Staff Correspondent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hear people’s complaints and opinion every Saturday from now on at her political office in the capital’s Dhanmondi. Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said this to reporters at her political office yesterday after Hasina’s meeting with Gopalganj district Muktijoddha Command Council and Awami League leaders and ... Read more
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RU tense over Shibir showdown
RU Correspondent Islami Chhatra Shibir activists along with outsiders staged a big showdown on the Rajshahi University (RU) campus yesterday to celebrate the 32nd founding anniversary of the student organisation, creating panic among general students and teachers. Witnesses said RU Shibir activists and outsiders, including students from schools, colleges and madrasas, brought out a procession ... Read more
Bangladeshi businessman killed in SA
A Correspondent, Munshiganj Robbers killed a Bangladeshi stationary shop owner in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday and looted valuables from the shop. The robbers swooped on Iqbal Haji’s Iqbal Stationery in the suburbs of Johannesburg around 10:30pm (local time). They stabbed Iqbal to death, his elder brother Jasim Uddin Bhuiyan said. Iqbal, son of Shamsul Haque ... Read more
Biden announces changes to US foreign policy: Diplomacy over military power stressed
Reuters, German U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announced changes to U.S. foreign policy on Saturday that emphasized diplomacy over military power but also urged allies to shoulder more of the burden in tackling global crises. “I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone in Washington, and in ... Read more
BBC presenter won’t apologise for calling Brown ‘idiot’
Agence France-Presse . London BBC television presenter Jeremy Clarkson said on Saturday that while he was sorry for having made fun of British prime minister Gordon Brown’s appearance, he would not apologise for calling him an ‘idiot’. Clarkson, known to viewers around the world as the face of the BBC’s top-rated ‘Top Gear’ car show, ... Read more
3 Chinese crew die on way to Ctg port
Staff Correspondent Three Chinese crew of a Panama flag carrier vessel, including the chief officer, were killed after they had fallen into the oil tank of the vessel near Myanmar on its way to the Chittagong Port Friday afternoon. The deceased were identified as chief officer of the vessel Tan Weifang, 37, third officer Ju ... Read more
45 trains derail in 5 months
Lalmonirhat-burimari Route 45 trains derail in 5 months Lack of sleepers, stone makes the run-down track risky A Correspondent, Lalmonirhat As many as 45 incidents of train derailment occurred on 85-kilometre long Lalmonirhat-Burimari route under Lalmonirhat Railway Division during the last five months as shortage of sleepers and stone has made the line
No sign of slowdown in remittance inflow yet
January’s amount highest in last seven months Staff Correspondent The inflow of remittance to the country is increasing despite the fear that the global economic recession will reduce it drastically, said Bangladesh Bank officials. The country received $860 million as remittance in January, according to a provisional estimate by the BB. The amount is the ... Read more
Commercial production and marketing of strawberry begins in Panchagarh
Mamun Islam, BSS, Rangpur Production and marketing of strawberry have started on commercial basis after its successful farming in Panchagarh district paving the way for tremendous economic prospect for the farmers. Jessore Golden Seed Farm (JGSF), a subsidiary organisation of Jessore Ulshi Himagar, achieved the success after eight months of undertaking a strawberry farming programme ... Read more
Income tax collection in Barisal to miss target
Tk. 24 cr collected in first half of FY against target of Tk. 80 cr Our Correspondent, Barisal Collection of income tax in Barisal taxation division is increasing but target may not be achieved for the FY 2008-09 for different reasons. Tk.24 crore only has been collected in first 6 months against target of Tk ... Read more
Victim support centre to start rolling February 17
Staff Correspondent The Bangladesh Police is going to launch a victim support centre, the first-ever of the kind, to provide moral and legal support for the repressed women and children. The home minister, Sahara Khatun, is expected to inaugurate the centre on February 17. The centre, headed by assistant commissioner Shamima Parveen, will be housed ... Read more
State-run jute mills of Khulna facing acute shortage of raw jute
UNB, Khulna State-run jute mills of Khulna region are on the verge of closure as production has decreased by about fifty percent due to shortage of raw jute. Sources concerned said that the production of Alim Jute Mill at Atra industrial area came to a halt for shortage of raw jute. Besides, the unpaid dues ... Read more
STRUGGLE FOR ARSENIC-FREE WATER
Courtesy: thedailystar.net
PM’s public programmes curtailed on security alert
Two ministers, intelligence sources say Hasan Jahid Tusher and M Abul Kalam Azad The government a couple of days ago received information from different international intelligence agencies that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life is under threat from international terrorist organisations who are in
Ctg reels under severe power crisis
Nurul Alam . Chittagong A severe power crisis has hit the Chittagong region, reeling under more than 150MW of load shedding, sources in the Power Development Board said. The Secondary School Certificate examinees scheduled to take for the exams beginning February 15 have become the worst suffers because of the power crisis. A drastic fall ... Read more
70pc can’t read, write even after 5-yr study
Primary Education In A Shambles-1 70pc can’t read, write even after 5-yr study Suranjith Deabnath and Raihan Sabuktagin The quality of the country’s primary education is so substandard that around 70 percent of students who complete the five-year primary level education are unable to read, write or calculate properly. According to a new government study, ... Read more
Govt plans to float tenders online
Staff Correspondent The government is planning to float tenders online to make the public procurement system transparent, accountable and functional and keep it free from undue influence, officials said. As part of the Public Procurement Reform Project-II, it has taken up a plan to introduce, in phases, e-government procurement (e-GP) to modernise the outdated procurement ... Read more
Trans-Asian Railway project finally set to take off
Pinaki Roy The government is going to start work on Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) that would connect the country’s railway system to a 81,000-km network stretching from Europe to East and South-East Asia. ” The prime minister has already directed me to take initiative in this regard,” Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain told The Daily Star. ... Read more
BNP to chair four JS standing bodies
Bdnews24.com . Dhaka The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party will chair four parliamentary standing committees, chief whip Abdus Shahid said on Friday. No opposition party chaired a standing committee — parliamentary watchdog on ministries — in the previous eight parliaments. ‘Proportionately, the main opposition BNP will get four chairs of the standing committees. We’ve already ... Read more
Bangladesh, US to focus on security as Boucher arrives
Raheed Ejaz Dhaka and Washington will focus on security, especially combating terrorism, and trade, during the US senior assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher’s scheduled meeting with the officials here today and tomorrow. Boucher was scheduled to arrive in the capital early Saturday on a two-day visit to Bangladesh to meet officials, including the prime ... Read more