and sale at the grassroots level, said agriculture ministry sources on Wednesday. The above decision was taken at a meeting of the National Coordination and Consultant Committee on Fertiliser Management, ... Read more
Nomination submission closes today
WOMEN RESERVED SEATS IN JS Nomination submission closes today Staff Correspondent The submission of nomination for elections to the 45 reserved seats for women in the parliament, according to the revised schedule, closes today. The returning officers will scrutinise the nomination papers on March 15 at the Election Commission secretariat. The last date for the ... Read more
Farmers harvest bumper pulses production in N-region
BSS, Rajshahi The farmers have started harvesting of lentil and Chickpea (gram) with expectation of bumper production everywhere in the northern region during the current season. Officials said, the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a target of producing 1,04,415 tonnes of pulses including lentil, gram and mashkalai from around 1.04 lakh hectares of ... Read more
BB eases cost of loans
Repo rate down 25 basis points Sajjadur Rahman The central bank yesterday slashed the interest rate it charges on loans to commercial banks by 25 basis points to 8.50 percent to bolster growth and cushion the impact of the global economic turmoil. “The decision to cut the short-term repo rate has been taken to encourage ... Read more
MCCI urges removal of uncertainties on tax holiday in next budget
UNB, Dhaka Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Wednesday strongly urged the government to remove the uncertainties on continuation of the tax holiday and widen the list of industries under the scheme in the next budget. The MCCI came up with the plea at a pre-budget meeting with the National Board of Revenue ... Read more