Nazrul Islam The election of the deputy speaker from the opposition, as offered by the ruling Awami League, is unlikely in the first sitting of the ninth parliament, going into its first session on January 25. ‘There might be two posts of deputy speakers in the parliament and making the provision to accommodate one from ... Read more
News
Wealth Stashed Abroad ACC to get more UK help
Staff Correspondent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will work with foreign countries to detect and recover the money siphoned off and assets made abroad illegally. “We are determined to detect the illegal money stored abroad and assets made outside the country…We will work with foreign countries and make necessary arrangements both bilaterally and multilaterally to detect and ... Read more
State lawyers asked to resign by today
Senior lawyers term attorney general’s directive ‘contemptuous’ Star Report Attorney General (AG) Mahbubey Alam yesterday asked all attorneys recruited by the immediate past caretaker government to submit their resignation letters to him by Tuesday, sources at the AG office told The Daily Star. The top law officer of the state told the attorneys at a ... Read more
Textbook shortage continues to hamper secondary education
Five to six houses behind the crisis, plan to print more copies shelved Siddiqur Rahman Khan Short supply and higher prices of textbooks continue to hamper secondary education across the country, according to the findings of an official investigation. Against the backdrop of acute supply shortage, the education ministry on January 11 decided to print ... Read more
BTRC to award licences for IP telephony service operators soon
Second draft guideline published BTRC to award licences for IP telephony service operators soon Staff Correspondent The telecom regulatory body will award licences to private operators for providing Internet Pro-tocol (IP) telephony services in the country very soon to help Internet users make domestic and overseas calls at a cheaper cost, officials said. To this ... Read more
Consultant appointed for Padma Bridge
Design by next year Staff Correspondent The government in the first meeting of the cabinet committee on purchase yesterday appointed a consultant for construction of the Padma Bridge in line with the ruling Awami League’s one of the major election pledges. New Zealand-based Maunsell AECOM Ltd has been appointed as consultant for preparing design of ... Read more
Winter keeps us warm
Staff Correspondent An accumulation of clouds, sailing from Eastern ghat in Orissa, has spoilt the winter at its peak making the weather a bit warmer, met office sources said. The presence of clouds and associated moisture-laden air have not only pushed up the mercury but also contributed to recent spell of fog clouding the visibility, ... Read more
Contempt rule issued upon woman journalist for denying disclosing source of news
UNB, Dhaka The High Court on Monday issued rule upon a woman journalist of a weekly newspaper to explain why punitive action should not be taken against her for denying disclosing the source of news as asked in a contempt of court case. Issuing the rule, a division bench comprising Justice ABM Khairul Haque and ... Read more
10 secretaries transferred
Staff Correspondent The newly elected government yesterday transferred 10 secretaries and five joint secretaries in a major reshuffle in the administration. Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman has been transferred to the Ministry of Education, according to an official announcement. Privatisation Commission member ABM Abdul Huq Chowdhury has been made secretary of textile and ... Read more
Shaheed Asad Day today
Staff Correspondent Shaheed Asad Day will be observed today, commemorating his martyrdom this day in 1969 during the mass uprising against the Pakistani rulers that led the nation to independence. On this day 40 years ago, Asaduzzaman was killed in police firing in front of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital while leading a protest demonstration. ... Read more
Govt blanks TCB, puts faith in businesses
Staff Correspondent The Awami League-led government has expressed unwillingness to kick-start the ailing Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, a public sector arm for market intervention, in a marked shift from its pre-polls pledge for a ‘multi-pronged approach to control prices and monitor the market’. Making public the government’s position on the corporation, the commerce minister, Faruk ... Read more
Expert body advises no blanket ordn ratification
Shahiduzzaman The expert committee formed to examine the ordinances made in the past two years on Sunday finalised its report recommending that 30 ordinances should be approved, 53 should be scrapped and 39 others should be left for the parliament to decide. ‘The expert committee has finalised its report, which will be placed in the ... Read more
Recession fears loom over shrimp exports
Sajjadur Rahman The shrimp industry foresees the toughest time this year on a continuous fall both in the price and demand in the troubled developed economies, main consumers of the item, according to industry people. They said buyers in the US and Europe are
BAIRA urges govt to raise migration cost
Raheed Ejaz Manpower recruiting agents Sunday submitted a 28-point proposal to the government that includes increasing the migration cost from Tk 84,000 to Tk 1,40,000 to stop cheating as well as maintaining growth in this sector. A delegation of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agents met labour and employment and expatriates’ welfare and overseas ... Read more
Withdrawal of duties on solar equipments to help expansion of SHSs
BSS, Dhaka The new government’s decision of withdrawal of all duties on equipments of Solar Household System (SHS) will significantly boost up the expansion of renewable energy in rural parts of the county, experts said. Prof NC Bhowmik, director of Renewable Energy research Centre (RERC) told BSS that the vast areas of rural people mostly ... Read more
Broiler chicken soars 51pc
Sohel Parvez The prices of broiler chicken have jumped over 51 percent because of short supply as fears over probable bird flu attacks slowed farming last month. Low returns over chicken last month also prompted farmers to cut farming, leading retail prices to rise as high as Tk 139 a kilogram. The overall prices of ... Read more
United Airways cuts 30pc fuel surcharge
United Airways, one of the private airlines in Bangladesh, has announced 30 per cent fuel surcharge cut on all routes as world oil prices marked a sharp fall. The cut in fuel surcharge comes into effect on January 20, reports UNB. Considering the passengers’ right to benefit from the decline in world fuel prices, United ... Read more
Dhaka stocks drop for 3rd day
Staff Correspondent Dhaka stocks finished down on Sunday, the third consecutive trading day, in a market that saw continuous price fluctuations amid a downtrend for the last couple of weeks. The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange lost 18.39 points, or 0.68 per cent, to close at 2677.19, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed ... Read more
The first Inter-Standard global roaming service in the country launched by citycell
Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) introduced the country’s first inter-standard Global Roaming Service, which allows customers to roam in both CDMA and GSM networks of over 450 operators in more than 200 countries around the world. This Global Roaming Service also provides revolutionary satellite coverage even in places where no mobile operator’s network exists. Additionally, ... Read more
Shinepukur to expand bone china output
Bdnews24.com . Dhaka Shinepukur Ceramics Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding with a German company for setting up an expansion unit of bone china. The deal was signed Sunday to boost Shinepukur’s bone china output by 150 per cent. Nazmul Hassan, chairman of Shinepukur Ceramics Ltd, and Konrad Schmidling, managing director of Ceramic Info ... Read more