Govt decides to withdraw one brigade, 35 temporary army camps by Sept; 200 camps already withdrawn in phases as per the 1997 peace accord In a major development towards implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 1997, the government has decided to withdraw one brigade of troops and 35 temporary security camps from CHT ... Read more
News
Rid’s syrup unauthorised, toxic element found
Says probe report on paracetamol tragedy The government-formed probe committee has found presence of poisonous Diethylene Glycol in the paracetamol syrup of one pharmaceutical company after examining 300 samples of paracetamol and vitamin syrup of 10 companies. The seven-member body submitted its report to Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque yesterday. The committee headed by Joint ... Read more
Parts of the city still submerged in rainwater
Much of the low-lying areas in and around the city and many of its roads were still inundated on Wednesday as rainwater was taking time to recede due to lack of adequate drainage system. Meanwhile water, gas and electricity connections which were snapped at many parts of the city during Tuesday’s record downpour were yet ... Read more
DCs ask govt to define duties of upazila reps, officials
Deputy commissioners from across the country on Wednesday called on the government to bring an end to the conflict between the local representatives and the administrators at the grassroots level by defining their responsibilities more specifically. At the working session on the local government ministry on the second day of the deputy commissioners’ annual conference, ... Read more
Mega plan to generate 5000 mw electricity
The Ministry of Power and Energy has been mobilising Tk 40,000 crore to generate 5,000MW of electricity to reduce load shedding into a tolerable level within next four and half years during the term of the present government. The ministry has placed its mega plan of power generation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her ... Read more
Padma Bridge: Bonds to mobilize fund locally
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Wednesday said the resource gap for the construction of Padma Bridge would be around US$ 500 million, as an inter-ministerial meeting reviewed the proposed mega project. “We’ll have to mobilize funds locally to meet the resource gap locally. I think there will be no problem to meet the gap.” he ... Read more
People under poverty line up by 5-6 pc: Minister
A number of people live under the poverty line rose to about five to six percent on account of frequent natural calamities during the last few years in the country, Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said in the city on Wednesday, reports BSS. Bangladesh has become most vulnerable to any disaster and ... Read more
To determine additional reserves BAPEX to start 3D seismic survey soon on 5 gas fields
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) is going to start a three- dimensional (3-D) seismic survey soon on five gas fields to determine additional reserves. Under a project of Asian Development Bank (ADB), the survey will be carried out on 1,250 square kilometers in Titas and Bakhrabad gas fields by Bangladesh Gas Fields ... Read more
Microsoft, Yahoo agree on ad partnership
Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have agreed to an online search and advertising partnership, in an attempt to rival Google Inc, that will be announced within 24 hours, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. Microsoft will not pay an upfront fee to Yahoo, and the focus of the deal is on sharing ... Read more
BTRC moves to break monopoly
The telecoms watchdog is set to make ‘competition regulations’ by September this year to restrict monopolisation, aiming to ensure a level-playing field in the rapidly growing Bangladesh telecoms market. The telecoms regulator has followed the recommendations made by International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for information and communication technology, which recently reported on ... Read more
Shades of rain
Underground parking turns underwater parking; upper floor apartments get wet treatment; fishes glide through streets Following the overnight torrential rain, some city dwellers realised that reality sometimes may really beat their wildest imagination. For instance, when the residents of an apartment building on Green Road woke up in the morning
Poor coordination blamed for law and order slide
DC conference begins Districts’ administrative chiefs have identified lack of coordination among different authorities in field administration as major reason for recent deterioration in law and order situation. A number of deputy commissioners came up with the observation on Tuesday as their annual conference began in
BNP blasts govt for sending one-party team
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday said that the government has failed to stand above narrow party politics on the issue of Tipaimukh dam. “It is disappointing that the parliamentary delegation is going to neighbouring India to visit the Tipaimukh dam site sans the
Rain disrupts work at PMO, secretariat
Overnight torrential rain inundated many important government establishments including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Bangladesh Secretariat yesterday. Activities at the secretariat could not begin till noon as a large number of officials and employees failed to turn up at their offices
53-yr record rain
Torrential overnight rain broke a half-century record, said the met office on Tuesday morning as the city half submerged ground to a halt, reports bdnews24.com. The Met office said 333mm of rain was recorded in the capital over the 24 hour period to 7am, breaking a 53-year-old record in
Obama praises Bangladesh for women empowerment
US President Barack Obama has praised Bangladesh’s role in women empowerment, democracy, and poverty alleviation through micro-credit. “Many countries in the world can follow Bangladesh’s role toward the issues,” he said adding, “Bangladesh as a tolerant
No rain in Rajshahi, Naogaon
Farmers in Rajshahi, particularly in the Barind area where a drought-like situation is prevailing, still remain frustrated for lack of rainfall this season. Although many parts of the country experienced heavy rainfall from early hours of Tuesday, officials at the Meteorological Office in
SQC to sue 3 Ahmeds, 9 others for violation of constitution
BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chwdhury will sue 12 persons — including former President Iajuddin Ahmed, former chief adviser to military-controlled interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed, former army chief Moeen U Ahmed, former
Only Tk 10 allocated for three meals for an accused in lock-up
Only Tk 10 is allocated per day for feeding an accused person who has been arrested and is detained in the lock-up of a police station, said police officials. ‘A person cannot even take breakfast at present with Tk 10. So how can we feed an accused three times a day with this meagre
Divers detect more holes under Jamuna ‘hard-point’
The Bangladesh Navy divers have detected more scouring holes near the Jamuna embankment’s ‘hard point’ when the Water Development Board engineers are yet to find out the cause of the collapses in the embankment on July