Agri officials say situation under control Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon Spread of ‘leaf blight’ disease, locally known as patamora rog, has put potato farmers in five upazilas of Thakurgaon district in a difficult siatuation. As the affected farmers are reaping potato before its attaining maturity, production target in
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Taka might be devalued: Muhith
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka Finance minister AMA Muhith Sunday apprehended that it might not be possible to keep the exchange rate of taka against US dollar at current level due to the sharp devaluation of the currencies of major trading partners. ‘We want to keep the value of taka [at the current level]. ... Read more
Informal economy may cut poverty
Economists say Star Business Report Empowerment of the poor, mainstreaming informal economy and developing the agricultural sector are keys to poverty reduction through trade in South Asia. The observation came at a session of a seminar, chaired by Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue Professor Mustafizur Rahman. The session, “Future Work on Globalisation ... Read more
Dhaka stocks inch up
Staff Correspondent Dhaka stocks gained on Sunday in volatile trading despite the downtrend at the market persisting for the last four weeks. The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 12.20 points, or 0.46 per cent, to close at 2661.69, while its blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 12.97 points, or 0.60 per cent, to ... Read more
Ctg REHAB fair bags Tk 200cr
Nur Uddin Alamgir, Ctg A three-day housing fair organised by REHAB concluded here in the port city on Saturday making a business of Tk 200 crore, with the organisers and participants expecting an additional Tk 100 crore from the intended
Sylhet to host first-ever int’l telecom fair in April
Staff Correspondent Theme Solution and Bangladesh Mobile Phone Business Association are going to organise International Telecom Fair 2009 in Sylhet in April 1-9 aiming to increase the number of cellphone users and businesspeople in the region, the organisers said on Sunday. ‘This is the first time such a fair will be held in Sylhet. Our ... Read more
President, PM, Opposition Leader join Akheri Munajat: Biswa Ijtema seeks global peace
Staff Reporter The three-day long 45th Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims, concluded yesterday after Akheri Munajat seeking divine blessings of Almighty Allah for continued peace, prosperity of Muslim Ummah and for global peace and prosperity at the banks of the River Turag at Tongi in Gazipur. Moulana Jubayerul Hassan of India officiated ... Read more
All 21 opposition demands rejected
Speaker says law, order situation could be addressed under existing law; other notices based on assumption Staff Correspondent Speaker of the Parliament Abdul Hamid yesterday turned down all 21 notices from BNP-led opposition lawmakers for holding discussions on various issues adjourning other scheduled businesses of the House. The opposition lawmakers in their notices, submitted to ... Read more
JS crisis deepens as new elements crop up
Staff correspondent Relations between the Awami League-led treasury bench and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led main opposition were strained over seating arrangement soon after the new parliament went into its maiden session on January 25. The session has become a dull and dreary affair as lawmakers of the BNP and its allies continued staying off the ... Read more
PM opens Ekushey Book Fair: Build knowledge-based advanced society
Staff Reporter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday stressed the need for building up a knowledge-based advanced and open thinking society for upholding the dignity of the mother language. She urged the people to come up with suggestions and cooperation for development and preservation of language and culture of the nation alongside enriching those through drawing ... Read more
BNP to reorganise party units after polls debacle
Staff Correspondent The Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee, the party’s highest policymaking body, on Sunday decided to reconstitute all the committees from grassroots to national levels in the aftermath of the December 29 elections debacle. Six committees, led by joint secretaries general, will start interviewing upazila-level leaders tomorrow to get the real picture of the ... Read more
AL men grab taxicab business at ZIA
Drive out 3 CAAB lessees; passenger sufferings mount Staff Correspondent Leaders and activists of Airport police station unit of Awami League (AL) and its front organisations yesterday took control of the cab service counters at Zia International Airport after driving out the three lessees of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB). They locked the rooms ... Read more
Ruling party, opposition come down hard on interim govt
Staff correspondent The ruling party and the opposition on Sunday continued demanding formation of high-powered parliamentary committees to examine extra-constitutional activities of the immediate-past military-controlled interim government. BNP-led main opposition lawmakers on Sunday supported the proposal of the archrival Awami League lawmaker Abdul Jalil for the formation of a parliamentary committee, with the speaker as ... Read more
BNP boycotts JS as seat row not resolved
Staff Correspondent The BNP-led opposition yesterday decided to abstain from parliament proceedings until the speaker decides on their demand for three more seats in the front row of the House. The opposition lawmakers boycotted parliament on its second sitting on Wednesday, placing their demand to the speaker, and remained out of the House for three ... Read more
Students suffer as textbook crisis persists
Staff Reporter The students of secondary level across the country are suffering from textbook crisis. Although first month of the new academic year has already passed, the students are not getting textbooks to commence their study. Nobody knows when the textbooks will arrive to the learners. The crisis has been created by syndicates of textbook ... Read more
1 killed, 200 hurt on way back from Ijtema
Staff Correspondent One person died and over two hundred people were wounded in two separate incidents while devotees were returning home after the end of the Biswa Ijtema yesterday. Over two hundred passengers sustained minor injuries after they jumped off a slow-moving train at Tongi in the afternoon following a false fire alarm. Most of ... Read more
Khaleda spent only Tk 3 lakh in Bogra-6
Staff Correspondent, Bogra BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia spent only Tk 3 lakh in Bogra-6 (Sadar) constituency in the last parliamentary election when her nearest rival Awami League Bogra unit President Momtaj Uddin spent Tk 14.92 lakh. In her other constituency Bogra-7 (Gabtoli-Shahjahanpur), Khaleda spent Tk 5 lakh while her nearest contestant Grand Alliance nominee and ... Read more
Govt won’t appeal against HC order on addl judges
Staff Correspondent The government will not appeal against the High Court verdict that ordered it to appoint 10 former additional judges of the High Court who were deprived of appointment as permanent judges between 2001 and 2003 during the BNP-led alliance government’s tenure. Additional attorney general M Enayetur Rahim told the Appellate Division of the ... Read more
Another reshuffle in Admn: 4 officers made OSD
UNB, Dhaka Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment secretary Mohammad Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Acting Secretary of Labour Dr Mahfuzul Haque, Additional Secretary of Agriculture MA Akmal Hossain Azad and Director General of NIPORT Nasimul Gani are made OSD, said an official handout today. Dr Khandaker Shaukat Hossain, OSD, was posted as Divisional Commissioner of Dhaka. A ... Read more
111 killed in Kenya petrol blaze
Agence France-Presse . Molo, Kenya At least 111 people died in Kenya when an overturned petrol tanker exploded as people swarmed over it to scoop up leaking fuel in one of the region’s worst such accidents, officials said Sunday. ‘Certainly this is a national tragedy. We have just been informed that more succumbed to injuries ... Read more