News

Six electrocuted, life paralysed, millions marooned, drinking water polluted The Monday’s overnight very heavy downpour, triggered by a monsoon low, has inundated different parts of the country mounting misery of people, especially the inhabitants of the capital city and its low-lying suburbs, putting the normal life and business in complete disarray. At least six people ... Read more

Waterlogging in Capital Clogged drains, filled up canals blamed Clogged and inadequate drainage system and filling up of most of the city canals are mainly responsible for waterlogging in the city. The city drainage system has not improved with the pace of rapid growth of urbanisation while most of the canals out of around 50 ... Read more

Parliamentary team leaves for Tipaimukh today The Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation leaving for the site of the proposed Tipaimukh dam on Wednesday will ask India for assurances that it will not withdraw water from the Barak River through any irrigation project. The delegation, headed by former water resources minister Abdur Razzak, is also scheduled to visit ... Read more

The marginal farmer, who is supposed to be benefited by the government’s paddy procurement drive, is hardly welcome at the procurement centres where he has to face numerous difficulties and usually has to leave without selling his stock of paddy. He has no alternative but to sell the paddy in the markets where the prices ... Read more

To move demarcation case in UN JS body for forming Maritime Cell The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Ministry Tuesday recommended immediate formation of a permanent Maritime Cell to determine Bangladesh’s sea boundary with India and Myanmar – the two contending neighbors who claim some extended parts of the Bay of Bengal – taking up ... Read more

Low rice yield feared as vast tracts remain uncultivated Little or no rains in monsoon and power supply shortage have taken their toll on paddy crops, already weighed down by low prices of earlier harvests, leaving thousands of acres of lands uncultivated in northern districts. Farmers in the northern region, known as the country’s rice ... Read more

2nd ODI against WI today Abdur Razzak made a triumphant return to the Bangladesh side when he helped the Tigers win the opening one-day international against West Indies by 52 runs on Sunday. Razzak, who was prevented from bowling in international cricket in December 2008 due to a suspect action before having his suspension lifted ... Read more

SAARC ministers discuss Lahore-Ctg road link South Asian nations agreed to study Dhaka’s proposal for making Mongla Port a regional hub to serve landlocked Nepal and Bhutan, and build a greater connectivity within the region. SAARC transport ministers at their second meeting in Colombo on July 25 also agreed to form expert group for inking ... Read more

Lacks adequate lab facilities, manpower The Drug Administration (DA), the country’s sole drug regulatory body, is failing to check counterfeit drugs flooding the local drug market due to lack of sufficient laboratory equipment and facilities and manpower shortage, posing serious threat to public health. The deaths of about 25 children from renal failure after having ... Read more

More than 100 judges, additional judges and assistant judges of the District Courts yesterday protested the move to divide the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs into two sections without consulting them as they were apprehensive of their future. The judges entered the Secretariat at about 10:00 AM and headed for the Ministry of ... Read more

Includes measures to minimise climate change impact The government is going to take up a Tk 30,000-crore mega project to revive the country’s river system that would also address the impact of climate change in the country. State Minister for Environment and Forest Mostafizur Rahman said this while talking to journalists after delivering a speech ... Read more

The cabinet yesterday approved the ‘Father of the Nation’s Family Members’ Security bill 2009′. It also set new office times for government, semi-government and autonomous organisations for the coming holy month of Ramzan. The approval was given at a regular weekly meeting of the cabinet at Bangladesh secretariat. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the ... Read more

BDR MUTINY TRIAL Govt to seek SC opinion  The government has decided to seek opinion of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to fix the mode of trial of the February 25-26 massacre inside the paramilitary BDR headquarters, law minister Shafique Ahmed said on Monday. ‘We have decided today to refer the matter to ... Read more

The CNG pump owners are determined to enforce non-stop strike across the country from August 1 to realise their six-point demands. To resolve the crisis, the Ministry of Energy, Power and Mineral Resources yesterday met with the leaders of CNG pump owners, which ended without any decision. The leaders in the meeting expressed their dissatisfaction ... Read more

The private universities that have sprung up in the city and elsewhere in the country in recent years are cashing in on seat crisis in public universities although there is a question about the standard of education they offer. “Many brilliant students from low and middle-income families are unlikely to be able to get admitted ... Read more

Assistance to be sought at JEC meeting in China Bangladesh will seek around US$4.68 billion in assistance from the Chinese government to implement 28 projects in telecommunication, infrastructure, energy, and health sectors at the Bangladesh-China Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting scheduled to begin in Beijing tomorrow. During the three-day bilateral talk that will take place ... Read more

Drought-hit farmers in the northern region say they need uninterrupted electricity supply, not free electricity, to irrigate their paddy fields as Aus crop has already been affected and Aman cultivation runs out of time. As officials are gearing up for implementing the government’s offer to distribute electricity to irrigation pumps free of cost, farmers expect ... Read more

Everest Marandi joins the prayers with about 50 other people of the Christian community here every afternoon for the past one week. ‘What will we eat if there is no rain?’ asks the man, explaining the objective of the special prayer session. In Jugisho village, some 30 kilometres from Rajshahi city, three-fourths of the croplands ... Read more

Stability in Bangladesh a matter of int’l concern, says German Ambassador Meyke The European Union had welcomed the ‘1/11 changeover’ in Bangladesh to avert possible bloodshed in the then “dangerous” political confrontation, outgoing German envoy Frank Meyke said yesterday. He, however, rejected allegations of any diplomatic role in the declaration of a state of emergency ... Read more